The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1915-07-07
TRIED TO ESCAPE
LINER ARMENIAN RACED AWAY
WHEN HAILED BY SUB
DEFTROYED BY Shells

Diplomatic Tension Relieved Whe1
News Comes of Submarines Efforts
to Halt Ship Before Sinking Her
Captain Trickey Proud Of His At
tempt to Outwit Captor.
Information on which to base ar
accurate judgment of circumstances
under which the British steamer Ar.
menian was destroyed with the loss
Of American lives was lacking Thurs
day night and until details are avail.
able Secretary Lansing said the posi-
ton of the United States could not
be determined.
From rews dispatches, however
and a closer reading Of official re-
ports officials were inclined in the
view that as tie Armenian apparent
" refused to nit at the command OF
the German submarine, according to
International law the sinking OF the
vessel was justified, even though non
combatants were on board.
There was little tension over the
Incident after it became known the
Armenian had sought to evade cap
ture. 1t was admitted that If official
reports bore out press dispatches
there was no likelihood that any COM
plant would be added to issues be-
tween the United States and Ger
many.
One or two officials suggested that
since Germany had given warning
that enemy ships would be torpedoed
without warning, merchantmen car
rying contraband might be justified
in attempting to escape.
Others, however, declared rules OF
warfare do not require a commander
to state mis- purpose when directing a
merchantmen to halt.
The only fact of importance receiV-
ed officially by the state department
was in a report from Ambassador
Page who said the British admiralty
had informed him the Armenian was
"engaged in admiralty business. De-
partment officials declared the ques-
ton of whether ship so engaged
should be treated by hostile vessels
as ship Of war or defenseless mer-
chantmen was 'ta close question OF in
ternational law"
When it was suggested to officials
that if the Armenian We're public
ship of war she could not have sailed
from the United States without vio-
Iating neutrality, it was pointed out
that the supreme court had ruIeo
that the chartering Of vessel by q
foreign consul for his government TO
transport munitions of war or sup
plies did not constitute a violation
of federal statutes. In case the YES
sci loaded to supply a belhgerent
fleet at sea, however, the United
States has ruled that such ships must
be treated rs ships Of war.
Capt. Trickey of the Armenian II
an interview said he surrendered to
the German submarine only when ms
ship was afre in three places, her
engines were out of action, and g
dozen of the crew had been killed oy
sbrapnel fire. Most of the members
of the crew who persisted, Capt
Trickey said, were Americans.
tThe submarine, as signal for us
to STOP" said Capt. Trickey, first
put couple of shots across our BOWS
when we were four miles off. l put
NV stern to him and ran for 1T.
sThe submarine then began TO
she'll us in earnest, the shrapnel
bursting all around US, killing several
Of the crew and knocking others
overheard. I soon realized that the
enemy was gaining on US, but did not
propose to surrender without Strug-
gle, but my steering gear was soon
hit and placed out Of commission
Then a she'll fell into the engine room
and another carried the Maroon
house away. Still another cut down
the funnel and disabled the stokers
"By this time the ship was on hre
in three places and I decided to sur
render. We had resisted the enem!
for an hour, and twelve or thirteen
men lay dead on the deck.
eeThe submarine commander then
forced me to clear ship and at seven
minutes past eight the Armenian
went down, shattered by two torpe-
does.
81 must say that the submarine
commander showed US every fairness
after we had given up, picking up
many of the crew who, because OF
damaged boat, had fallen into the
water.
.Most of the crew who perished
were Americans"
One of the Armenian's officers said
the German submarine which sank
the freighter was of the latest type,
big and speedy.
"The submarine came towards US
at a great rate" he said. LAS she
drew near we could made out some
of the crew on deck. The captain
was dressed in brown overalls. AS
we tried to escape she greeted us WITT
a storm of shrapnel. The first shell
to find it's mark burst on the star
board deck, killing ten men. The
wireless operator stuck to his post tc
the last, sending S. o. S. signals until
his apparatus failed. We surrender
ed only when we saw that escape was
hopeless, hove to, lifted the wounded
into boats. Four of these died ano
were buried at sea.
London evening papers did not
print the. fact that the Armenian was
engaged in admiralty business. All
refer to the incident as sinking Of
LeyIand liner" and all emphasize the
sensation created in America"
It was some time afterwards when
q message. came from Washington
saying that AMBASSADOR Paso had ad-
vised the state department of the
ships correct status.