The first occurred off the East
Coast of England.

On August 15 the armed fishing craft _Nelson_ and _Ethel and Millie_
were attacked by gunfire by a German submarine on the surface at a range
of four to five miles.

The submarine first concentrated her fire on the _Nelson_, which
immediately slipped her trawl and went to action stations. The third
shot from the submarine pierced the trawler's bows, and, having
established the range, the submarine poured a well-directed fire into
the _Nelson_, under which she rapidly began to settle down.

The seventh shot struck the skipper, Thomas Crisp, D.S.C., R.N.R.,
taking off both his legs and partly disembowelling him.

In spite of the terrible nature of his injuries he retained
consciousness and gave instructions to the mate, who was his son, to
send a message by carrier pigeon to the senior officer of his base
reporting that he was engaged with the enemy; he then bade him fight to
the last.

The _Nelson_, armed with one small gun, replied to the enemy's fire
until the heavy heel which she had assumed made it impossible to bring
the gun to bear. As she was then on the point of sinking the mate
decided to abandon her and take to the boat, and begged his father to
give them leave to carry him. This, however, the old man sternly refused
to do, and ordered his son to throw him overboard.

The nature of his wounds being such that he would have died if he had
been moved, they deemed it best, after consultation, to leave him where
he lay. Accordingly, yielding to his reiterated order to abandon the
ship, they left this most gallant seaman lying in his blood, and
embarked in the boat as the _Nelson_ sank.

The submarine in the meanwhile concentrated her fire on the _Ethel and
Millie_, and having eventually sunk her, made the survivors of the crew
prisoners, and steamed away.

The crew of the _Nelson_ were rescued by a man-of-war after being in
their boat for forty-four hours.

The second case occurred in the Adriatic. On the night in question our
drifter patrol in the Straits of Otranto was attacked by a force of
Austrian light cruisers. The drifters were each armed with a 3-pounder
gun, and the light cruisers with 4-inch and 6-inch guns. The drifters
were, of course, quite unable to defend themselves. Nevertheless the
indomitable skipper, I. Watt, of the drifter _Gowan Lea_, when summoned
to surrender by an Austrian light cruiser which was firing at his craft,
shouted defi