BATTLE WITH INBOATS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 14 July 1941, Page 6

BATTLE WITH INBOATS

ACE COMMANDER CAPTURED. TWO MARAUDERS SUNK. The German U-boat commander Otto Kretschmer, whose capture was recently announced, was taken prisoner after what is described as “one of the wildest dog-fights between warships and submarines ever known.” Kretschmer was lionised throughout Germany as the "Wolf of the North Atlantic." With great but imprudent daring he attacked a convoy at night in poor visibility. As a result two—probably three —U-boats were sunk. Earlier in the evening one of the escorting ships had sighted a U-boat on the surface audaciously shadowing the convoy. Immediately it raced to the attack. The submarine crash-dived and there was no apparent sequel to the dropping of depth charges. The warship’s commander therefore rejoined the convoy, and all the escort vessels maintained special vigilance. It was a black, moonless night. An unpleasant swell developed and a slight drizzle reduced the visibility still more. Keen eyes straining into the darkness could only dimly discern nebulous shapes as the ships ploughed a slow course.

Suddenly alarm bells clanged. All the escorting vessels began a furious hunt for the unseen U-boats. Star shells were fired and the warships circled and twisted, sweeping the depths with their detectors. Luck speedily came the way of one ship when the commander spotted a submarine only a few hundred yards away. He signalled full speed ahead to the engine room and attacked. Half a dozen of the U-boat crew flung themselves into the sea as their craft sank. Then, while the British sailors were dragging some of the Germans on board, with ropes, a second U-boat surfaced near. To avoid the possibility of being torpedoed, the victorious warship sped away. But, as it happened, the second submarine had been damaged by depth charges dropped from a sister ship and had. been forced to come up. Numbers of the crew were captured by a sister warship, and the work of rescue went on. During the hunt, one warship which had dropped a number of depth charges believed that a third U-boat had been sunk.