LIFE IN A "U" BOAT

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3049, 10 April 1917, Page 3

LIFE IN A "U" BOAT

NO SEA-SICKNESS. There is a widely prevalent idea that a . submarine being a cramped and dangerous sort of craft, life must of necessity bb a hard thing for its crow. : s - This opinion goes astray in that it leaves out of account the changes which increased displacement has wrought in submersible vessels. Not the least notable of these is a great improvement in living accommodation. So much has this been bettered that the complement of a modern "TJ"boat are more comfortable at sea, all things considered, than the crew of a Hun dostroyer. For while the latter must face bad weather as best they' can (when they venture to faye it at all), the_ "Tj"' boat can secure ease, by "going down" until conditions im- • prove. She may "sleep" upon the bottom uritil the weather moderates, or, if the water be too deep for that, submerge so far tha'fc surface, wave mo-tion-no longer'affects her.. Her crew need not risk sea-sickness—and they do not! . , Admittedly that is only part of the story. One may avoid rough weather and still find life afloat anything but joyful. Such matters as food, living conditions, and general environment, are . factors not to' be overlooked, and in all of these. the Hun pirate does not do so badly if from "general environment" we miss put the British Navy, which is the one bunch of bitter horbß in Hans the Buccaneer's passable soup. One might imagine that being box.ed up in a steel cylinder for hours at a stretch subjects him to much physical discomfort. It does not. In fact, bo far as the men. inside her are oonfcerjied, the crew of a "U" boat would hardly know whether their craft • was awash or submerged were it not for working the machinery that has to be put' in motion to get her up or down. Inside'her they are quite warm and comfortable, not very hard l worked, and able to move and breathe quite freely. For their leisure hours the "U" boat crews have gramophones and a good supply , of tobacco. A long submergence may result in the air in the boat getting Bomewhat heavy. Leaving out exceptional circumstances, that is-the worst to be said of it t ancl a few hours on the surface at night "with the conning-tower lid open will purify the atmosphere-within 'the craft so that she oan dive for hour after hour again without her crew suffering any difficulty in respiration. For the majority of the men, work being light and Ifying "conditions not as irksome as one "might suppose, the life of a pirate is not fraught with many physical hardships and is afairiy easy one. The war perils , attaching to it belong to, a side of the story' which we are not looking at just now. In the matter of food the pirate, is mostly able to "do himself .well." Cooking when, below is out of the question except to warm up some water for him to dip his sausage in before he eats it, and Herr Kidd consequently has to content himself with cold meals for the most part, although he may dish himself up a good feast when his. boat, floats awash, using for the purpose the electric cooker fitted in her. But although his meals through force of'"circumstances may have to be,served cold, .they are substantial. The pirate sees to that. , If 'his own larder runs low he replenishes it from the ships he overhauls.. When they want-food or any other stores the pirates take them from the ships they attack. In fact; they 'loot" these quite, systematically, even to relieving the crews of their money, watches, rings, and other personal belongings of even-trifling value whenever they think.it safe to do so. At one time "TJ" boats were supplied with nine and .cigars, though one does not hear miloh of such luxuries aboard them now. None the less, they may ba there in diminished quantities. Of this much there can, however, be little doubt: the Gjerman pirates do not lead such a hard life on the domestic side as is commonly supposed.