The Waterbury Democrat., 1943-03-15
BRITISH SUB IS
VETERAN OF 300
Depth CHARGES

| WssAN aNSAAe SA SeeN We NAtg tAA0ot ~
tive and successful submarines Of
the Royal Nays formidable Medi-
terranean underwater fleet, 1t. AL
astair Mars, D. s. O., r. N, de-
scribed TO this correspondent how
a large enemy supply ship was sent
TO the bottom while her captain
was "hurrying like hell" to get
away from Tripoli.
With the noise OF hammers
pounding In our ears as naval tech
nicians went over the ship TO make
1t ready for Its next patrol, the 90
year-old Newfoundland-born vet
eran Of 10 Mediterranean patrols
explained in traditional Royal
Navy nonchalance what he called
q quiet" patrol.
1.-THE whole thing was more good
luck than good judgment" Mars
said. 1T was a very simple attack,
We were waltzing along hoping TO
find an italian ship sneaking out
Of Tripoli. Suddenly luck was with
us, and I sighted medium-sized
ship Steaming as fast as she could
away from Africa"
Sank In 10 Minutes
II did O long slow attack. The en-
envy ship was escorted by two E.
boats, but we moved In slowly, took
our range and let go. A torpedo
his the target. II was near sunset,
and after the E.boats dropped u
few depth charges at us came up
and had q look. The torpedoed
ship was sinking. Ten minutes later
cam up for another look and
she was gone"
1.-THE attack was carried out
about 10 miles from Shore" Mars
explained. II don't know what she
was carrying, but she certainly was
In hurry to get out OF Tripoli.'
Mars, unaSsuming and looking
much younger than his 20 years, Is
one OF Britain's top-notch subma-
rine commanders, and he's now en-
gagged In daring operations which
take him to various regions along
the TuniSian coastline. His ship Is
one Of those assigned" to the task
OF swapping the only remaining
Axis supply line to Afrlca-the sea.
lane which takes enemy supplies
and reinforcements from italy and
Sicily to Tunis.
Shell italian Coast
Mars and his men have sent four
large enemy supply ships to thu
bottom In recent months and rs q
"sideline" they've carried out sue
cessful coastal shoots" In which
they surfaced under the nose OF the
enemy to pour shells into railroad
trains, viaducts and shore installa-
tons along the Italian and Sicilian
coasts. While Rommel was stu
holding Benghazi this submarine
was operating In the Gulf OF Sirte,
where II was q constant menace
to the enemy.
But OF all his brilliant successes
none gives Mars as much satisfac-
ton rs the attack he carrid out on
an Italian convoy some months
ago. The convoy was leaving Italy,
he explained, and "since we were
patrolling not too far from the area
we joined some Of the other subs to
attempt to intercept the enemy.
1.-THE supply ships were heavily
escorted, Mars said. "There were
eight fleet destroyers, all cracker
jack fellows, and plenty Of aircraft.
We did an attack at long range on
the supply ship, and then took
avoiding action. Suddenly We got
Il heat depth charges). So much
so in fact that the whole boat
jumped about like q motor car
speeding over rough road"
Asked what 1t was like In q sub.
marine during o heavy depth
charge attack Mars replied, with a
smile: at isn't exactly q picnic. In
fact, It's pretty damn uncomfort-
able. When 1t gets real sticky you
just hold on as tightly as you can
and hope she'll stay in one piece"
Proud Of His Grew
During this attack I had two
great consultations" he added. 1.-THE
first came when I decided to see
how some OF the boys were making
out. I took a few steps aft and
heard my first lieutenant saying in
calm, Unconditional voice, Steady,
chaps, steady You've no idea how
much better I felt when I heard
him say that in an easy, subdued
Tone"
MY second consolation came
when I went to see the chief engi-
neer to find out how our engines
were holding up. I was bit eX-
cited myself, and when he heard
me shouting at him, asking about
damage, he said, It's all right, sir,
these ships can take It,"
Mars estimates that during his
Mediterranean patrols at least 300
depth charges have been dropped
over his ship, 205 of them on one
patrol. That was after an attack
off Naples some time ago when he
damaged two Italian cruisers, one
so badly she was in for repair for
six months. One of them recently
was written off" by USAAF B-24's
In the first American raid over
Italy.
Mars has a cousin. Paul "Rosie"
Ryan, now serving in submarines
in the u. s. Navy and his two ia
vorite memories of America, where
he visited as a midshipman on the
British cruiser Norfolk. concerned
movie stars. The first was having
Cary Grant loan him his Car to
drive around Hollywood. The Sec
ond was getting lost in Hollywood
and asking a woman for directions
only to have her ignore him and
hurry away. He later learned the
woman was Carlo.