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Show DECOY SHIP Al U-BOATJATTLE Heroic Conduct of the Crew of the British Vessel Dunraven. SHIP WAS ON FIRE But Gun Crews Remained While "Panic Party" Put Off in Boats. T flVMlAV XT.. r A n - 1 of the Associated Press) The loss of the British decoy ship Dunraven in a desperate battle with a German submarine, sub-marine, the story of which has now been made public by the British admiralty, ad-miralty, constitutes tone of the most daring and heroic episodes of the antisubmarine anti-submarine war. With their vessel ablaze, and boxes of cordite and shells exploding every few minutes, the after af-ter gun crew stuck to their gun until the magazine exploded and blew them and their gun Into the air. Meanwhile the battle with the submarine was fiercely waged. This action took place In August, 1017. Tho vessel was one of the decoys de-coys which was commanded by Captain Cap-tain Gordon Campbell, who had previously pre-viously won the Victoria Cross by heroic he-roic and successful work in decoying submarines to their destruction. In her role of an armed British merchant ship, the Dunraven was zigzagging her course in the lanes haunted by the submarines when a U-boat opened fire upon her at 5,000 yards. The Dunraven Dun-raven returned the fire with her merchant mer-chant ship gun and reduced speed to enabln the Hun to overtake her. To coax him on, wireless signals were sent out reading: "Help. Come quickly. quick-ly. 'Submarine chasing and shelling me." Finally when the submarine's shells began falling close, the Dunraven stopped and the usual "panic party" abandoned ship. The Dunraven was I hen cn fire aft -and the submarine closed in lo a distance of 400 yards, but was partly obscured from" view by dense clouds of smoke Issuing from the Dunravon's stern. Although he knew that the magazine maga-zine must explode if he waited, and that a gun and a gun'r. crew lay concealed con-cealed over the magazine, Captain Campbell reserved his fire until tho submarine had jiassed clear of the smoke. A moment later there was a heavy, explosion and the Dunraven's gun and its crew were blown into the air. Tho concussion started the iro gongs at the remaining gun positions. The screens hiding the guns were dropped and the only gun that could be brought lo bear opened fire. The submarine commenced to submerge. Knowing thai a lorpedo would surely follow. Captain Campbell had all the wounded brought up and concealed in cabins. The after part of the Dunraven Dun-raven was a mass of flame but tho crow fought the fire with hose while wireless Signals were sent out .warning .warn-ing all other vessels to keep below the horizon so as not (o interrupt the final phase of the-frghL ' , Twenty minutes later another torpedo tor-pedo struck tho ship abaft the engine room. Another "panic party" was sent away in the boats, leaving the ship apparently completely abandoned wilh the British flag flying and her guns unmasked, but Captain Campbell and a nanciruii ot ouicers anu men naui remained on board and lay hidden fori nearly an hour while the submnrinej com,mander held off watching the; burning ship through his periscope, j During all that time boxes of cordic and shells were exploding every few minutes and the fire was blazing furiously. fur-iously. Eventually the submarine emerged astern where no guns could be brought to bear upon her, and shelled tho Dunraven for twenty minutes. min-utes. The U-boat then steamed past the ship 150 yards off and Captain Campbell fired one of his torpedoes at her but missed by a few Inches. A second also missed. The submarine saw it and submerged. A third "panic "pan-ic party" was planning to jump over oard and leave one gun crew for a final attempt to sink the U-boat when British and American destroyers arrived ar-rived on the scene. Tho Dunraven's wounded were transferred, her guns recalled and the fire extinguished. The i Dunraven, in a sinking condition, was ! taken in tow, but tho weather grew j worse and on (he following morning ' she sank with her colors flying. |