| OCR Text |
Show TRAGIC EPISODES IN NORTH SEA EXPECTED BY U.AIR PATROL Veteran Warrior of Twenty-one Years Wears D. S. O. Ribbon for Shooting Down I Nine I Inn Planes. i t . "THE FIGHTING FLEETS." By RALril D. PAINE. (Coprri(iht, llUS, bv Kalph 1. J'mnfl.) t t 11 y MPi'ta I h rra iiKement with I Inn l; h ton M ' f Mil Co. ) in'st.i.mi:nt it. Aloft in a Hydroplane. S 1111 tragic t'pUmlc as this must be epfetil on the North sea air patrol. There hio other pllot-i who lmf found the fortunes for-tunes of1 war less irurl than did "Al" Sturtrv ant, but, hk Hie men of the submarine flotillas, there is always the eham-e that they may be set dow n an nulnk. I made one f I ik ti t with a derail warrior of i w ent -one w ho w ore the ribbon of the l. S. O. for shooting down nine I'erm n seaplanes In a rlous encounters en-counters at sr. i. He had u"o displayed dis-played Kieat skill and energy in bombing submarines, which was the important part of h!s lob. V hen ready f'r active ser i e this boat of h's lifted ten tons of total weight as she skittered from the water and took wins to boom along at ninety -odd knots an hour. Her hull bristled with ma.-htne suns, and one could move about In her as, readily as in the tuMn of a motor launch. A S' ore of mechanics pushed the boa t ou I of her .shed a nd dow n the- Ions incltned runway thai led Into the water. She rode upon wheeled trucks from which she floated float-ed off to ride with graceful buoyancy while the propellers whirled to t h thrust of the roarlnc motors of seven hundred horsepow or. Windshield Breaks Rush of Gale. t latherlric headway. she i ushed across the harbor and left a foaming wake un;tl at a slight tu-n of the steering-wheel the rudder planes were def.ee led anil the heavv craft picked herse'f up cleanly from the water and wns in the ulr. Her motion was as steady as that of a tramp freighter freight-er bnorlmj through a tropic calm ut ten knots. The windshield broke the Kale that rushed past the lxw-. and I it was only by glancing at the In-I In-I dictator that one could realize the speed of this flyinc boat s, ent I eighty ninety knots almost a hun- dred land miles and the North sen I unrolling far beneath like a dull green carpet flecked with white. ! Lighthouses gleamed as tlnv ;is I while Micks of randy at the edge of a doll's Illage. and fort! 'cations oul-I oul-I line 1 themselves In delicate tracer v. I lines, and j-iuarev and anev For miif s and mi'es the ' o.im was defined de-fined bv the ribbon of surf, and the rivers wandered In'anJ like tih er thread. Different View of North Sea Craft. The North sea . almost u m ena n: ed when seen from t i :e ho re, was re-ealed re-ealed as populous w itt many Winds of traffic. I'nmolepted. the cargo boats, griinv. deep-lade: . ere pass- inn to and fro on tlic.r law f u I occasions occa-sions while the German Hi-:h Sea feet lav at aih'iif.r l.ehhid lis de-fen-ies and Wa' Impotent to trntiMe I hem. I l Islon.H of dest t o ei s wi hou nd out on l )h'I r on n perilous pa -, iiols, mid the trawlers moved In I pairs to nween the char'e.l Inn.-.-. A I .submarine loy-ed on (he Mirfac, a ! i angf d wisp of an ensign flut t( r.m; 1 from her w In le-.s rnat, 'Die pilot shonte-l above the unln-of unln-of the mototr.: "rhev are kIiv ..f Muhniei g I ii k when thev fe us a hou t . It's saf.' to .M.ij on lop and fly the old ran.'" Observer's Range Greatly Enlarged. Frmn the air It was po-.sih'e to perceive per-ceive h- slu. ere iiiiin! hi- the dislike of the German 1 1. ma r I ne for tin- fo-w fo-w hi. h hai rles biTii l:ke a hawk. The rangi of t he ol sei er iIiii I? wonilei fullv enlatx..). pei im . .pe or the blurred sbudo'A of a hull bene. it. i ttie mii fa.-e ran he d e t e i t e . w h. re t destror won!. ,ti ai .( mm noth-UiK. noth-UiK. The .uluna rhie which ri-.es :,s tn no t : I ti to dive hhiii on lite 1n-s'ant 1n-s'ant Almost a minute must elap-fl before safel .an he mmikM in submersion sub-mersion . I turins this Interval the sciinlane .j.n approach fiom a on-slderHiMe on-slderHiMe d'sin e and release a loiul or two w hlch w id e plode with t r-rlf'c r-rlf'c effei :. "They have to Slav down In daylight." day-light." e p'a I ned the pilot . " have m uiulcr control to that extent. And thev can' t see to do much mischief mis-chief In the da-k. There was one cticus realiv :uii.iMiu; a submarine of ours flushe 1 u liun and chased him t-t tuc sin fa- e. A c ouple of trawlers were handv and Ihey blazed svh with eer thms thev hn. bnipenel aiicn; in this ame ol-f bi;s. and unhooked al) the bombs I had left. My word! but the Hun was rapidlv going insane He boh d straight Into a mine fiehl. but this d lil n t stop the irawlei.t. of totuse. Hun Avoids Shells for Ten Minutes. "So there he was -o ir su '-ma r .re dusting h.;n with torpedoes when he hunle.i the bottom. the trawlers shelling him when he sh'uvrd "ii top. and a sap'ane lest tn make it more Interesiln' He Ir.si what wits, he hai. beHtin ioUiit. frothed at the mou:h, anrl c!:asel himself ahoa in elides The odd part of tt was that none nf us mat. aged to hit bun for ten nun-nr nun-nr e, or so W'e v. e: e all a f raid of binding each n he r out of water. I all but bombed a t-aw.er. and the skipper stopped to -bake Ii Is fs and burl i ures at me 1 know wiial he sa ' d b - bis g s u i e. ' 'Then i he or irr trawler ms-.c 1 ramming ojt S'lbmanne t- a ban- and t' ere wjs mote la"g vie. ' i'r I , ,e beggars were jawing each ot h r. the demented Hun tombed a n.ne and ep'i'd'-. m a llou-and pb.es. nd that was the end of the Miow. It Wasjoo i,l(se for comfrrt. --d tbe trawler men -swore It shook all tlnvr teeth loose." ( To be i-on 1 1 nued 1 |
