MERCHANT SHIPS SINK THREE U-BOATS.

Taranaki Daily News, 5 June 1918, Page 6

MERCHANT SHIPS SINK THREE U-BOATS.

Liverpool, March 8. Three Liverpool steamers have sunk three German submarnes in the Atlantic recently, and it is now permitted to relate the circumstances. In the first instance, a Liverpool steamer waß fired upon by a submarine in the Atlantic at daybrck. The stea* mer paid no heed to the shots and kept on her course. The submarine followed cautiously steaming along the surface, keeping up a long-range bombardment for an hour and a half. Suddenly the ship slowed down and the boats were lowered, apparently indicating that the captain had received all the punishment he wanted, and was abandoning his ship. The submarine commander, fearful of a trap, circled around the ship several time 9, and then came closer to the vessel.

The last act came very swiftly. There was a sharp sound of falling timbers as a false aide dropped away and then six explosions as a gun spoke six times. Four of the shots hit the mark, three of them destroying the conning tower, and the other disabling the German gun. The submarine's bow tose high l in the air and then slipped down into the water like a gigantic dart. A second Liverpool steamer was outward bound at a speed of eight knots when a torpedo passed twenty feet astern. As the vessel was turned a second torpedo missed her bow. The guilty periscope was observed a quarter of a mile away, and the gun crew begin firing. The first shot went too high, but the second and third exploded on hitting the enemy, which disappeared amid a great pool of bubbles arid oil. A sailing ship accounted for the third submarine. The ship was fired upon by a U-boat just before noon. As the German came within range his fire was answered, the sailing vessel firing thirteen shots. The chief gunner was a former petty officer in the British navy, and he scored eight bull's-eyes in a space of less than two minutes. His report says:—

"The hows of the submarine disappeared and the stern rose clear out of the water. She remained in this position for about fifteen seconds and then disappeared. A minute later the stern and rudder came up again and remained steady above the water, at an angle of thirty degrees for a few seconds before passinu from view."