SUBMARINE:By Comdr. Edward L. Beach, U. S. N.
CHAPTER XVI.Bathfish.
U. S. S. Batflsh got under wayrrrn; Pearl Harbor on December30. 1944, on what was to be hersixth war patrol.
On February 9, while she waspatrolling in Babuyan Channel,south of Gamiguin Island, the ra-dar operator sounds a warning.
Something in his radar arouseshis attention—he looks closely—-there it is again—and again. ItIs not a pip which he sees; if itwere, he would not wait to singout, “Radar contact,” and therebyimmediately mobilize the ship foraction.
This is something more difficultto evaluate. A faint shimmeringof the scopes—a momentary un-steadiness in the green and ambercathode ray tubes—which comesand goes. Almost unconsciouslyhe times them and notices thebearing upon which the radarhead is trained each time the faintwobble in the normal “grass”presentation is noticed.
A few moments of this, and“Captain to the conn!” No timeto wait on ceremony. This par-ticular lad wants his skipper andhe wants him badly.
The radar operator points to hisscope. “There it is, sir! There itis again! I just noticed it a min-ute ago!”
Danger and Glory.The captain stares at the instru-
ment, weighing the significance ofwhat he sees. This is somethingnew, something portentous—thereis a small stirring in the back ofhis mind—there seems to be ahalf-remembered idea there, if hecan only dig it up—then, like aflash, he has it.
If he is right, it means theyare in grave danger, with a chanceto come out of it and maybe addanother scalp to their belts; if heis wrong, what he is about to domay make a bad situation infi-nitely worse. But Jake Fyfe
knows what he is doing. He isnot playing some far-fetchedhunch.
“Secure the radar!” he orders.“What do you think it is?” Fyfe
asks the lad.“It looked like another tadar to
me. captain.” The reply is given
w ithout hesitation.“What else?” .The boy is at a loss for an an-
swer, and Jake Fyfe answers hisown question:
“Japanese submarine!”Submarine vs. submarine! The
hunter hunted! The biggest fearof our submarine sailors duringWorld War IIwas that an enemysubmarine might get the drop
on them while they were makinga passage on the surface.
It would be quite simple, really.All you have to do is to detect the !other fellow first, either by sight:or by radar; submerge on his 1track and let go the fish as hepasses. All you have to do is todetect him first!
The most outstanding record ofenemy subs sunk was the onehung up by Batfish, beginningthat fateful February 9.
The process of deduction bywhich Fyfe arrived at the con-jelusion that the source of the;radar peculiarities was an enemysubmarine was not at all illogical.
The wavering of his radarscopewas probably due to the presenceof another radar. It was known;that the Japs had radar, thoughof an inferior'type to ours.
If this radar came from aves-;sel as large as a destroyer he!should have been detected on;Batfish’s radar before the emana-jtions from his low-powered radar!had been noticed. Since the radar!waves had been the first to bepicked up. it followed that theship producing them must besmall and low on the water. Yetit must be a valuable ship, suffi-ciently important to rate one ofthe relatively few radar sets theNips possessed. Hence, a subma-rine.
tack, crediting to his superior’ radar the fact he had been
’ alerted before the Jap, and trust-ing to his belief that he could
, keep the enemy from detecting ][ him. His plan is to get up ahead;of the other submarine and to
[ head in toward him while the un-( suspecting Nip is pounding alongin nearly th* opposite direction.
All the while, Batfish is racing
I through the black night at full¦ speed. She has pulled off abeam;| of her quarry, just within maxi-
; mum radar range in order to be. outside range of the less-efficient, radar carried by the enemy, andshe is rapidly overhauling him.
Several more minutes pass. Fyfe.is on the point of asking for more Iinformation, when again the! 1bridge speaker blares its muffled!;version of Sprinkle’s voice (C. K.Sprinkle, executive officer): “Cap-tain, we’ve got him on zero twozero, making 14 knots. Range isseven oh double oh, and distance j,to the track is two five double oh.!This looks pretty good to me.! lRecommend we come left and let 1]him have it!”
“Okay, Sprink. Give me acourse to come to.” The captain’s
. voice has assumed a grim finality,';a flat quality of emotionless de-cision..! A few more tense moments pass.!.[Again the speaker near the,! skipper’s left elbow reproduces;iSprinkle’s familiar voice. “He’s
[ crossing our bow now. Range,! four oh double oh.”'j At 1,500 yards the keen eyes on¦. Batfish’s bridge distinguish a blur,in the gray murk, and at 1,000
[ yards the sinister outline of aJapanese I class submarine is
firing at deep submergence, butthis is an emergency.
“No. 1 tube fired by hand. Tubeis clear!” The very welcome re-port is received after a few anxiousseconds with a profound sense ofrelief.
“Resume fire.” But the exechas not needed that command.No. 2 torpedo is already on itsway, followed a few seconds laterby No. 3.
The watchers on Batflsh’s bridgehad hardly, expected anythingquite so dramatic as what theysaw. One torpedo must have hitinto a magazine or possibly intoa tank carrying gasoline. The Nip
The Chase Begins.
The reason why Fyfe orderedhis own radar temporarily se-cured was simply to deny the Japthe same information which hehimself had just received.
“All ahead full! Right fullrudder!” Batfish leaps ahead andsteadies on a course calculatedto get to the north of the ap-proaching enemy vessel. She runsfor a short time, every now andthen checking the situation withher radar.
Finally, Jake Fyfe figures his;position is about right. Batfishturns toward the enemy andghosts in.
Closer and closer comes the un-suspecting enemy sub. It is sodark that as yet he cannot beseen by the tense bridge party.As the situation develops, it isapparent that he w-ill pass through
the firing position at just under2.000 yards’ range. This is a lit-tle long for optimum torpedo fire,but Fyfe wants to take no chancesof being detected. On he comes—-only a little more now—then fromthe conning tower, “On the firingbearing, captain!” This from theexec.
“Let them go when ready. Shooton radar bearings. I still can’t seehim from up here.” From theskipper.
Silently, four torpedoes areloosed into the water. Four newwakeless electric fish start theirrun toward the target. They have1,800 yards to go; it will take awhile.
But they miss, all four torpe-does. The whole careful and well-executed approach—wasted! Whatcan have gone wrong?
The question is answered byPlot, dramatically. "Target hasspeeded up! Speed now 14 knots!”
But the target continues serene-ly on his way. giving no sign ofbeing aware of having been firedon. Maybe Batfish will be ableto try again.
No sooner thought than tried.Tb« four murmuring diesels ofcne hunter lift their voices, andthe submarine slips away throughthe water, seeking another posi-tion from which to launch herdeadly missiles. But by this time,of course, the target has passedbeyond Batfish, and in order toregain firing position it will benecessary to execute an endaround.
On the Surface.Jake Fyfe has elected to remain
or the surface for the whole at-
made out—the first time duringthe whole evening that the enemyhas actually been sighted. Hewallows heavily in the slight chopof the sea—low, dark, and un-gainly.
At 1,000 yaids the Jap is broad-side to Batfish: Fyfe’s plaji hasborne fruit, for his own bow isexactly toward the enemy, andhe has all the advantage of sight-ing.
Sudden Danger.
Almost immediately the tele-phone talker standing under theconning tower hatch shouts loudly,so that his message is heard inthe conning tower as well as onthe bridge:
“Number one did not eject!Running hot in the tube!”
Something has gone wrong. Thetorpedo should have been pushedout of the torpedo tube by thehigh-pressure air ejection system.Instead, it has stuck in the tube,and the torpedomen forward can'hear it running in the tube.
This is critical, for it will bearmed within a matter of sec-onds, and then almost anythingcould set it off. Besides, the motoris overspeeding in the tube and itcould conceivably break up underthe strain and vibration—whichmight itself produce sufficientshock to cause an explosion.
The skipper's reaction is instant.“Tubes forward, try again, byhand. Use full ejection pressure!”Full pressure is used only when
The Hunter Is Hunted as the U. S. S. Batfish StalksAnd Kills Off a Class 1 Japanese U-Boat
HUNTRESS OF THE SEA—It was this submarine, Batfish, commanded by John Fyfe, whichtaught the Navy how a submarine can hunt an enemy submarine in the most thrilling andchiling of all sea actions. _U. s. Navy Photo.
DINNER FOR A SUBMARINER—Comdr. John K. Fyfe, skipper of Batflsh, smiles as a steward’smate serves juicy steak in the submarine’s wardroom. The officer on Comdr. Fyfe’s left is Lt.Comdr. Walter Small, who later took command of the vessel. —U. S. Navy Photo.
sub had simply exploded, with abrilliant red-and-yellow flamewhich shot ‘high into the nightsky, furiously outlined against thesomber, sober grayness.
And as quickly as the flamereached its zenith, it disappeared,as 2,500 tons of broken, twistedJapanese steel plunged like a rockto the bottom of the ocean.
And before Batfish returned tobase, two more Jap submarineswere sent to the bottom by hertorpedoes.
i (Copyright, 1953. by Edward L. Beach,i Published by Henry Holt & Co.. Inc.distributed by the Register and Tribunei Syndicate.)
(To Be Continued Tomorrow.)
2 Teen-Age Boys HeldIn Automobile TheftAnd Break-In Spree
Two teen-age boys today were!being held for Juvenile Court ac-tion after a car theft and spree,
of break-ins last night, ParkPolice reported.
One of the youths is a 16-year- 1old now on court probation for!robbery, police quoted him as'saying. The other is 13 years oldand also admits a Juvenile Courtrecord. Both live in the North-east Washington.
Their activities last night oc-curred mostly along Pennsylvaniaavenue S.E.. police said. A cruisein a stolen tagless automobiletook them around Hains Point;where a sl7l bpldup occurred.Park Police said they_are all butcertain, however, that the youthsare not involved in that case.
Man Holds Up Couple.The robbery report was made
by Thomas J. Dalton, 35, of 3807Florence drive, Alexandria, whosaid a man held him up with a'revolver as he was parked with awoman companion on Ohio drive.Mr. Dalton said the holdup manjumped from another car.
According to Park Police Sergt.C. P. Apfelbeck, the boys ad-mitted these escapades last night:
Entering a loan company inthe 600 block of Pennsylvaniaavenue S.E., but taking nothingbut coin wrappers; breaking intoa nearby new-car dealer’s build-ing and stealing a revolver afterbumping a show-room automobileinto a wall; breaking into anothercar dealer’s place, but doing noth-ing more than tossing a rack ofcar keys into an alley, and stealinga used car from Potomac MotorSales, 1473 Pennsylvania avenueS.E.
Unloaded Pistol Recovered.The 16-year-old youth was
spotted by Police Pvt. A. V. Con-over on South Capitol street nearBolling AirForce Base, behind thewheel of the stolen car. The youthadmitted breaking into a nearbycar, owned by an Air Force specialinvestigator, strewing its contentsaround but taking nothing. Hesaid he had been trying to removethe license plates of anotherparked car just before Pvt. Con-over arrived.
The policeman, who was looking,for leads to the Hains Point hold-up, said he recovered an unloadedrevolver from the glove compart-;ment of the stolen car, and onecartridge in the youth’s pocket.
The 13-year-old was picked upafter police interviewed the 16-year-old. Both deny the robbery;of Mr. Daltno.
7 Russians Ordered OutOs Japan Leave by Ship
By the Associated Press
TOKYO, Nov. 27.—Seven Rus-sian citizens left Japan today atthe order of the Japanese govern-ment.
Among them were the Tass NewsAgency correspondent, EvgeniiSeminovich Egorov, and the
! Pravda correspondents, AlexiIvan-ovich Kozhin and Igor DmitrivichRyzhov.
Others who boarded the Dutchjship Tjipanas for the first leg of'the journey to Moscow were Vic-tor P. Timofeef, Soviet film exportassociation representative, andEgorov’s wife and two children.
The Japanese Justice Ministry
ordered them to leave becauseRussia has not taken steps to endthe technical state of war withJapan which has existed sinceWorld War 11.
,
About 50 members of the Sovietmission m Japan are still In thiscountry. The government hastaken no steps to force them to'leave.
\ \
McKeldin Expects RepublicansTo Cut Arms Aid to Europe
By the Associated Preit ,
NEW YORK, Nov. 27.—G0v.!Theodore R. McKeldin of Mary-
land predicted yesterday that the;Eisenhower administration would ¦reopen closed tax cases in its
isearch for corruption in Govern-ment and would cut European
arms aid to help Korea.
Gov. McKeldin was one of Gen.Dwight D. Eisenhower’s earlysupporters and nominated him atthe Republican convention inChicago.
The Governor said in a TownHall address not to expect miraclesfrom the new administration. Hesaid the Republican programwould develop slowly.
Gov. McKeldin said the follow-ing assumptions could safely bemade of Gen. Eisenhower's policiesas President:
1. A search for corruption; “some of which has not even beensuspected. . . . Many who thinkthey have fixed things with theoffice of the Attorney General andescaped their just penalties may,find their cases reopened.”
2. The Korean war “no longer;will be secondary to the defense:plans for Europe. It will become!the Nation’s most Important prob-lem.”
3. Incitement of rebellion willbe encouraged in Communistdominated countries and Nation-alist Chinese troops used perhapsfor hit and run strikes againstChinese Communists.
4. Cuts in the budget and taxesand the consolidation of Govern-ment departments, including thefiring of personnel in the “higher
salaried brackets” who got theirjobs for political reasons.
5. Plans will be paid against a, recession that “might be normally
Lightning Hits UmbrellaHALIFAX, Canada VP).— Two
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in the offing in the event that all!war threats came to an end.”
Gov. McKeldin said that Gen.Eisenhower was not going to seek;out corruption in government in!“a spirit of vindictiveness or parti-isan advantage.” He said “there!will be exposures of rottenness,some of which has only beenhinted up to now, some of whichhas not even been suspected.”
Gov. McKeldin said that Her-bert Brownell, jr., new AttorneyGeneral designate, will conduct aclean-up job that will warn “allthose in the new administrationthat the selling of privilege, theimproper forgiveness of taxes, thewaste and misuse of public fundsand the other abuses of public
'trust are not to be tolerated.”
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Viet Minh Are Cautious |In Indo-Chinese Attacks
By th* Associated PressWITH FRENCH UNION
FORCES AT NA SAN. Indo-,
China, Nov. 27.—Cautious Com- 1munist-led Viet Minh forces threw
; light probing attacks at this sur-jrounded fortress last night.
A brisk skirmish on the defense
1perimeter lasted about 15 minutes.
|Casualties on both sides were'
jlight.
The French command has beenexpecting an all-out assault byat least 18,000 enemy encirclingthe key stronghold. It believesthe Viet Minh suffered extremecasualties in the air attacks whichmay have forced a change inplans. |
A spokesman saidN
Frenchfighter planes, attacking targetson the basis of information sup-plied by a prisoner yesterday,;destroyed a Viet Minh regimental
command post less than 2 milesfrom Na San. Senior officersstress however, that a major as-sault can come at “any moment.”
Sister Kenny's ConditionStill Listed as Critical
By th* Associated PrtssBRISBANE, Australia, Nov. 27.
—Sister Elizabeth Kenny’s doctorsays he expects the famed polio-myelitis specialist, suffering froma blood clot on the brain, to reacha crisis in four or five days buthe said her chances of recoverywere “very slender.”
He gave this information in amedical bulletin from her homeat Toowoomba, 60 miles west ofhere.
The physician, Dr. John Ogden,made an urgent appeal for a sup-ply of eight vials of a new drug,trypsin, which he believes is inAustralia. A shipment of the drugis expected to arrive from NewYork on Saturday but Dr. Ogdensaid it might come too late.
The 66-year-old nurse sufferedthe attack of cerebral thrombosislast Friday.
OPS Information OfficeHeaded by McClanahan
By th*Associated Press
W. W. McClanahan, jr., hasbeen named director of the Officeof Price Stabilization public in-
| formation division, OPS ChiefTighe Woods said yesterday.
Mr. Woods named Mr. McClan-ahan to succeed Max R. Hjall,who resigned early this month tojoin the Mutual Security Agency.Mr. McClanahan, 38. is a nativeof Springfield, Tenn., and aformer managing editor of theNashville Tennessean and the To-ledo Times.
Delivery Man ReportsHe Was Robbed of SSB
A drugstore deliveryman toldpolice last night he had beenrobbed of SSB after making hisdeliveries in an apartment houseat 3020 Tilden street N.W.
Nathaniel Cunningham, 30, em-ployed by the Woodley Pharmacy,3527 Connecticut avenue N.W.,
r said he was stopped at the backdoor of the apartment by a light-skinned colored man, about 28years old. The man pointed anickel-plated revolver at him, tookhis money and sls in checks, andran.
THE EVENING STAR, Washington, D. G.THURSDAY. NOVEMBER 37, 1953
D.C. Co-ed Finds Skull01 Fish Believed to Be250 Million Years Old
By th* Associated Press
DELAWARE. Ohio. Nov. 27.An Ohio Wesleyan Universityco-ed has found part of the skull’of a fish that scientists believemay be 250 million years old.
Thelma Cook of Washington,D. C., a -senior majoring inzoology and botany, found theskull plate imbedded in a 60-pound boulder while on a geologyfield trip in a nearby gravel pit.
The fish, macropelalichthys,! sometimes grew to lengths of 30feet. It was heavily armored onthe outside and had no bones onthe inside.
| Miss Cook’s discovery is con-sidered particularly important be- 1cause it is a complete skull plate, jFew of these have been found,
although other Ohio Wesleyanstudents have found pieces ofother ancient fish in the area.
Dr. G. Winston Sinclair, chair-man of the university’s depart-ment of earth sciences, said thediscovery, if confirmed, will benamed after Miss Cook.
Miss Cook is the daughter ofMr. and Mrs. J. Williamson Cookof 4915 Forty-fourth street N.W.,Washington, D. C.
German Police SmashBig Black Market Ring
By th* Associated Press
27.—Frankfurt customs police
said yesterday they had smashedone of West Germany’s biggestpostwar black market rings in araid which yielded six and a halftons of green coffee beans and18,000 pairs of nylon stockings.
At least 11 persons were re-jported arrested in the' raid yes-terday at Frankfurt’s big markethall.
** A-5
