Jasper County Democrat, Volume 21, Number 28, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 July 1918 — THREE U-BOATS SUNK [ARTICLE]

THREE U-BOATS SUNK

British Transport Runs Into Nest of Divers. American Soldiers See Troopship Ram One and Shell Another—Destroyer Finishes Third. An Atlantic Port, Jnly 5. —A British transport carrying 7,400 American soldiers ran into a nest of German submarines off the Irish coast and with the aid of a destroyer sank three of the U-boats. The American soldiers lined the rail of the transport while the fight was in progress and as each of tlie submarines was sunk they threw their hats into the air and cheered the British gun crew. When the battle was over they hoisted the British gunners on their shoulders and paraded the deck. In telling the story the British official said : “The transport was proceeding along at a speed of about eight knots, in a dense fog, off Lough Swilly, when suddenly the mist lifted and the officers on the bridge found themselves in the midst of a nest of enemy submarines, which were dying -awash, evidently waiting for the fog to “A warning signal of five blasts from the steamer’s siren was sounded at once, and the convoying destroyer on the port bow at once got into action and dashed toward the nearest U-boat, which was about 300 yards away from the ship. “As the big transport crashed through the hull of one submarine the gunners got the range and sent another down with four well-placed shots from the stern guns.

“The U-boat which the destroyer had gone after attempted to submerge, but before she was able to do so a shot from the destroyer shattered her conning tower and a second shot had pierced her below the water line. “The explosion of this torpedo almost blew the submersible out of the water. Several of the German crew of this boat were picked up and taken to England as prisoners.” The soldiers also witnessed the torpedoing of the 5,426-ton British freighter Orissa. A moment later, however, an American destroyer in the protecting fleet detected the undersea boat below the surface and dropped a depth bomb, making a direct 4ilt. according to the story related here. The same evening a U-boat was sighted by the passenger vessel, whose gunners sank it by shell fire.