Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1916-01-01
people held on to the hanging hhes
and to the caDSiZed boat.

people held on to the hanging hheS
and to the capsiZed boat.
Panic Observed
During the further approach OF tne
submarine the commander saw tia, ,
a great panic reigned aboard o anu
that he had to deal with passellsee,,, e,
steamship. namely, the Ancona' from
Genoa. Therefore, he gave the ooou o..Cp.
pants of the steamship more UNI tlll
than was required to leave the sup
in lifeboats. ..u
At least ten lifeboats were sun
aboard, which would have more tllar, l.m
sufficed for the rescue of persons sun sun
aboard. One of these boats huhs,
full of people, half turned outWdlu u
on the davits.
Since, however, except for inns ~
further move was made to lower poats'
the commander decided, after lapse
of forty-tive minutes, to TORPEDO liiS
ship in such a manner that 1t Shoulu
remain a considerable time afloat' III
order that, on the one hand, the get
ting of the people into the liieboatS
should be fastened, and that. on the
other, adequate opportunity should re- re-
main for rescuing the persons stlh
aboard.
Shortly thereafter a steamship ne
came visible which was throwing out
heavy clouds of smoke, and headed
toward the AnCona 1t apparently
had been summoned by the Ancona s
wireless.
Since the submarine commander
had to reckon on an attack by a
steamship which he took for an enemy
cruiser, he submerged after having, at
1886 O'Clock in the afternoon, had
a torpedo fired into the forward bag
gage hold of the Aneona from dis
tance of 500 meters. The Ancona
listed about ten degrees to starboard
after this shot.
Therefore, an effort was made to
lower the lifeboat which already was
half turned out on the davits. 1t
broke loose, however, and fell into the
water. The lifeboat floated, keel down,
farther, and the people held fast to
the gunwale.
Forty-fiye Minutes For Rescue
OF the other boats none was low
cred into the water. although persons
could still be observed aboard. The
steamship gradually righted itself to
an even keel and settled so slowly that
the submarine commander at first
doubted whether the steamship would
sink. Not until 1920 o'clock did it
sink, after lengthy parallel setting,
with the bow first.
During these further fOrty-fVe min
utes all persons vet aboard could have
been saved without difficulty with the
boats still on hand.
From the fact that this, contrary to
his expectations, was not done, the
commander concluded that the crew.
contrary to all seamen'S customs, had
accomplished their own rescue with
the first boats and abandoned to them
selves the passengers entrusted to their
protection.
The weather at the time of the in
cident was good and the sea calm so
that the lifeboats could have reached
the nearest coast without danger, as
indeed the lifeboats actually were
damaged only by the unskilled lower
ing, but not after they had struck the
water.
The loss of human lives is, in the
first instance, by no means aScribable
to the sinking of the ship, but, and
in all probability in much higher
measure. to the rapid lowering of the
boats during full speed, as well as to
the fact that the crew, concerned only
for itself, did not rescue the passen-
gers of the capsiZed boats.
1t is also probably ascribable TO
shots which hit the fleeing vessel but
the death of persons who sank with
the steamship is also, above all, ascrib-
able to the disloyal conduct of the
crew.
AS appears from the above adduced
state of affairs, the very esteemed note
of December is based in many points
on incorrect premises. Information
reaching the United States Govern
ment that solid shot was Immediately
fired toward the steamship is incor-
rect; it is Incorrect that the subma-
rine overhauled the steamship during
the chase; it is incorrect that only
a brief seriod was given for getting
the people into the boats.
Say Time Was Given
On the contrary, an unusually long
period was granted to the Ancona for
getting passengers in the boats.
Finally it is incorrect that num-
ber of shells We're still fired at the
steamship after it had stopped.
The facts of the case demonstrate
further that the commander of the
submarine granted the steamship a
full forty-five minutes time-that is.
more than an adequate period to give
the persons aboard an opportunity to
take to the boats. Then, since the
people were not all saved. he carried
out the torpedoing in such manner
that the ship could remain above wa
ter the longest possible time. doing
this with the purpose of making pos
sible the abandonment of the vessel
with boats still in hand.
Since the ship remained further