hunting for the submarines the American destroyers have patrolled an
area as wide as that bounded roughly by the great V formed by New York,
Detroit, and Knoxville, Tenn. And while patrolling they have become
skilled in the use of the depth charges, in establishing smoke screens
so as to hide vessels of a convoy from the periscope eye, and in
marksmanship. One gun crew not long ago saw the spar of a sunken ship
which they at first took to be a periscope. They shattered that spar at
a distance of 2,000 yards--more than a mile.

Filled with the enthusiasm of each new encounter with the enemy, the
Americans have not been slow to build upon their experience, devising
more effective methods against the next affray. For example, two
officers working on designs for new destroyers have introduced many new
ideas gained from their experiences in submarine-hunting. Suggestions
relating to improved gun-fire and the like are always arising from the
men of the fleet, and often they are accepted and applied.

A new appliance--I don't know by whom invented--is an improved
microphone, by which the revolutions of a propeller are not only heard,
but the direction also is indicated, while the force of the under-water
sound-waves are translated on an indicator in terms of proximity. The
great drawback to this is that the submarines are also equipped with
microphones of the sort--or at least are said to be.

It is usually a grim business on both sides; but occasionally a bit of
humor comes out of the seas. A case in point was the message received
almost every night by an American destroyer in European waters. The
radiogram said:

"My position is ---- degrees north, and ---- degrees west. Come and get
me; I am waiting for you."

"HANS ROSE."

Now Hans Rose was the name of the German submarine commander who visited
Newport, October, 1917, as we have already narrated. Twice the destroyer
proceeded swiftly to the location, but never did Hans Rose keep his
appointment. If he had the American sailors would not have given Captain
Rose's crew beer upon that occasion, as they did when Rose and his
U-boat dropped into Newport harbor.

Then there is a submarine commander known throughout the American
flotilla as "Kelly." He commands a mine-laying submarine, which pays
frequent visits to the district patrolled by the American destroyers.
When he has finished his task of distributing his mines where they will
do the most harm, he generally devote