New Britain herald., 1916-06-29


 to justify the submarine commander in mistal al1ing her for a cruiser.
 The attack on the PetrOlite, a Stan dard Oil tanker, occurred in the Medi- terranean December 5. A protest sent soon afterward on preliminary reports from the tanker's captain and crew brought the Austrian cOmmun1- cation to which the new American rote replies. The rejoinder is in the form of a memorandum from Secre- tary Lansing to Ambassador Penfield. at Vienna.
 Text of Note.
 The text of the PetroIite communi- cation is as follows:
 "Evidence obtained from the cap- tain and members of the crew of the steamer Petrolite and from examina- ton made of the vessel under direc- tion of the navy department con- vinces this government that the Austro-E Hun garian government has ob- tained an incorrect report of the at tack on the steamer. With particular reference to the explanation made by the foreign office the following infor- nation, briefly stated, has been ob- tained from sworn statements of the captain and members of the crew:
 "No sh hot was fired across the bow of the steamer as a signal to stop. When the first shot was fired the cap- tain was under the impression that an explosion had taken place in the en- zine room. Not until the second shot was fired did the captain and crew sight the submarine, which was astern of the steamer and therefore they positively assert that neither the first nor the second shot was fired across the bow of the vessel.
 'The steamer did not swing around in a course directed toward the sub- marine, as alleged in the report ob- tained by the Austro- Hungarian gov- ernment, but the captain at once stopped the engines and swung the vessel broadside to the submarine and at right angles to the course of the vessel, in order to show it's neutral markings, which was manifestly the reasonable and proper course to fol- low, and it ceased to make any head way. On the steamer was painted it's name in letters approximately six feet long, and the name of the hailing port, and, as had previously been made known to the Austro-Hungarian gov-
 
 large flags some distance above the water line, which it is positively stat ed by the officers and crew were fly ing before the first shot was fired and were not hoisted after the first shot, as stated by the submarine command CT.
 Did Not Head Toward Submarine.
 "The submarine commander ad- mits that the steamer stopped her engines The captain of the Petrolite denies that the vessel was ever head ed toward the submarine and the ex- animation of the steamer made by an American naval constructor cor roborates this statement because as he states, the shell which took effect on the vessel, striking the deck house, which surrounds the smoke stack, was fired from point 45 degrees on the starboard bow. This was one of the last shots fired and indicates that the ship was not headed toward the submarine even up to the time when the submarine ceased firing
 The captain states that the sub- marine appeared to be maneuvering so as to direct her shots from ahead of the steamer. The submarine fired approximately twelve shots The ma- jorlty of the shots were fired after the ship had stopped and had swung broadside, and while, even as the commander of the submarine admits the steamer was flying the American flag. The captain of the steamer de- nies that he advised the commander of the submarine that the damage to the steamer was insignificant. He states that he advised him that the steamer had been damaged but that he had not then had an opportunity to ascertain the extent of the damage The seaman, who was struck by a fragment of shell, sustained severe flesh wounds.
 Petrolite Far Of.
 If the ship had intended to ram the submarine she would not have stopped her engines and thus must have been evident to the submarine commander. Naval authorities here agreed that there could have been no danger of the ship ramming the submarine until it was headed straight for the submarine and was under power and even then the submarine could have so maneuvered as uo avoid collision. The Petrolite was two miles away from the submarine The engines and funnel of the Petrolite were at the stern and from the gen. eral appearance of the ship 10 ex- perienced naval officer could have be- lieved that it had opportunity of s,f- hc1ent speed to attack even if it had been steaming directly toward the submarine.
 The conduct of the subm arine commander showed lack of judgment,