SUBMARINE "STRAFING"

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 43, 15 November 1918, Page 6

SUBMARINE "STRAFING"

(By "Wing Adjutant," in the "iiaily Mail.")

"A. submarine lias been reported at •■••- You'd-better get out as qmckiy as possible and try to 'stole' the bligiiter." , , bo spoke the squadron commander to one of his officer, and a moment later the seaplaue issued from, the hangar, planes were swung back into place, a Meam orane took the wholn ■contraption" at the end of a cable, pilot, observer arid all on board, and swung it over the quay into the quiet water of the harbour. A fussy motor-boat took the seaplane in tow l'or a while then cast off, and the: huge engine started up with a roar as the- phme glided over the surlace of the water. Once out at Rca pilot and observer prepared for action. U-bcats were not plentiful, and in their many months of daily scanning the waters they had only bagged one. Other machines had been more fortunate. This time it seemed there wa<s a ?ood chance of adding to their score. Every few minutes wireless messages came through to the observer, giving details about the weather, shipping news, and once a report that the U-boat had been seen asnin. It was still in the same spot and , P -boats and drifters were on its track. A greasy patch of shining oil amwl the flilot to exclaim, but. a moments reflection made him perceive that the patch T.-as the mark of a. lost U-ooai. which had been sunk weeks before. Its death-mark was a well-known spot to all who flew on that patrol. Then in the distance was seen a crowd of fussy little boats steaming hilhor and tl'ither over the surface of the sen. Glancing at his man, the pilot verified the spot. The submarine was somewhere about in these waters. His gaze became even more concentrated on the depths of the ocean. Every moment he expected to see the swirl of a rising 17I bnal or the wake of a propeller, every white-enpped wave- became a German submarine.

It was the observer who saw thi> shadow in tli" water. The nearest. "P"-Iv*nt was nearly a mile away, and the pilot smiled his satisfaction as he rushed, all out, to the spot. The observer adjusted his bomb-sight and swung over the fasing lever. With his eyes fined to the spot he nwaited events. A? tho machine swun°- into the wind the TJ-boat emerged for an instant, or, rather, her periscope showed, and the sliane of the lone, loan hull wns clearlr visible to the two airmen. From the height of only eight hundred ferr the observer pulled the ri , - leasp. A jet of water shot into the air a<; the bomb fell inst behind tho con-)iin"-tower, and then tho suhmanno «.nnit out of sii/lit, sonic Mwriwrly. not with a straight, downward, forward plunee. . , v , , At the pound of Wie report tw»ts hurried lin in J ,l ! dir"cti""s. anxious to Blwe in Hie "enow." TV wow, limvovw [„„ i,,| : n. A nafrl) of "il -™' 1 " ff,wnifcw of i-oke». vt«c>9*p were nil tW c-n-. W Hip *n<l ot'-'wr Hio""W tlwmseJw* iu'lified in making their score count two.