THORDIS AND SUBMARINE.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XL, Issue 12537, 7 May 1915, Page 7

THORDIS AND SUBMARINE.

The nuvnit-iv#! of Captain John William Bell of how lie rammed a German submarine off Beachy Head, on .March 2, brief to the point, is ene of the most astonishing stories of British pluck that have been related since the present war at s ea opened (says the "London Daily Telegraph"), It is astonishing, for who would have believed that a slow old collier could fin lit. and sink a. submarine* Or, indeed, that these formidable underwater craft- should have been set at defiance 11v vessels wholly unarmed and undefended '' Captain Probert's recent exploit on the Laertes will bo recalled to mind. Even more dashing is that, of Captain Bell, whose narrative has engaged the attention of the Admiralty authorities at Devonport. But Captain Bell's way of relating the occurrence, which promises to make inm famous, is far from dashing. He speaks of his acticn in the most quiet and commonplace way imaginable. He is devoid of gesture. In fact, lie might be listening to."rather than telling, his own story, and he might be apologising for what he did when he says that he thought he had better trv to' .ram the pirate because she might- have, tried another shot- at him. Aiicl then be goes on to intimate that- it was not anv cleverness of his that sank the submarine, but the submarine's own carelessness and contemptuousness' "I encountered the submarine on Sunday morning. about eight or nine miles from Beaeliv Head, olf Xewhaven, Captain Bell said. '"'lt was a, clear. sunshiny morning, but- a strong westerly wind was blowing with heavv head seas, wlueli lifted the boat a good d. V- « were making about three knot an hour on a flood tide. when, - about 9-30, the second mate reported to me thai- lie thought he saw the periscope of a submarine on the starboard. "[ went on to the bridge, and plainly saw the periscope with my own eyes. There was no need tor glass-es. It was about two ships' lengths away. Of course, 1 did not know but" that it might- be one of our submarines, but in case it was not I summoned all hands on deck, and told some of lliem to stand by the boats. I have a crew of twelve hands! . "The submarine then, crossed our bows, and took up a position about thirty or forty yards on the port beam. A few minute's after that I saw the wake of a torpedo on the starboard. All the crew sawit as well. It was like a long, feathery arrow. It- was clear that the submarine had fired at and missed us. through the lifting of the boat, awl I said to mys-elf. 'As she's sure to have another shot-. Id better try and ram her: it's about the onK- chance.' "So -I called out to the man at- the wheel,' 'Hard a'starboard !' t( A minute later —or it- may have b-een two or three minutes, for you.don't think much about- time- when you see a thing is Irvine to sink you—we closed on the submarine. '1 ho bows of inj ship and the periscope which was all we could see came nearer and nearer together, and I could have touched the periscope with mv hand as we went- over it*if I had been on the deck. _ _ . \ "There were two distinct noises. One was like a slight- crash, and then a scrapin" noise followed. We didn't see the periscope at- all agam, and some time aftei there was a- quantity of oil on. the waiei in the neighbourhood we had left- behind. "The crew were just lowering the port I boat when we heard the crash." I had my I eves fixed on the periscope, and it seemed to me to be-of a, reddish, greeny colour like tarnished copper. As I say. I could -have touched.the thing as we passed over I*':

"I think we must have sunk the fctibmarine, but I 'don't believe got auy damage. -The engineer carried out un eX;iiiiinatiotlj and repurlcd tli;it Wc were Hot 'leaking at all, and there is nu damage to the bows as far as '.ail be seen. But a diver cull Id easily ascertain if there's any damage below water-line *-lieu we get in. "1 ean attribute our escape only to the fact that, owing to the heavy sous, w lifted at the moment the torpedo was dischargcd, so that it passed under lis, mid also "that the submarine treated us with contempt, as it Were? and never thought we would be likely to turn and run her down. This Ship pitches pretty heavily in a rough yea. and that might easily account for the torpedo missing us, when it might strike a big vessel. ''But why the submarine did nut dive or get uut of the way when 1 headed for j her. of course 1 can t say. Maybe she started to do so too late. Our draught is about 12l't- 6in. f don't know how long it takes a submarine to operate her hydraulics.' but maybe it takes more than a minute or two to get below a depth <>i 12ft or so. Of course, although we don't move quickly, we are a tidy weight for giving a blow' with 700 tons of coal on board, and I don't suppose these submarines are much more than steel eggshells. "There was no. signal at all from the submarine during the encounter, and we j saw :io ilag: nothing but the periscope and the wake of a travelling torpedo. It was all over in a few minutes.''

In response to what- would seem a ero-ss-examiuatory query as to whether he was "sure" it was a periscope which he saw. he raised his brows. L-.miled forbcariirgly. and retorted: "\ou can ask the members of the crew also. They saw- it a.s well as me. It was broad daylight—broad daylight/'