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Show BRITISH DECOY SHIPS 00IHT1T1 Achievements of "Mystery Fleet" Comprise Unique Chapter in War. Many Hun Submarines Are Lured to Destruction by Camouflaged Vessels. LOSDOX, Dec C. ( I'orro.-poiitlcnoe of the Associated rrcss.) One of tbo most exciting chapters of the war against Gorman U-hoats is a serifs of accounts of notable engagements between be-tween British decoy ships and the fnb-niarines, fnb-niarines, made public by the British admiralty ad-miralty While, tho whole story of the part played by these dceoy vessels, "mystery-ships." "mystery-ships." or ' ' tL " craft has not been revealed, re-vealed, it is e ident that several of theni wero nscd to hire the liuu undersea under-sea craft to their destruction. Some incidents in this campaign already al-ready have been made known, dentins chiefly with a few of the exploits of Commander Gordon Campbell as master of the decoy vessels; bnt. others io which he and other captains participated partici-pated now aro available. That at least a small fleet was used in this work is evident from the fact that Campbell at different, times appears ap-pears as tho master of tho rarnboroiiKn, the Pargust, tho Dunraveu and the Q o. Heroism Is Shown. The Prize, another decoy ship, was commanded bv Lieutenant William E. Sanders and the Stock 1'orco by Lieutenant Lieu-tenant Harold Auteu. Stories of the encounters between these ships and the U-boats arc filled with deeds of heroism and instances iu which the diseiplino of the British navy-was navy-was displayed under the trying circumstances. circum-stances. For many months tho doeov ships, heavily armed, but with their guns hidden behiud falo bulwarks, steamed zicv-as paths in tho seas which were tho hunting grounds of tho submarine. sub-marine. In their character of lazy colliers or slow cargo craft, they presented to tho submarine commander an inviting object ob-ject of attack, but once he was well within range of the British guns, the false superstructure hidiug the guns fell away and tho helpless collier become be-come suddenly transformed into a fighting fight-ing craft, bent on destruction. It was dangerous work, requiring tho high order of courage, for tho submarine subma-rine must bo lured near before the guns could safelv begin their work. Meantime, Mean-time, the Hun frequently had sent bis torpedo home and tho decoy ship was disabled, sometimes on firu aud part of her crew wounded. In that condition the battle was fought and often tho submarine sub-marine destroyed. Ruses Practiced. "Panic parties" was one of the ruses practice1 by tho decoy ship's commander com-mander to coax the submarine alongside. along-side. When the mystery ship was tor-doed tor-doed these panic parties took to the boats, apparently abandoning their vessel, ves-sel, but always leaving on board another crew to man the guns and finish tho submarine if it came near enough. Tho first encounter mentioned by tho admiralty took place in March. when tho I'arnborougli, disguised as a collier, was, attacked bv a submarine. The "panic party" took to tho boats, and, when tho submarine closed in to about 800 yards, tho F.irnhorough opened fire oil her. Tho U-boat f-ub-' merged and tho l'arnhorough passed I over her, dropping depth bombs. Tho submarine reappeared standing on cud. Five rounds were fired into her at nearly point blank range, and she went to the bottom of tho sea. Prior to that action the Fnrnborough had Cruised throughout the entire winder win-der without being attacked. Sunk by Gunfire. Within a month tho 1'arnborough coaxed another submarine uc-ar enough to sing her by gunfire. Commander Campbell later was transferred to tho command of tho Q-5, and in tho following follow-ing February, lfMo, his vessel was torpedoed tor-pedoed by a submarine, which eventually eventu-ally approached so near that a ehot from the I'arnborougli beheaded the U-boat captain as he climbed out of tho tower, the submarine was sunk with her conning tower open and her crew-pouring crew-pouring out. Destroyers towed the Q -5 in and beached her. For this exploit tho Victoria Cross was awarded to Campbell. The decoy ship Pargust, with Campbell Camp-bell in command, was torpedoed on Juno 7, 1017. while disguised as a British Brit-ish merchant vessel. The submarine came within fifty yards of tho Pargust, which then opened fire on her with all guns. The submarine crew poured out of the conning tower and held up their hands in token of surrender, but tho L-l'uat steamed away trying Io cscnpo in the mist. The Pargust again opened fire on her aud sunk her with one man clinging to her bow as she went down. The decov vessel was towed back to port bv American destroyers. Two Victoria Vic-toria Crosses were awarded for this successful suc-cessful action. |