OX THE SEA.

Taranaki Daily News, 17 October 1917, Page 5

OX THE SEA.

PASSENGER STEAMER TORPEDOED. •250 MISSING. Renter Service. deceived Oct. 17. 1.50 a.m. 'Paris, Oct. 10. A steamer carrying 50!) passengers, including Algerian soldiers and some prisoners of war. and a crew of (17, was torpedoed in the western Mediterranean. There are 250 missing. FURTHER LOSSES. Received Oct. 16, 8.45 p.m. ' London, Oct. 15.. The Admiralty reports that the minesweeping sloop Begonia is overdue, and is considered to be lost with all hands. The British armed mercantile cruiser Champagne-, was torpedoed and sunk. Five officers and 57 men perished. CAPTURE OP WOOL DESTINED FOR GERMANS. Received Oct .16, 8.45 p.m. London, Oct. 15. A prize court condemned, as'destined for the Germans, valuable parcels of wool consigned from Buenos Ayros to the Swedish army administration, in Swedish ships. Britain has altogether seized £380,000 worth of wool. EFFECTIVE GERMAN BRIBERY. Paris, Oct. 15. M. Geoffrey, lately Ambassador" at Madrid, interviewed, said that he is convinced that the escape of the submarine from Cadiz was duo to the Germans corrupting certain Spanish subordinate authorities. ITALIAN STEAMER SUNK. Athens, Oct. 15. A German submarine torpedoed the Italian steamer Bari, and also sank several lifeboats. Fifty survivors have gone to Italy. A number of Greek officials were on board the Bari coming home via Switzerland, and there is no news of their fate. Tt is 'believed the Germans know they were on board through the espionage which is rife in Switzerland. HUNTING U-BOATS. BRITISH METHODS. ADMIRALTY LIFTS VEIL.

London, Sept. lii. The following incidents from Admiralty records are illuminating as showing the growing success of the offensive measures against submarines: One of our small craft sighted a submarine 10,000 yards away. The enemy came near, and suddenly submerged. Shortly afterwards a periscope appeared close on the starboard bow for a few seconds, then disappeared again. We ported helm, circled round, and dropped two explosive charges, which caused two explosions, the latter shaking us from stem to stern. The water was blackened over a large area, and a considerable quantity of thick oil and flotsam came to the surface. SUNK BY BRITISH SUBMARINE. One of our submarines saw an enemy submarine two miles away to starboard. We dived. The enemy altered his course, and we lost him; but his apparent objective being conjectured, we steered on the chance of cutting him off. Then we picked him up on our port bow, steering as we had surmised. We tired a torpedo and a few seconds later the enemy was seen with his stern out of the water, surrounded by smoke. His conning .tower was half submerged, and a minute afterwards he disappeared. A seaplane seeing a submarine manoeuvring to Are a torpedo at a merchantman, descended to the spot where the U-boat had submerged. The seaplane dropped three bombs. Five minutes later a large upheaval, like a huge bubble rising from the sea level, was noticed whersf the bombs had been dropped. There was no further sign of the submarine. TELL-TALE OIL BUBBLES. A patrol vessel noticed a considerabls foam travelling parallel with her. She crossed the wake of the foam and drop, ped a bomb on the most likely spot, then another. Two more patrol craft arrived and dropped bombs. Thick brown oil rose to the surface for 12 hours afterwards.

One of our naval forces, hearing gunfire, steered for the position, sighted a submarine, and fired and hit her. A large explosion resulted. Nothing more was seen of the enemy.

Two submarines attacked a defensively armed vessel. One fired a torpedo at close range, but missed.' The ship then sank one of the submarines. The other under-sea craft attacked, but was damaged and driven off. Another defensively armed vessel encountered a submarine. The ship fired, hit the submarine twice, and caused her to disappear vertically. The sea appeared to boil a considerable time after. OPTUIISTIO NAVAL AUTHORITY. A high British naval authority ias made a statement in which he optimistically regards the fight against submarines. He says: "We are more than holding our own. Time is on oujf side, and ultimate success assured. There is no evidence, despite loud talk in Germany, of new U-boat tactics. Good results* were obtained last quartet l in the destruction of submarines. The German High Command has fixed early in October as the latest and third definite date for compelling the surrender 1 of Great Britain."