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THE ADVENTURES OF THE U-202
AN ACTUAL NARRATIVE
BY
BARON SPIEGEL
VON UND ZU PECKELSHEIM
(CAPTAIN-LIEUTENANT, COMMANDER OF THE U-202)
NEW YORK
THE CENTURY CO.
1917
Copyright, 1917, by
THE CENTURY CO.
Copyright, 1917, by
JOHN N. WHEELER, INC.
_Published, February, 1917
by arrangement with New York World_
PREFACE
I was sitting on the conning tower smoking a cigarette. Then the splash
of a wave soaked it. I tried to draw another puff. It tasted loathsome
and frizzled. Then I became angry and threw it away.
I can see my reader's surprised expression. You had expected to read a
serious U-boat story and now such a ridiculous beginning! But I know
what I am doing. If I had once thrown myself into the complicated U-boat
system and used a bunch of technical terms, this story would be shorter
and more quickly read through, but you would not have understood half of
it.
Seriousness will come, bitter and pitiable seriousness. In fact,
everything is serious which is connected with the life on board a
submarine and none of it is funny; although in fact it is the hundred
small inconveniences and peculiar conditions on a U-boat which make life
on it remarkably characteristic. And in order to bring to the public a
closer knowledge concerning the peculiar life on board a U-boat I am
writing this story. Good--therefore my log-book! Yes, why should I not
make use of it? To this I also wish to add that I not only used my own
log-book but also at many places had use of other U-boats' logs in order
to present one or another episode which is worth the while relating.
Thus, for example, the story of the many fishing-smacks, which are
spoken of in the chapter called "Rich Spoils," is borrowed, but the
happenings in the witch kettle, the adventure with the English bulldog,
and also most of the other chapters are my own feathers with which I
have adorned this little story. This is the only liberal right of an
author which I permit myself. The style of the story from a log-book is
simple and convenient, and one buys so willingly such stories. See there
two valid reasons for making use of it.
THE AUTHOR.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I OUR FIRST SUCCESS 3
II AN EVENTFUL NIGHT 21
III THE SINKING OF THE TRANSPORT 46
IV RICH SPOILS 68
V THE WITCH-KETTLE 91
VI A DAY OF TERROR 115
VII A LIVELY CHASE 140
VIII THE BRITISH BULL-DOG 163
IX HOMEWARD BOUND! 189
THE ADVENTURES OF THE U-202
THE ADVENTURES OF THE U-202
I
OUR FIRST SUCCESS
_At the hunting grounds North Sea, April 12, 19--. Course:
northwest. Wind: southwest, strength 3-4. Sea: strength 3.
View: good. Both machines in high speed._
We were very comfortable in the conning tower because the weather was
fine and the sun burned with its heat our field-gray skin jackets.
"Soon we will have summer," I said to the officer on guard, Lieutenant
Petersen, who was sitting with me on the conning tower's platform. I
felt entirely too hot in my thick underwear.
Petersen, who, like me, was sitting with his legs dangling in the open
hatch on whose edge we had placed ourselves, put his hand on the deck
and loosened the thick, camel's wool scarf, twice wrapped around his
neck, as if suddenly he realized it was too hot for him, too.
"I think I'll soon discharge this one from service," said Petersen, and
pulled at the faithful winter friend as if he wished to strip it off.
"Don't be too hasty, my dear lieutenant," I replied laughing. "Just wait
until to-night, and then I am sure that you will repent and take your
faithful friend back into the service."
"Are we going to keep above the water to-night, Herr Captain-Lieutenant,
or are we to submerge?" he asked me.
"It depends on what comes up," I answered. "It rests as usual with the
weather."
Thus we were talking and smoking on the conning tower while our eyes
scanned the horizon and kept a sharp lookout all around us.
On the little platform, which in a sharp angle triangle unites itself
from behind with the tower, the subordinate officer corporal was on
guard, and with a skin cloth was cleaning the lenses on his double
spy-glass, which were wet.
"Did you also get a dousing, Krappohl?" I asked. "Then you didn't look
out, either. That rascal soaked my cigarette just as he did the lenses
on your spy-glass. That's the dickens of a trick."
With the word "rascal" I meant the splashing wave, which, while the sea
was in a perfect calm, without any reason climbed up to us on the
tower. If there had been a storm it would have been nothing to mention.
Then we often did not have a dry thread on our bodies. But such a
shameless scoundrel, which in the midst of the most beautiful weather
suddenly throws himself over a person, is something to make one angry.
We made good speed. The water, which was thrown aside by the bow, passed
by us in two wide white formed streaks. The motor rattled and rumbled,
and the ventilation machine in the so-called "Centrale" right under our
feet made a monotonous buzzing. Through the only opening where the air
could pass out, the open tower hatch, all kinds of odors flowed one
after another from the lower regions right by our noses. First we
smelled smear-oil. Then the fragrance of oranges (we had with us a
large shipment, which we had received as a gift of love), and now--ah!
Now it was coffee, a strong aromatic coffee odor.
Lieutenant Petersen moved back and forth unrestingly on the "swimwest,"
with which he had tried to make it a little more comfortable for himself
on the hard sitting place, bent deeper and deeper down into the hatch
inhaling with greed the odor from below, and said, as he in pleasant
anticipation began to rub his hands together:
"Now we'll have coffee, Herr Captain-Lieutenant!"
I had just with a great deal of trouble pulled out a cigarette-case from
the inside pocket of my skin jacket and was groping in my other pockets
for matches, when a hand (the gloves number 9½) with outstretched
forefinger reached towards me from behind and the subordinate officer's
excited voice announced:
"A cloud of smoke four points port."
As quickly as lightning the spy-glass was placed to the eye. "Where? Oh,
yes, there. I can see it!"
"As yet, only smoke can be seen. Isn't it so?"
In what a suspense we were now. Leaning forward, and with the glasses
pressed to the eye, we gazed on the little, distant, cloud of smoke. It
curled, then bent with the wind and slowly dissolved in a long, thin
veil-like streak. Nothing but smoke could be seen, a sign that the air
was clear, and one could see all the way to the extreme horizon.
What kind of a ship could it be, which the curved form of the earth
still concealed from our view? Was it a harmless freighter, a proud
passenger steamer, an auxiliary cruiser, or maybe an armored cruiser
jammed with cannon?
It was with a feeling, wavering between hope and fear, that these
thoughts occupied my mind--fear, not for the enemy, because we were
anxious to meet him--but fear that a disappointment would fall on us, if
the ship proved to be a neutral steamer when it came closer. Seven times
we had during three days experienced such disappointment, seven times we
had met neutral ships without contraband on board, and had been
compelled to let them continue on their way.
The distance between us and the steamer had not diminished, so that its
masts and a funnel arose above the horizon, two narrow, somewhat
slanting lines, between which there was a thicker dark spot. A common
freighter, therefore. This we saw at the first glance. I changed our
course northwardly in order to head off the course of the steamer which
was going in an easterly direction. With the highest speed the machine
could make we raced to meet them and the bridge and part of the hull
could already be seen.
"To the diving stations! Artillery alarm. Cannon service on deck! First
torpedo tube ready for fire!"
With loud voice I called down these commands into the boat.
There was a stir in the passages below like when a stone is thrown into
the midst of a swarm of bees. From below it arose, and the men who were
to serve at the cannons crowded on the narrow precipitous ladder, swung
themselves through the tower hatch and leaped on the deck. Now, first,
just once, a deep breath, so that the lungs can draw the refreshing sea
air, and then with their sleeves turned up and flashing eyes to the
guns.
"Can you see any neutral signs, Petersen?"
"No, Herr Captain-Lieutenant. The entire hull is black. It's an
Englishman."
"The flag of war to the mast! The usual signals ready!" I called down
into the tower.
Immediately our flag of war floated from the top of the mast behind the
tower. It told the men over there: "Here am I, a German submarine
U-boat. Now for it, you proud Britisher! Now it will be seen who rules
the sea."
We had gradually drawn closer to a distance of about six thousand
meters. At last an enemy! After so many neutral steamers. At last an
enemy! An intense joy thrilled us, a joy which only can be compared with
the hunter's when he sees at last the longed-for prey coming within
range, after long and fruitless efforts. We had traveled many hundred
sea miles. We had endured storm, cold, and at times had been drenched to
the skin, and there, only two points port, our first success was waving
towards us!
By this time we must have been discovered by the steamer. Now our flag
of war must have been recognized. A ghastly horror must have seized the
captain on the bridge: The U-boat terror! the U-boat pest!
But the captain on the steamer did not give in so easily. He tried to
save himself by flight. Suddenly we saw how the steamer belched forth
thicker and darker clouds of smoke and in a sharp curve turned port. Its
propeller water, which hitherto could hardly be seen, was whipped to a
white foam, and let us know the machines had been put into the highest
possible speed. But it was of no use. No matter how much the captain was
shouting and how much the machinist drove his sweating and naked fire
crew to even more than human endeavors, so that the coal flew about and
the boilers were red, everything was useless. We closed in on him with a
horrible certainty nearer and nearer.
For some time I had been standing high up on the tower with a spy-glass
before my eyes and did not lose one of the steamer's motions. Now it
seemed to me the right moment had come to energetically command the
steamer to stop.
"A shot above the steamer! Fire!"
The granate landed two hundred meters in front of the steamer. We waited
a few minutes, but when the shot did not cause any change I gave the
right distance to the gunners and shouted the command to aim at the
steamer. The second shot hit and a thick, black and yellow cloud from
the explosion shot into the air. The third shot tore a piece off the
funnel, the fourth hit the bridge, and before the fifth had left the
mouth of the gun the signal flew up, "I have stopped."
Ah! old friend, you had come to it, anyhow!
An old sea-rule says: "Carefulness is the best seamanship." Regarding
all the tricks and subterfuges which the hostile merchant-marine has
used against us, I did not consider it advisable to advance nearer the
steamer at once. I therefore also stopped our machines and signaled:
"Leave the ship immediately!"
The signal was unnecessary. The English captain had himself given the
command to the crew to take to the boats after he, frothing with anger,
had comprehended the impossibility to flee. Snorting with wrath, he
shortly afterwards came alongside our boat, and handed me at my request
the ship's papers and asked me to tow the three boats to the
neighborhood of the coast. I promised this and said some simple words
to him in regard to his bad luck and concerning the grim necessity of
the war--which he dismissed with an angry shrug of his shoulders. I
certainly could understand the man's bad spirit.
I then went forward and torpedoed the steamer, which sank, stern
foremost, with a gurgling sound into the deep.
At the same time four thousand tons of rice were lost to the English
market.
We had met with success and this put us into the highest spirits. Come
whatever wants to come, our voyage had not been entirely useless.
When I stepped down into the boat for a moment and passed through the
narrow crew-room to my own little cabin, I saw to right and left joyful
faces, and all eyes were smiling towards me as if they wished to say:
"Congratulations!" The steamer's sinking was the subject of discussion.
Those who had witnessed the incident had to describe all the
circumstances in smallest detail; where the torpedo had struck, how high
the water-pillar had risen, and what afterwards happened to the steamer,
how the people on the boat looked, and the like. Everything had to be
explained.
When I went back some one said: "To-morrow it will be in the papers."
These words whirled around in my head for some time. Yes, to-morrow
there would be in all the German newspapers under the column: "Ships
sunk" or "Sacrifices to the U-boat war," that once more we had
retaliated on our most hated enemy, that his inhuman attempt to starve
our people had been parried by a horrid and strong blow. And over there
upon his isle our relentless enemy would receive the same kind of a
newspaper notice. The only difference was that there it would cause fury
instead of joy, and the dried-up old English editor would stare
terrified on the telegram which he would hold in his hand, pull off his
few white threads of hair, and swear as only an Englishman can swear.
Even up to the dusk of the night, we towed the sunken freighter's three
boats towards the coast. We then cut loose in order to get ready to
manoeuver. When darkness set in, one had to be ready for surprises.
Besides, we were not very far from land and the weather was fair, so
that the boats could be in no danger. As a refreshment, I had three
bottles of wine brought over to the captain of the ill-fated ship, and
left him with best greetings to Mr. Churchill and his colleagues.
The last streak of day became paler and paler in the west. The
spook-like red cloud-riders stretched themselves more and more, became
indistinct, pulled themselves asunder, and at once were swept away. In
their place appeared the dark demon of the night, spread itself over
heaven, hid all the stars, and settled heavily over the sea.
This was just a night suitable for us. One could not see one's hand
before the eye. The steel covers on the tower windows were tightly shut,
so that the least ray of light could not escape. Entirely invisible we
were gliding forward in the dark. Dumb and immovable, each one was
sitting at his post--the lieutenant, the subordinate officer, and the
commander--trying with our eyes to pierce through the darkness and
turning our heads continually from right to left and back again. The aim
of our voyage was still far off and the fine weather had to be used.
Weakly, as if from a far distance, the phonograph's song reached us
lonely watchmen:
"Reach me thy hand, thy dear hand;
Live well, my treasure, live well!
'Cause we travel now to Eng-eland,
Live well, my treasure, live well,
'Cause we travel now to Eng-eland."
II
AN EVENTFUL NIGHT
What peculiar sensations filled me. We were at war--the most insane war
ever fought! And now I am a commander on a U-boat!
I said to myself:
"You submarine, you undersea boat, you faithful U-202, which has
obediently and faithfully carried me thousands of miles and will still
carry me many thousand miles! I am a commander of a submarine which
scatters death and destruction in the ranks of the enemy, which carries
death and hell fire in its bosom, and which rushes through the water
like a thoroughbred. What am I searching for in the cold, dark night?
Do I think about honor and success? Why does my eye stare so steadily
into the dark? Am I thinking about death and the innumerable mines which
are floating away off there in the dark, am I thinking about enemy
scouts which are seeking me?
"No! It is nerves and foolish sentiments born of foolish spirits. I am
not thinking about that. Leave me alone and don't bother me. I am the
master. It is the duty of my nerves to obey. Can you hear the melodious
song from below, you weakling nerves? Are you so dull and faint hearted
that it does not echo within you? Do you not know the stimulating power
which the thin metal voice below can inspire within you?
"This song brings greetings to you from a distance of twelve hundred
miles and through twelve hundred miles it comes to you. Ahead we must
look; we must force our eyes to pierce the darkness on all sides."
The spy-glass flew to the eye. There is a flash in the west. A light!
"Hey, there! Hey! There is something over there----"
"That is no ordinary light. What about it?"
Lieutenant Petersen was looking through his night glasses at the light.
"I believe he is signaling," he said excitedly. "The light flashes
continually to and fro. I hope it is not a scout ship trying to speak
with some one."
Hardly had the lieutenant uttered these words when we all three jumped
as if electrified, because certainly in our immediate neighborhood
flashed before us several quick lights giving signals, which
undoubtedly came from the ship second in line, which was signaling to
our first friend.
"Great God! An enemy ship! Not more than three hundred meters ahead!" I
exclaimed to myself.
"Hard a starboard! Both engines at highest speed ahead! To the diving
stations!"
In a subdued voice, I called my commands down the tower.
The phonograph in the crew-room stopped abruptly. A hasty, eager running
was discernible through the entire boat as each one hurried to his post.
The boat immediately obeyed the rudder and was flying to starboard.
Between the two hostile ships there was a continuous exchange of
signals.
"God be praised it is so dark!" I exclaimed with a deep breath as soon
as the first danger had passed.
"And to think that the fellow had to betray his presence by his
chattering signals just as we were about to run right into his arms,"
was the answer. "This time we can truly say that the good God, Himself,
had charge of the rudder."
The engineer appeared on the stairway which leads from the "Centrale" up
to the conning tower.
"May I go to the engine-room, Herr Captain-Lieutenant?"
It was not permissible for him to leave his diving station, the
"Centrale," which is situated in the center of the boat, without special
permission.
"Yes, Herr Engineer, go ahead down and fire up hard!" I replied.
The thumping of the heavy oil-motors became stronger, swelled higher
and higher, and, at last, became a long drawn out roar, and entirely
drowned the sound of the occasional jolts which always were distinctly
discernible when going at slower speed. One truly felt how the boat
exerted its strength to the utmost and did everything within its power.
We had put ourselves on another course which put the anxiously signaling
Britishers obliquely aport of our stern, and rushed with the highest
speed for about ten minutes until their lights became smaller and
weaker. We then turned point by point into our former course, and thus
slipped by in a large half circle around the hostile ships.
"Just as a cat around a bowl of hot oatmeal," said Lieutenant Petersen.
"No, my dear friend," I said laughingly, "it does not entirely
coincide. The cat always comes back, but the oatmeal is too hot for us
in this case. Or do you think that I intend to circle around those two
rascals for hours?"
"Preferably not, Herr Captain-Lieutenant. It could end badly!"
"Both engines in highest speed forward, let the crew leave the diving
stations, place the guards!" I ordered.
The danger had passed. Normal conditions at night could again be
resumed. But before the morning set in, we again experienced all kinds
of adventures. The night was as if bewitched. There was no sleep worth
mentioning. I had hardly, towards ten o'clock, reached my comfortable
little nest where the sailor Schultes, our own considerate "cup-bearer,"
had spread on my miniature writing-desk the most tempting delicacies of
preserves and fruit together with a bottle of claret, when a whistle
sounded in the speaking-tube on the wall right close to my head:
"Whee-e!" it shrieked, high, penetrating and alarming.
I jumped up, pulled out the stopper and put in the mouth-piece.
"Hello!"
"Two points from starboard a white light!"
I grabbed my cap and gloves and rushed sternward through the deck
officer's room, petty officer's room, and crew-room, each one narrower
than the other.
"Look out, the commander!" they shouted to one another, and pulled in
their legs so that I could get by.
"Ouch!" I bumped my head hard against the stand of an electric lamp. I
rubbed the sore spot as I hurried ahead, while I took an oath to myself
that the lamp should be moved at the first possible opportunity. I
hurried through the "Centrale," up the narrow stairway. Then I reached
my place.
"Where?"
"There!" Lieutenant Gröning, who was on guard, pointed out. "About three
points starboard!"
"It is a steamer. One can already see the red side lantern. It is
crossing our course."
I put my binoculars to the eye and looked for many seconds for the
light. The officer on guard was right. Besides the white lantern, one
could see a deep, red light. The ship therefore was traveling towards
the left and would cross our course.
A narrow strip of the moon had appeared from out of the sea and was
wrestling with the darkness of the night. The result was not much--the
strip of the moon was too small for that--still it was not so dark as
before.
"Don't let it come too close to us!" I ordered. "And get clear in right
time. We must not under any circumstances be seen by it, because then
they would soon know in England from which direction to expect us. Now
nearly every steamer has a wireless."
Gröning changed the course to port until he had the steamer completely
to the left.
"Too bad, we can't take it with us," he said.
"No, you know, for a night attack this is not the right place. Here so
many neutral steamers travel, and an error can easily be made."
It was shortly after ten o'clock. At eleven-twenty, twelve forty,
one-ten, three-fifteen, and five o'clock I again heard the whistling
"Whee-e!" in the speaking-tube by my bunk. Each time I had to jump out
of some dream, realize within a fraction of a second that my presence
was desired up-stairs, grab my cap and gloves, and rush through the
boat's long body up to the tower, not without several times bumping into
the aforementioned and often damned electric lamp.
After five o'clock in the morning I remained on deck, because dawn would
soon break with its treacherous light. The commander's post is in the
tower at such a time because, just as easily as one perceives in the
pale gray light a ship, one is also visible from the steamer, which
could cause many unpleasant surprises if the two ships are not very
cordial towards each other--especially disagreeable to us because a
submarine is, as our name indicates, below the water, and the smallest
fragment of a shell can badly damage our heel of Achilles, the diving
machinery, so that we would be unable again to get into a position of
safety beneath the surface.
Shortly before six o'clock I had the entire crew at the diving stations.
Each took his place, ready at a given command to open or shut the valve,
crank, or bolt of which he had charge. Only the cook had no special duty
besides his own. He remained with the electric cooking apparatus
provided in the galley and had no other job besides taking care of our
bodily comfort. Now he was, in conformity with his duty, busy making
coffee as was proper at that time of day.
A fine, strong smell of coffee percolated through the whole ship, which
proved to be a great stimulant to our taut nerves and our empty
stomachs.
I have to deviate a little from the subject for the purpose of asking if
my readers understand me. Is it above all plain, explicit, and clear why
I give so much space to a discussion of the nerves when I speak about
us, U-boat men, and so often refer to them? The nerves are in time of
peace the Alpha and Omega for a U-boat officer. How much more so when we
are at war! The nerves to us mean power to act, decision, strength,
will, and perseverance. The nerves are valuable and to keep them in good
condition is of the greatest importance and an obligation and duty
during a voyage.
There we sit hour after hour in the conning tower. Beneath is the most
complicated mechanism the genius of man has ever created. And all around
there are the most craftily constructed instruments for the purpose of
destroying that which cost so much labor to create. Mines, nets,
explosives, shells, and sharp keels are our enemies, which, at any
moment, may send us high in the air or hundreds of meters into the
ocean. Everywhere perils lurk. The whole sea is a powder barrel.
For all this there is only one remedy--nerves!
To make the right decision at the right moment is the first and last of
U-boat science. One glance must be enough to determine the position. In
the same second a decision must be made, and the commands carried out. A
moment's hesitation may be fatal.
I can give an example of this on the very morning I speak of.
It was three minutes after six o'clock, and within about half an hour
the sun would rise, but the sea and the sky still floated together in
the colorless drab of early dawn and permitted one only to imagine, not
see, that partition wall, the horizon.
Unceasingly our binoculars pierced the gray dusk of daybreak. Suddenly a
shiver went through my body when--only a second immovable and in intense
suspense--a dark shadow within range of the spy-glass made me jump. The
shadow grew and became larger, like a giant on the horizon--one mast;
one, two, three, four funnels--a destroyer.
A quick command--I leap down into the tower. The water rushes into the
diving tanks. The conning tower covers slam tight behind me--and the
agony which follows tries our patience, while we count seconds with
watches in hand until the tanks are filled, and the boat slips below the
sea.
Never in my life did a second seem so long to me. The destroyer, which
is not more than two thousand meters distant from us, has, of course,
seen us, and is speeding for us as fast as her forty thousand horse
power can drive her. From the guns mounted on her bow flash one shot
after another aimed to destroy us.
Good God! If he only does not hit! Just one little hit, and we are lost!
Already the water splashes on the outside of the conning tower up to the
glass windows through which I see the dark ghost, streaking straight
for us. It is terrifying to hear the shells bursting all around us in
the water. It sounds like a triphammer against a steel plate, and closer
and closer come the metallic crashes. The rascal is getting our range.
There--the fifth shot--the entire boat trembles--then the deceitful
daylight disappears from the conning tower window. The boat obeys the
diving rudder and submerges into the sea.
A reddish-yellow light shines all around us; the indicator of the
manometer, which measures our depth, points to eight meters, nine
meters, ten meters, twelve meters. Saved!
What a happy, unexplainable sensation to know that you are hiding deep
in the infinite ocean! The heart, which had stopped beating during
these long seconds because it had no time to beat, again begins its
pounding.
Our boat sinks deeper and deeper. It obeys, as does a faithful horse the
slightest pressure of a rider's knees, which, in this case, are the
diving rudders placed in the bow and the stern. The manometer now shows
twenty-four meters, twenty-six meters. I had given orders we should go
down to thirty meters.
Above us we still hear the roaring and crackling in the water, as if it
were in an impotent rage. I turn and smile at the mate who is standing
with me in the conning tower--a happy, care-free smile. I point upwards
with my thumb.
"Do you hear it? Do you hear it?"
It is an unnecessary question, of course, because he hears it as plainly
as I do, and all the others aboard hear it, too. But the question can
still be explained because of the tremendous strain on our nerves which
has to express itself even in such a simple question.
Dear, true, splendid little boat, how one learns to love you during such
trying moments and would like to pet you like a living human being for
your understanding and obedience! We, here on board, all depend upon
you, just as we all depend upon one another. We are chained together. We
will face the dangers together and gain success.
You blond heroes who are standing down there in the bowels of the boat
without knowing what is happening up in the light, but still knowing
that the crucial moment has arrived--that life or death to every one
depends on one man's will and one man's decision; you who, with a calm
and strong feeling of duty, stick at your posts with all the strength of
your bodies and souls strained to the breaking point and still keep full
faith in him who is your leader, chief, and commander; you show the
highest degree of bravery and self-control, you who never have a chance
to see the enemy but still, with sustained calm, do your duty.
Not a word was uttered, not a sound disturbed that deadly stillness on
board. One almost forgot that the men were standing with strained nerves
at their posts in order to keep the wonderful mechanism running right.
One could hear the soft whirr of the dynamos and, more and more distant,
the crackling of the exploding shells. Suddenly even this stopped. The
Britisher must have noticed that the fish had slipped out of his hand.
Shortly thereafter we heard his propellers churning the water above us.
Soon this noise died away as it had come, growing fainter and fainter in
a kind of grinding whirr.
"Did you hear how he circled around over us?" I asked through the
speaking tube which led down into the "Centrale."
"Certainly. That could clearly be distinguished," was the short answer.
I was pondering over what to do next. At first we had no choice but to
dive at the first sight of the destroyer suddenly appearing with the
break of day.
In our capacity as an undersea boat, we were now in a position to fight
on equal terms, and I decided to risk a bout with him as soon as it
became light enough for me to see through the periscope. The
intervening time I made use of by having passed up to me in the tower
the long desired cup of morning coffee, in order to stop the tantalizing
agony which the smell of the coffee had caused my empty stomach.
Thereupon we slowly climbed upwards from our safe breakfast depth of
thirty meters. The higher we came--one can read on the manometer how we
are ascending meter by meter--the greater became the excitement and
tension. Without breathing we listened.
Slowly the boat rose. The top of the periscope would soon be thrust
above the surface. My hands clasped the handle with which the
well-oiled, and therefore easily movable, periscope can be turned around
as quickly as lightning, in order to take a sweep around the horizon. My
eye was pressed to the sight, and soon I perceived that the water was
getting clearer and clearer by degrees and more transparent. I could now
follow the ascent of the boat without consulting the manometer.
My heart was pounding with the huntsman's fervor, in expectation of what
I was to see at my first quick glance around the horizon, because the
destroyer, which we sighted only a quarter of an hour before, could be
only a scouting ship. It might belong to a detachment of naval scouts to
protect a larger ship. In my thoughts I saw the whole eastern horizon
full of proud ships under England's flag surrounded by smoke.
I did not see anything, no matter how carefully I scanned the horizon.
All I could see was the reddening morning blush spread over half of the
eastern sky, the last stars now paling and the rising sun showing its
first beams.
"For heaven's sake, nobody is here," I grumbled to myself.
"Oh, he'll surely come back, Captain," said my mate with true optimism.
"The prey was too hot for him to tackle and now he has started to fetch
a couple more to help him."
"It would certainly be less desirable," put in Lieutenant Gröning, who,
full of expectations, was standing halfway up the stairway leading from
the tower to the "Centrale" and had overheard our talk. "No, it would be
less desirable," he repeated, "because then comes the entire swarm of
hostile U-boats with their nets cunningly lined with mines. No good will
ever come of that."
"There you are right, Gröning," I agreed. "With that sort of a
nuisance, equipped as they are with so many machines for our
destruction, it would be very disagreeable to make their acquaintance.
If they come, it is best to disappear. It is not worth the risk. We have
many more important duties ahead of us. It would be too bad to spoil a
good torpedo on such trash."
At the same time, I decided to rise so as to get a better observation
through the periscope and once more look around the horizon. I suddenly
observed in the northeast a peculiar, dark cloud of smoke. I, therefore,
did not give any orders to arise, but told "Centrale" by a few short
commands through the speaking tube the new turn of affairs and, with
added speed, went to meet the smoke cloud.
III
THE SINKING OF THE TRANSPORT
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.
On the occasion in question everything went as calculated. The steamer
could not see our cautious and hardly-shown periscope and continued
unconcerned on its course. The diving rudder in the "Centrale" worked
well and greatly facilitated my unobserved approach. I could clearly
distinguish the various objects on board, and saw the giant steamer at a
very short distance--how the captain was walking back and forth on the
bridge with a short pipe in his mouth, how the crew was scrubbing the
forward deck. I saw with amazement--a shiver went through me--a long line
of compartments of wood spread over the entire deck, out of which were
sticking black and brown horse heads and necks.
Oh, great Scott! Horses! What a pity! Splendid animals!
"What has that to do with it?" I continually thought. War is war. And
every horse less on the western front is to lessen England's defense. I
have to admit, however, that the thought which had to come was
disgusting, and I wish to make the story about it short.
Only a few degrees were lacking for the desired angle, and soon the
steamer would get into the correct focus. It was passing us at the right
distance, a few hundred meters.
"Torpedo ready!" I called down into the "Centrale."
It was the longed-for command. Every one on board held his breath. Now
the steamer's bow cut the line in the periscope--now the deck, the
bridge, the foremast--the funnel.
"Let go!"
A light trembling shook the boat--the torpedo was on its way. Woe, when
it was let loose!
There it was speeding, the murderous projectile, with an insane speed
straight at its prey. I could accurately follow its path by the light
wake it left in the water.
"Twenty seconds," counted the mate whose duty it was, with watch in
hand, to calculate the exact time elapsed after the torpedo was fired
until it exploded.
"Twenty-two seconds!"
Now it must happen--the terrible thing!
I saw the ship's people on the bridge had discovered the wake which the
torpedo was leaving, a slender stripe. How they pointed with their
fingers out across the sea in terror; how the captain, covering his
face with his hands, resigned himself to what must come. And next there
was a terrific shaking so that all aboard the steamer were tossed about
and then, like a volcano, arose, majestic but fearful in its beauty, a
two-hundred meter high and fifty-meter wide pillar of water toward the
sky.
"A full hit behind the second funnel!" I called down into the
"Centrale." Then they cut loose down there for joy. They were carried
away by ecstasy which welled out of their hearts, a joyous storm that
ran through our entire boat and up to me.
And over there?
Landlubber, steel thy heart!
A terrible drama was being enacted on the hard-hit sinking ship. It
listed and sank towards us.
From the tower I could observe all the decks. From all the hatches human
beings forced their way out, fighting despairingly. Russian firemen,
officers, sailors, soldiers, hostlers, the kitchen crew, all were
running and calling for the boats. Panic stricken, they thronged about
one another down the stairways, fighting for the lifeboats, and among
all were the rearing, snorting and kicking horses. The boats on the
starboard deck could not be put into service, as they could not be swung
clear because of the list of the careening steamer. All, therefore,
thronged to the boats on the port side, which, in the haste and anguish,
were lowered, some half empty; others overcrowded. Those who were left
aboard were wringing their hands in despair. They ran from bow to stern
and back again from stern to bow in their terror, and then finally
threw themselves into the sea in order to attempt to swim to the boats.
Then another explosion resounded, after which a hissing white wave of
steam streamed out of all the ports. The hot steam set the horses crazy,
and they were beside themselves with terror--I could see a splendid,
dapple-gray horse with a long tail make a great leap over the ship's
side and land in a lifeboat, already overcrowded--but after that I could
not endure the terrible spectacle any longer. Pulling down the
periscope, we submerged into the deep.
When, after some time, I came again to the surface there was nothing
more to be seen of the great, proud steamer. Among the wreckage and
corpses of the horses three boats were floating and occasionally fished
out a man still swimming in the sea. Now I came up on the surface in
order to assist the victims of the wrecked ship. When our boat's mighty,
whale-like hull suddenly arose out of the water, right in their midst, a
panic seized them again and quickly they grasped their oars in order to
try to flee. Not until I waved from the tower to them with my
handkerchief and cap did they rest on their oars and come over to us.
The state in which some of them were was exceedingly pitiful. Several
wore only white cotton trousers and had handkerchiefs wrapped around
their necks. The fixed provisions which each boat was required to carry
were not sufficient when the boat's crew was doubled and trebled.
While I was conferring with our mess officer as to what we could
possibly dispense with of our own provisions we noticed to the north
and west some clouds of smoke which, to judge from the signs, were
coming towards us quickly. Immediately a thought flashed through my
head:
"Now they are looking for you. Now comes the whole swarm."
Already the typical masts of the British destroyers and trawlers arose
above the horizon. We, therefore, did not have a minute to lose in order
to escape these hostile and most dangerous enemies. I made my decision
quickly and called to the captain of the sunken steamer that he could
let one of the oncoming ships pick them up as I could not spare the
time, but had to go "northeast." Then I submerged--right in front of the
boats full of survivors. They saw me head north and I steered in that
direction for a time. Then I pulled down the periscope and, without
being noticed, changed my course to the south.
When I, after a considerable time, again cautiously looked around, I
perceived to my amazement that an entire scout fleet in a wide circle
was heading towards us from the south also. From three sides the enemy
spurred his bloodhounds on us, and I thought to myself it would not take
long before, by extending their wings, they would encircle us
completely, and the great chase would begin. The thought was not
cheerful, particularly as the depths in this part of the ocean were not
sufficient so that we could, by submerging deeply, guard ourselves
against the dangers of grappling hooks, nets and mines.
"The wildcat has become a hare," I thought to myself and, at the same
time, I decided what to do.
We had to do as the old hare. First, with eyes open, we would cautiously
jump forth, use all possible covers, and search for the spot where the
gunners were fewest, and then with eyes shut and at the highest possible
speed break through the widest gap.
Consequently, we began to travel toward the east where the "atmosphere
was still clear." Occasionally I stuck up my periscope and perceived how
the surrounding circle was knit tighter and tighter. Now, after I had
made up my mind, I became completely calm and carefully considered all
the conditions for and against us. The swarm of destroyers moved toward
the center, as in a regular chase, as soon as the circle was complete.
Between every couple of hunters--I mean trawlers--there were nets
stretched across to catch a little submarine, and behind these were
dragged mines.
By extending one of the wings in the north, it made a gap toward the
east, and besides I saw that one of the torpedo boats between two groups
of the searching parties had left for the shipwrecked survivors. At this
point, consequently, was our best chance to escape. I laid my course
between the two searching parties, of course, with the periscope, during
the whole time, nearly invisible.
Slowly the ranks of the hunting hounds approached, smoking copiously and
snorting. Now the right moment had arrived to follow the other part of
the hare's program. We shut our eyes--that is, I pulled the periscope
down completely--and proceeded with increased speed, submerging in the
sea as deeply as possible.
I can well imagine how the old hare felt when he ran blindly for his
life. Undoubtedly our feelings were somewhat the same. How easily could
not that little gap toward which we were making be closed by some small
auxiliary of the searchers.
And, if the grappling hooks from one of these got hold of us, there
would be little hope of escape, or of saving ourselves. Then they would
tear at us from all directions and give us the stab that would send us
deep down into the sea for good. No one on board suspected what danger
we went to meet. I had kept all my observations concerning the enemy's
surrounding us to myself and had not mentioned it, so as not to excite
everybody's mind. No one below could at any rate do anything to change
the conditions.
Then from the bow compartment came the report:
"The beating of propellers is discernible to port!"
Shortly thereafter I could hear them, even from the conning tower--a
soft, slow, swelling, and grinding sound. This was not the sound of the
propellers of a destroyer. Such would beat faster, clearer, and more
powerfully. This was the heavily-dragging trawlers' slow beating
propellers.
Strainingly I listened to starboard--nothing could be heard. That was a
good sign, because I could hope that in reality I had reached the gap
and that the sounds of the propellers which we heard to port emanated
from the trawler on the left side of the gap. I was just about, from my
innermost heart, to let out a joyous "hurrah," when, from the bow of the
boat, I heard a new sound which approached with a clear, sharp banging.
It was the torpedo-boat, the beast! Was the rascal going to come back at
the crucial moment?
It required only a few seconds for the torpedo-boat to pass over us, but
those seemed as hours. At every blinking of the eye I imagined I heard
something explode, turn against or drag alongside my boat. But fortune
was ours. The sharp, grinding sound of the swift torpedo-boat propellers
became fainter and fainter and, at last, ceased entirely. Unconsciously
I straightened up a little in the tower, whistled a few notes from
"Dockan," and tapped, as if nothing had happened, with the knuckle of my
forefinger on the glass of the manometer. What did the manometer
register? Nothing whatsoever had happened. Everything was in the best
condition. The depth coincided. The diving rudder was lying normal.
Before me stood Tuczynski, my faithful helmsman and orderly, at former
times skipper on the _Weichsel_ and _Nogat_; behind me, the mate leaned
against the wall of the conning tower contentedly and yawned.