ESCAPE FROM SUBMARINE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 248, 29 March 1915, Page 4

ESCAPE FROM SUBMARINE.

CLEVER SEAMANSHIP.

THE EXPLOIT OF THE LAERTES...;.;

(I'rom Our Own Correspondent),, Condon, February ii. British pluck and skilful seamanship.,,, enabled the steamer Laertes, pf ,' urpool, to escape from a tleinuan .sub-'.;.. marine in the Xorth Sea recently. ; ii<3 , adventure, which was the moat .exfife . ing that has yet befallen any miiyjiiii--; tile vessel, was reported, this morning',, i when the Laertes arrived at Ymuiden, whence she proceeded up the canal pa .. Amsterdam. She was chased fori tin*.... .quarters of an hour, and was not only ' 'attacked by a torpedo, but fired at from,,-, a light gun on the enemy's,, crity. Tha ■ former missed its aim, but thj, Sjlosb-, from the latter hit the vess-j' whic>, when she reached Ymuiden, boroyviybjia.,; marks of the ordeal in the shape or large holes through the funnel,,and one,,. of the ship's small boats. It was four o'clock' in the afternoon i when the Laertes homeward .hound, frota* Japan with a valuable" cargo, sighted, the German submarine U2 at a point forty miles south-south-west ot the,> Maas Lightship, between the lattoiMixuLi ■ the Schouwcn Bank. The enemy iin-. m'ediately hoisted a signal foi" the.Laertes to stop, but it wasi,i)ofc.giv,cbamind of tfie commander, Cipcnin Pro> pert, a'typical British mariner, ■ to .dd« anything of the sort. Instead, ile gavfttho order "full speed" to tile engine-, room, and proceeded' to direct his, vessel! on a zigv.ag course, so as co make.fti more difficult target Tor,,, the subniax;inc if she fired ■iorpedot',s.,. At the same time he. hoisted th* Dutch colors. The ship ~waa not; flying any Hag at the moment wtien Ufa submarine was flighted, ais.J.er l oo.a«aarKl&r decided to make use o'f the KetherlandL blue, -white and red, because-his. th'ng'a. crew included men belonging to neutral nations, mostly Chinese ajud. Norw.ogians.

, SPLEXDH) STEJERLVt.

It wag evident at oji.ee, uowavoc;. that no neutral Hag would £Br;V.i as. a, protection, and that tlie,.<iormiuw \vel« propared to risk the Laertes whntcve-r tfce port of registry or the nationalities of the ship's company. Tj&,-.3U.'iig on tha surface, so as to move at her maximum speed, the U2 made- gvavy effcifc to draw abeam of the steamship, and so find a favorable opportunity for launching a torpedo, at kec But "it wag in vain.

; by this time the Liicrto had worked up to a speed of sixteen knots. Though all on hoard realised the danger, evory munber of the crew reuiaicuj cool, collected and obedient to the commands o* the-captain. Below the stokers, responded magnificently to the chief's appeals to them to got all they could out of xlio engines, and oa deck must skilful ateersmansliip was shown in varying the . vessel's course. Gradually, but steadily,. the Laertes was increasing the distance.' from her pursuer. Suddenly there was a puff of smo?« ' from the- submarine, and then a small' .shell passed through one of the Laertes's ' ,air shafts. Seeing himself baulked of bis prey, the German eommander had . given the order for the light gun which. his vessel earned, its inuzule pointing' along the line of the bows, to be brought into action. Although the. first shot found its mark on the vessel, Captain Propert and his brave crei* were not in the least perturbed. They continned on their course, even When a second sfiot pierced the funnel and another hit one of the ship's boarts.

PARTING SHOT.,

So far as the- correspondents have y«fc learned, no one was injured, although, of course, thoir lives, those of neutrals as well ijs others, and all non-comba-tants, were endangered hv the fire to which tliey could make no reply. The submarine continued firing from her light gun, and, although some more shots fell on the upper, deck, and ona smashed the ship's <ompass, the Germans' aim was getting uncertain as the distance between them and. their targe* drew out. The chase, however, was not given up, and meanwhile, as the Laertes was making one of her swift -changes of direction, the submarine fired a torpedo. This passed across the. stern of the vessel, plainly visible to those on dock. #

Soon afterwards the submarine realised that the Laortes had the greater turn of speed. She fired a parting shot, and then disappeared beneath the grey waters. Captain Propcrt decided to make for the nearest Dutch port, $qA i reached Yimiiden, 4 ■ J