CREW MUTINIED AND SLEW SUBMARINE OFFICERS.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 14287, 2 May 1917, Page 3

CREW MUTINIED AND SLEW SUBMARINE OFFICERS.

THRILLING TALE TOLD BY DIVER

CREW.

SCENE OF HORROR CONFRONTED

BRITISH TARS.

LONDON, March 31. A thrilling tale of panic aboard: a German submarine that ' had its climax m the murder of some of its officers by frenzied members of the crew, and suicide of other officers, and. the surrender of the crew to a British patrol boat, wag related last evening by a liigh official. The crew is now m London gaol and the British authorities have affidavits from some of theni that make a vivid chapter of submarine life. * <

As related, the insurrection aboard the submarine was the outcome of a badly .broken morale on the, part of not only the crew, but the officers. The informant stated that this was not the firat instance where the British Admiralty had oome upon a wavering morale among submarine orews, but it was assuredly the most flagrant. "Naturally, submarine crews work at terrific tension," he said. "To get accurate results the}** mrast work perfectly, with clock-like precision and' the work must be HTvn ,^vr"ptcdly perfect. With

/the morale of the submarine, crew shattered, expert work disappears and the submarine becomes powerless. That ia what happened to the case m point." Tlie German submarine, somewhere off the Irish coast attacked . a British trawler. It had fired one torpedo, which' missed its mark, and was preparing to fire another, when a British patrol steamed up. The patrol fired a shot that went just over the top of the submarine. It splashed m the water beyond, and the submarine started off; it* obmmander evidently not wanting to fight the patrol, it had! gone but a short distance, the patrol after it, when ■ suddenly the underwater craft was seen to slacken speed, rhe patrol was nearly hali a mile off at the time. As the patrol steamed nearer, bring' a shell at the submarine, one, two, three and then half a dozen wildeyed men of the U-boat crew ran on to the submarine deck,, each m turn lifting his hands m an attitmdfe of surrender. The patrol stepped firing and ca . u r.° ras *y * went nearer, until; ii was within speaking distance of the submarine. All the. time, its guns wwe trained on the U-boat r* ■ The crew tried to explain, all talking wildly at once, that they wanted to give themselves up. One of them yelled out m fairly good English : J ■■ . "Our officers are all. killed.' Tlie patrol despatehed.a.amall boat to tne submarine, while the German crew ftood* dtock still upon theldeck, holding their hands above their heads. They were taken, aboard the patrol and British officers went, aboard the submarine. 'An, amazing sight confronted them. f'Y cr y <?fficer '.of 'the" submarine was ly-rag. dead, either on. the deck or m. the hold, either with. one or more bullets m the head; Two had also ..been shot through the heart. ' ?"?' .f&hziea' speeoh the German crew explained. that they had rebelled against putting themselves" to further risk m the hazardous game of submarine' warfare and "had attacked, their bfficerfl. Some of : the ; officers. ;they.V. had' shot ; others, shot themselves/ -The- -whole submarine, the crexv.' said- was m a turmoil from the time the first sho_from the British patrol had passed over the U-boat's deck. /"A p '" ". .It, appeared that the crew had revolted before, "after ah '; engagement m which the submarine narrowly escaped being sunk by a British- .patrol. Tlie men had been working' at . ai' Jhigh pitch, they said, and could -endttre no more of it. The bffiber^ ' tn^ffiiselfes'T^the orew said, Avere half -crafted- from 1 • the incessant grind and peril of their work and were unable to matntanVdi^jklhie. When it looked as if the submarine was to be sunk, by t^e.Bri'tiali patrol, crew and. officers became '-pamc-stricken. Some .of the officers "trieS 'to "calm the uprising, but were powerless, against it. Tlie crew attacked them "with steal bars—^anything they could^ XJfff ■ their hands' on— and then wrested *he officers' revolvers from them. ,P V Pa. ': This . mad scene Went • oil ' 'while th e British patrol was chasing- the fleeing submarine. It stopped pml*£ r wphen the officers were killed. The submarine sank na 1 -. long after the c,re^f.,"fiad"',been removed. 1 ...... ..iw