South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1915-01-02
BattIeShip Formidable is Tor
pedOed in English Channel
Off DevOnShire and Sinks in
Less Than Five Minutes.
MORE THAN 500 LIVES
LOST IN DISASTER
Only II of Crew Are Rescued
and Survivors Are SUFFERING
From Burns. Exposure and.
ShOCk-ISIand in Gloom.

OIII OulIlS, exposure an0l
ShOCk-ISIand in Gloom.
DARTMOUTH. Eng Jan. 2.-NIost
OF the survivors Of the British bat
tleship Formidable. who were brought
here. were in the hospital today. suf
fering from burns exposure or tine
shock
We barely had time 10 save our
selves before the ship went down"
said one Of them
THE Formidable sank very rapid
!y. fore and AT. The weather was
very rough as The gale which had
been blowing for several days had
just begun TO die down
some Of the survivors who we're
picked up 10y the trawIer Providence
and taken 10 Torbay had an theirI
clothes blown ofa by the explosion
one of the men said the shin seemed
TO be lifted out OF the water. Then
all was envelOped bv am enormousl
cloud of thick black smoke. The
llict -eALilif- th hiiDNtA tearing llkR rtllII
apart Just as she settled Of the res
cued eight were officers and six werel
midshipmen
LONDON, Jan. THAT the British
battleship Formidable which wasI
sunk in the English channel of Dey
onshlre yesterday was destroyed hy
one or more German submarines was
established today. According 10 in-l
formation secured by survivors theI
bettleship was attacked on the fishing
banks off Dartmouth and was tor
pedoed both fore and aft sinking
within less than FIVE minutes.
Although the admiralty announced
that at least u OF the crew of T50l
were saved by another light cruiser
it Is believed that more survivors
were picked mp bv fishing boats that
were in the neighborhood and that
the loss of life viii be between 625l
and 675.
Some survivors were taken 10 Tor
bay, others 60 Dartmouth
l. Twentieth ship Lost
The loss of the Formidable. the
twentieth big ship 10 DE lost by Eng
land since the war began. caused
gloom through the United Kingdom
and has emphasized the fact that the
admiralty must exercise more caution
than ever before in moving warships
through English waters.
The point where the battlcship
was sunk is about 800 miles from
Ieebrugge. in Belgium. from which
point the German submarines have
been operating
The destruction of the 15-vear-oId
warship is another success for the
German admiralty in its whiting
down process Naval experts writingl
In the English papers declare that the
price being paid by England in war
ships IS inevitable SO long as England
elects TO hold domination OF theI
waters.
The Formidable was virtually "a sis
ter ship of the BulWark which was
blown up I'm the Midway last month.
Her value may Doe estimated from the
fact that another sister vessel. the
Venerable, has been used in the bonn
bardment Of the Germans lines on
the Belgian coast
Discussing the mishaD the naval ex-
per OF the London Times saws.
COuId Dodge Torpedo.
There appears 10 be- some hone
that more OF the crew have been
saved than the first public statement
indicated. Possibly in this way 10 may
become manifest whether the misfor-
tune was due 90 "a mine or "A torpedo
If the latter, it must have been fired
from a submarine and vet with the
experience already gained 10 had been
made fairly CJr that submarine
should stand very little chance
against swiftly moving ship.
"Not only were the British battle
cruisers able 90 eVade the German
Heligoland blight and the light cruis-
ers 10 do the same the other dav u
the air raid at Cuxhavcn. but for
three months now we have had a
squadron continually moving about on
the Belgian coat and So FAR as is
known. not a single submarine has
got its torpedo home.
"Of course. when the circumstances
are revealed. it mas be found that The
unluckv battleship had stopped OF
had SLOWED down for some purpose
and thus presented herself as a tar
get for "a torpedo
Hit British Mine
"If on tho other the vessel ran
upon a mine We are faced with ths
Alternative either that Do was one ~
our own, or that within the last dav
or two. some vessel presumably un-
der neutral colors had slipped through
the channel and strepu it with these
detestabl machines ft is c0nCu-r..
able that. owing 90 bad weather that
has prevailed. some mines from our
own field 90 the eastward OF the
the straits OF Dover have become dis
anchored an0 are floating abount the
channel. This IS "a contingaucv
against which il appears Impossible
20 guard. except by che constant EN-
ployment OF mine sweepers in those
waters used by our ships