ard during their
enforced cruise in the U-boat was an interesting one, but on the final
act--largely because the curtain had been rung down so quickly--there
was little they could add to what had passed before my own eye. The
shock from the depth-charge--which appears to have detonated just about
right to have the maximum effect--was terrific. The whole submarine
seemed to have been forced sideways through the water by the jolt, and
just as all the lights went out one of them said that he saw the
starboard side of the compartment he was in--it was what would
correspond to the Ward Room, I believe, a space more or less reserved
for the officers--bending inward before the pressure. Instantly the
spurt of water was heard flooding in both fore and aft, and that alone
was sufficient to make it imperative for her to rise at once. As it was
only a minute or two since she submerged, everyone was at station for
bringing her to the surface again, so that not a second was lost in
spite of the inevitable confusion following the sudden dive and the
explosion of the depth-charge.

"There had been a mad lot of rushes for the ladders and hatches, but the
skipper, it appears, got up first, through the conning-tower to the
bridge, as the official leader of the 'Kamerad Parade.' He was just in
time to connect with the first shell from our foremost six-pounder, and
that, or one of the succeeding projectiles which were fired before it
was evident they were trying to surrender, accounted for several others
in the van of the opening rush. The officer in charge of the whaler
reported seeing several dead bodies lying on the deck and floating in
the water, among these being that of the captain, which was taken back
to Base and given a naval funeral. There were also two or three wounded.
Of unwounded there were fifteen men and two officers, out of something
like twenty-four in the original crew. One of the officers claimed to be
a relation of Prince Henry of Prussia, but why he didn't claim the
Kaiser himself, who is full brother to Prince Henry, I could never quite
make out. As this was the same officer I told you of as not being able
to see a joke, I didn't think it worth while to try to follow the
ramifications of his family tree any farther. The engineer asserted that
he had already been in eight warships which had been destroyed, these
including a battleship and two or three cruisers and motor launches. I
did the best I could to comfort him