New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-10-18
Attack on the Hawke by
German Craft Came as
Complete Surprise.
BRITISH CRUISER
SANK IN 5 MINUTES
Terrific Explosion, Supposed to
Have Reached Magazine,
Made Rescues Impossible.

Aberdeen (via London), Oct. IT,
The attack on the British cruiser
Hawke, which was sunk yesterday by
German submarine, came as n com
plete surprise to those aboard the
cruiser, according TO the survivors who
have arrived here. Nothing was seen
TO indicate the presence of subma-
rine until after the explosion, when
the periscope of the boat was detected
moving away at some distance. The
Hawke sank in FIVE minutes, and hum
Greds of men, some of them in cork
jackets and others hanging to pieces
of wreckage, were scattered about in
the water.
81 was on the forenoon watch" said
one Of the stokers, land we were en-
joying ourselves. Some one was sing
ing and the others joined in the chorus
when the Hawke was struck. The ship
vibrated violently and Immediately
started to cant over. When | reached
the deck the captain was calling It's
everybody for himself!' jumped over
board and managed to keep afoat, al
though the water was bitterly cold,
until picked up by the only boat that
there was time TO launch. For "A time
we rowed around, picking up men, but
the boat was soon overcrowded. A
Norwegian steamer came up and picked
up a few men, but for the large ma
jority she was too late"
The man was evidently suffering
severely, and kept repeating: "All my
pals are gone!"(
Another survivor said: "The tor
pedo must have struck the magazine.
for there was a terrific explosion and
the ship rose as if she had gone on
rock. Everything was dust and the
fittings went flying everywhere. Boats
and RATS were rendered useless, even
if there had been time to launch them.
The submarine hung around some
time, probably expecting that there
might be u repetition of the Aboukir,
the Hogue and the Cressy affair, but
there was nothing of the kind possible.
A great number of men must have been
killed by the explosion"
Two members of the engine room
staff of the Hawke said that the tor
pedo found its mark between the two
tunnels. close to one of the magazines
The explosion was terrible. The ship
listed Immediately. They had never
seen a vessel so well equipped with
lifesavng apparatus, but the way the
possible to get the small boats out.
A small cutter wa "hed, but was
nearly drawn down suction.
small steam pinnaco D.. raft pre-
pared for such emot -l,' foated off
when the Hawke sank, but the men
crowded them so that the pinnace
went down, while those on the raft
could not possibly survive owing to
the cold.
ave never saw the submarine" said
one man. until after the explosion,
when something like broomstick APP
peared above the water"
The crew was COMPOSED for the most
part of lrishmen, owing to the fact
that the Hawke was stationed at
Queenstown at the outbreak of the
war.
Still another survivor said il was
impossible to man the guns, owing to
the heavy list. though an attempt was
made to do so. The captain. the COM
mander and a midshipman were on the
bridge calmly giving out orders ms
though at feet man9uvres in the
Solent. They disappeared when the
ship took her final plunge.