FATE OF THE GERMAN SUBMARINES

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2938, 25 November 1916, Page 10

FATE OF THE GERMAN SUBMARINES

"FRIGHTFULNESS" FRIGHTENED OUT OF EXISTENCE

(By Alfred Noyes.) n. - For many months flocks of seagulls had screamed over .a certain strip of coast in North Africa It was littered and strewn with wreckage and dead! bodies from merchant ships, Allies and neutrals, who had met tho German submarines. _ A small flotilla of trawlers and drifters was dispatched to these waters, and to-diiy that coast is as clean as any of our own. The value of these patrols in tho Mediterranean has been grimly proved. For on one occasion, when their numbers were smaller, a trawler squadron was withdrawn from the mouth of the Adriatic to deal with unexpected trouble in the Aegean. Promptly there- wero submarines out through the unguarded gates, and more wreckage and dead on the unwatched shores. There are British longshore fishermen in tho AVhite Sea patrolling or frozen in, and others are ever patrolling the coast of Bulgaria. One of these tnri'y old skippers found that something had gono wrong with his trawler's engines. In true Elizabethan style, ho got into his dinghy, with two men and three rifles, and sent his rusty old boat back to the base. "But whero is your skipper?" asked the naval officer of the returned seamen. " 'E's in the dinghy, sir, blockading the Bulgers," was the reply. Sea Murderers. . Tho sinking of unarmed fishing-boats was one of the favourite amusements of Fritz in the earlier stages of the war. A typical yarn was told me as' we entered the waters where it happened, a true yarn that is recorded in tho official log-books of the auxiliary fleet. It was on a fine summer morning that the fishing-trawler Victoria, left a certain port 'belovedl of Nelson, to fish on the Labadio Bank. She carried a crew of nine men, together with [ a little boy named Jones —a friend of the skipper. He held under his arm a well-thumbed copy of "'Treasure Island." Perhaps it . was this book that had inspired him to tho adlveiiture, for, though nobody quite believed, at that time, in the existence of the Twentieth Century pirate, there was adventure in the air, and it was only after much pleading that he was allowed to go. This, vessel, of course, was unarmed and used' only for fishing. For a week all went well. There was a good cateli of fish, splashing the rusty-red old' craft with shining scales from bow to stem,, and piling up below like mounded silver. The crew were beginning to think of tlieir women at home and their accustomed nooks in tho Lord iNelson andl Blue Dolphin taverns. They were about a hundred and thirty miles from land when the sound of a gun was heard by all hands. The boy Jones shut his book oil his thumb and ran up-to tho bridge, where ho stood by the skipper. In the distance, -against the sunset, they saw the silhouette of a strange-looking ship. At first it looked liko a drifter, painted grey with mizzen set. But the flash of another gun revealed it as a submarine. The skipper hesitated. Should ho step the ship and trust to the laws of war and the good faith of the ■enemy? The lives of tlie crew and tho little boy, who_ had been left in his charge, were his first thought. Yes, ho would 'do so,_ and the order was given. The engines ceased to throb. Then, as tho shin rolled idly, he was •lisillusioned. The gun flashed again, and ho knew that he was facing an implacable determination to sink and destroy. . "V The Slaughter. It was only a forlorn hope, but he would risk it, and not a man demurred at his decision. The engines rang'full speed ahead" and tho Victoria began to tear through the green water, for home. , The submarine opened a rapid fire from two powerful guns, and the first to fall was tho little lad Jones. Tho skipper kept steadily on'his course, with the hoy dead at his feet. But the submarine gained rapidly, and continued to pour a devastating fire on the helpless craft. The skipper was struck'next and blown to pieces. The bridge was a mass of bloody wreckago and torn flesh. The next shell shattered tho tiny engine-room and killed the engine-man. Tho Victoria lay at the mercy of the enemy. The submarine continued to close on her, and kept up a rapid fire; killing the mato and another engine-man,: and severely wounding another. The . four men who were left tried to save themselves. The boat had been smashed to splinters, and they jumped into tlio water with planks. Careless of the men in the .water,' the submarine steamed up alongside tho Victoria and sealed her fate byplacing bombs aboard her. There was a violent explosion, and her wreckage, strewn over the face of the waters, far. and near, was the only relic of her Not . till nearly two hours after this were the four numbed and helpless men in the water taken aboard the submarine. They were placed down below, and, one by one, closely examined by the commander as to the system of patrols in the neighbourhood. Dazed as they, were, and hardy responsible for their actions, they one and all refused to. answer their captors. Lato that night tliey were told, that the' submarine was about to submerge, and, so far as thev could gather, tlicy proceeded below the surface for over twelve hours. ■ The y knew enough about the system of- netting to know that they were in constant danger of being trapped in the bell of the sea and drowned. -hideously,-in the darknbss, _but not a man spoke. During the night they wero given somo coffee and a biscuit each, and the wound of one mail, who had been badly lacerated by a. shell, was dressed by the ship's surgeon. They lav. in the semi-dark-ness, listening to the steady beat and hum of the engines, and wondering what kind of a miracle could bring them to the light of day again. A Hundred Miles from Home. On tho next morning the trawler. Hirose fell a victim to the sjme submarine. She was no sooner sighted than she was greeted with a hail of shot. She stopped and lowered a boat, wliilo the enemy dashed up. The sommander of tho submarine shouted through a megaphone: "Leavo , your ship. I give you five minutes." The crew complied—thero wero ten hands all told—and were ordered aboard tho submarine, while the blown up. After being given six biscuits each tho crew of tho Hirose were put back in their boat. Tho survivors of the Victoria wero ordered on deck and placed in the same boat. The submarine steamed away, and shortly afterwards clipped. ! Mystery Ships. The sinking of these fishing boats Suddenly ceased, except on rare occasions; and, for certain reasons, if, is now an acknowledged fact that when a submarino_ sees one it submerges or bolts immediately. Details must not bo given; but these smaller fishing boats now form a class to themselves, and aro krown among the other auxiliaries as "mystery ships." Only one hint I may give here. There was onco upon a time a simple fishing boat shooting her fishing nofcs for simple fish. A submarine appeared and gave her men, "five minutes, you swine I" Immediately there was a panic, which had been part of tlieir drill in port.

Two of the crow went on their knees for mercy, and others 'hauled at the boat like men possessed. ... I must pass over the details once more; but tlio resultant picture was this. A dummy boat on deck in four pieces, and a fine big gun lovelled straight at the submarine, attended by gunners of /His Majesty's Navy, "liko gods in poor disguise." There wore two Germans kneeling for mercy; and after they hatl scrambled into safety there was an abolished submarine and oil upon many troubled wr.tefcs.