THE BULLDOG BREED

Evening Star, Issue 16779, 6 July 1918, Page 3

THE BULLDOG BREED

But a few years ago the rusty-sided old tramp which shouldered its way out oi British porta and steered tor various parts oi the Seven Seas was far from a romantic or glorious picture. It did i>:s work, and no one worried or trouoled about it. Very few knew or thought of its existence. Vou ' looked at your breakfast or dinner table, saw things thereon, and never troubled to think where they came from. Vlveu whew you bowled at co<-oanuts on Bampstead Heath or elsewhere yon never thought of the difficulties and dangers \hrougli wiiicli the officers and men of our jietcantile marine brought them to you. Ot course you didn't. Lite was too easy in those days. And now, when you find iine American bacon on your breakfast table, And a little Canterbury lajnb served ap for dinner, do you trouble to think howit comes there, and what perils tho men who bring it to you have to pass through V I've just had a look at the logs of a few tramp ships which have come safely to port with their cargoes in recent days. Captain .Marryaft never dreamed of such adventures. Take this, for instance; A tramp, proceeding at a leisurely six knots, entered a danger zone. All "precautions were taken, extra look-outs were posted, and the gun's crew—for "she was defenlively armed—were standing round their piece. Tho day had just "dawned, and there was every promise of a line dav. Another three miles away to port, with the red of the morning "sun glinting on her -grey back, a German submarine was sighted. As she was seen the U boat opened fire, and shells dropped all round the steamer, which shifted her helm and put the U boat dead astern, firing at her all the time. The steamer's gun crew were very cool, and planted their shells all round the submarine, which didn't like the action a bit. Then the steamer put up a smoke screen, and the U boat dived in a panic, apparently exuecting instant dissolution. But she'had hardlv disappeared -when another U boat, abeut cOOt't ton-. and mounting guns for and aft of the conning tower, broke surface. The smoke screen was no lon tier serviceable, for the <vind was blowing the wrong wav. so t T 'e steamer let fly at her second ah-acorn'st who replied with vigor, shrapnel shrink-! ling the tramp's decks. For half an hour the fight went on. Then one of the ! steamer's shells fell close to the U Vint ! which dtved and vanished under the wAter ■ just as a -patrol boat appeared on the' scene and losed off a COUPLE OF DEVASTATING ROUVDS. { It- was a fine performance- to heat off two' pirate ships in such a short space of time. ( and master -and pan's crew received com- ) mendation irom My Lords of the Ad- i morally. In another case it was a > both of gunnery and seamansh'p. Proceed- I in-g steadfastly on her course, a British | steamer -heard gunfire in the distance or. ! two n>-o;>=ions. but could *ee nothing of | the enemy. The propeller thrust . ahead, the white cliffs of old AHvon were! lifting on the horizon, when, jest- as twilight was failing, a U boat "appeared a i point or two on the starho-nrd bow to the j northward. Instantly all bands were or- | dered to their stations. Helm was put full ! over, and t-be U b n at brought astern, fire j beincr opened on the enemy. wh ; l*t a sm-ike I box ms lighted. It was difficult to dis-i tingnish the enemv—a brt-e bort. appa- I rently mounting two guns—who man-I renwred backward? and forwards across the

steamer's course in a l -"! en clear or to hrii'< both her cnm.* info action nt thp smii 1 time Bin- the British skipper was. as is ahvay. the ca,se. a 1-etter seaman ihan t'>e l!i>r man. and he skilfully thwrnaVd the enernv": plan and pot Fritz in no end of a tancle and acrain the U boat scored a lot Thp. steamer's wlrcW's apri.-rs u-ere carrier iiivav. her mainmast was holed, the pt-ha-st fteamnire was pe v fnra f e:l. a-d flu sti.rtwi-rd l'fehnat and dinghy dama'ed. B"t that didn't bot'-er the stealer nr In crow. The latter were criunins at tht gunners, who were having a (Wil of a f'me of it. (Interval here :"■ r Navy lan-pva-re when things are not sjoing riirht.l Jvt imagine a crew of exrert ' H'n r with a fine sun. and a b'-vninc desire tc strife a submarine. fii'd-uL' tV-t the'r lu'.i: platform has colhpsed. and th'-t. with a "sub" as a tir*et. they hive to f're more or less by gu'fawnrk. Bat, as the X'vy if'.an always ;Y>es, these gunners buckled to. The g"n kicked abcmina' ly. and the lighter had his eyes blackened and hi« face rut, but desrvte this the shooting vm too close and hot for the U brnt. which kept at a resreetftd distance. The ho'-in and "Sparks" (wireless teleeraph operator* took the risk of the U boat's fire aid repaired the aerials, and the st-'amer ph'tT'el ahead for harbor. But it was some hours later before the pirate, drew off. baffled by the indomitable PLUCK OF THE BRITISH SAILOR - MAX. A word here should be said for the "black Both watches of engineers and .-:tokers were below tluroughout the action, and though a shell came through, the bunkers and filled the stokehold with coal and ashes, they "carried on" with amazing pluck. All our trading ships should have*the Royal title given to them. " His -Majesty's Merchant Service " would sound well and would be better deserved. Britain owes more thnn she can every pay to her wonderful Navy, the most efficient service in the world or the world's history, but she owes a lot, too, to th" mercantile marine. How's this for a fine bit of work? A big ship in ballast, standing out of the water like a cathedral, was navigating at a rate of knots to a certain port to pick up an urgent cargo, when the skipper, who had been on the bridge for many hours, saw the track of a torpedo approaching lis ship. "Hard apoit!" he called t~> the quartermaster at the wheel, and "Full astern " was rung down to the engine room, where Bob. "the. third," was on duty by himself. The ship spin round on her heel, as it were, and the torpedo passed her by. Then the engine room bell clanged for full ahead, and down the voice pipe into "Bob's" ear came the insistent call for speed and more speed. By this time the chief engineer and his staff were on the foot plate, and the ship, which ordinarily did 11 knots at her top gait, got busy, and began to eat up the water at a rate which would have astonished her builders. From the wireless the S.O.S. call was sent out. and the gunner got busy, but the U boat was out of range, and fire was held up until the pirate got closer, when he was driven back again. When tho fight had continued for tour hours a shell from the steamer fell amidships on the submarine's starboard side, but this did not prevent him from continuing the engagement. The German kept trying to creep ouj, on the steamer's port side, but the master check- i mated him each time and continued to keep him dead astern. When the sun be- I gan to set the German tried to manoeuvre .so that the steamer's gunners would have I to ! FIRE INTO THE EYE OF THE SUNT, i But the master prevented him from getting the benefit of such a position until the sua was obscured by clouds. Throughout the engagement, which lasted six hours, the German only managed to score one hit. This shell broke the steamer's deck surface pipe, punched a hole through her deck and a beam, passed through the boatswain's and carpenter's room without ■helling two men who were there, finally Hploding in the second cook's room, which wrecked. Apart from this, the steamer j tfered no damage. The last shell fired j jy the steamer appeared to explode on the submarine's bow, whereupon the enemy turned away and abandoned the action. Ihe master's opinion of his crew is expressed in the following • words: —"They all behaved splendidly, and carried out their various duties coolly and with a will to savs the ship. The careful and deliberate shtoting of our gunners undoubtedly j contributed to our successful escape, while ! the chief engineer and bis staff, working j

TRAMPS DUELS WITH U BOATS. TiRELING FIGHTS WITH SUBMARINES.

! in ignorance down below, deserv* .special praise for getting loj, knots out of an utuiocked ship, whose usual speed is about 11 knots." One morning Fritz TACKLED A SAILING SHIP with sad Jesuits—tor Fritz. The. "windjammer" was proceeding under easy sail when the U boat- was sighted on the j larboard. The. pirate and trader were ' approaching each other, ,md the trader, deVensively twuied, wailed tot the \iit\.xl« I /to gel within range. When this happened \ she opened lire, and stored eight direct ' hits out of IS shots. The result was thut the submarine's bows went, down, while j h-er stem stood up clear oi the water. .She i remained like this for about 15 seconds, I disappeared, came up again stern upward at an angle of 30deg above tho water, then sank finally. The sailing vessel, under all possible sail, attempted to reach the spot in time to ram her enemy. However, her speed was not sufficient" for this, but there can be little doubt as to the fate of Fritz. Another of our merchant ships fought a brilliant night action with two enemy submarines. As she was pro- | feeding on her course the darkness was ] split by a Slash on the starboard quarter, and a shell whistled over the ship, plumping into the sea a hundred yards or so away. Away went the gunners to their piece on the deck aft, and. though they had only the flashes to fire at, thev made good practice, and gave Fritz cause to reflect upon his evil courses. But a second U boat came up on the port quarter and tried to knock seven sorts of Hades out of the plucky tramp, which was now going ahead " hell for leather," as it were, with no end of weights hanging to the safety valve and the engineers nursing their engines as they had never been nursed before. Those men who come out of the "shops" of Cardiff and the Clyde and tiie Tyue are "some" engineers' at all times, but when it comes to an emergency they have the Caulnin Kettle touch, and the machines under their charge have to do a bit more than thev were made to dr.. Slinging shells at the" enemy on both quarters, the steamer went ahead at a merry pace for three-onarters of an hour, during winch period 70 shells were flung at her, only one of which hit. this one"! unfortunately, killing- the cook and 10 of the raws which formed part, of her carn-o It was_ a pretty hot right, and the steamer's gunners were on their mettle. At last a shot got home on the enemv on the port quarter, and the V boat ceased tu-mg. while her consort went to her aid. Then the steamer threw out a smoke screen and proceeded on her wav practically unharmed. Now you see how vour food ami other necessities are brought to our ports. These merchant sailormen of ours do not cut a very heroic figure 071 shore, but they do on the sea. There thev ' show they are men of the bulldog breed. I nnd ly;-g on odd spots on the surface of the ocean beneath the seas highways are some of the implements ofOermnn kultur rem to Davy Jones's locker bv the gallant men who a few years aero, in tho "pipin<r times of neace. loafed "round Board o"f Irn.-je offices at the various harbors waiting tor a chance to "sign on." Good luck to them all.