AN UNDERSEA EPIC

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 225, 11 June 1918, Page 6

AN UNDERSEA EPIC

ULOKIOUS END OF A FRENCH. SUBMARINE. The Freuch Minister of Marine recent- ■ ly mentioned'in an order the submarine ,: Monge," which at the, end of December, 1915, seriously damaged during a ii'.:;lit .itmck, "succninbed heroically, and disappeared with its commander." Tiie details of the loss of the "Monge" huvo only become known as a result of the repatriation of Lieutenant Appell, second officer, whose narrative makes it possible to appreciate at its futi value, the fine conduct of the crew:— "At tho very moment when she torpedoed an Austrian destroyer on the night of December 23-29, 1915, the Monge was rnriiu.ed by the Austrian cruiser Helgoland. Tho hole made caused her to submerge to at least 200 feet, at such an angle that water was shipped and damaged the accumulators, so that tho electric current failed. Believing themselves lost, the crew saluted their country with a cry of 'Vive la France!* Then, with the aid of the emergency lighting system, the crew with perfect calm carried out the orders of their Commandant, Roland Morillot, who wished to make an attempt to conio to the surface. Ho succeeded, but; hardly had the conning-tower come into view before the enemy's guns made a target of it. In spite of tho extreme danger the manoeuvre involved, owing to the failuro of the current, the commander decided to submerge again, and it was with the ' same sangfroid*,and discipline that the crew went to their stations for submerging. But the Monge could not submerge quickly enough, and a shell, striking her hull, damaged her mortally. 'J'l\» men. nevertheless, remained at their posts. The commander had; to order them to leave the vessel, 'and each man, without haste and in silence, went to the forward hatchway, tho only one that could v be used. ' Tho commander went down with his vessel and two of tho crew." j*