CHRISTMAS IN A SUBMARINE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVI, Issue 17348, 20 December 1919, Page 5 (Supplement)

CHRISTMAS IN A SUBMARINE

fjgiiliiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiliiiiiiiiiiiiiilfiiiilillii HE spirit of Christmas, deepv/fllv rooted; throughout our race,- is '. •'4ai> stronger than the spirit of war, ,„..... and 7that is why soldiers and" sailors alike, 'even'; when i they w'ere.still face to face .with,- the, grim., realities of, war, took good, care to celebrate their Christmas". A submarine on. patrol offers about as many facilities l for festivities as.

an outpost in ,No Man's Land. ; But no matter what tie scene, or' h6w obtrusive the evidence of strife, the compelling spirit of the season is present. /The parcel from home, carefully retained unopened till the 25th, the tot. of rum, or the ration of plum pudding make all the difference; and they can, be taken in a brief respite snatched even from the sternest task. ' While, the homeland valleys were reverberating with the message rung from every church bell, the submarine might be playing some daring game in the enemy's waters, worming out his secrets, negotiating a deadly minefield, or pressing home an attack. It mattered little;' the thoughts of the crew- wandered homewards to the old familiar scenes, picturing them as they were in the days of peace, to which happily they have now returned.

Designed for ' the stern' necessities of war,' the submarine, nevertheless, offers a degree of comfort which the officers and crew, with characteristic ingenuity, fashion for themselves. Their wants while cruising are fewfirst and foremost sleep, then some reasonable recreation. The seafaring man has an infinite capacity for sleep, and when off watch he is entirely oblivious of the trials and dangers that encompass him. Absolute confidence in his shipmates is the origin of this quality; and very necessary it is, for without it no man could endure for long the ceaseless strain and racket of life on a submarine. Much of the free time is' spent in sleep, and the' balance is devoted to playing at cards and other games, and,' of course, letter writing. The seaman, like the soldier, is an inveterate letter writer.. In the older boats men slept on the deck .at their action stations, ready instantly, for .the alarm, or else curled up in some convenient nook or cranny, sought out and .found by a kind of unerring instinct. In the latest type of boats they have comfortable bunks in the mess decks, which are also fitted with tables where they take their meals. Christmas Cheer. No man can work at his best unless he is well fed, and this fact is ever borne in mindparticularly so at Christmas time, when the regular rations are augmented by delicacies dear to the heart of the seaman. Electric ranges have been devised in which meals are prepared, the sight and savoury smell of which would arouse hungry mouthwaterings in the landsman. In many a home on shore provided with all the soace and utensils of a modern kitchen, the Christmas dinner falls far short of that enjoyed on submarines even when hunting the enemy in his own zones.

iiiHiiiiiiitiiiiliiiiiilliiiiiiiiiiiliilifliilllgll | The daily life of the crew of a. submarine calls forth the very best qualities of the men, and it is correspondingly .ex--hausting. ._Mere;physical rest,alone would jjiot* provide the . recuperation that is necessary k,l That' .alone, can be supplied by the gracious and. strengthening. influence of home, and thrice ; lucky is the crew whose leave happens to fall at Christmas time; Fpr those less .fortunate. it, is merely a ? postponement'',of the family re-

union, for, as far as circumstances permit,, leave is granted after every alternate cruise, so.that the men never wholly lose touch with the daily round and' the domestic doings of the little folk, and of the wife so bravely enrolled for home service for husband and children. The adventures, the perils dared and overcome, the deadly cold and fierce storm never weaken the "homing instinct," and at the ' magic whisper, "Leave," they are just like schoolboys on breaking-up day. Perilous Tasks. ■ But, however faithfully the men in the submarines may cling to the traditions of Christmas, nothing was permitted to interfere with the execution of those perilous and important duties with which they were entrusted. The work of the British submarines was happily confined to legitimate warfare. They made no attacks on helpless passenger • ships crowded with women and children; they sought to destroy no hospital ships and send stricken men and nurses to a watery grave. Here are some typical instances of the work they did in the days of war. Patrolling in the Heligoland Bight, a submarine sighted two patches of destroyer smoke to the south-eastward, and two anxious hours were spent manoeuvring •for position to attack. Then, at a range of 500 yards, two torpedoes were fired, one at the bow and the other at the stern of one of the destroyers. The submarine then dived to avoid detection, but a loud explosion told that- one torpedo had reached its mark. Eight minutes later the destroyer was seen sinking by the stern, fifteen feet of her bows still standing vertically out of the water. Heard Twenty Miles Away. On' another occasion a submarine on patrol one morning off the- Ems sighted an enemy destroyer, and fired both bow tubes at a range of 350 yards. As the submarine dived on firing, the result was not seen, but after the lapse of a few seconds there was an exceedingly loud explosion, which was distinctly heard twenty miles away. A-quick sweep round with the periscope two or three minutes later revealed no sign of the destroyer which had be'en fired at. In view of the violence of the explosion it is' probable that the magazine blew up, and that would account for the rapid disappearance of the ship. Another instance of the total disappearance of a vessel may be given. One of our submarines sighted an enemy submarine ahead of her, and giving chase, reduced the range to 400 yards. Two torpedoes were fired, and one was seen to hit. When the smoke cleared awayi'thera was not a vestige of the hostile vessel to be seen.