scope 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 cooeperation 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 e