



Produced by Irma Spehar and the Online Distributed
Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was
produced from images generously made available by The
Internet Archive/American Libraries.)






                      THE ADVENTURES OF THE U-202

                          AN ACTUAL NARRATIVE

                                  BY
                             BARON SPIEGEL
                        VON UND ZU PECKELSHEIM
             (CAPTAIN-LIEUTENANT, COMMANDER OF THE U-202)


                               NEW YORK
                            THE CENTURY CO.
                                 1917


                          Copyright, 1917, by
                            THE CENTURY CO.

                          Copyright, 1917, by
                         JOHN N. WHEELER, INC.

                      _Published, February, 1917
                  by arrangement with New York World_




PREFACE


I was sitting on the conning tower smoking a cigarette. Then the splash
of a wave soaked it. I tried to draw another puff. It tasted loathsome
and frizzled. Then I became angry and threw it away.

I can see my reader's surprised expression. You had expected to read a
serious U-boat story and now such a ridiculous beginning! But I know
what I am doing. If I had once thrown myself into the complicated U-boat
system and used a bunch of technical terms, this story would be shorter
and more quickly read through, but you would not have understood half of
it.

Seriousness will come, bitter and pitiable seriousness. In fact,
everything is serious which is connected with the life on board a
submarine and none of it is funny; although in fact it is the hundred
small inconveniences and peculiar conditions on a U-boat which make life
on it remarkably characteristic. And in order to bring to the public a
closer knowledge concerning the peculiar life on board a U-boat I am
writing this story. Good--therefore my log-book! Yes, why should I not
make use of it? To this I also wish to add that I not only used my own
log-book but also at many places had use of other U-boats' logs in order
to present one or another episode which is worth the while relating.
Thus, for example, the story of the many fishing-smacks, which are
spoken of in the chapter called "Rich Spoils," is borrowed, but the
happenings in the witch kettle, the adventure with the English bulldog,
and also most of the other chapters are my own feathers with which I
have adorned this little story. This is the only liberal right of an
author which I permit myself. The style of the story from a log-book is
simple and convenient, and one buys so willingly such stories. See there
two valid reasons for making use of it.

                                                            THE AUTHOR.




CONTENTS


   CHAPTER                                PAGE

     I OUR FIRST SUCCESS                    3

    II AN EVENTFUL NIGHT                   21

   III THE SINKING OF THE TRANSPORT        46

    IV RICH SPOILS                         68

     V THE WITCH-KETTLE                    91

    VI A DAY OF TERROR                    115

   VII A LIVELY CHASE                     140

  VIII THE BRITISH BULL-DOG               163

    IX HOMEWARD BOUND!                    189




THE ADVENTURES OF THE U-202




THE ADVENTURES OF THE U-202

I

OUR FIRST SUCCESS

     _At the hunting grounds North Sea, April 12, 19