Show BRITISH NAVAL RECORDS HOLD TALES OF FIGHTS WITH BOATS HOATS U stories in brief form reveal german savagery and fri frightfulness with occasional touches of comedy many describe hairbreadth escapes and gallant defense by british sailors london in a big room in whitehall there are kept nil all the records of british merchant ships encounters with U boats there they ure are volumes voli unes find and volumes of 0 tho the most damning evidence indelible tor for all time of german savagery and british bravery ever since germanys germanas Germ anys cold blooded frightfulness at sea began these records 0 ads have been piling up in tills this room and only boly now are they being allowed to see tile the light they tell of all kinds of ships from big liners down to tiny schooners ners all are short but realistic testifying to the british merchant sailors behavior against tit tho ugliest methods of german warfare they tell of lights fights witt with submarines often against enormous odds and of hairbreadth escapes of callant rescues and perilous adventures in small boats on the open seas of german submarine crews who leered at their victims and of few cases where tile tho german erman crews helped to rescue them hero Is a typical story of a light between a mereb merchantman antman with a little gun and a U boat it la Is perhaps one of tho the longest of tile the records there was n henvy heavy sea with squalls of rain and the time was ho five minutes to three in the morning tile the captain saya sighted submarine ahead almost immediately I 1 sighted a submarine right ahead crossing from starboard to port it was wag a very big one find and there were four or five nien men around the conning tower I 1 put helm hard starboard a and tried to ram him but missed by feet its as I 1 could hear the men shouting aboard her As soon as I 1 saw I 1 lind had missed tier her I 1 sung out to tho the guns crew look out alit close on port side there I 1 and I 1 put the helm hard aport apart to bring the enemy astern almost immediately afterward I 1 heard tho the report of my gun and turning round saw a big bright in the water in tho the port quarter like a big explosion this was ve verified rifled by tho the guns crew the second officer and the mate who was the spotting officer about ten minutes afterward I 1 no what appeared to be the wake of a torpedo passing along the port side bide and I 1 shouted the guns crew look out port quarter again 1 find and put the helm to port but as I 1 was calling out my orders second officer and guns crew observed the bow and stern wake of a submarine on port quarter steering parallel to us and coming coining on oil tit at a good speed we fired on him but mado made no lilt find I 1 ordered the men to cease fire as I 1 hoped to escape in the he darkness and the flash of tho the gun ans very brilliant it being a dark night I 1 then or ordered dereI the chief engineer to get his men down clown the stokehold and drive tile tho vessel to his utmost find and ordered the guns crew to stand by gun and every one to put a lif ebelt on the captain continues with n fine touch of unintentional bravado felt enemy was pur pursuing lulng As tile tho off officers leers had not y yet t had 1 lar lr conte clotree I 1 told tile the steward to got get it for them tin and went buck bucic to the bridge and spoke to the second officer nebout keeping a sharp lookout its as I 1 felt some somehow liow that the enemy was basing consing us ile HP was sure enough for foi adds tho the captain about twenty minutes past six sl I 1 went below to the cliart chart room to got get our position again find and almost immediately I 1 heard a tor terrific rifle explosion on oil the alie port side I 1 ran up on the file bridge and ordered all boats alit fill icil called the wireless operator to send out on nil S 0 S and give gho our position As ills his machine broke down almost immediately we got no reply A few seconds after the first explosion I 1 it lienard e ord the heavy dull explosions I 1 from tile the bursting boilers anti the ship was involved in ill smoke and ami fames 11 A few minutes later inter the essco vessel stink sank find and ni most of the boats were smashed tile captain and some of the crew jumped into the sen sea and swain until picked up some hours litter later in nil these records the command erg CM and crews of the U bont boat are seen been face to face and their actions na and words word sare anre set town down prejudice there Is if a tnie of a terrible e struggle with death in the case of a torpedoed ship boats smashed the only two that reached tho the water being upside down some of the crew jumped from the vessel find sought refuge on them li boat up three times the U boat approached them hero and or dered the survivors to come on board tile tho submarine they shouted back that they were capsized and could not move three times tile the submarine came up tip with a similar invitation three airee almos the commander received tile lie same game reply then the U boat came alongside one of tho the upturned boats took the lie name of the ship fillip and the lie master and nil all the details the crew of the tha enemy craft was asked by these shipwrecked men to help right their boat for them but no answer was given though the germans must have heard the frantic knock knockings ings of one poor chap imprisoned under the capsized boot boat and who was trying to attract attention to his pitiful plight the submarine steamed attend ahead and put the helm hard over with the result that tile the men clinging to tile the keel of tile the boat were mere thrown into the wn liter again they managed to scramble back to their boat with tin thi man still underneath it but they pulled out tho the plug to give lint him air and ten hours later they were rescued the germans take elaborate steps to find out the name of the ship they have sunk and the nature of tier her cargo in one case a master while engaged with his crew baling out a leaky lifeboat was hailed by the submarine for the name of its his ship it was given to him but the commander shouted back that lie he could not find tho the name in ili the shipping list and ordered ono one of the crew to go on board the emissary spelt tile name and the disappeared into tho the conning tower find three quarters of nil an hour later ile ho turned ned and said lie he had found the name of the ship photographed two negroes another ship carried a crew of 47 two of whom were negroes nc groos the ship was torpedoed in the usual way without warning and sank so rapidly that there was no time to lower the boats though luckily the entire crew had life belts seeing a negro in the water the commander of the submarine took jook him on oil board and as ai soon as ho he reached tho the submarine ills wr w elsts I 1 ats were imprisoned and bield let they then tools took a photograph of him film find also of the other negro who was flon floating ting on oil n R raft nearby the first man was then allowed to dive from the submarine and lie ho too swum swam to the raft r antt these photographs were clearly intended for german propaganda out of tho the crew of 47 men only 15 tire are known to have been picked up tile the captain of the ship was left on the bridge when the boat wont went down and was WAR not seen again the saved men were in the water for hours together the alie U boat its as usual submerging and leaving them to their fate among all the alie tales of cool and splendid behavior which sir rosslyn wemyss in paying a tribute to the british merchant navy rec recently antly tit described its as beyond nil all praise Is that flint of a stewardess of a big lanere which went down ne according cording to one account in seven minutes after tho the explosion the master says the stewardess behaved exceptionally well and with great presence of mind gave cumers lers and other articles to the erem crew when they were in tile boat it Is in this story that hat one of the very few acts of humane conduct on the part of at a german submarine commil commander ilder Is recorded submarine picked up tip two of lite iho men in the water himself after which wo we went alongside the submarine and took the two men on boerl among all these records of oc horror bravery and cruelty thero there are arc little glints of something almost tipp approaching comedy take for instance the record of n little south const coast schooner which WAR sunk a some way from froin home c the first part of the story Is aiom lint hat of tile he muster master told to tile the british consul abroad the master described how when the ship was struck three men got into the boa before the fourth man could get in nil accident occurred and the boat was upset tito master reported four men drowned what happened to tn the fourth man Is not clear and remarked that lint those drowned became too excited rila ills still ship had find been heavily enIly li shelled for n long time but the german shooting was very bad tile the cri captain plain and boy bay who remained on board were taken on board tho the submarine and released five hours later and put on board a foreign ship tile captain was to give tiny any description of the submarine captain could not describe submarine up said eld ile he was sent below fit at once step I 1 tile the next part of the story Is from ono one of the men whom tho the master thought lost ile iio gives an idyllic picture of the scene before the shelling vessel in r full ull sall sail the vessel ind had nil all salt sail except tile the fizzon gert topsail set tito wind was abeam the vessel on the port point tack heading southeast find enst east tile the master was standing by alie helmsman the mate was talking to the master both on the lie lee side fide of thu poop slip she was WAR mn making ng s six x or seven knots ano s through froug I 1 die water when tile the master asked tile ho alinte Is that a submarine the cinto had n look at it and said lym cef it Is 11 1 the master took tile he wheel and ordered nil fill I hands ands to get tho bont boat out before tile the int I nt got into tile water the submarine started shelling then the lie disaster happ happened ened tile the mil man n on oil the lie boat reported that nothing tuia has been heard of vessel once ile last saw tier her it seems hat flint about three hours after leaving fillip bort borit righted and was billed out lilt hut a most interesting part of tile he stor atory y Is into missing sing for one would like to know whether master and crow met again nud find what they said to one tin on other I 1 says kays tho the mate of another little ship 11 masters renson reason tor for abandoning ship wag abat sho ga aanie ik alir r him and at as la Is but un mhd hi aca mans pride in its ills ship Is H often revealed in these records OR as slie went flown down with hardly a n plit sli like lie lady file eha ownys was nna and 1 I shall uever er get like ler 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