WITH THE ARCTIC PATROL

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 187, 27 April 1918, Page 7

WITH THE ARCTIC PATROL

SUBMARINE HUNTING IN ICY LATITUDES HOW THE NAVY WORKS i ■ ' [Tho following account of the vrar-,, /fare which is being continuously, waged by the Navy against the Üboats in the Arctic.appeared in the London "Daily News."] - The long Winter night of four months, is drawing to a close. The moon, which cach : hiontli has gone round in a circle tor five days at a time without setting,. no longer absorbs our attention. , The Tosy noon-du'y light has each day brightened and whitened perceptibly, and now each- 24 hours.wo see for a short period' ■ the sun low down over tho southern lulls. The scene is splendid beyond words—the sky blue and cloudless tho sea of a marvellous ultramarine to be seen nowhero else, r and the crisp dry air supernatural ly clear and sparkling. The ice'up river is breaking up rapidly,, and comes grinds ing and tearing past oiir side with ebbtide, bearing innumerable logs upon its bosom. With (he thaw come tbji "submarines, and it is not-long"before the U-boutß havo laid their, quota of explosive e(.gs : .off- tue-.cntrance of the port. Merchant- ' men arrive with sides battered from stell fire, and tales of gallant actions and hairbreadth escapes, when the' "Kaiser-fish passed beneath • their bottoms. Some do not arrive at all-then the trawlers search the-face of the ocean, and bring in a "remnant -of starved and frost-bitten crows who have been exposed for days in open boats to ' the • fury of an Arctic springtime. . Sometimes they are tot fouiid lit all, and sometimes the U-boat herself meets the fate she has prepared for others. . ■ ■> U-Boat's Last Resource. Among tho Arctic ice was found the telephone buoy of one who had missed her: •prev, and, coming too close, herself beea'niu'thc.victim.•• The buoy is only let go as a last resource, when a submarine is sunk and is unablo to rise. It has a water-tight telephone upon it. connected'with the hull of the sunken nubmarine, and by which communication can bo established from the. surface with tho imprisoned ■.occupants. It bears a large brass .plate, upon' which is inscribed the legend in, German: ■ "Undersea boat the. is sunk here. Do not touch, but telegraph i at orico to the commandant of tho U-boats'-base .at Kiel. '' Another submarine was equally unfortunate, .though in a' different way. • The submarine, •successfully torpedoed her victim, a munition ship, whose crew at once took to the boats. In the words of the German communique, "our humane U-boat then rose to the surface to see ■what assistance she could render," and little guessing, at the dangerous- nature of- the vessel's.cargo the.vessel blew- up, and the submarine was so damaged by the explosion that she sank.-"leaving her crew struggling iu the water, with their pistols in their mouths. They implored to be taken' into the boats, but: wore -left to. their fate by the inhuman I'mfclisnm'en, fit compatriots of the Baralong! It takes a Prussian-German lo be really humane, especially when he implores mercy with a pistol in his mouth. , The facts of the case are that the submarine rose.to the surface to shell the chicken vessel, but, unfortuately- for her, the first shell exploded - the latter's cargo of munitions. A large motor-lorry .on the upper deck of the vessel pitched into the sea, and landed on the upper deck of the submarine, sinking her instantly. The ship's boats were alreadv so ,crowded that it. was humanly. impossible to take another soul into them, and, as it was, their-'crews spent four days ni them with verv scanty provisions' before reaching 'land: ' So' much .for- British '-'frightfulncss"' Other'submarines hid themselves among the ice-floes further north, and many were the exciting games, of hide-and-seek played in those still -.-.waters, with"only the seals.andgrampus.for witnesses: ■•'--• ■"■■''' .:,'■•'■' ■'• • .".•-'i'-'--' ■ -Both'-'i'n-"su!nmer- and'- winter, fogs are a very""t / erriblo / 'tiling ■in iKese' ; Arctic ■ waters." -The cold wind' blowing 'on.the warmer : water •-.raises an impenetraOte mist, and probably causes as many losses as tho enemy's'- best designed- - : efforts. And the sun which', does not set for months in .the-summer, and-the moon which- behaves'while at the full in the same way each-.'winter month,..give an unfair advantage' to- .underwater craft.With conning-tower awash, and approaching at surface speed of 1G knots; they are very difficult to detect in all but the calmest weather. That short six weeks' summer would be a delightful season, but for the mosquitoes.--.- The temperature never falls below 40 degrees,.and rises as high as 70' degrees in the shade. . Hunting for Mutton. There is.no need to starve, for all and every bird is good to eat, as we have proved. The onion and wild celery are excellent, and later there is an enormous crop of- mushrooms, though different from the English species.. The.men have discovered a. level, spot whero they can play football,' so ' that all are content,' we're it. not.for the unspeakable., mosquito. These are daylight mosquitoes, which shim the shade,- and as at midsummer it is.aki'ays daylight there is no rest for them. One. eats, drinks, and breathes mosquitoes!,',-A nock. of-sheep has arrived-from England, and arc ily engaged in- feeding up after the long sea voyage. Presently' they will become, so wild with' unaccustomed liberty that the. only w : ay to obtain mutton 'is by loading the small arms with ball cartridge in skirmishing order, and shooting the dinner. They and-the excellent plaice and haddock brought in by one of tho trawlers make a very welcome change on' bully-beef and salt pork; 'which form an unvarying dieting at other times!

With the end of August come the gales ! again, to be followed very soon: by snow, | and the whole country becomes bare and I black and barren in a single night.! Boarding becomes strenuous work, and j the convoy trawlers, as they sweep vessels through the mined areas, have no! easy time of it. In a howling three day's gale a big Russian ship, which had struck a mine, was brought safely into, harbour by four trawlers, two ahead and two astern, and each with 000 fathoms of sweep Tvire out. Perilous work' it was, but-safely ac■coinpjished, though to see,her come into havbour before the great breakers, with her forecastle under water and her stern in.the air, jt appeared almost impossible. As the dark 'Winter drags in - tne days become shorter until the sun no longer rises, and-at last.'there is just a dim twilight at noon-day. The last ship has left Archangel, homeward bound, but theArctic squadron goes farther 1 west and north to" the ice-free waters of the Kola Inlet, there to 'resume' their labours -in protecting the shipping which now unloads at Murmansk,, to go on by rail to Petrograd. '■ What 'a God-send it is then .whim Ihe long-deferred -mail arrives! It satisfies the mental hunger from . which thoso in tho -Arctic all suffer. >