El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1916-04-20

20 go, az ~ of them were women and
children and nearly halt OF them sub
st. NJ ,eutral states. (Report Of COM
D9nder Savles and Lieut. Smith and
rear admiral Grassets repoitJ'
carried No Armament.
The sussex carried no armament.
Crrencb foreign office; report Of COM
uander Savles and Lieut. SMITH affi-
davfts Of American passengers) has
never been employed as troop ship.
and was following Il route not used for
transporting troops from Great Britain
to France. british admiralty state
ment. French foreign office).
Wake of Torpedo Seen.
4sTba steamer proceeded on its course
almost due south after passing Dunge-
ness declaration Of Capt MOuffett)
Tbe weather was clear and the sea
s,,,ootb fAffidavits of Edna Hale John
= TJearlev. Gertrude W. Warren). AT
9.r0 N m. when the Sussex was about
III miles from Dungeness, (declarat ton
Of can't MouffetO the captain of the
about $50 meters from the ship. on the
mort side the wake of a torpedo
TDec1aratfon Of Capt Mopffett). It was
also seen very clearly by the first Of
ficer and the boatswain who were with
tbe captain on the bridge (Report Of
rear admiral Grassett.)
Tried to Swing Vessel.
Immediately the captain gave orders
70 mort the helm and stop the starboad
engine declaration of Capt. MouffetO
the purpose being to swing the vessel
TO starboard so as to dodge the torpedo
Inv allowing it to pass along the port
how on a line converging with the al
tered course Of the steamer
Explosion and Results.
Before. however, the vessel could be
turned enough to avoid crossing the
course Of the torpedo. the latter struck
the hull at an angle a short distance Of
the bridge. exploded, destroyed the en-
tire forward part of the steamer as far
back as the first watertight bulkhead,
carried away the foremost with the
wireless antennae and killed or injured
about so of the persons on board.
Declaration of Capt Mouffett: report
of rear admiral Gassett. deposition OF
Henry 5 Beer) At the time no other
vessel was in sight. (Affidavits of Sam
uel +. Bemis, T. W. Culbertson, John H.
Hearley and others)
Several saw TOrpedOe.
The approach Of the torpedo was
witnessed by several other persons on
the vessel (Affidavits Of Samuel F.
Bemis Henry S. Beer, Gertrude ".
zone Of these. an American citizen
named Henry s Beer. was leaning on
the port rail about 10 feet behind the
bridge and gazing seward when he
saw the approaching torpedo about 100
yards away and exclaimed to his wife
and companion: a torpedo, Immediate
" following his exclamation the missile
struck the vessel Dispositions of Henry
S. Beer and Mrs. Henry S. Beer9
Course Was Changed.
an further confederation of the fact |
that the captain saw the torpedo com1 /
ing toward the vessel is the sworn
statement of the engineers on duty, that |
the order to port the helm and 10 stop
the starbOard engine, was received and /
obeyed. CReport OF admiral Grassett) !
No reasonable explanation can be given /
for this unusual order other than that ]
the captain saw something which !
caused him to change his course sharp |
" TO starboard.
PART TWO.
L. :. Officers Made Inspection.
an addition to this evidence which /
would in itself appear to be conclusive |
that the agent Of destruction was tor 4
pedo is that Of Lieut. Smith, United /
states navy. attached to the American !
embassy at Paris, who, accompanied !
by Mai Logan, L. S. army. of the en-
bassy. went to BoulOgne, inspected the !
hull Of the Sussex and personally found
beneath the mass Of watersoaked debris
Of the wreck Is pieces of metal, which /
their retained in their possession as
they did not believe the pieces formed i
part Of the vessel
1.-THE inspection of the hull disclosed
that the vessel was wrecked by an ex-
tact and that a short distance forward
Of the bridge was large dent showing
hat the vessel had received a heavy |
blow. the direction Of the impact being
from abaft the beam along Il line at an
lcute angle with the keel Of the vessel. |
Report OF Lieut. Smith. cabled April
ID This evidence comedies with and
'OrrobOrates the statement that the Ves-
lei was swinging to starboard and away
rom the torpedo when struck
Metal Not Part Of Mine.
The pieces OF metal which the Ameri-
an officers had collected, were COM
AIRED by Lieut.. Smith, Lieut. Com.
ayles and Mai. Logan with mines and
lans Of mines in possession Of the
french naval authorities at Boulogne /
lOchefort and Toulon, and British ma
al authorities at Portsmouth. These !
Ulcers are positive in their opinion /
hat these pieces Of metal were not
arts Of a mine. (Report of Lieut. Smith,
abled April 2, and 81
Among these 10 pieces of metal were /
vO screw bolts showing the effects Of (
n explosion, which were stamped with
K and So on the faces OF the head
f one and k and $50 on the faces Of
he head of the other On examining
erman torpedoes in possession of the
rench naval authorities at Toulon and
the English naval authorities at
the American officers
1und that identical screws with the
tier h and a mum Der were employed
fasten the war head (kopO to the
In chamber Lieut Smiths reports
lbled April ?, and 49,
Identify Pieces of Torpedo.
THE screws used in French and Eng
sh torpedoes have no markings and
re of a slightly different size. (Same
pOrts.) Furthermore, the American
Ulcers were able by comparison and
ose examination to positively identify
I'd locate all the remaining IS pieces
metal as parts Of a German torpedo,
follows:
Fragment 3, part of inner seat Of
ater relief valve of engine valve.
Fragments 4 and 5, puntO bands Of I
lgine room casing.
Fragments 6 to 10, inclusive, and u, 1
lrts OF engine cylinders.
fragments II, Is, II, Is, parts OF
eel war head still bearing the dis
lctive red paint common TO German
rpedo war heads. (Report Of Lieut.
NTH, cabled April I'D
Submarine Submerged.
TN view of these authenticated facts
ere can be no reasonable doubt but
at the Sussex was torpedOed and that
e torpedo was of German manufac-
re. As no vessel was seen by any
rson on the Sussex, the conclusion is
-esistible that the torpedo was
unched without warning from sub
arine which was submerged at the
ne Of the attack and remained be-
ath the surface. after the explosion.
The conclusion thus reached fro,.