CRUISE WITH THE PIRATES.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 4, Issue 113, 26 November 1915, Page 2 (Supplement)

CRUISE WITH THE PIRATES.

NARRATIVE FROM U 39. BRITISH CAPTAIN'S BRAVE JjTUHT. Mr Henry Reuterdabl, the naval art ist and author, has eontinu-.d :n the 'Mew York American" an account or' the submarine attack on the London steamship Angfo-Californian (7,&13 tons) on July 4 by the American Bailor lad named Carl Franz List, who was in t!io 0 39. He was fhken on board the submarine from a Norwegian ship that was sunk.

The Anglo-Californian, which escaped, had eleven killed, including the captain, and seven injured by the shell lire of the submarine.

"We went for her without a 6ing:e torpedo in our tubes and with but a handful of shells for the deck gun," says List. "That meant surface work oniy. The Anglo-Californian did not heed o%r warning shots, and we fired into her rudder, hoping to disable her, but she kept on steering in circles. "The U 39 i 6 shaking; hammer, hammer go the engines, doing almost trial-trip speed. Spray tails on all sides and the men at the gun are drenched. The gun is using up our last shells. The wily commander on the Anglo-Californ-ian's bridge is working' in spirals to escape us, so our captain orders the men at the gun to sweep the deck underneath. The look-outs through the glasses note that the steamer's skipper is steering the ship by lying flat and grabbing the spokes of the wheel. A FURIOUS FIRE. "Meanwhile boats are being lowered, but it is a mystery how they are kept from being swamped and the people spilled, a 6 the Anglo-Californian never slows once, but keeps running at full speed in circles. We are ordered to count the few remaining shells and aim accurately. We riddle the bridge funnels with furious fire, hut the last round of ammunition is gone and there is no surrender of the Anglo-Californ-ian, which is sti'l zig-zaggmg. "As a last resort a Maxim is brought on deck and clamped to the top of th« conning tower, begins to spit its fire of rifle bullets by the beltful. Less than a couple of hundred yards away we pick off tiie Anglo-Californian's crew wherever a head shows round the boat davits. Our fire is returned by nflo shots which drop on the deck and spatter our conning tower. Scratches on the armour 6how where we are hit. But it is of no avail. She had cried for help over the wireless, and wo have been hard at it for over two hours, and assistance is coming to our prey. ESCAPE FROM DESTROYERS. "A grey patrol boat turned up behind her bow, followed by a 6warm of destroyers. Like lightning we scattered pell-mell for the conning tower hatch, and we were unshipping tne Maxim and handing rifles below just as a shell whizzed over our heads and struck tho water within fifteen feet. We literally beat it, and dropped below the surface like a rock We could hear the sound of the propellers of our pursuers overhead, and could imagine then- anger, for we stayed under water an hour.

" Oli, for the torpedo we missed with yesterday. AVe have got to go home harmless as a kitten. Our crew agrees that the Anglo-Californian captain ought to have an Iron Cross." List then gives an account of the home-coniing. Twenty-one days is the maximum endurance of submarines of the U 39 class, and they had left Heligoland on June 20, and should have stayed on the station bordering the Atlantic until July 5, allowing six days for the return. North of Scotland, homeward ' bound, they sighted the "famous U 20, the conqueror of the Lusitania." Colours were hoisted, and Erich, the music master of the pirate gang, mounted the conning tower, crossed his legs, and began to tune a greeting with hte accordion. He played an old Norwegian waltz until ilia U 20 passed on.