The crew of the U-boat, all of whom had life-preservers about their
waists, leaped into the water and swam to the _Fanning_; most of them
were exhausted when they reached the destroyer's side. As the submarine
sank, five or six men were caught in the wireless gear and carried below
the surface before they disentangled themselves. Ten of the men were so
weak that it was necessary to pass lines under their arms to haul them
aboard. One man was in such a state that he could not even hold the line
that was thrown to him.
Chief Pharmacist's Mate Elzer Howell and Coxswain Francis G. Connor
thereupon jumped overboard and made a line fast to the German. But he
died a few minutes after he was hauled aboard.
Once aboard, the prisoners were regaled with hot coffee and sandwiches,
and so little did they mind the change to a new environment that,
according to official Navy Department report, they began to sing. They
were fitted with warm clothes supplied by the American sailors, and in
other ways made to feel that, pirates though they were, and murderers as
well, the American seafaring man knew how to be magnanimous.
The submarine bore no number nor other distinguishing marks, but her
life-belts were marked on one side "Kaiser," and on the other "Gott."
The _Fanning_ steamed to port at high speed, and at the base transferred
the prisoners under guard, who as they left the destroyer gave three
lusty hochs for the _Fanning's_ men. Then the _Fanning_ put out to sea a
few miles, and after the young American commander had read the burial
service, the body of the German seaman who had died was committed to the
depths.
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