Evening star., 1932-12-11

icy waters naked. learned by diving. To make
the necessary repairs required working under
water considerable time In other words,
= regular diver with diving equipment. Brains!
The boys chance-an ignobe one but never
theless chance to dive-had come at last!
A s soon as it was light We began to get
n things ready. diving stage was lowered
of the stern Brains, pretending q vast In
difference but really almost bursting with i'm
portance, put ON his weighted shoes and belt
and helmet. The hose and line were adjusted,
and the descending line made fast Looking
like an awkward primitive animal, he went
over the side.
In about an hour he signaled and We drew
him up. Temporary repairs, he announced,
were completed AS he had worked just under
the surface of the water, where there was little
pressure, 1t was not necessary TO send him
through the decomposition chamber. Brains
was little disappointed. After all, now that
the task finished, it looked more Hike
carpenters job than a divers. In a way, he
gave the impression that we had hurt his
dignity.
The skipper rang up the engines and we be-
gan to get under way. I scanned the horizon
with my binoculars. The rest of our fleet was
by now back in Scotland. What was that, like
a heavy pencil mark on the port beam?
Strengthened up, suddenly alert.
Take look sir" said excitedly to the
captain, handing him the glasses.
For few moments he gazed in silence.
Then he spoke quietly IT'S submarine-two
miles away It may be one of ours. Well
see. Quartermaster, sound general quarters!
Helmsman, left rudder-steer for that sh1p!
Whether friendly or hostile, the undersea
boat had just come to the surface. There had
been no sign of her in that direction few
moments ago. AS We drew closer / saw that
her masts and vents had not been raised.
Flash recognition signals" ordered the skip
per. / complied. There was no answering sig
nal 1t must be U-boat!
The submarine might easily have escaped,
with her superior speed and her capacity to
submerge, but strangely enough, she made no
effort to do So Perhaps she disdained such
small fry as trawler, relying on her trained
gunners and her torpedoes.
stand by to firel" The shippers face was
pale Perhaps he was thinking. as 1 was, OF
our huge nest of eggs with their tons OF deadly
explosive He whispered to me: Go to the
radio room and tell Sparks to get off mes
sage telling our predicament. Fire"
I ran aft just our two 3-inch guns
spoke simultaneously The U-boat Immediately
accepted battle. Four shells came toward us
at one time it seemed. All missed; some fell
short some on the side When I got back to
my station on the bridge the smoke had cleared
away, and I saw that the U-boat was under
way, making considerable speed. Then eSpied
a line of bubbles heading toward u.s.
"Torpedoi" I shouted.
Right rudderl" yelled the skipper.
THE sver-fish passed .harmlessly by our
starboard quarter, missing it by scarcely 10
feet, leaving a foamy wake behind. Keeping
the helm right to avoid further torpedoes, We
showed home fresh shells in the guns and
sent four shots after the rapidly moving u
boat. All fell astern, but each one was dis
tinctly nearer than the last. Slowly but surely
we were bringing our splashes closer when I
noticed the men were disappearing from the
submarines deck.
shes calling in the crews" yelled. She's
going to submerge!''
"Quick-reload-anot salvo!" shouted the
captain.
The breech- blocks slammed; there was one
report when our guns fired. Both Of them were
hNs One caught the U-boat on the water