" SATURDAY, MARCH 27, 1090. eo t-------------------------------- ER A I JL SRE lo BL TOT Te Gnd of the Most Successll Places of Work done by our Subchasers--Subchasers from New * London had a Six- Thousand Mile Trip to Corfu, and won praise for their way of making it -- * Our Flotilla Base on Corfu caused a Mutiny of Austrian U-Boat Crews, and even Germans had to be driven at the point of a Pistol to their places--Hard to tell When Submarines were sunk--The Austrian who was shot to safety from a sunken Submarine--What he told us about the Germans and their Allies. I have already Foteried to the sea- going abilities of the subchasers but: the feat accomplished by. those that made the trip to Corfu was the most admirable of all, These thirty- six boats, little mere tham. motor launches in size, salled from New London to « Greece---a distance of 6,000 miles, and a day or two after their arrival, they began work on the * Otranto' barrage. Of course they eduld 'not have made this trip wyith- out the assistance of vessels to sup- ply them with gasoline, make the necessary routine repairs, care for the sick and those suffering from the inevitable minor accidents; and it is greatly to the credit of the naval of- ficers who commanded the escorting vessels that they shepherdéd these flotillas across the ocean with practi- cally no losses. On their way through the Strait of Gibraltar they made an attack on a submarine which so im- préssed Admiral Niblack that he im- mediately wired London headquars ters for a squadron to be permanently based on that port. As already said, the Otranto Strait was an ideal location for this type of anti-submarine craft, It was so narrow---about 'forty miles--that a force of moderate size could keep practically all of the critical zone under fairly close observation. Above all 'the water was so deep--nearly 600 fathoms (8,600 feet)--that a submarine, once picked up by the listening devices, could riot escape by the method which wds so popular in places where the water was shallow -~that of sinking to the bottom and resting there until the excitement was over. On the other hand, this great depth made it very difficult to obstruct the passage by a fixed barrier--a difficulty that was being rapidly overcome by a certain Franco-Italian type of torpedo net. Formidable Barrage. This barrage, after the arrival of our chasers, was so reorganized as to make the best use of their tactical and listening qualities, The several lines of patrolling vessels extended about thirty-five miles; there were jot British destroyers; it was their "BY GOLLY! THEY'RE BULLY!" 1 he Otranto Strait Barrage the armistice, our flotilla at this point kept constantly at work; and the reports of our commagders show that their sound contacts with the enemy were very frequent. : There were battles that unquestionably ended in the destruction of the sub- marines; just how much we had ac- complished, however, we did not know until the Austrians surrender- ed and our officers, at Cattaro and other places, came into|touch with officers of the Austrian navy,, These men, who showed the most friendly, disposition toward their American' enemies, though they displayed the most bitter hostility toward their German allies, expressed their ad- miration for the work of our sub- chasers. We Forced Austrian Mutiny, These little boats, the Austrians now informed us, were responsible for a mutiny in the Austrian sub- the war, their officers were obliged to force them into the submarines at the point of a pistol, The records showed, the Austrian high officers said, that the Germans had lost six submarines on the Ot- ranto barrage in the last three' months. of the war, THese figures about correspond with the estimates which we had made; just how many of these the British sank and how many are to be attributed to our own forces will probably never be known, but the fact that American devices were attached to all the Allied ships on this duty must be considered in Lproperly distributing the credit. I, "Kamerad!"™ We have evidence -- conclgfve) even though somewhat ludicyous-- that the American device on 'a Brit- ish destroyer "got" one of these sub- marines. One dark night this vessel, equipped with the C-tube, had pur- sued a submarine and bombed it with what seemed to have been satisfac- tory results. However, I have sev- eral times called attention to one of the most discouraging aspects of OILING AT SEA Two subchasers taking on fuel in mid-Atlantic. At first this was done at reduced speed but later no reduc- tion was made in their cruising speed and gasoline was taken aboard without the loss of a moment, vessels of several types, the whole making a formidable gauntlet, which the submarines had to run before they could get from the Adriatic to the Mediterranean. First came a line main duty to act as protectors and keep the barrage from bélng raid- ed by German and Austrian surface ships--a function which they ful- filled splendidly. Next came a line of trawlers, then drifters, motor feet into the sea; this pipe contained the wires which, at one énd, were at- tached to the devices under the water, and, at the other end, reached the listener's ears. In a few seconds this tube showed signs of lively agitation. It trembled violently and made a constantly in- creasing hullabaloo in the ears of the listener. Finally a huge German, dripping with water like a sea lion, appeared over the side of the destroyer and astounded our British Allies by throwing up his arms with "Kamer- ad!" This visitant from the depths was the only survivor of the sub- marine which it now appeared had indubitably been sunk. He had been blown through the conning tower, or had miraculouslp escaped in some other way--he did not himself anow Just what had taken place--and, while floundering around in the wa- ter in the inky darkness, had, by one of those providences which seemingly happen only in war time, caught hold of this tube, and proceeded to pull himself up hand-over-hand un- til 'he reached the deck, Had it not UBL UL WO JOU wb Luo Adstielidis are to us,' the German sea lion weplied, In writing to our officers abou this episode, the British commander said : % "We have found a new use Tor your listening devices--salvaging drowning Huns." (To be continued.) Copyright, 1920, by the World's Work. The copyright of these are ticles in Great Britain is strictly reserved by Pearson's Magazine, London ; without their permisgion no quotation may be made. Published by special arrangement with the McClure Newspaper Syndicate. ---------------- The British Government has issued orders that all ships plying betwesn Germany and the United Kingdom be thoroughly searched, as a result of the discovery of arms destined for Ireland in a vessel from a German port. Captain Daniel T. Booth, who pleaded 'guilty at Toronto. to de frauding the Government: of $2,500 in England, was sentenced to six months in jail by Judge Coatsworth, for conspiracy. LAUNCHING A SUBCHASER © In Brooklyn Navy Yard the big Fravall AE crane - came up an nd Tift these motor boats from We ways and lowered them into the water. Sr > OILING AT SEA The subchasers rolled prodigiously even in a comparatively e smooth sea, wihch made such work as this very henlt, s anti-submarine warfare: that only in exceptional circumstances did we know whether the submarine had been destroyed. This destroyer was how diligently searching the area of the battle, the listeners ° straining every nerve for traces of her foe. For a time everything was utterly silefit; then suddenly the listener picked up_a disturbance of an un- usual kind. The noise rapidly became. louder, but it was still something very dif- ferent from any noise ever heard before. The C-tube consisted of a lead pipe--practically the same as a 'water pipe--which was dropped over HAULED OUT FOR REPAIRS ~The 110-footers are built of wood, and periodically it is necessary to calk the small Jeaks that develo p while the little ships are on duty. been for this escap: would never have ktiowd that they had sunk submarine ! | This survivor, after shaking off the water, sat down and became very sociable. He did not seem particu- larly to dislike the British and Am- ericans, but he was extremly bitter against the Italians and Austrians 'the first for "deserting" the Ger. the British | to scrape and paint the bottom mans, the latter for proving bad | allies. x 7 "How do you gel on with the Ital fans?" he asked the British officer. "Very well, indeed," the latter re piled, giving a very flattering aec- count of their Italian allies. ge Sa as of She shin Yilteut oe Funty | "2 guess the Italians are about as > ed