The Snow-Drop / A Holiday Gift

. The VIII Flotilla ("D" and "E" boats) were at Harwich, a port which throughout the War has remained the chief Heligoland Bight

ring the passage of this force it was fully expected that the enemy would show naval activity and make an attempt to hinder or prevent the passage of troops. Precautionary measures were therefore taken. That the enemy made no attempt to interfere or to dispute the command of th

Commod

War Staff,

t 1914 (M

concentrate all submarines in area arranged until after tran

patrol in the

report of an E boat's trip into the

bmarine

Augus

he proceedings of Submarine "E 6" on August 6t

ust

lling Light vessel, proceeded N. 69 E., 12 knots, m

ising; sighted two steam trawlers 4 to 5 mile

oceeded E. ×

Altered

n, E.N.E., beam on, steering N. (approx.). Dived E. by N.

d trail of smoke and

, course N. 30

ase, enemy steaming ve

awler, which had passed

ceeded to westward

opped. Charge

ceeded S. 72

id steam trawler, rema

P.M.

flotilla cruiser, 10 miles to northward, s

ceeded S. 51

Nothing in sight except numerous trawlers, chiefl

10? knots. Many trawler

Dived 50 feet on

ust

Very dark;

A.M.

g round a large fleet of sailing trawlers making to s

ered cours

Altered

stant, beam to beam. Dived to attack. At first thought she was stop

teaming west, 4 or 5 mil

ight. Followed, diving, for ? hour

oceeded S. 56

et steam trawler pass

dea of trying to keep out of sight of trawler

.M. Pro

than intended. The steam trawler sighted at noon seemed suspicious of

fitted with W/T. Crossed her bows and shaped course N. 87 W., 14 knots. Position then N. 43 W. 37′ fro

ust

nk Light-vessel. Proceed

sailing, including a few which were apparently Dutch; they became more numerou

to be, sir, your

G. P.

ant-Com

mmodor

. Mai

hod is curt and unsatisfying somehow. I will try and give an idea of a submarine c

to the half-hour. We gave Terschelling (the corner, you know, round Holland into the Bight) a seventeen-mile berth, as the tide sets in pretty strong there, and turned in for our billet. My orders were to work between Heligoland and the mouth of the Elbe. There are two ways of getting in, you see-close along the shore in seven-ten fathom water, and over and under the minefields farther out. We took the deep channel, as we don't do the other at night if we can help it-over and under? Oh! you see, there's a minefield set for submarines in one place-fairly deep laid, and farther on another set for surface ships, so we go over one and dive under the other-anyhow, they're both only reported fields, and their position isn't accurately known, and also one doesn't quite know one's position if one doesn't get sights or see Terschelling Light, so it's a matter of luck, really. Well, we didn't

wet too, as she leaks a bit overhead besides the usual sweating. What's sweating? Why, when the hull's cold it sweats, you know-water runs down the inside-condensation really, I suppose. Well, then we all turned in, as I say, and I put a lot of blankets over me to dry my wet clothes.... I was too tired to change, and as a result

ne. They come out in the morning, and we just sheer out of their way to let them by. Then at sunset they all begin edging towards home (that's Wilhelmshaven), until the senior one hoists a signal, and they speed up and hustle into bed. No, we don't worry them-we haven't enough torpedoes to chuck them away on trawlers; and anyhow, you may miss a chance at something big if

over us-just little depth charges that didn't even break a light globe. Still, they kept me under till dark, and when we came up then I knew I was going to have trouble and worry getting my charge in, as they'd have all sorts of packets barging round my patrol at night looking for me; so we thought it over, and decided the best place to sit and charge would be on the shoals off the Schillig Road boom defences, because they'd never look for us there. Well, they didn't; we sat there and had an absolutely undisturb

f you. They're usually trawlers on patrol; but sometimes you see a big bow wave, and that means a destroyer, and you crash-dive in a few seconds. You see, a boat charging like that is like a crab with its shell off; you never feel safe in a boat until you are submerged. On a clear night you can deal with destroyers or any other craft, but these pitch-black nights, or nights when it is foggy or snowing, are the deuce. I never feel happy on those nights till we get to the bottom. It gives me cold feet all the time when I'm on the surface inside there. This trip we got put down at least once during each charge, except the night I went into their front garden to hide. One night, however, I t

s me mad, that's the Heligoland leave-boat. She leaves the island on Friday afternoons and she comes back on Monday morning. She's a big flat-bottomed coal barge-too shallow draught to torpedo-and crammed with men. You can't use a gun, because she's towed by a small tug with a big gun forward and a little one aft; and besides, we're not allowed to give away the fact that we're there by having a joke with small craft. But it's devilish aggravating, all the same, to see the bloated Hun going off for the week-end while we dive up and down for a week waiting for something to turn up. We get our leave all right though. We get three days to the half crew each trip, so that each of us gets leave every other trip. The business is too exciting for me to take leave seriously. I just go to all the revues and amusements I can if I go up to town, and if it's winter-time like now, I get in three days' shooting here. The local people are jolly nice to us, and even if they haven't got a regular shoot going, one can get out to the marshes and shoot duck. After the leave we come back and do a couple of days' exercise-diving and torpedo practice, and then we go out again for another trip. It's awfully interesting, because we work in the Huns' front-yard in a way, and it seems so cheeky somehow. Makes us want a drink? Well, I guess not. If you've got cold feet you don't want a drink, because you daren't have it. That's why we don't carry any in the boats. You see, the Owner here looks on us as so many race-horses he's got in training, and if one of us shows symptoms of breathing a bit short, he gets classed as a roarer, and leaves the job altogether to repent in a big ship; there's lots more waiting to take our place, and the Owner's got no what you'd call 'motherliness,' if he thinks you're not all out for business. Hearing propellers? Oh yes, you can hear them quite clearly from any quiet part of the boat; the fore torpedo compartment is a good place for listening, and so is the space abaft the main motors.