OCR Text |
Show U-B0AT ACKS : Tug and Three Barges Sunk by German Submarine Destroyers Searching. ORLEANS. Mass., July 21. A German Ger-man submarine attack tho tug Perth Amboy of the Lehigh Valley railroad and her four barges three miles off this town on the southeastern elbow of Cape Cod at 10:30 a. m. today. The one-sided battle lasted one hour and one-half. The. tug was burned to the water's edge by shell fire while tho barges were sunk by gunfire. The barges were bound from Gloucester Glou-cester for New York and one was loaded load-ed with stone. Of the -11 persons, Including three women and five children on board, three men Captain Charles AInslIe of the barge Lansford, and John Bolovich and John Vltz, Austrian members of the tug crew, were wounded. Bolovich Bolo-vich probably will lose an arm. Vltz had one hand blown off. Captain Ains-llo Ains-llo was wounded in both arms by shrapnel. The attack was witnessed by largo crowds of natives and summer visitors visit-ors who had flocked to tho cape for the week-end seeking relief from the heat wave. All accounts agreed that the submarine's shooting was very bad. Her torpedo work was no better. According to Captain AInslie sho launched three torpedoes at the tug and all went wild. The attack occurred oc-curred only a few miles from the naval aviation station at Chatham. Three seaplanes attacked the raider with bombs. The fire was'returned but the U-boat submerged and was last seen heading south. Tonight the tug was still afloat and It was thought she could be saved. The net result of the raid was the sinking of barges valued in the aggregate aggre-gate at $90,000, and the serious damaging dam-aging of a tug valued at ?100,000 at the expenditure of three torpedoes which it is estimated cost the German Ger-man government a total of $45,000 and a quantity of ammunition. The natives of the cape could not understand un-derstand why she should waste shells on a fleet of barges returning to a coal port. Two colliers, the Arlington and the .1. B. King passed Orleans shortly before the Perth Amboy was fired upon, but both passed through the danger dan-ger zone in safety. ORLEANS, Mass.. July 21. All enemy submarine attacked a towboat off the easternmost point of Cape Cod today, sang three barges, set a fourth and their tug on Arc and dropped four shells on the mainland. Tho action lasted an hour, and was unchallenged except for two hydroplanes from the Chatham aviation station, which circled cir-cled over the U-boat-causing her to submerge for only a moment, to reappear reap-pear and resume firing. The crews of the tow, numbering 41 and including three women and five children, escaped amid the shell fire in life boats. Several were wounded, but only one seriously. This happened to be John Botovich, an Austrian, of the tug crew. His right arm was torn away near the shoulder by a shell fragment The barges, in tow of the tug Perth Amboy of the Lehigh Valley railroad were bound from Gloucester for New York. One was loaded with stone but the others were light, being- on their return trip after bringing coal to New England. The attack was without warning and only the poor marksmanship of the German gunners permitted the escape of the crews. Tho one-sided fight took placo ihreo miles south of the Orleans coast guard station at the tip of tho cape. Tho firing brought thousands to tho beach. The flashes of the guns and tho out line of the U-boat were plainly seen. Danger was not thought of until a shell whirled over their heads and splashed in a pond a mile Inland. Three other shells burled themselves in the sands of the beach. The survivors with the exception of two injured, were taken to the Orleans coast guard station, communication with which by telephone under navy regulations, was not permitted. No information in-formation could be obtained from official offi-cial sources on the cape. Botovich and another man from ono of the barges, both of whose arms had been injured, were removed to a private hospital. Later Botovich was taken to Boston. Some of the survivors who were sleeping when the U-boat appeared, ap-peared, came ashoro in night clothing. The tug with her four barges in line was puffing along leisurely two miles from shore at 11 o'clock this morning when the U-boat of an estimated length of 400 feet rose suddenly one mile seaward and trained her guns on the tow. A moment later a shell struck the second barge amidships. Tho empty emp-ty craft doubled up and sank so quickly quick-ly that her crew barely had time to lower their small boat. The first shot was followed by a rain of shells that dropped on and all about tho tug and her barges. A lucky shot next sank the last barge. Meanwhile hits on the tug had set her afire but she stood by her barges to the finish. The third barge in line, the smallest of all, proved a hard mark and the German gunners occupied half an hour In disposing of her. By this time tho firing had alarmeu the whole cape and cries for assistance were sent broadcast. No American warships appeared to be in the vicinity and the exhibition of German gunnery went on methodically. Two hydro-airplanes rose from the station at Chatham Chat-ham and, flying low, darted toward the enemy as though to attack. It could not be seen that they dropped any bombs but the Germans evidently anticipated an-ticipated an attack from tho air for they stopped firing and elevated their guns against the hydro-airplanes. They did not fire, however, and a moment later submerged. The planes circled about where the enemy was last seen and then turned their noses toward their station. Scarcely had they reached shore when the U-boat re-appeared and resumed her attack on the tug and the one light barge remaining afloat. Both the tug and this barge were in flames and were held where they were but tho sunken barges, one of which with a load of stone made an effective anchor When the firing began the crews lost no time in abandoning the tow. EactTof the four barges had one' small boat intended to carry only five persons per-sons and all the craft were greatly overloaded. In addition tho occupants were exposed to constant danger from shell fire. Several merchants craft were In the vicinity and regardless of tho menace to themselves went to the rescue of the crows and towed the ! small boats to shore. The men of the Perth Amboy who stood by their ship until it was ablaze from bow to stern ; were taken off by lifeboats from the I coast guard station. The U-boat was still trying to find vulnerable spots In tho Perth Amboy and the remaining bargo when the hydro-alrplancs again approached. At of Iho plnncH tho submarine again submerged and did not re-ap-1 I pear. 1 Tho three women and five children did not suffer physical harm, though one of tho women, who had been making mak-ing her first trip at sea, fainted after she had been placed in a small boat Among the children was an 11 year old boy who at the first sign of battle, grabbed an American flag and shook it defiantly toward the U-boat. Tho lad was still clinging to tho colors held proudly above his head when ho landed land-ed on the beach. ' The German commander either took a long chance or had an exact chart of the dangerous shoals and shifting sand bars off the cape. It will be impossible im-possible for him to submerge to any great depth and tho scene of his exploits ex-ploits was not one in which under-sea boats might be expected to operate. Tonight he was being hunted by patrol pa-trol vessels and other war craft. oo |