Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1915-05-11
TURNER SAID He WAS
UNABLE TO STOP SHIP
Captain Declares There Was No
Panic After Vessel Was Tor
pedoed Without Warning

Zkinsaie. Ireland. May 1.-THE cor
oher's jury which has been investi-
eating deaths resulting from the sink
ing of the Lusitania concluded its in
quest yesterday and returned verdict
charging the officers of the submarine
and the German Emperor and the
government of Germany with the
crime OF wholesale murder"
Captain w. r Turner, the Lusita-
MAS commander, was the days chief
witness.
The coroner asked the captain
whether he had received a message
concerning the sinking of a ship off
Kinsale by a submarine. Captain Tur-
ner replied that he had not.
The captain said that after his snip
was struck he gave orders to stop the
vessel.
But we could not stop. We found
that the engines were out OF commits
sion. 1t was not safe to lower boats
until the speed was off the vessel As
a matter of fact, there was percep-
tible headway on her up to the time
she went down. said Turner.
Liner FIoated IS Minutes
when she was struck she listed to
starboard. l stood on the bridge when
SIG SANK, anu the Iusltetliiet "Sht w W.
under me. She floated about Is min
utes after the torpedo struck her. My
watch stopped at 2.S6. | was picked
up from among the wreckage and aft
erward was brought aboard traW-
ler.
mo warship was conveying us. ]
saw no warship. and none was report
ed to me as having been seen. At the
time l was picked up ! noticed bodies
floating on the surface, but saw no
living persons.
Eighteen knots was not the normal
speed of the Lusitania, was it, he
was asked.
"At ordinary times" answered Cap
tain Turner she could make % knots,
but in war times her speed was re-
duced to 81 knots. My reason for go
ing Is knots was that l wanted to ar
rive at Liverpool without stopping and
within two or three hours of high
water" -
Was there a lookout kept for sub
marines. having regard to previous
warnings"
Yes; we had double lookouts."
Was Sailing Straight Course
Were you going a zig-zag course at
the moment the torpedoing took
place?"
No; it was bright weather, and
land was clearly visible"
Was it possible for a submarine to
approach without being SEEM"
"Oh, yes, quite possible"
Something has been said regarding
the impossibility of launching the
boats on the port side?"
Yes" said Captain Turner, lowing
to the listing of the ship
How many boats were launched
Safely?'' ......, ..t....' o
"I cannot say"
Were your orders promptly carried
out?"
WAS there any panic on board??"
mo, there was no panic at all; it
y5<s all most calm"
BY the foreman of the jury: .,..
In the face of the warnings at
4Iew York that the Lusitania would be
torpedoed, did you make any applica-
tion to the Admiralty for an escort?"
NO, left that to them. 1t is their
business, not mine. I simply had to
carry out my orders to go, and l would
do it again
Captain Turner uttered the last
words of this reply with great empha-
sis.
BY the coroner:
Il am very glad to hear you say so,
captain"
BY a juryman:
did you get a wireless to steer your
vessel in northern direction?"
no" replied Captain Turner
WAS the course of the vessel al
tered after the torpedoes struck herr
Il. headed straight for land, but it
was useless. Previous TO this the wat
ertight bulkheads were closed. I sup
pose the explosion forced them open.
I don't know the exact extent to which
the Lusitania was damaged"
,.'There must have been serious dam
age done to the watertight bulk
heads?''
Says All Had Lifebelts
.There certainly was, without
doubt
Were the passengers supplied with
lffebelts?''
YES"
Were any special orders given that
morning. that lifebelts be put on?"
mo"
was any warning given you be-
fore you were torpedoed?"
None whatever. 1t was suddenly
done and finished
eff there had been a patrol boat
there might 1T have been of assist
ance?"
1T might, but it is one of those
things one never knows"
With regard to the threats against
his ship, Captain Turner said. he saw
nothing except what appeared in the
New York papers the day before the
Lusftania sailed.
M D L. A.