Fleetwood
Chronicle, Fylde News and Advertiser
FRIDAY,
September 22nd, 1939
U-BOAT COMMANDER GIVES BOTTLE OF
GIN TO TRAWLER SKIPPER
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Does Not Sink His Ship
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When the trawler Alvis reached port on Wednesday the crew stated that
after she had been held up by a U-boat which ordered them to abandon ship the
commander told them to go back to the trawler as she could not guarantee their
safety in the trawler's lifeboat.
The U-boat crew smashed the trawler's radio and cut away her fishing gear,
but left her provisions and catch of fish on board.
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MR.
ALBERT THOMASON, skipper of the Alvis, said the first intimation he had of the
presence of the U-boat was a shell.
"At 1-20 in the afternoon I heard a shot," he said, "I saw
a fountain of water as a shell dropped short of the ship, and I saw a
submarine."
"The commander waved to us from his conning tower, signalling us to
abandon ship. He kept his gun trained on us. I ordered the crew to get a boat
overboard, and we pulled well clear of the trawler."
"The submarine commander ordered us alongside. He asked for the
captain, and told me to come on board.
"I went up to the conning tower, and he extended his hand, and said,
'Good afternoon, captain.' We shook hands, and he said, 'I am sorry. I will have
to sink your ship.'
"I said, 'Oh,' and he asked me if there were any more men in the
Alvis, and if that was the only boat we had.
MORE SHELLS READY
"On the submarine I noticed that there was a gun of about three-inch
caliber forward and an anti-aircraft gun aft.
"The gun crew on the three-inch gun had reloaded and had two more
shells ready. The gun was kept trained on the Alvis.
"All the U-boat's people were in uniform except the commander, and
he had on a guernsey and no hat. He looked to me about 45 years of age. He spoke
very good English, and so did all the submarine crew, apparently.
"They handed cigarettes round to my boat's crew, and then the
commander sent me back to the trawler with my crew and a German working party
under the lieutenant.
"The Germans threw over the side half the wireless, and smashed the
rest with a big hammer. They chopped away the wireless stays, chopped away the
fishing gear, and threw overside the other trawl. They also smashed the dynamo
in the engine room.
"They did not take any provisions, and they did not touch the fish
we had on board.
"The lieutenant with the working party was a gentleman, just as the
commander was. He asked me if he could have one of our lifebuoys for a souvenir.
I said he could, and we shook hands through the ring of the buoy.
"The commander sent a bottle of gin across with his compliments. I
am keeping the bottle as a souvenir.
"I asked the lieutenant for the commander's name, and he semaphoned
across, but the commander sent a message back by semaphone that he regretted
that he was not able to tell me.
"There were no marks on the submarine to show her name or number.
"The crew had a good growth of beard, as if they had been to sea for
some time, but they were well dressed and well fed.
"They seemed to have plenty of cigarettes and food.
STEAMED ABEAM
"When we got the ship under way again, the submarine steamed abeam
of us for about an hour and a quarter.
"For a time I thought they were going to take me prisoner when I was
on board the submarine, but they had no such intentions.
"The commander looked through the ship's papers, and gave them back to
me."
Another member of the crew said that the ship's lifeboat took on a
considerable amount of water when it was launched.
"The Germans," he said, "told us to go back to our ship as
they did not think we would be safe - 13 of us - in that boat.
"We were thankful to be able to get out of it and get on board our
trawler
again."