Soon the outlines of a ship told us that ahead of us was a large
steamer, steaming westward at high speed. The disappointment which
we experienced at first was soon reversed when it was clearly shown
that the fortunes of war had again sent a ship across our course which
belonged to a hostile power.
No flag could be seen--nor was it run up. Otherwise we would have seen
it.
"This is a suspicious circumstance," I reasoned with myself.
I called down to the "Centrale" all my observations through the
periscope at regular intervals, snapping them out in the same sharp,
brief style that the newsboys use in calling out the headlines to the
listening public. My words were passed in whispers from mouth to mouth
until all hands on board knew what was going on above the surface. Each
new announcement from the conning tower caused great excitement among
the crew, listening and holding their breath and, I believe, if you
could measure the tension on human nerves with a barometer, it would
have registered to the end of the tube, when, like hammer beats, these
words went down to the "Centrale:"
"The steamer's armed! Take a look, mate."
I stepped away from the sights of the periscope. "Can you see the gun
mounted forward of the bridge?"
"Yes, certainly," he replied excitedly. "I can see it, and quite a
large piece it is, too."
"Now take a look at her stern--right by the second mast--what do you
notice there?"
"Thousand devils! Another cannon--at least a ten-centimeter gun. It's
a transport, sure."
"Drop the periscope! Port ten!" I commanded.
"Torpedo tube ready!" reported the torpedo master through the tube from
the forward torpedo compartment.
By this time I had the periscope submerged so that we were completely
below the surface and out of sight, and it would be impossible to
discover us from the steamer, even after the most careful searching of
the horizon.
"Advance on the enemy!" was our determination.
Oh, what a glorious sensation is a U-boat attack! What a great
understanding and coöperation between a U-boat and its crew--between
dead matter and living beings! What a merging into a single being, of
the nerves and spirits of an entire crew!
"Just as if the whole boat is as one being," was the thought that
passed through my mind when I, with periscope down, went at my
antagonist, just like a great crouching cat with her back bowed and her
hair on end, ready to spring. The eye is the periscope, the brain the
conning tower, the heart the "Centrale," the legs the engines, and the
teeth and claws the torpedoes.
Noiselessly we slipped closer and closer in our exciting chase. The
main thing was that our periscope should not be observed, or the
steamer might change her course at the last moment and escape us. Very
cautiously, I stuck just the tip of the periscope above the surface
at intervals of a few minutes, took the position of the steamer in
a second and, like a flash, pulled it down again. That second was
sufficient for me to see what I wanted to see. The steamer was to
starboard and was heading at a good speed across our bows. To judge
from the foaming waves which were cut off from the bow, I calculated
that her speed must be about sixteen knots.
The hunter knows how important it is to have a knowledge of the speed
at which his prey is moving. He can calculate the speed a little closer
when it is a wounded hare than when it is one which in flight rushes
past at high speed.
It was only necessary for me, therefore, to calculate the speed of the
ship for which a sailor has an experienced eye. I then plotted the
exact angle we needed. I measured this by a scale which had been placed
above the sights of the periscope. Now I only had to let the steamer
come along until it had reached the zero point on the periscope and
fire the torpedo, which then must strike its mark.
You see, it is very plain; I estimate the speed of the boat, aim with
the periscope and fire at the right moment.
He who wishes to know about this or anything else in this connection
should join the navy, or if he is not able to do so, send us his son or
brother or nephew.