The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1914-11-20
GREAT SHIP SUNK
BY A TORPEDO
British Superdreadnaught AudaclOus
LOSt-All Officers and Crew
Saved.

New York, Nov. 14-T-e official
letter from a correspondent On board
the Olympic gives additional details
OF the disaster to the British super
dreadnaught Audacious.
Since L wrote the earlier report,
We nave had most thrilling expert
ences. Tuesday morning soon after
breakfast as We were off the coast
of Ireland, but not in sight Of it, We
saw four or five miles away a British
dreadnaugnt, a cruiser and torpedo
boat. We made toward it and found
H. NJ. S. Audacious flying signals to
US to stand by-that she was sinking.
Waves were breaking over her
at er-de>ks In the rougl sea Sc
seemed to be going down by the stern
WITH a heavy list to port as if she
had been torpedoed on the port side.
After every heavy sea, water
broke over her side-a miniature
waterfall. Tle Whole crew Of $50
men were on deck, all standing as
erect as nine-pins, those at the stern
with waves breaking Ger their feet.
"There was no furry visible. EF-
erything was being managed with
coolness and clockwork precision.
Call our boats were lowered and
manned and sent off to take the crew
from tie Audacious.
"The battleship launched one of her
own boats full of men, but auge
Wa es dashed it against ,aer side, sink
ing the boat All the men were pick
ed up in no time by small boats from
the cruiser and the destroyers. Mean
while the Audacious was making ef-
forts to get heavy cable to the
Olympic.
1--WE were informed the lighter
cruiser, a gunboat and several de-
stroyers were not of the slightest use
as t ey could not tow the great bat
tleship, but that the Olympic was go
ing to try to get her into shallow
water before she sank.
"At last the heavy cable was made
fast, but a moment after the Olympic
started the heavy sea made it impos-
sibIe to regulate the strain on the
cable. With tie $4,000 ton snip on
one end trying to pull a 30,O00-ton
battles-ip at the other end, tie cable
broke under the strain.
GAS last resort, the Olympic then
tried to drop her own anchor cables
(the longest in the world, but the
trawler was unable to pick tnem up
and The dreadnaught with all hel en-
gines out o. commission (we were
told her engine rooms were fiooded),
was powerless to lift the Olympic's
heavy cable 2erse,f and get it on
beard.
"The whole afternoon was spent in
trEing. We ad found the sinking
b2trleship just after breakfast and it
was not getting dark.
Experts told Us the battles&ip' 5
magazine might explode at any min
:;te, but there was no excitement
The Olympic got under way and
was going at less than nalf speed
when the greatest noise I ever heard
in my life made US all nearly jump
out CT our skins.
A huge red semj-circle Of lurid
light at least 1000 feet in diameter
famed into the skies astern of US,
and in about 80 seconds all was black
again. TIE Olympic crept slowly on
without stopping.
1T seemed obvious to every one
on board that the magazine of the
splendid Audacious, one of tie great
est battleships in His Majesty's navy,
had blown up and S12,5OO,OOO had gone
TO the bottom. But l do not believe
a single life was lost.
How the Audacious was sunk-by
a mine or by torpedo-is matter
for experts. But if by a mine, how
could it nave blown her up by the
stern in the open sea? 1t may never
actually be known.
'1Anyhow, it is a terrible loss. The
Audacious was only a year old, su-
per-dreadnaught, and she had the
record FOR gunnery in the British
navy.
rEWhen SIC was struck, she was on
her way out to try at the target with
her enormously heavy guns at $4,000
yards (none of the Germans can
reach more than 5000 yards).'