Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1916-04-06
Graphic Story of Catastrophe.
Is Told by Rear Admiral
GraSset, Who Made Care
full Investigation.
CAPTAIN SAW AND TRIED
TO AVOID MISSILE
Commander of Undersea Boat
Fully Aware That Steamer
Was Unarmed and Loaded
With Passengers.
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Washington. April "A graphic
account of the wreck of the British
channel steamer Sussex, with the as
torpedoed and without warning by AN
enemy submarine, Is contained In 4
report by Rear Admiral Grasset to
the French general staff, made public
here tonight by the French embassy.
The report. dated at Boulognc,
March 80, says:
I'm conformity with your instruc-
tions | proceeded to Boulogne, where
| conducted an inquiry relative to the
attack on the Sussex. ON March "a,
the Sussex, belonging 20 the state
Railway company. and running the
regular service between England and
France. left Folkestone at 1925 y. m.
for Dieppe This boat carried about
825 passengers of all nationalities. "A
great number of these being women
and children, as we'll as the Indian
mails. This approximate figure is
given by the captain; according To
the company there were asa passen-
gers. The officer i'm charge OF the
control of tickets was severely wound
ed and taken to Dover He is not N
"A fit state to furnish particulars.
Had No Armament.
"She was not possessed Of any
armament. The crew consisted pf
nfty-three men From the start the
speed was set at sixteen knots, after
having passed one mile from Dunse-
ness the captain headed south, three
degrees east the weather was very
fine, the sea almost calm. most of the
were on deck.
suddenly, without the slightest
warning, the captain who was on the
bridge, saw before the port beam,
some $50 meters away, the track OF
II torpedo. It was now ESQ p M;
the time of the disaster being exactly
registered by the stopping of the
clocks on board the vessel. The sec
ond officer and deck officer who We're
on the bridge also distinctly saw the
torpedo
Tried ia Dodge TOfpdo.
with great presence of mind, the
captain ordered the helm hard aport,
aud stopped the starboard engine in
order to avoid the torpedo by turning
to starboard. These two orders We're
executed Immediately, as is proved by
.he statements of the engineers of the
watch.
"The ship was beginning to swing
IF, when, eight seconds after the tor
Dedo had been seen, "A terrific explo-
iion took place, throwing up an en-
lrmous column of water, Calculat-
ng from the distance at which the
.orpedo first had been seen and the
ime which passed before the eXplo-
sion, the speed Of the torpedo must
lave been thirty-six knots. the nor
nal speed of Il torpedo
Ship Gut in Two.
"The ship was cut in two opposite /
he bridge; the afterpart. thanks 20
he solidity of the bulkheads, contin- !
ned to float
"On deck several passengers who /
to be on the port side saw /
he torpedo when quite close to the /.
ihip, one of them even telling his
ieghbor to look at that great fish /
toward the ship
Everybody who happened to be in |
he bows disappeared with that por- I
ion of the ship, which was engulfed /
mong others, the passengers ON the
ore deck and in the first-class sa- ,
Don The men Of the.crew who were 4
. the forecastle, the lookout in the T
ows, ana the lookout in the crows
est on the foremast also disappeared.
No Panic Aboard.
"Thc captain, who had been
nocked down by the column Of water
esulting from the explosion, ordered
he crew to their emergency stations.
he firemen and engineers went to
heir stations after having stopped the
ort engine and closed the draught
lates of the furnaces. At the same
me the wireless operator tried TO
End out distress signals, but without
lccess the antennae having fallen
'ith the foremast The crew pro-
eeded to their stations 20 launch the
feboats and RATS (there were six
feboats capable of carrying s4 per-
lns. . RATS capable of carrying 264
ersons. and in addition SIG life belts
appears from dispositions made that
lesc life belts We're on the spare
eek and that number of them were
bad condition, but the crowding on
eek at the time made 1t very diff
alt to move about.
Pieces of Torpedo Found.
"A number of pieces of the tor
edo were found on board the Sussex,
,me OF them having been handed
yer TO the American delegation.