SEARCHING FOR U-BOATS

New Zealand Times, Volume XLIV, Issue 10280, 15 May 1919, Page 7

SEARCHING FOR U-BOATS

STIRRING EXLOIT OF SANDERS, V.C.' ' ' » ' ' Tress Association. ' ■ * Auckland; 1 May U.,. ....,, An officer who served as first lieue tenant under Lieutenant-Comma'nder... V.C., writing to the father of the New .Zealand hero, describes how Aheir little, sailing, ship,- in- searching for submarines' off the south-east coast i ofi »• Jreland>, 'encountered one of etna enemy U-boats, which holed Sanders’s ship injbhi'oo places on the water line, and set the engine room on fire, while his “panic-party” launched a bopt and pulled .clear of .thp. ship.. “During .this .trying ...time,”, l: the..w,officer proceeds,-, ,“.i>anders was.perfectly cool. .Occasion-,, .ally he crept forward,,on,his ,hands,(and, . knees to pay me a visit at the forward gmis, to ascertain how the gun crews were standing the shell fire. , About 9.10 p.m. the, submarine commander could see oiir ship was in a sinking con- , < aii{pn v l^S |^lJ’i , he ceased fire and ‘ slowly/, ■ttpprdadMed.v Sanders, with unexampled courage and coolness, held his fire until he gob the submarine into such a posittcm~that there would be no escape. All this time his gun crews had been lying flat on the'deck, waiting the order' tp uncover the guns. When the submarine was within 80 yards, Sanders gave the order to “open action,” 'at"the same time running -the, White. Ensign. ,to„thei masthead. We opened twefvd-po'under" 1 striking sl the; submarine’s forward gun, 'taking ’ the gun and the gun’s crew .overboard- The first -ten • shots from our guns were hits', while the. forward gun also put in some useful shooting. The commander of the submarine started to-move away from us, prohablwto finish* mr with a stern torpedoT"“This ' was his last'order, for a second later Ahe-man’s -body was hit. A large ’prof-'" ’ tlon. of one of our bursting shells' carpel - f in violent contact with the command®'and knocked him into the sea. Onf twelve-pounders were playing havoc with the submarine. We played streams of bullets from a Lewis gun ..mong-t the submarine crew, , and Tier 'leeks being fairly crowded, we observed the bullets cause a large number of casualties. The submarine steamed away 200 yards from -us, when one of our shells."evidently took effect on her p-r----pellipg machinery. She stonped, fell broad-side!'op to the swqll. then , gradually settled; down by the stern, sinking shortly afterwards.” ■ / ■■■ .