The Waterbury Democrat., 1942-07-22
GERMAN U-BOAT
 CAPT. MERCIFUL
Two Young American Sea- men Paid Him UnexpeCt-
 ed Visit in His Cabin

An East Coast Port, July 22-CUP) Two young American seamen drank rum and argued with Nazl sailors over who was going to win the war inside 6 German Subma- rine, they said today ct this port where they arrived by plane from South America.
 The youths, Cornelius O'Connor, 19, of Norfolk, Va, and Raymond Smithson, 24, of Galveston, Tex, were separated from other mem- bers of their medium sized mer- chant ship when it was torpedoed in the Caribbean.
 Both were tossed into the sea and by piecing together bits of wreckage from the ship, they made & make shift raft.
 (Other survivors on the U. S. cargo vessel escaped in hfeboats and were picked up and taken to a Gulf port where the Navy an- nounced the details of the torpedo ing today)
 well, there we were, swimming around our raft because it wasn't big enough to hold us both, when all of sudden 8 damn big, black thing loomed up in front of us," O'Connor said. Tt was big sub about 200 feet long with a goats head painted on its coming tower" |"
 GA submarine of similar descrip- ton had been reported two months ago when it sank a Brazilian cargo ship May 24 in the Caribbean areaO
 Two men came on deck. yelled for help. They threw us line and pulled us up on deck. They they led us to the coming tower where a large, fat fellow, with binoculars around his neck, gave us rum in tin cup.
 "It tasted sweet and burned like hell. He asked me where I was bound and where from. I told him. I was scared"
 O'Connor said they asked the Germans to take them to a raft which they had seen drifting from the ship at the time of the sinking. But at that moment, flare drop. ped from passing patrol plane 1n- terrupted their request.
 Down the Hatch
 "The German officer showed us down the coming tower hatch and the crewmen stumbled after uS," OConnor said. That submarine crash-dived in one hell-of-a-big- hurry. We were covered with oil and the officer told us to sit on the floor. I looked around. The inside of the sub was freshly painted. Everything was clean.
 we were a Side-Show attraction. Faces stared at Us from all angles down the companionways. They were curious. Tn few minutes, we were blindfolded. They led us through the door forward to the torpedo room.
 '"The Germans washed the oil of us with rags soaked in petrol. The officer, speaking very plain English, gave us tea and black bread. Next, we got ice water and graham crackers. The bread tasted like he'll"
 The officer asked O'Connor how CLle AIneTlCdn peOple 1clC apOuC CIlS war. When told the Americans firmly believed they would win, he scoffed and said the Germans were stronger than the American people thought.
 After about two hours, the Nazi commander ordered the undersea craft to the surface. The two pas sengers were led to the deck and a small wooden raft-"about the size of @ bed"-was placed at their dis posal. Then they were given di- rectionS.
 Head directly south for six miles and you will find other members of your crew." the German officer said. He gave them four gallons of water and some hardtack and bade them goodbye.