The Washington herald., 1914-09-25
MANY OFFICERS
LOST ON CRUISERS
Death Toll IN North Sea Dis
aster Estimated at More
Than ! 900.
MEN DIED LIKE HEROES
Lieutenant Praises Crews of Aboukir.
Cressy. and HOsue. Sunk by
Submarines.
MEN DIED LIKE HEROES

Submarines.
London, Sept. 2L-The oficiaI press
bureau issued a statement today 10 which
Lord Churchill declared Englane was still
mistress OF the seas. Lord Churchill
says: .....
''The naval preponderance OF England
is more like two to one than the esti-
mated Is TO 10. Within year England
will have doubled the number Of battle
ships. and will have three to four times
as many cruisers as Germany. The new
battleships will be the most powerful and
costly that ever have been built
England Is very confident of winning
the war She Is determined 10 win at the
cost OF the last sovereign, Of the last
man IN the British empire. Let us make
an end now. Let us have a fair and nat
ural adjustment OF European boundaries.
Let us war against the principle OF one
set Of powers holding down by force Of
conquest against their will another sec
ton"
Nearly half the officers Of the armored
cruisers Aboukir, Cressy and Hogue lost
their lives when the ships were sunk by
German submarine in the North Sea.
This was revealed today when the gov
eminent press bureau issued a summary
of the casualties among the naval Of
hcers. 1t showed that fifty-seven had
been killed and sixty rescued.
Twenty-one officers of tho Aboukir
were killed and seventeen saved. The
Cressy lost twenty-five officers, only
fourteen being rescued. OF the forty
officers Of the Hogue, eleven were killed
and twenty-nine rescued.
Reports OF the rescue OF more members
of the crews of the three cruisers had
reduced the estimates OF the dead today
to about LOO
The announcement in Berlin that the
ships were sunk by one submarine is con-
tradicted by the story told by Albert
DOugherty. chief gunner Of the CresSy.
who was rescued and taken 10 Chatham.
DaRgherty declares he saw fve subma-
-, and that he shattered the coming
tower Of one OF them.
In a dispatch from Chatham the cor
respondent Of the Chronicle quotes
DOugherty thus:
Heard Great Crash.
looking in the direction Of It, saw the
idly. We came TO the conclusion that she
had been struck by a torpedo and kept
a sharp lookout fer the craft while
s'eaming to the assistance OF the
Aboukir
We drew near and at that moment
some one shouted:
Look out. sir; there's a submarine on
your port beam
Il saw her. She was about ~ yards
away. Only her periscOpe showed above
the waves. | took careful aim at her
with a twelve-pound shot. but II went
over her by about two yards. That gave
me the range
Il fred again and hit the petiscopc.
Then the submarine disappeared. Up she
came again. Her coming tower was visI-
bic, SC fired my third shot asnd smashed
in her coming tower.
AS the submarine sank TWO German
sailors came up, both swimming hard
AFTER that We shot a trawler, which
was.ebout 1000 yards away. and evidently
a German boat in disguise, directing op-
eratiOns-
Damage Not Vital.
BY this time we already had been
struck by a torpedo. but the damage
was not in a vital spot. We saw an
other submarine and We made a desper-
ate effort to get her. We failed and
her torpedo got us in our engine room.
Then the Cressy began to turn over.
Our captain said to the crew:
Keep cool. my lads. keep cool
Pick up a spar. my lads. and put 1t
under your arms
The water was thick with drowning
men. I dropped into the sea. ClinginG
to a bit OF wood. There were men all
around me. We shouted CHEEKY mes
saEes to one another.
Il was afioat in the sea for four
hours and then destroyer picked me
up"
Cardiff. Wales. Sept. 24.-The sailors
of the Aboukir, HoEue. and Cressy. the
British cruisers sunk in the North Sea
by German submarines, died like
heroes.
This tribute was paid to the seamen
today by Lieut.. Harrison. Of the Cressy:
Men Were Calm.
There was absolutely no panic on
board declared Lieut.. Harrison. THE
men were as calm as though at drill.
They died like heroes.
1T was all over within an hour. We
had TO do the best We could, but ii is
nerve-rackfng task to fight a foe that Is
invisible most OF the time.
THE Aboukir was hit about 7:39 O'Clock.
on the morning of September %. As soon
as we saw the Aboukir heel over We put
on speed and were on the scene to pick up
survivors The Hogue went 20 the assist
ance of the Aboukir. She had lowered
boats and was standing by when she was
torpedoed. We fred at the surface of the
water where We thought we had seen
the periscopes of submarines. I am sure
We sent at least one OF them to the bot
tom.
We jumped into the water before the
shattered hulk of the Cressy disappeared
so as to avoid the suction. had man
aged to get deck chair and II was
good thing I did get some support. too.
for I was in the water an hour and ten
minutes before being picked up.
Considering the circumstances, the
men behaved splendidly. There was abso-
lutely no warning. Many of the men were
in their hammocks. They were aroused by
the explosion and the pitch of the ship.
"A number OF seamen were killed in
the explosions. Others were badly wound
ed I saw wounded men drown because
they were too weak 10 help themselves. It
struck me to the heart to be unable TO
save them. Among the wreckage there
were many corpses, most of them naked 4"