Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 108, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 May 1918 — TEN SUBMARINES SUNK BY AVIATORS [ARTICLE]

TEN SUBMARINES SUNK BY AVIATORS

British Admiralty Gives Out Details of Achievements of Seaplanes. BOMBS DO GOOD WORK Undersea Craft Unable to Dive Before Missiles Are Dropped—One Destroyed in Act of Attack on Merchantman. London. —Details concerning the destruction recently of ten German submarines by naval aircraft, eight by seaplanes and the others by dirigibles, have been obtained by the Associated Press from admiralty reports- The first case is described as follows: “While on patrol in the English channel a seaplane sighted a submarine eight miles away, directly in the path of an oncoming convoy of merchant ships. The seaplane dived at 90 miles an hour. The submarine attempted to escape by submerging, but was just awash as the seaplane „ reached a bombing position and released two bombs, one of which, exploded on the connlpg tower. The seaplane dropped two more bombs into the midst, of the bubbles from the collapsed submarine, which was of the largest type, carrying two guns.”

The second case: “At dawn a seaplane sighted a large submarine on the surface, with a member of the crew standing by the gun. The seaplane dropped a bomb on the tail of the U-boat and afterward photographed the sinking submarine, with a big hole in its deck. A second bomb was dropped close to the submarine’s bow, and the U-boat collapsed.” Catches U-Boat on Surface. The third case: “Two seaplanes attacked a large submarine traveling on the surface at 14 knots, with two men in the conning tower. A bomb was exploded close to the conning tower, and the submarine began to sink stern first A bomb from a second seaplane completed the work.” The fourth case: “Three patrol planes sighted a large submarine as It was submerging, and dropped two bombs close to the conning tower, causing the submarine to turn turtle and disappear in a mass of oil and wreckage.” The fifth case: “A seaplane sighted two submarines close t<f the surface and dropped two bombs. One -bomb was ineffective, but the other hit the deck fairly amidships. The submarine was hidden by the smoke of the explosion, and when the smoke cleared the U-boat was sinking, with both ends in the air.” The sixth case: “A seaplane saw the track of a torpedo fired at a merchantman. It dived toward the surface and sighted the black shade of the submarine well below the surface. It dropped two. bombs, which both ex-

ploded close to the submarine, resulting in a large quantity of oil, bubbles and wreckage.” The seventh case: “Two seaplanes sighted a U-boat on the surface and dropped a bomb each. The first bomb caused a heavy list to the U-boat, which began to sink by the stern. The second bomb exploded in the center of the swirl, demolishing the Üboat.” Oil Patch Shows Fate. The eighth case: “A seaplane dropped a bomb on a submarine just emerging and the U-boat disappeared with a heavy list to port. The pilot dropped a second bomb into the swirl and a few minutes later a patch of oil 150 feet long and 12 feet wide appeared on the surface.” The ninth case: “A naval airship at midday sighted a suspicious patch of oil and circled it in an effort to ascertain the cause. Suddenly a periscope broke the surface in the midst of the oil. The airship dropped a bomb close to the periscope and a series of bubbles began appearing,, indicating that the damaged submarine was moving slowly away under the water. Several more bombs were dropped in the path indicated until satisfactory evidence was obtained of the enemy’s destruction.” The tenth case: “An airship dropped two bombs over a submarine which was engaged in attacking merchantmen. Great patches of oil and bubbles indicated severe damage and trawlers made this complete by depth charges.”