Houdini Blues
Issue 7, November 2001
Welcome to this, the sixth issue of Houdini Blues, a subzine of TAP edited by Michael Lowrey, 6903 Kentucky Derby Drive, Charlotte, NC 28215. My email address is mlowrey@infi.net or call me at (704) 569-4269. Bonus points if you catch the music reference in the subzine name.
© 2001 by Michael Lowrey. All right reserved.
First of all, some administrative notes. Houdini Blues has a game opening in Diplomacy. This is a continuation of the game opening I had in CCC, for which Matthew Matz, Saul Spiel, Brendan Mooney, Fred Wiedemeyer, Dan Gorham, and Frank Easton had signed up. If you're one of these folks, please confirm that you're still interested. The game fee is $5 plus you must, of course, get TAP by one of the usual sources. In addition, I would like to start another Outpost game. Please let me know if you're interested.
Short musically playlist: Varnaline Songs in a Northern Key, P.J. Harvey Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea, Portishead Portishead, The Beatles Abbey Road, The Gladiators Dreadlocks the Time is Now, the Alternative Champs Dolphim Crazy!!.
By its very nature submarine warfare produces results that are, at times, difficult to interpret. Submarines and anti-submarine warfare forces often do not know the identity of the vessels they are attacking. To further complicate matters, neither side may be able to confirm the success of its actions. Sometimes we are left with mysteries, collections of facts that seem to make no sense. Such is the case with the loss of the German World War I U-boat UB 107.
The UB 107 was a Type UBIII submarine displacing 533 tons surfaced and 656 tons submerged. Top speed was 13.5 knots on the surface. Armed with four bow and a single stern torpedo tube plus a 105mm deck gun, the UBIII type boat was a modern design for its day, quite capable of inflicting serious damage. Indeed, the design provided the basis for the famous Type VII U-boats of World War II. Her commanding officer was Kplt. Eberhard von Prittwitz und Gaffron and she sailed with a crew of three officer and 35 men.
On first examination, the case of UB 107 is simple enough. On July 26, 1918 the submarine left Zeebrugge to patrol off the east coast of England. The standard account then notes that the boat was detected the next evening by Royal Navy patrol forces and the hunt began. To quote from Paul Kemp's U-Boats Destroyed: "UB 107 broached in full view of the trawler Calvia. Three trawlers dropped a number of depth charges, after which oil came to the surface together with large air bubbles. The ships remained in the location overnight and the next morning Vanessa recovered the headless body of a man in German uniform."
This would seem the end of the story, a submarine kill confirmed by the recovery of human remains. And, indeed, for many years it was the accepted tale. However, more recent research notes that at 11:25pm on July 27 the steamers Chloris and John Rettig were torpedoed and sunk at location 53°52'N, 00°10'E. The only U-boat which could have responsible was the UB 107, which, however, supposedly experienced the fatal depth charge attack two and a half hours earlier 38 nautical miles away at 54°23'N, 00°24W. Even if UB 107 were undamaged, it is unlikely that she could have covered such a distance in such short a period of time, especially in the heavy seas which existed that evening.
To further add to the confusion, the wreck of UB 107 was located in 1985 at 54°04'N, 00°04'W. Interestingly enough, the wreck of UB 107 lies entangle with that of the Malvina, a merchant ship sunk on August 3, 1918 by the UB 104. The UB 107 is apparently the bottom wreck, and hence must be assumed to have been lost to an unknown cause by this date.
Deadline for all games is November 28.
The Mystery of UB 107
Update
As many of you are aware, a girl I vaguely knew was killed last October in a car crash. Sara Gaffney, 23, was a passenger in a car making a left-hand turn onto a side street off Central Avenue here in Charlotte when a police car crested the hill a few hundred feet up the road. The cruiser hit the side of the car Sara was riding in; she was killed instantly. Scott Darby, the officer involved, was going 68 in a 35 m.p.h. zone without his blue lights on at night while en route to assist another officer with a routine traffic stop.
It is rare when a single incident involves so many elements so close to you. I am very familiar with the intersection in question; one of my best friends lives down that side street and I have made that same turn on many an occasion. The first person on the seen was another good friend of mine; she also knew Sara.
In any case, on August 15, Officer Darby pled guilty to misdemeanor death by motor vehicle. As someone without a prior criminal record, Darby will serve no jail time. He has also announced at the time that he intended to resign from the police force in short order (he has been suspended since the time of the accident).
I must also agree with the statement that Sara's mother presented via her attorney in court: "The police are there to help and protect. When one of them breaks that trust, it is very hard to trust any. Because of an irresponsible act, my child is dead. No one in the Police Department seems to be sorry. I need to hear that they are."