" SUBMARINE BILLY " 



be contented with short-handed crews, and the Pros- 

 pector, instead of carrying five hands, had only four 

 — the skipper, the second hand (mate, myself), the 

 third hand, and the cook, who did plenty besides 

 cooking. 



" It was hard and racking work all the time, be- 

 cause the Germans reckoned that we were fair game 

 for their submarines. A few of these craft managed 

 to show themselves from time to time and attack 

 poor little fishing vessels and fishermen who were 

 absolutely unable to help themselves. There's 

 many a fisherman suffering cruelly now in German 

 prison camps, having lost eve^thing he possessed, 

 besides his liberty, and for doing nothing worse 

 than going to sea to make a living and help to keep 

 his country supplied with food. The North Sea is 

 a big stretch of water, and even the British Navy 

 can't be all over it and everywhere at one time ; so 

 that sometimes the Germans show their noses, but 

 not for long, and always in a state of terror. 



" On the morning of August 10, 1915, I was on 

 deck. The weather was very calm, so we hadn't our 

 gear down. It was just before noon, and I was look- 

 ing round pretty sharply, as you do in these days 

 at sea, when I saw a German submarine quite close 

 to us. He must have seen us through his periscope 

 and come to the surface, and there he was awash, 

 like some ugly brute looking for prey. There was 

 no mistaking him — I knew at once what he was, for 

 I had been fifteen years in the Royal Naval Re- 

 serve. 



Ill 



