The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-01-02
Pre-Dreadnought of $4,000
Tons Goes Down in Eng
lish Channel.
II MEN ARE PICKED
Up BY LIGHT CRUISER
Seventy or More Others Are
Saved by Trawler Off
DevOnShire.
ADMIRALTY GIVES FEW
DETAILS OF DISASTER
German Undersea Boats Are
Active i'm Waters Where
Loss Occurred.
special cable Despatch to The svS.

special cable Despdtch TO THE sUS.
LONDON, Jan. 1.-The British pre-
dreadnought battleship Formidable was
sunk in the English Channel before
dawn this morning either by mine
or 10y torpedo fired from hostile
submarine. Out of her crew. which
normally numbered 7SO officers and
men, 1i1 are known 10 have been saved.
The vessel went 10 the bottom in a
terrific storm.
This was the news to greet the Brit
lsh public on the first day of the new
year. The place Of the disaster was not
given in the official announcement, but
one cutter load Of the survivors was
picked up by n trawler of Start Point
In Devonshire. on the Channel coast.
twenty-five miles southeast Of Plym-
outh. Word Of these survivors came
after the official announcement was
madc. the announcement mentioning
only scventy-onc survivors who had
been rescued by light cruiser at a
point unnamed
The brief and rather meagre official
statement issued this afternoon was
aS follows:
The battleship Formidable was
sunk this morning in the Channel,
but whether by mine or a sub.
marine is not yet certain.
Seventy.one survivors have been
picked up by a British light cruiser,
and II is possible that others may
have been rescued by other vessels.
The Formidable was a second line
ship, completed in 1901 and In about the
same class as the Bulwnrk, which was
destroyed off Sheerness by an internal
explosion, according 10 the results Of
the official investigation. on Thanks.
giving bay.
Although the Oftlal statement leaves
1t undecided whether the ship was sunk
by mine or by Il German submarine.
there is a general belief that It is an
other example of the prowess of the
German submarine.
. According to late reports. survivors
Of the bnttleship Formidable are
quoted as saying that the vessel was
torpedoed both fore and aft early on
Friday morning and sank almost imme-
dlately, giving the crew hardly time to
escape.
The patrolling of the Channel has
been done by the British warships act
ing in groups, and 1t Is probable that
other war vessels We're near by when
the Formidable received the thrust
which sent her to the bottom. The
extremely heavy percentage of the lost
among her officers and men indicates
that the rule which was put into effect
by the Admiralty following the de-
structlon of the armored cruisers
Hoguc, Greasy and Aboukir 10y a single
, German submarine was obeyed by the
commanders OF these other vessels
the rule which compels other vessels
TO leave the crew OF a ship doomed
under such circumstances 10 their fate
in order that there may be no further
loss OF ships.
Members Of the Formidable's crew
who were rescued and taken to Bix-
ham say that the bittleship was blown
UP early this morning and sank almost
Immediately. giving hardly time for
any one to escape. a big sea was run
ming and there was great difficulty In
launching boats Some OF those rescued
jumped from the decks of the battleshlp
and swan to the cutter. The survivors,
doubt that more than three boats got
away. one fell nose first into the sea,
shooting out the men who were In her,
When the survivors at Brisham got
away from the Formidable IN the dark
ness, the storm drenched them TO the
skins They started IT'S a Long Way
to Tipperary' to keep up their spirits,
but the weather was So furious ana tnS
cutter shipped so much water that they
soon were obliged to save their energies
for baling, for which they used their
shoes. Consequently, al in the cutter
were shoeless when they were picked
up. When landed they refused TO go TO
the comfortable quarters which had
been prepared Immediately until they
had given an ovation to the crew OF
the trawler and had cheered and sung
Aud Lang Syne."
The survivors say that the work done
by the trawler's crew in saving them
showed magnificent courage and SKIN
and that their services ought 10 I've
recognized by the Admiralty
The Admiralty issued tonight the
names of fourteen officers and htty-siS
men who were saved from the Formid-
able. Local kilograms state that between
seventy and eighty men were rescued ny