DOUBLE-TOOTHED PIRATE.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXVI, Issue 1329, 26 November 1914, Page 4

DOUBLE-TOOTHED PIRATE.

SUBMARINE’S FEATS

WORK OF THE E 9

The Ky, the subtuaritie which acted as the decoy in the Heligoland fight, and which on a subsequent date sank the cruiser Hela in the same bay on September 13th, has sunk a German torpedo boat destroyer off the Ems river. The latest feat is the more remarkable from the fact that it occurred, to use kr Churchill’s phrase, “at the very throat” of the Eras, the river that divides Germany from Holland, and on the estuary of which stands the fortified island of Borkum.

When the Ey arrived at Harwich, welcomed by the cheers of the crews in harbour, she was flaunting from her periscope two flags, bearing the death’s bead and crossbones, besides her usual white ensign. One was a yellow one for the sinking of the Hela, and the other a white one for the sinking of the destroyer, both distinctions which submarines that have struck home have tacitly claimed, and to which the Admiral has raised no objection under the circumstances. According to accounts of members of the crew and Dutch

coastguards who witnessed tbe incident, there was a terrific explosion, followed by a big fireworks display, and in three minutes the remains of the destroyer’s hull dived to her doom. Another destroyer in the vicinity is believed to have been badly damaged, and there is a difference of opinion in the Submarine service as to whether a cruiser was also torpedoed, bnt a Dutch report states that a cruiser which rushed from the Eras to pick up survivors returned with them into the river. According to this version, two submarines were seen to rise to the surface after the destroyer bad been torpedoed, but it is quite possible that one of the objects seen from th ah»re was the hull of the damaged vessel just before it disappeared. If there was actually a second submarine at work, no news of its return has been officially published.

“got our torpedoes home.”

Members of the crew state that just before the attack there was no fuss or worry on board. They played the gramophone and they played bridge. Commander Horton played both. When he was cut out at the bridge table he busied himself with needles and records. A new laughing-song secured an immediate popularity. Then came the incident, of which all are justly proud. One of their number states that whilst the job was easier than that of the Hela, luck was with them.

“We knew,” he said, “when we left Harwich Harbour that it was a case ot hit or miss, but we have one of the best in Commander Horton, and we trust him implicitly. When we rose we saw two German destroyers travelling at a speed of some 30 knots. Our commander was at the periscope, and ordered the forward tubes to be fired. I fired the first tube, but I cannot say whether I hit or not. Anyhow, I did my best. “We then rose to the surface, and the commander said, ‘Look at her. The beggar is going down.' We saw the German rise perpeu-. dicularly, and men rushed to her stern and dived into the water’’ The submarine then submerged, and made her way back to Harwich. “I don’t want to boast,” added the narrator of the story, ‘‘but we got our rooties (torpedoes) home. It was uot a bad performance.”

DISAPPEARED IN THREE MINUTES,

The Dutch account of the incident was published by the Nieuws van den Dag, of Amsterdam, and cabled by Reuter. The report came originally from Schiermonnikoog, one of the Dutch Frisian Islands, that at eleven o’clock in the morning a German torpedo boat was cruising to the north-east of the island, not tar Irom the estuary of the Ems. The clear weather enabled a good view of the movements of the ship to be obtained.

Suddenly an explosion was heard, and in front of the vessel’s bow a gigantic wave arose, the torpedo boat heeled over and disappeared three minutes later in the water, A short time afterwards the periscopes of two submarines appeared. They were probably German submarines assisting the sunken torpedo boat. It is also reported that after the torpedo boat was struck, a German cruiser arrived from the estuary of the Kras, lowered boats, and saved the crew, returning later to the Ems. A POPULAR COMMANDER. By reason of the unauthorised flags the Ey flies on coming into port and the significance they bear, the commander is now known as “ the double-toothed pirate.” Commander Horton is a short, dark, stocky man who would have pleased Drake or Frobisher, but neither of them would he have pleased more than the ratings of his own crew, who declare that if he is transferred they will apply to go with him, even if it is in an aeroplane. Jn spite of the work he is doing he still contrives to shave. Lieutenant-Commander Horton, who was appointed to the command of the Ey in March last, received the Board of Trade silver medal for gallantry in saving life at the wreck of the P. and 0. Delhi, off Cape Spartel, Morocco, on December i, ryti, with the late Duke of Fife and ihp Princess Royal and their daughters on board, E^ e h tenant ' Commander Horton was then a lieutenant in H.M.S. Duke of Edinburgh, one of the warships wbKh helped in the rescue work,