GREAT WAR EPIC

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXIII, 24 July 1929, Page 2

GREAT WAR EPIC

DETAILS REVEALED HUMAN TORPEDO LAUNCHED AT WARSHIP Tim "Sunday Chronicle" has revealed for Hits first i imv the dotaiJs of what must be regarded as one of the greatest personal exploits of the war. li tells how two men, risking almost unbelievable perils, made themselves into a 'human torpedo and sank a huge eiieinv warship in her own harbour. The liny submarine with its crew of Iwn which performed this amazing feat was the invention of two naval officers. In the craft then' was just room enough for the mechanism, a torpedo and Iwo men. It was known officially as "The Leech." lioth men were immersed save lor their heads, which Were disguised Willi coverings made to look like empty hotlies. The I wo men who carried out the during enterprise were .Major lial'i'aole Itosselti and Lieut. Paolucci. of the Italian Navy. Their orders were to penetrate the enemy's powerful base ill I'olii a I the head of the Adriatic and do what, damage they could. They and their craft set mil from Venice, anil at a given point at sea the human torpedo, with its "crew,'" was launched in its perilous journey. The story of what followed is told as follows by Lieut. Paolucci: — "All around us and above us was the darkness of night absolutely silent," says Paolucci. "The engineer had charge of the electric motor which drove, the craft. He accelerated, and the first rush of waves (aught me in the face and went down my buck and breast. •]t was about ]1 o'clock when we came into collision with the first of the obstructions of the Pola defences, which were formed of countless empty metal cylinders, live feet apart, arid held in position by steel cables. MET A SUBMARINE "We stopped the motor and began to glide with the aid of our hand movements along the lines of cylinders mitd we came to a break, but the spot did not strike us ns favourable. "We were about to got away when piy comrade, without a word, grasped my arm. Fie pointed to the huge mass of a submarine fpiile close and obviously making right for us. "1 instinctively put out a hand to grasp the handle'that set off the torpedo. This would have destroyed at once our little submarine and her secret. But the enemy submarine, although it passed near, gave no sign of having detected our presence. "Soon our way was stopped by huge blocks of cement. T went forward alone to investigate, and found I could got. well under the embankment. So we steered the tiny submarine beneath it. "To ascertain our exact position 1 wont forward, swimming .alongside the face of the rock. When T got to the edge of the embankment I heard above my head a sudden cough. I stopped. "Not more than a few foot above me was a man. He was almost bound to see me. I set my head swaying, imitating the oscillations of a floating bottle. "I was daunted by the certainty that it bullet from a gun breaking the glass would leave its trace of red along the surface of the sea, but with relief I heard the sound of receding footsteps. "At last T reached the other obstruction serving to shield the port. It was made of two files of long beams. sot parallel to the entrance into the port and separated by qther transverse beams. '•'Satisfied with what I had seen T went backwards towards our little era ft and pushed forward into the harbour. We knew then that it would be impossible to return. "There were enemy ships at anchor in the port, of Pola. Among them was the great warship Viribus Unitis. We made for it at a speed that ought to have betrayed us. The decisive moment was approaching. "A strong current against US did not leave a possibility of getting beneath the hull of the big batfleslyj.until about a quarter past four. She was not many feet from us now. silent, vast, grim as a fortress. There had boon an agreement between us as to which one was to have the glory of fixing the torpedo to the hull of tho oaU'."ship. T had been chosen but my cemrad. 1 ail at once decided to make the trip himself as his greater experience enabled him to foresee the technical difficulties which might present themselves.

LOST HIS COMRADE Little by little, while he was swimming cautiously towards the battleship, the cunvnt. swept me away with my tiny craft. At last I managed to get control of lier again, and finally succeeded !■.' getting her directed towards the Vii'ibus Unitis, There was no sign to he seen of my partner, and T looked at my watch. It was 2.5 niii.rtfs since his disappearance. Meanwhile aboard ihe enemy ships I lie morning call was sounding. Away on the horizon the first dawn was beginning to show in the sky. and the formidable lines of the ports defences began to take f.'i'n; anil : - -hape. It was possible to iiinke out ahiiaid the Viribus Unitis the movements uf her crew. Suddenly under the shadow of the battleship I made out a bottle that was floating ami swaying. . That was my partner Rosetti. No sooner had we greeted each other than a shout rang out from the deck of the battleship. We were discovered. The next moment a motor boat made for us. Faithful to our word of honour, and certain of receiving a volley at any moment, we set to work to destroy the submarine. Roselti opened the immersion valve. T having charged the second torpedo and set it off. It dived and ended up in a small inlet, where it exploded and sank the big trans-Atlantic steamer Wien. "Wer da?" the challenge came from ; the motor boat. "Italian officers.' - j The answer had an astonishing effect-. ' The crew of the boat stared at us as if we were madmen. That, however, did tint prevent them from seizing us with , all speed. : Imagine our horror when we were, taken aboard the warship ■ under which 1 we had laid the time fuse torpedo. Tn , a very few minutes she would blow up. The marines crowded about us asking where had we sprung from down below? What were we doing there? i CREW'S TERROR By this time the commander of the Viribus T'nitis ,had been aroused and told of our mysterious arrival aboard bis ship. We were taken into his presence. "Captain !" said Rosetti. "Your tiew is in great danger!" "What danger?" tin captain demanded. "Are you jesting?" "T can't tell you what peril, but in _a THE" TRI' iTBT:rJ?S~OF~SCOTTJVNb ! VOIT want the BEST Scotch Whisky—- -*- In' =-nre von tret it bv demanding the Yellow Lube] Whiskv bottled bv Arthur Bell and Sons. Ltd.. Perth, Scotland, famous throughout N.Z. for ove-r 30: vears. __ ! "Afore Ye Go—BELLS." /

few moments your ship will go tip. I'm not jesting. Save your crew.'' 'flu' captain was at last brought to see the truth, lie dashed outside his cabin We heard him roar in German: "The Italians have put a bomb tinder her. Each one for himself!" (Jungs of pailors. half-naked, raced madly along the bridges or llu'nngcd the stairways yelling. We heard the splash of bo;li-;< as men leaped from the decks to l.ho water. in reply-to Itossetti's fjuestiou, the captain said: "You may look out for yourselves." We lost no time in running to the bridge and joining in the confusion of human, forms that dotted the sea. With slow strokes we managed to get away from the big ship. Not until we were some distance off did a launch appear. We. were seized and carried back towards the doomed ship, Time passed until it occurred to some. of the crew that since nothing had blown Up the? hail been tricked, bill 1 knew thai the fatal uiomen! would come at half past six. Only Iwo minutes to

THE 1'.1.0W FALLS Suddenly as ivu watched the bridge of the great' battleship trembled. Objects on board began to sway. A heavy hollow seemed to issue from the bowels of the .sea, and a lofty column of water shot up from the hold and fell in thundering cataracts upon the bridges and the decks. Every plate of the dreadnought conic? be heard in a death rattle. The -din of riven and rent, plates, the shriek of hingl's torn apart, the roar of inrushiug \vatcrs—it was a terrible spectacle. As the great vessel turned over we saw the captain clamber over the gigantic hack—if such it may he termed—of llie ship. lie got to the summit. There he stood upright, motionless, as if he were a monument of grief. Then all slowly sank from our sight. Our launch bore.us to a wharf within the port. Half naked aiid still dripping wo wore taken to the hospital ship Hapsburg. My hands were numbed. My feet were, frozen. My liver seemed afire, not only from the congestion of my blood but from a blow dealt, me shortly before by a sailor as I was getting ashore. There ensued some days of melancholy meditation for us. There were occasions.upon which our execution seemed certain. Preparations were all completed for the purpose by a squad of eight soldiers armed .with guns and revolvers and led by an officer. Five days later our own licet arrived in triumph at Pola. It was our deliverance ! Lieutenant Paolucci's amazing story ends at this point. Shortly afterwards the Armistice was signed and the daring adventurers returned to Venice.