EXCITING FIGHT WITH SUBMARINE

Rangitikei Advocate and Manawatu Argus, Volume XLII, Issue 11478, 5 March 1918, Page 2

EXCITING FIGHT WITH SUBMARINE

A statement by the French Minis try of Marine concerning the sinking of the old French cruiser Ohat-eau-Renanl tsays that the warship with several other vessels was attacked by a submarine in the lonian Sea at 7. 15 o’clock on the morning of 14th December. The statement says; “The torpedo struck on the starboard side in the region of the Stokehold, which it flooded, at the same time bursting steam pipes, which stopped the engines. The captain at once manned the hand steering-gear and steered so as to utilise the momentum of the ship and approach the shore, which was in sight. Passengers and the crew were ordered to their borft stations at tne sound of the explosion. Tor-pedo-boat destroyers, which formed a part of the convoy, dashed in the direction from which the torpedo had come and volleyed shells at the spot where it was* presumed the submarine had submerged. “While the boats .were being lowered from the Ohateau-Renault the enemy submarne came np on her left. The cruiser had sunk to her gun ports, but nevertheless the gun crews remained at their posts and opened a hot fire on the submarine, which promptly dived. A second torpedo was fired shortly afterward and struck the Chateau-Renault on tire starboard side forward. She sank by the head, a few minutes after the captain got aboard a patrol boat. All passengers were saved, but ten of the crew are missing and are supposed to have been killed by the explosion. “The torpedo-boat destroyers overloaded with survivors, renewed the attack on the submarine under water and then on the surface when she appeared for an instant, only to submerge again precipitately under lire of the guns of the destroyers. Two seaplanes then bombed her. The submarine probably had been struck by a shell so as it to make it impossible for her to remain submerged, for she appeared once again and was immediately covered by a rain of shells. One ot her gunners was swept overboard by a shell while in the act of aiming his piece, while the submarine sank like a stone, torn to pieces by French guns. The prisoners number 22, among them the captain of the submarine and, two officers.”