A German U Boat drifting aimlessly off Ireland was a target too good to miss in July 1918. The American submarine that spotted her was maneuvering for the attack when a huge explosion seized the U-boat and sent her to the bottome with all hands. What caused that explosion will never be known but for the U-65 it was the final blow in a series of disasters. For she was a jinxed ship. Even before she had left the shipyard at Bruges, Belgium,two years earlier, she had already claimed one life. A shipyard worker was killled when hit by a girder that was being lowered into place for the hull. On her first sea trials the engine room filled with fumes, and three men suffocated. As it was wartime, news of the deaths was kept within the German Admiralty. More trials with a group of sister ships were without incifent, at first-until the captain of the U-65 ordered her first dive. The captain sent a sailor forward for a routine inspection of the hatches. The sea was calm, and there was very little wind; but instead of making the inspection, inexplicably, he stepped overboard and was swept away in the backwash. The silent crew gazed nervously at each other as the captain closed hatches to dive. He gave the order to level off at 30 feet, but the U-65 continued down until it struck the seabed, where it refused to budge. For 12 hours it lay there as the water seeped in. And for the second time it began to fill with batteryu fumes. Then, once again for some unexplained reason, it lifted from the bottom and rose to the surface. After an overhaul back in Bruges, the U-65 was passed fit for service, and refueling and arming began. D During this operation a torpedo warhead exploded and brought the death toll to 11. One victim was the second lieutenant. As the U-65 was towed into drydock, a hysterical crewman swore he saw the dead second lieutenant standing, arms folded, on the prow of the ship. Before it sailed for duty again, another seaman had deserted after reporting that he, too, had seen the dead officer. Repaired, the U-65 sailed for the Dover Straits, and during its tour of duty reports of more sightings of the second lieutentant did little to increase morale. The duty officer was found trembling on the bridge after he saw the ghost and watched as the figure faded from sight. The members of the crew were all thankful when their ship returned to base, although it was under aerial attack. As the captain walked down the gangplank, he was struck and killed by a splinter from a bomb. The Imperial Navy took the case so seriously that they had the U-65 exorcised by a priest. But, on the next tour of duty, a gunner went mad, the cheif enginner broke his leg, and there was a suicide. On the morning of July 10, 1918, the ship was spotted drifting off the Cape Clear coast of southwest Ireland by an American submarine. When the submarine's captain looked through his periscope, he was puzzled by a lone figure, standing with arms crossed on the prow of the ship. Then came the shattering explosion, which ripped the U-65 from stem to stern. Loyal even in death, the second lieutenant had stayed with his comrades to the end.

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