A PIRATE'S PATE

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 44, 16 November 1918, Page 8

A PIRATE'S PATE

CAUGHT RED-HANDED AND SUNK.

The following account of. a destroyer's fight with a German submarine has been received (says the London "Daily Mail" of September 14);— Tho S.O.S. signal 'announced that a steamer had been torpedoed, and two destroyers- hurried to the spot. They found the steamer rapidly sinking, and her stern was already awash. Tho crew had taken to tho boats, and were standing by, but there was no sign of tho enemy submarine. While one destroyer was picking up the boats the other circled round at high speed, ready to pounco on the submarine, which, it was thought, might be lurking about in the hope of getting one of tho warships. As a maiter of fact, she did break surface for iin instant, and our ships dropped depth charges where they presumed her to be. I'or the time being nothing more was seen of her. With the survivors of the torpedoed merchantmen, aboard, one of the destroyers returned to tho base, while tho other remained in the localii.v.

Perhaps it was merely a guess—noro likely it was intuition—that led her commanding officer to suspect that the submarine was lying low, and in due courso would come to the surface. And he was right. When she appeared.tho destroyer opened fire, whereupon she' dived for the space of two minutes, and when she broke surface again the destroyer once more got off several rounds, which reached their All tho while tho enemy was steadily sinking, v and as the waters closed over her there was a tremendous explosion, throwing up a quantity of oil imi severely shaking the destroyer.