New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-09-16
Ship IS Miles From
Nantucket Attacked,
Is Report
; Vessels Hear
Call for Help
Destroyers Said To Be
Rushing to the
Rescue

Reports that U-boat was shelling .
vessel within sixty-ive miles Of Nam
tucket Lightship, near the very waters
which the Presidents yacht, the May
flower, was navigating few days ago,
were brought to two Atlantic ports yes
terday by the commanders Of three
Transatlantic steamers. The captain OF
fourth boat which entered port was
inclined to discredit the reports.
As soon IS these warnings were re-
ceived the American varships patrol.
ling the coast began to search the
waters from Maine to Virginia in the
hunt for q possible raider.
First news Of the submarine which
was reported to be operating on the
hunting grounds selected by the U-53
last year was received by one OF the
boats on Thursday in the form Of a
wireless warning from Cape Race. 1t
was picked up by British steamer and
told of a report made by another
steamer that a hostile submarine had
been sighted. The exact position Of
the reported U-boat was not given.
Other messages were caught off Nan
tucket Shoals on Friday morning, &C
cording to the officers Of the two ships
arriving at the second Atlantic port.
The sending vessel appeared to be six
ty-five miles east Of the Nantucket
British code word, now ss familiar to
most mariners as the as o s" itself
that means Attacked by submarine
shellfre." The operator missed part Of
the sender's name, but thought it ended
in ABBY"
Then Came the "S o So
There was a pause in the sending,
and then came the frantic, imperious
as S." the call for help which, before
the days of U-boat buccsneering, would
spin the swiftest liner on her heel and
send her to the rescue.
One of the vessels receiving the mes
sage was British liner The other
was an American tanker. The British
skipper estimated that he was about
thirty miles from the source of the
call. The American estimated his dis
tance from it at nineteen miles.
Neither responded. On receipt Of the
first as S" the British captain sum-
moned his officers to conference. The
British Admiralty, mindful of rescuers
that rushed to their doom, had issued
strict injunctions that as o S" calls re-
sulting from submarine attack were not
to be answered. but to be taken as q
warning TO put as wide a space as pos
sible between the sender and the re-
ceiver. The British liner carried only
one 3-inch gun.
Calls Abruptly Cease
Abruptly the calls ceased. Down in
the engine room of the British liner the
indicator moved to full speed ahead,
and with their last atom OF horsepower
kicking danger sstern, the steamer
edged in closer to the coast.
Presumably similar tactics were fol-
lowed by the captain of the American
oil ship. His mouth was sealed by gov
ernmcnt orders before he had done
more than corroborate the story Of the
British captain. After the latter had
related his experience to Federal ON
GERS, he, too. was enjoined to silence.
Only one more fact escaped from him.
As he raced toward safety he met three
sleek gray destroyers forging outward
toward Nantucket Shoals under forced
draft. he asserted yesterday.
The captain Of another steamship, q
British vessel, which arrived yesterday
at the same port as the liner and the
tanker. scoffed at danger from U-boats
in Nantucket waters. Not one OF the
dramatic messages which the command
ers of the other boats brought into port
had been received By his wireless oper-
ator, he said.
The British company 10 which the
captain OF the vessel that caught the
message made his report, was reported
TO be satisfied of its truth. IL was said
that later messages from the naval
wireless station az Siasconset had been
intercepted, which showed that the
operators there had caught the appeals
for help The chance that some ANA
teur had sent the message unwittingly
was discounted By the fact that the
first was in the British code.
Report by Company
The following statement was made
by a representative OF X. Lawrence
Smith, Inc, agent of the line. after .
the captain had made his report:
Captain Goodwin reported to uds
that at 8 o'clock Friday morning. when
his ship was about thirty miles on the
coast Of Nantucket. she heard a wire
less in the British code from q ship
approximately thirty miles away stat
ing that the ship was being attacked by
a submarine. The message continued
| for several minutes and was then foi-
lowed By the O 5. owing
ruling by the British Admiralty thas
no merchant ships may go to the AID OF
a ship under attack by suomar,ne
IU-boats have at times u'ed 'ne IAN u
tress signal as a decoyn' 'ne '"p'A"
continued on his course.
Not to Hold Up Sailinss
nj. ,xlo ware inclined to believe