Here the destroyers were screening a line of war-ships, who formed in themselves a fast and powerful force. The convoying of slow and unarmed or lightly armed ships is a very different business, but it is done every day by our destroyers with amazing efficiency and success. A good example is the case of the Racoon, who destroyed an enemy submarine in the Mediterranean while on escort duty.
In March 1917, the ss. Osmanieh, 4,440 tons gross, owned by the Khedivial Mail Company, but chartered by the Admiralty, was on passage from Malta to Madras when, at about 5.40 P.M., a hostile submarine was sighted. The ship was commanded by Lieutenant Mason, R.N.R., and was flying the White Ensign; she was zigzagging, and was escorted by a single destroyer, the Racoon, Lieutenant-Commander Kenneth F. Sworder, R.N. The weather was fine, the sea calm, and visibility good—about eight or nine miles.
The submarine when sighted was about 1,500 yards distant, and two or three points on the Osmanieh’s starboard bow. Only six feet of her length was visible, and she appeared to be drifting; puffs of blue-grey vapour were coming from her, which seemed to hang in the air and float away without disappearing. When nearer—at 800 to 1,000 yards—she was seen to be moving, for a ‘feather’ was visible as well as the vapour.
The Osmanieh’s head was put two points to starboard to steer for the submarine; but as it changed position rapidly, helm was put hard a-port, the whistle was blown to draw the escort’s attention, and the alarm gong was sounded. The ship then opened fire with her two guns. The second round from the after gun appeared to score a hit; but the U-boat was at that time almost astern and shining brightly in the sun, so that it was not possible to observe with certainty. Racoon, when Osmanieh opened fire, was ahead of her, on the port bow and going 16½ knots; but the moment the guns were heard, Lieutenant-Commander Sworder increased speed to 23 knots, put his helm hard a-port, and sighted the U-boat. It had at first ‘the appearance of a calcium light giving off intermittent puffs of smoke’; but when the ship’s head was turned towards it, a periscope and distinct feather were seen, as the submarine came out of the trough of the swell.
The manœuvre which followed was a very skilful and effective one. Racoon came to meet Osmanieh, who had now turned sixteen points to starboard and was on the other side of the submarine and overhauling her. Osmanieh continued firing till she saw her escort only 400 yards from the target. She had intended to try a depth-charge herself, and as soon as she passed the U-boat she had stopped her port propeller for this purpose, hoping to get the ship’s stern back into or near the enemy’s course; but she now gave this up and turned sharply away to port. As she did so, Racoon crossed her stern at full speed, and immediately saw the submarine on her own starboard side, the periscope just showing about five yards off and moving almost directly to meet her. Those on the destroyer’s deck had a glimpse of about ten feet of a grey hull with green and rust-coloured marks showing; then, as the ship passed over this, she dropped her starboard depth-charge, set to eighty feet, turned swiftly to port and dropped her port depth-charge, four seconds after the first.
Eight or nine seconds passed while Racoon swung round on her circle; then came the two explosions in quick succession, throwing up columns of water with bits of black debris in them. The ship continued to turn to port, and completed nearly two circles round the spot, ready to attack again. But nothing more was needed, and she may even be said to have witnessed the dying breath of her enemy. Some twenty or thirty seconds after the explosions, the men stationed in the after part of the destroyer, looking over the stern, saw a fresh upheaval twenty-five yards or more to the right of where the first columns of water had risen. This ‘seemed to come from below as if being pumped up,’ and it rose to about a foot above the level of the water, making a ripple where the surface had been very calm. On examination, it proved to be a fountain of dark and very thick brown oil. Racoon and Osmanieh proceeded accordingly, leaving that dark and evil-smelling blot of oil upon the bright sea to give the ‘all clear’ to every passing ship.
Lieutenant-Commander Sworder received the D.S.O. on this occasion, Lieutenant Berthon the D.S.C., and three men the D.S.M.
It may be noted that in neither of these two cases did the submarine attempt to escape by submerging entirely. We can only guess at the reasons. Possibly the U-boat which attacked Osmanieh thought she could win in a single fight against a lightly armed ship, and was too much preoccupied to see Racoon’s deadly onset until it was too late to avoid it. But Oracle’s enemy had certainty sufficient time to make her choice between the ram and the depth-charge; and the fact that she decided to keep near the surface is very suggestive. The combination of the hydrophone and the depth-charge is a terrible one to contend against. The submarine which dives is under the double disability of being both blind and audible. The depths of the sea are no safe hiding-place for the assassin flying from justice; given a sufficient patrol, his undersea refuge is gone.
On the other hand, the surface is hardly better, when it is covered by an adequate number of destroyers, manned by British seamen. The vigilance and decision with which they mark and seize their opportunities are well shown in the following case of the destruction of a submarine in the dead of night.
Early in May 1917, three destroyers—Miranda, Lance and Milne—were patrolling a well-known area, where the enemy has once or twice attempted runaway raids under cover of night. This was a likely enough evening for him; for there was a moon only two days past the full, and from time to time a drift of rainy cloud across it. To-night, however, it was not with a flurry of destroyers that he came, but with a creep of mine-layers—U.C.-boats stealing in across the black and silver water to lay their deadly eggs close to our barrage.