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Show t YACHTSMEN NOW IN U. NAVY Acting as "Mosquito Escort" to Destroyers and Other Convoy Ships. Bj ijj DOVER, England, May 31. (Corre- H , f spnndonrc of the Associated Press.) ' Men who were amateur yatchsmea in H J the dayfl of peace constitute very largely the personnel of the fleets of B motor launches which have played an B:! Important part in most of the British j I operations in the English channel dur- I ing the past three and a half years, j i In the recent Zeebrugge affair more 'i jjj than a score of them were engaged, Bji i puttinc up the smoke screen and act- ul ! ing as "mosquito escort" to the de- 1 ji 'i Btroyers nnd other ships encaqed. iV k The yachtsmen who man these 1 launches entered the naval service at 'i ( the beginning of the war with an inti- Hji ij mate knowledge of the waters around H'j , the British Isles, and also of the Hlj French and Belgian coastal waters, sol B" ! that they were able to perfoim many fjf1 important services. Hjj; Dozens of the launches which they HU ' pilot are of American manufacture, fj ' Many others, especially those used in , tho early das of tfie war, were fast; j pleasure craft, lent to the admiralty) and usually commanded by their own - i ers, who received commissions in the !j volunteer reserve. Jt It is tme that these men had only been amateur sailors, but their local knowledge was often equal to that of the professional fisherman, and to this preliminary advantage they soon added the benefits derived from intensive courses of naval instruction. At present pres-ent all these men have become professional pro-fessional and qualified members of the British ' senior service." Although these motor launches are built primarily for fast patrol work, Hjj j they usually carry a serviceable gun, i and in several cases have given a good account of themselves in a fight. A few days ago, a German submarine sighted an American sailing ship and attacked her. Before the U-boat could do any damage, however, a watchful motor launch appeared and opened fire. The enemy, taken by surprise,! i was compelled to withdraw his atten- 1 lion from the American and defend j himself against his tiny enemy. The ' sailing ship escaped without sustaining any damage, and the submarine was compelled to submerge under a rain of The motor-launch fleet comes technically tech-nically under the head of "auxiliary patrol" in the admiralty ledgers, a place which it shares with its partner, the trawler fleet. The trawler patrol j is manned mainly by fishermen, as the I motor launches are manned by yachts men. An indication of the essential B 1 democracy of the British character Is to be found in the wood-fellowship H ' which exists between the men of the jf trawlers and the men of the motor |