"BLIND MAN'S BUFF"' AT SEA

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 225, 11 June 1918, Page 8

"BLIND MAN'S BUFF"' AT SEA

DAY AND NIGHT TOLL OF U-BOATS

STORIES OF NAVAL EXPLOIS'

: The methods by which the submarine is incessantly harried and fought cannot bo more thun roughly indicated but from discreet extracts from the logs of vessels engaged in the campaign it is possible to gain a good idea of the jwrils, excitements, and successes of the subiiiarine-huntor. The difficulty in dealing with under-water craft is' to know whon your enemy has actually been destroyed. When, for instance, a commander can write down in his log, "A quantity of oil appeared on the surface," he may feel morally certain that tho pirate's days are over, but unless there ia other evidenco he must content himself with moral certainty. But the phrase, which repeatedly occurs in the following .records supplied by the Admiralty, tells its own etory." The extracts are taken from the logs of destroyers (including some United States destroyers), submarines, trawler. l , and motor launches. This is how a submarine commander, who himself had his vessel scraped along its whole length by a wire sweep, describes the. sinking of an enemy vessel:— iO a.m.--Sighted hostile submarine. Attacked same. 10.S a.m.—Torpedoed submarine. Hit with one torpedo amidships. Submarine seen to blow up and disappear. Surface to look for survivors. Put down immediately by destroyers who fired at: me. By way of a note he adds: "During my attack there was iuat enough sea to make,depth-keeping difficult. I tired two torpedoes and one hit at forward end of conning, tower. A large column of yellow smoke, about one rucl a half timos as high as the mast, was observed, and the submarine disappeared. The explosion was heard and felt in our own submarine." On the previous day our man's periscopj hud become "very stiff to turn," i so, he explains:— 'In the dark hours 1 attempted to rectify same, but while doing so I was forced to divo, and thus lost all the tools and nuts of the centre bush. While attacking it took two men besidos myself to turn the periscope, for this Teason I did not consider it prudent to attack the destroyers alter having sunk the submarine.

"After torpedoing submarine 1 proceeded four miles northward and lay on the bottom. Many vessels throughout tlio day were heard in close proximity. Several explosions were heard, especially one very heavy one. It must have been close, as the noise was considerably louder than that of the torpedo. On one occasion a wire sweep scraped the whole length of the boat along my port sido, and a vessel was heard to pass directly overhead." Bumpina in Shallow Water. Another subninriuo commander' describes as follows a duel with the enemy, in the course of which he "frequently bumped tho bottom lleaVily";— "After 0. chase lasting nearly two hours one of our submarines succeeded in sinking her quarry, an enemy submar-' inu. v The hostile vessel had evidently just come to the surface, its mon were noticed on her bridge spreading the bridge screen. Whilo manoeuvring to attack our submarine had to pass through shallow water, and as the sea was rough at the lime sho frequently bumped the bottom heavily, but, fortunately, avoided breaking surface, "At ti range of 550 yards both bow tubes were fired. (Jll tiling, the periscope was dippod in case the boat rose, ami another tube was brought to bear so as to be ready in the event of a

miss. Fifteen or twenty seconds after tiring a dull report was heard. On the porisoopo being raised after a short interval nothing was scon of the enemy submarine, but there was a great disturbance in tho watpr where she hod been. 011 proceeding! to tlio spot whero sbu was last seen it was observed that 'tlio water was covered with an oily substance which stuck to the glass of the periscope, obscuring vision.

"Although tilt vessel was not actually seen lo .tint there is little doubt that she was torpedoed, as it is improbable that sho could have dived while steaming on the surface in the brief space faring which the British submarine's periaeopo was lowered." This is how an oilabip, torpedoed in thick weather, wass saved. Neither the oilship nor her escort, hiul seen the submarine that fired the torpedo, but half an hour afterwards "an object was sighted about half a toilo away." The escort at once headed for it.

A round was fired and this hit just before the couning tower. Just afterwards the enemy was rammed, a severe shock bebig felt throughout the ship as she passed over the U-boat. Almost simultaneously a violent explosion took place. The ship now circled round under itarboard helm and took up a position at. the place of the explosion, where the sea was boiling with fo»m and rushes of huge air ibubbles were coming to the surface. Oil was also observed, Two meti were then seen in the water, and one of these was rescued. The escort then returned lo (he oil ship and towed her into port "despiteall difficulties." Patient Watchinn for Enemy Craft. Sometimes patience is required lu get your enemy to show himself. J merman submarine was believed to be lying on the bottom in a cerUi:. region "and as alio would havo to come to (he snr?<T B ,i tn '' har K (! )*>ll«nes—an operation highly dangerous" by day and therefore more likely to' be undertaken bv night—a number of. vessels were U»tailed to watch for her. The sm was smooth and the night dark but clear when the vessels took up their appointed position*, lor n long time nothing happened, hut between 1 and 2 a.m. one of the vessels got a cluk. ' and presently (he U-boat appeared. Promptly fire was opened, and the v Herman at ones submerged, "helped by a depth charge," and after that "nothing more was heaid." The gallantry of the men of our armed trawlers and drifters is well shown oy (he iollowmg incidents:— Owing to certain unforeseen causes a German submarine drifted ashore one morning, and was at once engaged bv a number of drifters. Although these! armed, fishing vessels were, very much outranged by the German's guns thev engaged him, closing in until they were able to hit him, although themselves under very heavy tiro all the time Thev were joined by one of H.M. ships ten 'minutes after the opening of the- engagement, and the enemy was then compelled to abandon the action. Our forces thereupon ceased fire, and almost immediately afterwards the U-boat blew up An armed trawler on patrol sighted an enemy submarine awash about a mileaway. Soon afterwards fire wns opened with the trawler's forward gun The first round wa.s a miss; the second fell short, but ricochotted into the conning tower; the third buret in the middle of the conning tower; the fourth burst on tho lower part of the conning towerthe fifth hit the water over the spot where tho submarine had disappeared. Needless to say the encmv was not seen' again.

Another armed trawler, while patrolling-, heard the working of a submarine's engines under water. She steamed directly over the supposed course of the enomy and released a depth charge. Somo seconds later tho charge exploded with great force, raising a large column of water, and a piece of brass tubing about Sft. long and 3in. in diameter was seen to fall 6ft. from the ship's atom. A large quantity of oil then came to the surface; no further sounds were heard, fin'd when the* area was sweat nn obstruction was located on the bottom. On another occasion a motor-launch accounted for a .U-boat in a somewhat similar way. A periscope was sighted 200 yards away, and the launch made for it at full speed. The submarine submerged, so two depth charges were dropped. A column of water 30ft, high was thrown up by the first explosion, and after tho second the sea was disceJourod and a quantity of oil came up. A Motor-Launch Patrol, Motor-launches with their high speed are very useful for the "blind man's buff" or submarine hunting, as the following successful little notion shows:— Threo motor-launches were out on pat-

rol, when one of I hem detected a submarino under water. Tins was confirmed shortly afterwards by the two oilier boats, and appearances indicated that the submarine was zigzagging. The hunters took up the chase, ami it became obvious that the .submarine realised that she was being pursued, and was stopping every time tne launches stopped. This went on until at last . &<• launches had manoeuvred into the desired position. Then they "laid their eggs." There were some .underwater explosion*; a quantity of oil spread itself over the snrlace uf the sea; than no further sounds.

The commander of a United States destroyer graphically reports that lie dropped a depth charge on a submarine which was passing under his stern from starboard to port, and "although the wake had been visible on the starboard side it never appeared to port. Instead a large quantity of oil came to the surface." Another submarine was destroyed by two American destroyers, escorting a convoy of merchantmen, in this way :—

A periscope was sighted and tbe destroyers wheeled back to the spot. The periscope again appeared, ns though heading for the convoy, and oil' went the destroyers at full speed/ Once more the periscope disappeared, but not before three rounds had been, fired by the leading destroyer, ivho also dropped a depth charge. The enemy's bow then came up rapidly, and it appeared that, he was lying at an angle of 30deg. stern down.. Ho managed to right himself and tried to get away on the surface; but again the Americans opened fire, and the Germans then came on deck, held up their hands, and surrendered. The U-boat sank just afterwards, the survivors being taken on board one of the destroyers.