New Britain herald. [microfilm reel] (New Britain, Conn.) 1890-1976, 1917-10-09
SHELLS ITALIAN
SUB BY MISTAKE
Regrets Are Cabled by Secretary
Daniels, But Two Men Are Dead

Washington, Oct 9-One of those
unfortunate Incidents that sometimes
occur through cases of mistak en-
Identity in naval welfare was an
nounced by the Navy department last
night when it issued a brief bulletin
to the effect that an American war
vessel had fired upon an Italian sub
marine, killing one Italian officer and
an Italian enlisted sailor.
When, where, and full details as to
how happened were not disclosed
by the Navy department, but the fact
that American destroyers are known
to have been sent to the Mediterran-
can to cooperate with the Italian and
other Eentente vessels engaged in the
quest for the German submarine, and
the understanding that Italian sub
marines have not been operating out
side the Mediterranean inspired the
belief here that the incident took
place somewhere in that sea, or per-
haps in the Adriatic.
The fact that an officer and an en-
listed man were killed indicates that
the American gunners landed shot
lin the submarines coming tower, the
victims being the officer at the peris-
cope and the bluejacket at the wheel.
Italian minister of marine a telegram
expressing the sincerest regret that
the submarine, belonging to the navy
Iof a nation with which this Govern
ment Is on terms of closest friend-
ship, should have been the victim
of such case of mistaken identity.
The explained cause of the affair is
that the submarine failed to answer
the established recognition signals,
land was therefore mistaken for Ger
man submarine until its identity was
established
It is not believed that the incident,
which was wholly a mistake, due to
the vigilance of the American U-boat
chaser and the failure of the submar-
inc to answer, will in any way impair
the friendliest Of relations that have
been esta blished between this country
and the Italian Government ever since
the visit of the Prince Of Udine, and
the italian war mission to this coun-
try.
Here is the text of the official an
nouncement issued by Secretary |
Daniels last night:
The Navy department has been in
formed by Vice Admiral Sims that -
Gently an American patrol We. 4,
while on patrol duty at night, encoun- |
tered an Italian submarine. and that
when the latter failed to answer the
established recognition signals, the
patrol vessel opened fire, which re-
suited in the killing Of one officer and
one enlisted man before the identity
of the submarine was established.
Vice Admiral Sims is thoroughly in
vestigating the unfortunate occur
renee, and reports will be forwarded
later to the department.
The secretary of the navy, upon re-
ceipt Of the first news, dispatched the
following message to the Italian min
lister Of marine:
ct have learned with deepest regret
of the unfortunate occurrence -
which resulted in an American patrol
vessel firing, through a misunder-
standing, upon an Italian submarine.
causing the death Of one officer and
one enlisted man on the latter. AS
our patrol vessels are in European
waters primarily for the purpose Of
cooperating with the Italian and
other allied vessels in our common
cause, the unfortunate encounter is
all the more regrettable. Due to the
recent unusual activity of enemy
submarines in this region, which has
resulted in the loss of several vessels, |
the patrol has been strictly maintained i
and the unfortunate fact that the ,
patrol vessel did not obtain the re-
.cognition signals resulted in her open !
ing fire. Please accept on behalf of |
myself and the American navy sincere !
and heartfelt sympathy for the loss Of
life which has resulted
"JOSEPHUS DANIELS"
Incidents of this sort, while not Of !
frequent occurrence, happen in all big !
wars, and considering the remarkable |
character of warfare that has to be !
waged against the submarine, and the
fact that German and Austrian sub
marines are understood to have flown
false colors at times, 1t Is considered |
remarkable that the Entente nations |
have not lost more Of their submarines
through their identity being mistaken
~ destroyers.