DN THE SEA

Grey River Argus, 20 May 1918, Page 3

DN THE SEA

TORPEDOING A , DREADNOUGHT : THE ITALIAN NAVAL FEAT. i .. (RecMuy 19., 5.5. p.m.) '. :...)■ LONDON, May 1.8. Referring;. to .fche, torpedoing of an ! Austrian .dreadiiQught ; i&e\' 'Daily , Tele* graphs-, Milan; correspondent . states that a motor boafc" parrying, an Italian navai officer named Pellegrini and tliree others, entered the Pola Harbour stealthily, at night. Their light draught enabled the boat to pass over the submarine. mines, but the steel nets and many surface mines endangered the channel. The boat rapidly approached a dreadnought and tired two torpedoes. Seaplanes saw. both shots hitting. No news has been received' of Pellegrim or his companions. Thdre is little doubt of their fate.. OUR SUBMARINES IN THE BALTIC THREE YEARS' OPERATIONS. GOOD WORK ACCOMPLISHED. '■■'. (Red. May 18, 5.5 p.m.) ■■] LONDON, May 17. The "Morning Post's" Petrograd correspondent states that there were never more than nine British subma.-: rines in the Baltic, and there were still seven when the end came. Despite the great amount of close fight?; iug done by the submarines in t(he.coarse of three years' incessant work-, the Germans captured none and dcv stroyed- notfe; There is not a German harbour in the Baltic that our. submarines have not entered and charted Creeping under the minefields and through: the shallow channels one submarine destroyed .nine German transports in a single day. . It was British submarines that preserved Petrograd' last summer., . . . > OUR SUBMARINE DOINGS. THE ; VEIL LtFTED. OPERATIONS IN THE BALTIC MOST EFFECTIVE. (Rec. May 19, 5.5 v.m.) " s '. . LONDON, May .18. The Admiralty, lifting the veil of the operations, of the British submarines in the. Baltic,- relate many' stirring deed's. They have ' been continually^ attacking and destroying the enemy warcraft, and have kept a 'watcliful eye on the movements of the German fleet. Their Work was so effective that final-;, ly the German ships Were jsept in haiv bours- as soon as" a British submarine was" reported. Unlike the U-boats, not a single case can be alleged of a British submarine, sinking a merchantman on sight. The merchantmen- were .invariably boarded in othordox manner and the crews giv« en plenty of time in which to aoandon the vessels. . They were direcv«a ww the. nearest port- or. escorted .to a neu-> tral., vessel. * . . The official documents of the submarines doings leave, the profound. impression, of the perseverance and skill with which the crews carried onl Their passage into the Baltic was most, difficult; owing to. the closest watch being kept. The submarines resorted to numerous ruses or waited until they could follow, surface, craft and run the gauntThe* submarine commander, Gjoodheart, espied an enemy battleship, escorted by destroyers, he fired, arid observed the .flash of the explosion along the waterline. When the submarine rose again the ship- had gone, her destruction being instantaneous. Tt was the battleship Prind Albert. Another" submarine sighted a light cruiser 6t the Ancoa class. They flred a torpedo hitting the cruiser forward"! The cruiser was -apparently put out of cdiitrpl.and swung round in a large circle,' then .stopped,.. tire bursting from her decks. . An escorting destroyer, attac^' cd.th© submarinie, . The latter, evaded her, and, flred a second torpedo, getting the cruiser. amidships., . ,Thejnagazirie blowing up, large masses of iron wreckage falling around .the submarine, which, .. submerging, observed the cruisers., crew assembling on the poop. They n were later rescuecl"T)y a large German ferryboat.. As regartis the operations against merchant vessels the following., is . typicai :— "A' subnlarine sighted "and chased a steamer from Hamburg laden with wood. , She was signalled to stop, and was boarded. ' Tlie crew was ordered to leave, 'and subsequently the seacocks were opened and cfiarges exploded. The ship sunk. Meanwhile a Hamburg-American liner was sighted/ proceeding without lights. A boarding party overhauled her and found that she was laden with iron ore for Stettin. So quickly : did' the crew. abandon the ship that interrogations eoula not be continued. The sb.4> was sunk in a similar manner, to the first; ;i . After iWhien,' withm a few hours-, two more Avere ". similarly despatched. The following day the Commander reported that all the German traffic had; „ entirely ceased. ' : VESSEL^ DESTROYED. TO PREVENT CAPTURE. '' ' Ifay 19, 7.3 a p^i) ".' > LONITON, May 18. "The" Admiralty reports that seven British submarines, which remained in Buussian waters were destroyed by order between the 3rd and the Bth pi: April' owing to German naval forces approaching. "The ..Harigo, had already been dismantled. The Russians retreated alter . blowihg up their four American submarines. The crews or the British submarines ' removed to Petrograd. ' :" The Russian Admiral rejected tlie proposal- to block the liarboui- by sinking ships at the entrance^ but the destruction of the British /submarines had excellent effect in inducing the crews , of merchantmen to destroy their vessels which". • would otherwise have fallen into the hands of the enemy. THE U-BOAT MENACE. 14 ACCOUNTED FOR DURING APRIL. ■ '■'. ' (Rec. May 19,5.5 p-tfu)" ;" ' ;; ! ; ,;;' ; r ; i NEj?. York, May 'i$: v ; . Xf hias been staged from official sources' tji^t jtwelVe U-|bbkts .were sunk" in British waters by BfitisE and . Aitneri)pari: destroy era during April." Two otHer U-boats are alsp known tp have been sunk, bhe^ while, attacking a cdnvoy going to Holland, 'the other rdse up .between' two Anlerican transpdrfe carrying troops to iPrarice. ' A torpedo missed the -transport by a few feet arid the ' U-boat was- destroyed by depth bombs from -the destroyer.-