Page:Victory at Sea - William Sowden Sims and Burton J. Hendrick.djvu/208

190 revolving so slowly that almost no noise was made; the U-boat was stealthily trying to throw its pursuers off the scent. For two and a half hours the chasers kept up the hunt, now losing the faint noise of the U-53, now again picking it up, now turning in one direction, then abruptly in another. Late in the afternoon, however, they obtained a "fix," which disclosed the welcome fact that the submarine was only about 300 yards north of them. In a few minutes four depth charges landed on this spot.

When the waters had quieted the little craft began listening. But nothing was heard. For several days afterward the radio operators could hear German submarines calling across the void to the U-53, but there was no answer to their call. Naturally, we believed that this long-sought enemy had been destroyed ; about a week later, however, our radios caught a message off the extreme northern coast of Scotland, from the U-53, telling its friends in Germany that it was on its way home. That this vessel had been seriously damaged was evident, for it had made no attacks after its experience with the subchasers; but it apparently had as many lives as a cat, for it was able, in its battered condition, to creep back to Germany around the coast of Scotland, a voyage of more than a thousand miles. The subchasers, however, at least had the satisfaction of having ended the active career of this boat. It was damaged two months before the armistice was signed, but it never recovered sufficiently from its injuries to make another voyage. Yet I must do justice to Captain Rose he did not command the U-53 on this last voyage. It was its only trip during the whole course of the war when he had not commanded it!

The story of the U-53 ends with a touch which is characteristically German. It was one of the submarines which were surrendered to the Allies at the signing of the armistice. Its first visitors, on this occasion, were the Americans; they were eager to read its log-book, and to find out just what had happened on this final voyage. The book was on board, and it contained a record of the U-53's voyages from the day when it was commissioned up to the day when it was surrendered. Two or three pages only were missing ; the Germans had ripped out that part which described the encounter with the American subchasers! They were evidently determined that we should never have the satisfac-