American Falls press. [volume] (American Falls, Idaho) 1907-1937, 1914-11-19

tla Oh Wv IA pilt
ish superdreadnought Audacious, was
sunk in the North sea off the Irish
This first line battleship of King
Georges navy hit a mine or was
struck by a torpedo fired by a Ger
man craft as she was on patrol duty
with other British warships. This is
the heaviest blow that has yet fallen
spon the British navy, but the sink
ing of he Audacious is not generally
known in England. News of the dis
aster has been suppressed by the
admiralty and it was only with the
arrival of the Baltic, outside the juris-
diction of the British censor, that the
report could be made known to neu-
trail countries.
Practically all of the 500 officers
and men, comprising the crew. of the
Audaeious. were rescued by the White
Star liner Olympic. The arrival of
the Baltic has, therefore,, not only
cleared up the rumo-s which have
been circulated. as to the sinking of a
British ~dreadnought, but lifted the veil
OF mystery which surrounded the
movements of the Olympic on her last
trip abroad, when she put in at Tough
swiftly before proceeding to her port
of call.
Passengers Sworn to Secrecy.
Not only the crew, but the passen-
gers OF the Olympic, were sworn to
secrecy before they were permitted to
leave the vessel. Among the passen-
gers was Charles M. Schwab. He was
the only n permitted to leave the
ship before she reached Belfast, but
his lips we're sealed.
The story, as brought here by the
Baltic, writes another chapter of dar-
ing work of rescue on the sea. The
Olympic was about 10 miles from the
Audacious when she received a wire
less call for help.
The Olympic plunged forward in re-
sponse to the call, though 1t vas
known the sea was heavily mined. BY
the time the liner reached the strick-
en- warship, boats were ready and
members Of the crew had volunteered
to man them.
The Audacious was then listing bad
ly. She had beer struck below the
water line and n engine damaged.
Attention Given to the Crew.
Under the direction of Captain Had
dock, the men of the Olympic gave
their first attention to the crew of the
Audacious. When all had been taken
OF an attempt was made to lake the
d~readnought in tow. The high seas
had not stopped the men of the Olym-
pic In their daring work Of rescue, but
no cable would hold when they strove
to drag the wounded ship into shallow
water.
1t soon became evident that the
Audacious la doomed. Several other
warships had come up in the mean
time and the captain and officers of
the dreadnought, who remained on
board, we're advised to leave the YES
sci.
After they left their ship, the squad
ron standing about continued its
watch, awaiting the inevitable. Be-
tween 8 and 8 o'clock that night, the
Audacious trembled from stem to stern
she plunged to the bottom. One man
on board the cruiser Liverpool was
killed by the explosion on board the
dreadnought, a fragment of steel be-
ing blown across the deck of the
cruiser.
The sailor was terribly manned and
died within a short time.
The Audacious was of the same
the King George v. She was com
pleted only two years ago. September,
1912. She was built at a cost of So
S25, 900. Under trial speed she made
22.4 knots. The vessel was 500 feet
long and had a displacement of 23, 900
tons.
The Audacious carried ten 1876 inch
guns, throwing 1400 pounds of shells,
sixteen finch guns and four three
Founders. She had three submerged
21-inch torpedo tubes. two being
~broadside and on astern. Her armor
consisted Of a 12-inch belt amidships,
four-inch on the ends, nine and seven
on the upper belt and 12-inch IN the
coming tower.
Strict Censorship Shown.
An indication of the grip Of the cen
sorship in England is shown by a
story published in the London Chron-
icle of the arrival of the Olympic at
an Irish port. The Chronicle received
here today says:
"The Olympic was held OF on a
Tough on Wednesday, owing to the
suspected presence of mines in the
p~eighborhood of the North Ireland
coast II was originally intended that
the ship should proceed to Glasgow,