Evening star., 1941-04-08
BY GAULT mcgowan.

SOMEWHERE IN THE ATTAIN
TIC, April . N.AN.A).-We are
out today on a U-boat hunt. There
are four of us. The ex-U. S. S.
Wickes of "75." two British destroy
ers and a flying boat. The flying
boat belongs to the r. A. p. coastal
command. She spotted the U-boat
when on patrol and signale'i the
news of her presence to our little
flotilla.
Plans were laid rapidly. Morse
lamps winked across the Atlantic
wastes. With the flying boat how
ering above us like a beckoning
finger, we began to triangulate the
seas.
The U-boat, of course, had dived
for cover as soon as she had seen
the flying boat. Nazi submarines
depend for their successes on sur
prise. Nothing is more likely to balk
them of their quarry than pre-
knowledge of their movements.
Seaplane Is Enemy No. 1.
The seaplane is U-boat enemy
No. l. A signal from a seaplane
may mean convoy scattered or its
direction changed. 1t may put an
audacious merchant captain on his
guard and make him, with zig-Zag
course and defensive gun, a David
to the underseas Goliath. Worse
still for the U-boat, that signal may
bring forth hunters from among the
hunted. Today it has brought forth
old U. S. S. Wickes & Co.
Hunting a U-boat in midocean
has been described as looking for
a needle in a hayStack. 1t is more
like looking for taxicab on a wet
night. The place is sti1 with them
when you don't want them but as
soon as you really do, they vanish
mysteriously.
Britain's weekly shipping losses
and Hitler's claims to having the
British Isles blockaded make you
think you have only to take a cruise
into the Atlantic to hail a U-boat
at will. In practice. so vast is the
Atlantic, the biggest concentration
Of U-boats yet imagined gives less
coverage to the ocean than the New
York policemen give to Manhattan.
and so hippy are the pillows and
metallic-hued the waters that a
prying periscope is as difficult to
spot as a submerged seal You, on
the contrary, from the bridge of
the Wickes feel as conspicuous as
an iceberg in the East River.
Anxious Eyes.
Anxious eyes scan the wastes for
the silvery streak that announces
that you were seen before you saw.
Unless you can turn bow on to that
streak before it hits you, it may be
just too bad. Usually. when you
see it (the torpedo, of course), you
see it too late.
Those who have been torpedoed
once and escaped alive-or have
spent time in the wintry ocean from
some other mishap of the sea-don
their life-jackets. Those who have
not and who find the lifebelts bulk
a handicap in their jobs, take a
chance. They probably have de-
cided in advance that if fate sends
them into the sea they will go down
with the ship
One doesn't hunt U-boats fearing
the U-boat will strike first. You
hunt them with the intention of
doing that yourself. Thus both
hunter and hunted feel happy about
the whole thing.
A certain grim determination
hangs over the operations. The
seaplane is circling aloft like hawk
seeking its prey. The destroyers
are sweeping their courses with a
don't care = If you-challenge-us!"
air. Like hornets, they have stings
in their tails-depth charges!
The Prey.
Submarines are slow movers.
Sailors say they will rarely attack
a destroyer unless driven to 1t.
But that knowledge does not make
the novice at the game much hap
pier. War eames are not played
always accoi Sing to rules. The
ocean Is the toneyard of misjudg-
ment.