FIGHTS WITH U-BOATS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23970, 20 November 1939, Page 11

FIGHTS WITH U-BOATS

SEVEN-HOUR DUEL THREE THRILLING BATTLES (From Our Own Correspondent) LONDON, Oct. 24. The German U-boats are not having everything their own way when they attack unescorted British merchant ships. Three thrilling stories have been told of the first battles on the high seas between submarines and our cargo ships now armed for self-defence. In only one was the U-boat the victor. For seven hours an armed British merchant ship, on a voyage from the Bristol Channel to South America, fought a grim duel with a U-boat. The steamer had much the better of the encounter. She holed the submarine, and finally two British warships appeared and “ polished off ” the raider. An account of the fight reached London from Mr Antonio Cutajar, a Maltese. who sailed as fireman in the British vessel. It was a battle in serial form from 7 in the morning until 2.30 in the afternoon. The submarine emerged half a dozen times or more from the depths, only to be thwarted of its prey time and time again by the fearless courage of the merchantmen’s crew.

Mr Cutajar said: “ When the submarine first appeared, our gun was quickly brought into action. It was handled so efficiently by a naval man and a fireman who acted as his assistant—an ex-naval man—that the Üboat had to keep at a greater distance than it would have wished. “ But there were times when it was still near enough for us to see clearly the members oj its crew manning the gun against us. At intervals for more than seven hours, the U-boat fired at us and we fired back. The submarine got home only one shot against us, when one of our lifeboats was smashed by a shell. Our only casualty was a member of the crew who was struck on the head by a splinter, but his injury was not serious. “All the time our captain was keeping the ship on its vovage. but he was handling it so skilfully that the submarine could not get into position to sink us or even to damage us. We sent out S.O.S. signals as the fight went on.”

Mr Cutajar said that, during one of the duels, the ship’s gunner was able to hole the submarine above the waterline, “This, of course, meant,” he added, “ that she could not submerge again.

“Then, at about half-past two in the afternoon, two warships appeared on the horizon in answer to our signals, and we knew that the U-boat was done for. The submarine crew tried to put up something of a fight against the warships by directing its gunfire, but it was hopeless and very soon it was sent to the bottom. The crew was saved by the warships.”

A Warm Reception

Another story was of a merchant vessel which, with shells bursting over her, fought a submarine with such determination that the enmy had to retreat. This vessel’s story was told by Mr C. J. Wilson, who was on board the merchant vessel when he returned to his home town at Newport, Mon. He said that the gun crew returned shot for shot and gave the U-boat a warm time. In the end, the intended victim beat, off the attacker and was able to bring her crew and cargo safe to port. She had suffered very little damage. Mr Wilson said that tribute should be paid to the seamanship shown throughout this desperate duel on the high seas. The gallant fight put up by the British freighter Heronspool before she was sunk on October 13 was described by Mr George Haresnape, her radio operator. Mr Haresnape, her with 35 other members of the crew was rescued by (he American liner President Harding, has just been landed in New York. “Shortly after leaving the convoy we came upon a submarine as it was attacking the tanker Emile Miguet,” ho said. “The submarine spotted us and started for us. We had only one gun, but we fought for four hours. The submarine came to the surface and dived continually, firing its guns. “We zig-zagged all over the ocean, it seemed, firing at each other. All 36 of our crow got away safely in two lifeboats.”

“ Fourteen-year-old Messboy Frank Elders said: "Our answer to the Üboat’s signal to stop was a shot. The U-boat fired once across our bows, but we kept on and the U-boat came so close we could see men smoking in the turret. Still the next shot fell a few yards short. We saw one of our shots splash right where the U-boat had submerged. “Later somebody shouted ‘Here it is.’ There was a terrific explosion almost immediately. Oh, mother, I’ll never hear another like that. We took to the boats. Ours leaked badly. The water was knee deep when we were picked up, and we couldn't have lasted much longer.”