GERMAN SUBMARINES.

Taihape Daily Times, 5 September 1918, Page 2

GERMAN SUBMARINES.

CREWS DEMORALISED. TERROR OF HUNTED MEN. The Germans recently salved a submarine which, sank in the Bight of Heligoland, after with a fight with a British vessel. It was found that the plates abaft the conning tower had been forced from the rivets,. and the v.-a :er had rushed in and sunk the submarine rapidly, i The crow j risked inside their submarine coffin. Many were drowned, but when the submarine v.ns brought to the surface it was found that some of the men were standing upright, dead. They had been suffocated by the air pressure.

The story is told by a submarine deserter who reached Norway, and information received by a neutral correspondent shows that the monale of the German submarine crews has steadily declined owing to the increasing difficulty and danger of the service. The improving gunfire of British merchantmen, the use of depth charges and the harrying by' aircraft, destroyers, motor-boats, trawlers and other craft are all playing a part in the defeat of the submarine, and in the demoralisation of their crews.

Commander Rose, a well-known submarine officer told an audience at Munich that the moral effect of the British water-bombs or depth charges, was great, particularly on an inexperienced crew, in consequence of the “hellish din of their explosion.” This is the first German admission of the fact that inexperienced crews arc employed in Germlan submarines, but it lends added significance to the statement made by another submarine commander that a great many of the German submarine losses are due to the fact that many of the crews are not properly trained, some going to sea within six weeks of entering the service. Every week submarines fail to return to their bases, and others crawl home badly damaged and needing extensive repairs in the dockyards and the emergency repair depots which have been set up in order that the submarine force may be kept up to strength. The physical and mental condition in which crews return has caused much anxiety. The strain of remaining under water for long periods, and of being hunted by tall kinds of craft, particularly during fine weather in April and May, has had a marked effect on the personnel and has necessitated increased periods of rest for officers and men.

A story of a British, steamship’s recent defeat of two separate submarine attacks boars out the above statement about gunfire. In the first fight £hc submarine, which was armed with two fore and the other aft—opened rapid fire. Although the weather was clear and the sea smooth her aim was bad, and the shots fell wide. Cheered by the rest of the crow, the gunners coolly returned the submarine fire, and put her after gun out of action.

The submarine commander sent his men below, and manoeuvred for a better position, but a shot struck the submarine, and caused her to lose speed. Suddenly she took a list, and, rolling heavily, sank in a couple of minutes. The second attack took place just after sunset. A submarine fired a torpedo, -which went wide, and as soon as the steamer opened fire the submarine, which only showed a small part of her periscope, turned tail.