U-BOAT “MONSTER” STORY

Evening Star, Issue 21639, 7 February 1934, Page 2

U-BOAT “MONSTER” STORY

THEORY FOR LOCH NESS BERLIN, January 23. Commander Baron' Von Forstner, who commanded the German submarine 1128 during the Great War, claims in the ‘ Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung ’ to have seen in the Atlantic a sea monster exactly answering the description of the mysterious creature of Loch Ness. This monster, he says, was blown out of the water by the explosion of the British ship Iberian (5,223 tons), which the 1728 torpedoed in mid-Atlan-tic on July 30. 1915. He declared that five other witnesses who were in the conning tower at the time would support his story. Baron Von Forstner writes;— “ About 25sec after the Iberian had disappeared beneath the surface there was a violent explosion. A few seconds later a gigantic sea monster was hurled writhing and struggling, 20yds or 30yds into the air. “The animal was about 60ft long, in shape like a crocodile. Its head was long and pointed, and its four legs terminated. in strong fins. The monster remained above water only ten or fifteen seconds, so there was no chance of taking photographs.” The baron suggests that strange deep sea creatures sometimes stray into the upper waters.' One of these might have contrived to reach Loch Ness.