SEAMEN'S WAR EXPERIENCES

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 142, 11 March 1919, Page 4

SEAMEN'S WAR EXPERIENCES

' ATTACKS BY SUBMARINES. By Teleeraph—tress Association. Auckland, March 10. Amongst the officers audi crew of the steamer War Opal, which \ arrived yesterday from New York, are' many who have seen continuous war a'-ervice, and have had unique experience!; while engaged in transport work in. iand' around the English Channel. > Captain Steel, the master of the War Opal, has been mined and torpedoed four times. On one occasion he was blown out of the water by a mine. ; The third engineer and Mr. iQurrk, the chief engineer, have also been! attacked by enemy submarines. Both were on the steamer Largo Lofi, encased in carrying horses and shells tc? France. At 0 the time when they were attacked tliev had 108 horses and 2000: tons of steel billets for shells. The fi\rst intimation that a submarine was . in the vicinity was the explosion of shelUs which fell 'round the vessel, .The man-ksman-ship of the gunners ,on the sufyinaTine was bad, and all the shells eitHer fell short or whistled harmlessly ovier the vessel. Altogether the submarine fired 3i shots, but a wireless call for was sent out, and a Government atatioa answered that a destroyer was leaving. The submarine immediately moved off from the vessel, and the Largo LoS, lay down a zig-zag course and got artery. The wireless operator on the (A. Dawson) was also attacked b|y a submarine while serving with the Ijransport R-avenshoa. but in this case the submarine found its mark, and the v\3ssel had to be towed to port in a leftog condition and with the third engineer killed. G. Mangles, another member of the crew of the War Opal, was engaged in mine-sweeping for somo considerable tiime, but was invalided out of the service Hast year, practically blind. He stepped put on the deck when the mine exploded, with the result that he suffered serious injury to his eyes.