The daily banner. (Cambridge, Md.) 1897-2008, 1916-10-09
GERMAN U-BOAT
SINKS EIGHT SHIPS
All Hands Safe, Coming Into
Port on DeStrOyers.
TOURIST VESSEL SENT DOWN

The Submarine Gave Crews Time to
Leave Their Vessels Before Torpe
doing is Begun.
Newport, R. l., Oct. 9.-The German
submarine U-53, which entered and
left this port Saturday has created a
reign of terror on the high seas, the
like of which in so short a time has
not been known in this or any other
war.
This fighting craft with possibly one
other, but that at this writing is only
a guess, has sunk three British steam.
ships, on one OF which were many
Americans, two Dutch steamers, two
Norwegian steamers and has torpedoed
and crippled another British vessel
and has held up an American ship.
The American, however, was allowed
to proceed.
Apparently there was no loss of life,
the passengers on the only vessel
which carried tourists being rescued
by the American torpedoboat destroyer
Balch. That is, they are on their way
to port on the Balch. Just who rescu
ed them and the crews of the other
ships cannot be told until he survivors
reach land or until the wireless bring
more complete details of a wonderful
series of ocean tragedies.
The sinkings follow:
The Kingston, whose crew is on the
/ Balch.
The Stephano, which plies regularly
between New York and ST. Johns, N.
T.. Torpedoed and sunk off Nantucket
1ightship. A vessel of 2144 gross tom
mage.
The Dutch steamer Bloomerdijk, tor
pedoed and sunk.
The Norwegian steamer Christian
Knudsen, torpedoed and sunk.
The crews of both the above vessels
were picked up by the American tor
pedoboat destroyer Drayton and are
being taken into Newport.
The Strathdene, torpedoed and sunk.
The West Point, torpedoed and Grip
pied off Nantucket.
No loss of life was reported.
The Stephano sailed for New York
and was due to arrive today, accord
ing to Charles Bowring. agent in New
York of the Red Cross line. Mr.. Bow
ring said that the vessel probably had
on board more than one hundred tour
lists bound for New York.
The Stephano arrived at st. Johns,
N. F., on October 2. She belonged to
the Red Cross line fleet of the New
Dirk, Newfoundland and Halifax
Steamship company, Limited, and was
! commanded by Captain Smith. She
was built in Glasgow in 1911.
| The American freight steamship
Kansan was the vessel held up but
| allowed to proceed.
| U-53 sank two of the steamships ten
miles off the Nantucket lightship. The
/ crews were given time to leave in
! iifeboats before the submarine blew
| up the vessels with torpedoes. On
receipt of wireless messages telling
of the sinking of the steamships the
entire fleet of United States torpedo
boats at Newport, R. l., was ordered
out to the assistance of the crews.
! Thirty torpedo boats which had up
| seam left Immediately.
| On the West Point were thirty men,
and the Strathdene carried twenty. A
late message from the lightship said
| that the Strathiene's crew had been
picked up and landed there.
| Just few hours before the subma-
rine had stopped the steamship Kan
san, of the American-Hawaiian line,
The Strathdene left New York Sat
urday for Bordeaux.
A IS o S" message flashed by wire
less from the West Point after the sub
marine had fired a shot across her
bows was picked up at the lightship
and by several vessels nearby, among
them the Kansan, which had proceed
ed fifty-fve miles of her voyage. The
Kansan Immediately put back and re-
| ported by wireless to the Boston navy
yard that she was proceeding to the
assistance of the West Point. On re-
ceiving the message that the West
Point had been sunk he United States
torpedo-boat destroyer Jarvis was des-
patched from the navy yard to her
assistance.
A message received at the navy yard
said that the officers and crew Of the
West Point were in lifeboats, watching
their steamship sink after she had
been riddled with shells from the Ger
man raider.
The West Point was racing to port
after being warned of the presence
of the U-53 by wireless, when the
huge submarine, more than half as
long as her victim, suddenly rose out
! of the water ard fired a shot across
the bow OF the British steamship. APP
parently the submarine, which left
| Newport after her dramatic and unex-
| pected entrance into thai harbCr in
the afternoon, spent the night cruising
around the lightship. for she was on
watch for victims when the kansan
passed The captain of the KaGsan
notified the captain of the lightship
! by wireless that he had been stoppe l.
A few hours later the radio station
at Portsmouth, N. H., caught an IS o
! s." signal from the West Point, after
which came the following message:
British steamship West Point stop
ped by submarine and fired upon. Get
ting boats ready. Position 1925 north,
! SO west. Get cutter"
The last part of the message appgr
! emily was an appeal to the port gu
I thoriities to send a cutter pick UP
the crew, and indicated that the sub
marine commander was giving the
men time to get into the boats before
sinking the steamship.