U-BOAT STORIES.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 12756, 27 September 1919, Page 10

U-BOAT STORIES.

HOW OUR CRAFT FOUGHT THE MENACE. Lord Stemdale, in the English Prize Count, recently granted over £7OO prize bounty for sinking during the war five German submarines. One ot hiT crfxlit antS wo submarines to Captain Pmncis Henry Grenfell, •v. ..told how H.M.S. Penshnrst, of which he was m command in Novembor 4u w e and sa ik TJ.B. 19 m the English Channel, and again in the Channel. two months later, accounted tor the German U.B. 37. From the first submarine he rescued three officers, including the second in command, and thirteen men, and was told if J i ? ec P ad command that seven m t n had either been tailed on the snb--5l a " no d , n , nn ." the engagement or gone fn?rT u hor - ° f the second snb-ma-nne thnro were no survivors hut n % i,K ’ f,m - carr * d a crew ot Lwen iy-t ° f ** dor hen * of their f’ c •’’ize-hounty was awarded r sinking tins, brnco of enemy craft. TORPEDO TOOK EFFECT. Lieutenant - Commander Cromwell Hanford Varlcy, D.5.0.. claimed in re•>pect of a ught submarine v. submarine. ino British submarine, of which ho was in command, was in Heligoland Bight mi July 14. 19Hi, when he sighted near tne lesser light vessel an enemy boat Pol. l n the fight that ensued a torpedo irom the British submarine tm; the enemy boat squarely beneath the conning-tower. and in the laconic official phrase “took effect.” The broken T boat went down and there were no survivors. There hadjbeen a crow of thirty-five on board, and the prize bounty accordingly was £175. rammed by the Roxburgh. The next story came from the N.E. coast of Ireland. Captain Gerald Mm. N man, C.M.G., stated in February ot last year he was in command of H M S Roxburgh off the Irish coast when a submarine rose to the surface. The Roxburgh s ram pointed towards it. aud as tlio Roxburgh was travelling eighteen knots, hit it fairly hard. The side of the IT boat was stove in and they watched it founder. Again there were no survivors. It was a largo craft, the TJB9, and there wore forty-two on hoard. he prize bounty was £2lO. In this case, said Air Wilfred Lewis 4b® claimants, the officers and crew of the Roxburgh had asked that their share of prize bounty should be divided between St Dunstan’s Home and the Mansion House Fund. Direction would accordingly be given to the AccountantGeneral to that effect. His lordship concurred. CONNING TOWER HIT. The last tale, exemplified the value or the protection ivhich the Navy in countless cases afforded to convovs cl merchantmen. A convoy was being es«rted in the Mediterranean on Octoher 4 last, sixty miles N.E. of Malta, by H.ALS. Snapdragon, under ComHinnderHnmphrpT Willie Best. DjS.O. and H.AI. trawler Cradosin. Commansaid tho German submarine • uoS," manoeuvring to attack the convoy, came to the surface. Gunfire was directed on her by the vessels with cnpphng effect, and her commander decided to abandon her. Sh© was .sunk by her own captain s orders to avoid capture, and the Snapdragon took prisonor her captain and thirty-two of her ? er crew was thirty-six in all. bhe had been badly holed fore and aft and her conning-tower blown away by a shot from the Snapdragon. The nnze ■ bounty was £IBO.