SUBMARINE'S EXPLOTT.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 13601, 5 February 1915, Page 4

SUBMARINE'S EXPLOTT.

SUBMERGED FOR NINE HOURS

TURKISH BATTLESHIP SUNK.

What without any disparagement of the /work of- other officers engaged m .the same difficult and dangerous service iqay be fairly described, as the most remarkable and daring submarine exploit of the war, so far .as. it -has ;gppe, stands .to the credit of Lieut.-dpmman.der Norman D. .Hplbrook, of submarine' Bll. '.-'.', ;

He-took his boat half-way up the Dardanelles,, as far as Nagara, where dhe' straits ar.e at .their narrowest (inciden-. tally - diving under five rows of mines), torpedoed* Turkish battleship* and:got safely .back,; although, he had at one time:: to. remain .submerged for nine, hours. „.-'■ ■ ■■-

In connection with the exploit, the naval correspondent of the Times writes : The most striking circumstance m connection with this fine feat of seamanship and courage is the negotiation of the, minefields, five rows of which Lieutenant Holbrobk passed under m taking 81l to tho place where found he* quarry. The under- water navigation of the Dardanelles is made most perilous arid jiifficult by the swift currents which sweep througn the straits, and, striking .the various projecting points, are turned into eddies and whirlpools. Under such con-' dition's to take the submarine, blind as she i&, and feel & way along the bottom of the sea, evading the "moorings of the mines, is a t&sk which few would care to attempt. Not only caution and daring, but nerves of steel are required m the successful, commander of a submarine m such circumstances.

This is nofc the first time our submarines. have crept under; hostile, minefields. A similar feat m German waters wa^acconujlisqedi, as we; know from the report ojf CojpimQdore JCeves-jpnbh>hfld Jn the flelujcfland despatches. On one occasion- submarine E$ f Lieut, -Commander C. P. Tal^qti actually fqvled the mooring^ of a ; mine and. brought the machine to ,;the surface, .where, by the skill,, and daring of. Lieut. F. A. P, WillianißFreeiman ( and: Able-Seaman E. Bandell Oremer, it was successfully released and dropped ; without (injury to the boat. The captain of the >£(> ,wqa promoted to com-, minder on Trafalgar Day, but he retains the- command pf, his vessel, while Lie,nt. WilUams^Freeman, the second: m command, • -,waa. . • deservedly , awarded the D.&.0. -,Ihe laat-najned distinction was also? conferred upon -Lieut. -Commander Max Kv;Hc*t<>n, who, with E9, . sank the ; German cruiser Hela-and destroyed 8126^ and who will now have to look to ihia Jaureb if the commanders of < the mush, older boats ii\ the Mediterranean flotilla show themselves as enterprising as Lieut. Holbrook. .