THE U-BOAT WAR

Evening Post, Volume XCV, Issue 14, 16 January 1918, Page 4

THE U-BOAT WAR

DESTBOYERS THE BEST WEAPON,

.v Diaries taken from captured U-boat commanders, furnish documentary evidence that the; destroyer is the. most' effective of present weapons against the submarines (says 1 an. ..American correspondent. "Avoided destroyer" is the oft-repeated entry 'In fact, these logs show conclusively that the submarines are having a hard time of it. The result of the destroyer activities during, the last four weeks has been not only. a l, decrease in casualties of merchant ships, but-also, a still mpre satisfactory increase in tha number of submarines sunk.

The convoying of merchantmen, undertaken primarily.its a defensive measure, has now developed- into the best offensive measure : yet.' devised against the U-boat. Tfie offensive side, of con? voying may best be shown by an illustration. : When a .submarine tries to torpedo a convoyed* ship—as submarines are now compelled to do, owing to the infrequency of unconvoyed shipping— there is always a destroyer .on the scene. The wake of a torpedo is generally seen _ by the destroyer's lookouts, and it gives a good line on the direction where the submarine is lying. : The destroyer immediately steams full speed in theline shown by theiorpedo's wake, and dcops repeated depth charges, along this course. In _ a proportion of cases this proves effective, for th,ese depth charges cause serious commotion over a. considerable radius,.

The Associated' Press correspondent was told of three cases during the past fortnight in which submarines were thus destroyed: In many instances, no doubt submarines are destroyed without iany visible indication above water of f their loss. Still others are badly crippled, aa in the case of the damaged German U-boat which was recently interned in. Spain. '' ■ '' ' - "_A submarine was sunk under peculiar circumstances a short time ago.: This U-boat _ torpedoed 'a ship bound from the-United States, .firing its torpedo at a range of only about' one hundred yards. It is extremely unwise and unsafe to fire a'-torpedo ■ at, such close range, but the U-boats.must .take their target's as they get them these days. The torpedoed ship was loaded, with a cargo.:_of. heavy: war material, and- the explosion was so-forcible that it threw a .large piece of heavy material through the. deck of the ship and dropped it on the submarine as the latter was submerging. The hull; of .the submarine was crushed Uke an eggshell, and she sa'hE with, all onboard.