"The U-boat which sank us had been out for six weeks. She had one British captain on board. She renewed all her supplies from our boat and took all the nautical instruments. The submarine gave us a sharp signal to halt, with a shell from a distance of two miles. It was good marksmanship. The shot hit the ship squarely, but caused no casualties. We stopped and took to the boats. The submarine came up in leisurely fashion, sank the ship with bombs and passed the time of day with our boats. She had a crew of thirty-seven, and was 250 feet long." "We were picked up by a Norwegian sailing vessel, on which we spent six days. She was then attacked by a 120-foot submarine. We all took to the Norwegian's boats. The submarine commander declined to look at the Norwegian captain's papers. We had another twenty-four hours in open boats, and then were picked up by a British patrol and landed." CHAPTER VIII. THWARTING THE U-BOAT. NETS TO ENTANGLE THE SEA SHARKS OF WAR--"CHASERS" OR "SKIMMING-DISH" BOATS--"BLIMPS" AND SEAPLANES--HUNTING THE SUBMARINE WITH "LANCE," BOMB AND GUN--A SAILOR'S DESCRIPTION. The advantage which Germany gained by the development of what has been termed the super-submarine placed the other nations where it became absolutely necessary for them to concentrate their energies in an effort to counteract the devastation which the U-boats brought upon the seas. England tried first to protect the English channel and many of its ports with mines, floating bombs and submarine nets, and while the latter served as barriers which prevented the submarines penetrating into some of the important waters and harbors, they could act merely in a protective sense. The submarine net is a specially devised net with heavy iron or wire meshes, similar to a fishing net. These nets--miles in length--were born of the nets originally devised to sweep harbors clear of mines. They are carried between two boats described as trawlers, which are a form of sea-going tug with powerful engines, that can draw a heavy load. A heavy cable runs from trawler to trawler, and from this the chain net is suspended in the water. It is heavily weighted at the bottom so as to hold it in a perpendicular position. The trawlers steaming along, side by side, sweep up with the net anything which may be placed in the water for the purpose of blowing up or injuring vessels. The submarine nets in some places have been anchored to form a regular barrier against the passage of submarine boats, and in this way were effective, but their use could in no way restrict the underseas boats in their work upon the open seas. The most effective plan of overcoming the dire consequences of the U-boat warfare was found, therefore, to lie in the use of submarine chasers and airships, the two operating together in conjunction with the battleships, cruisers and torpedo boat destroyers.