Ghost on the Prow

      A German U-boat drifting aimlessly off Ireland was a target too good to miss in July 1918. The American submarine which spotted her was maneuvering for the attack when a huge explosion seized the U-boat and sent her to the bottom 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 jinx ship. Even before she had left the building yard at Bruges in Belgium, two years earlier, she had already claimed one life. A dockyard worker was killed 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 pack of sister ships were without incidents at first--until the captain of 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 wash.

      The silent crew gazed nervously at each other as the captain closed hatches to dive. He gave the order to level-off at 30 ft but the U-65 continued down until she struck the sea bed, where she refused to budge. For 12 hours she lay there as the water seeped in. And for the second time she began to fill with battery fumes. Then once again, for some unexplained reason, she lifted from the bottom and rose to the surface.

      After an overhaul back in Bruges, the U-65 was passed fir for service and refueling and arming began. During this operation, a torpedo war head exploded and took death toll to 11. One of the victims was the second lieutenant.

      As the U-65 was lowed into dry docked, a hysterical crewman swore he saw the dead officer standing, arms folded, on the prow of the ship. Before she sailed for duty again another seaman had deserted after reporting that he, too, had seen the dead officer in the same place.

      Repaired, the U-65 sailed for the Dover Straits and, during its tour of duty, reports of more sightings of the officer 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 crew were all thankful when their ship returned to base, although it was under aerial attack. As the captain walked down the gangway he was struck and killed by a splinter from a bomb.

      The Imperial Navy took the case so seriously they had the U-65 exorcised by the priest. But, on the next tour of duty, a gunner went mad, the chief engineer broke his leg and there was a suicide.

      On the morning of July 10, 1918, she was spotted drifting off the Cape Clear coast of south-west Ireland by the American submarine, L-2.

      When the captain of the L-2 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 lieutenant had stayed with his comrades to the end.