Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1915-08-31
CAPT. FINCH TELLS
STORY OF ARABIC
Describes Sinking of His Boat by
German Submarine.
NO WARNING WAS GIVEN HIM
Splendid Behavior of Passengers and
Crew Accounts for Saving of Lives
Heroes of the Engine and
Boiler Rooms.

0OIIef hOOE1Ss
Queenstown.-A thrilling story was
told by Captain Finch of the Arabic.
81 left Liverpool at 2:34 p. m. We'd
nesday," he said, "and had on board
423 souls all told, including 261 mem
bers of the crew. All went well with
US on our way down the channel until
$3.50 a. M, Thursday, August 10, when
the ship was torpedoed There was a
northeasterly wind and there was only
a slight swell on. Therefore before
we were torpedoed we were going at
sixteen knots"
Asked as to whether any warning
had been given by the submarine, Cap
tain Finch said emphatically:
NO. We were torpedoed without
receiving any warning whatever
was on the bridge at the time, and had
been on the bridge all the way down
the channel. The first indication had
that we were attacked or of the pres
ence of a submarine at all IN our vi
entity, was when l saw the torpedo
coming toward the ship at a distance
of about three hundred feet. That was
the very first l saw of it. 1t approached
us at right angles, coming toward us
from the north and striking us on the
starboard side at a point some ninety
or a hundred feet from the stern.
when the torpedo struck us there
was terrific explosion, so loud that I
had never heard anything like it. You
can imagine how terrible it was when
I tell you it shook the whole ship from
stem to stern. The explosion was so
stupendous that one of the boats which
was swung out from the ships side
was blown into the air in splinters.
Then after the torpedo struck an i'm
mense volume of water was thrown up
in the air to tremendous height and.
of course, there was a great shock"
Sank in Ten Minutes.
Asked if the torpedo struck the ship
in very vital part, Captain Finch
said:
"Oh, yes, indeed. Why, the ship
sank in ten minutes. AS soon as she
was struck she gave a great list, first
to starboard and then to port, and
after that she seemed to steady herself
a bit. Then she went down quickly by
the stern and disappeared completely.
II did not see single sign of a sub
marine, and, as far as l am aware, no
body else saw submarine, either be-
fore or after the occurrence.
I'VE had all the lifeboats and also
the RATS and the patent Andersen life
boats ready, and they were swung out
Immediately. Everything was ready
right away, including the RATS, which
fioated Off We put out plenty of
boats. In fact, there were sufficient
boats to take many more persons than
were on board. Life belts were dis
tributed fore and aft before we
reached the spot where the torpedo
struck us. This is always done, in
anticipation of the danger zone.
Carried Plenty of Boats.
There was no commotion. Every
body behaved splendidly. All the off,
GERS and crew were at their posts and
everybody was supplied with a life
belt There were in all fourteen boats
lowered, l think, but l have been in
formed that as the ship was sinking
two or three of the boats capsized. |
do not know what was the cause Of
that. / did not see it. but l was told it
did take place.
I'VE had good assistance sent to US.
1 understand eleven boats were picked
up.
Il was on the bridge when the ship
went down and l went down with her.
l thought I was all in, but after time
l found myself in the water floating
among RATS and patent boats which
were banging the life out of me, until
a patent boat to which l could cling
came along and was able to hold on to
it. | was too tired and weak to haul
myself on board. Then two fremen
came along and succeeded in showing
them into it, but could not get in my
self. After that a woman and her baby
were met and taken on board, and l
got piece of raft under me and a
swell then washed me on board the
boat.
Saw Dunsley Sinking.
Just before we were torpedoed we
passed the Dunsley, which was sink
ing. The vessel had three holes in
her from shells. | also saw two boats
sailing away from the Dunsley toward
the land At the time we were torpe
doed we were sixty miles south and
2O2 degrees west of Queenstown and
half a degree east of Fastnet. The ma
jority of the missing were members of
the crew.
LAS soon as the torpedo came there
were signals from above to stop and
go astern, and wires were also in mo-
ton, but all the poor fellows remained
below and never came above, but kept
at their duties and their work like
heroes. This is the engine-room staff
l refer to, and they were lost.
"All the men who remained down de-
served twenty Victoria crosses. They
were real heroes a thousand times
over
"All the loss of life has been caused
by the blowing up of the ship. AS re-
CARDS the passengers and crew from
the boats, assistance was sent to US
as quickly as possible"