New Britain herald., 1917-10-20
70 Men Perish, IncIud ing Sixteen S0..dler
 Coming Home Bd cause of Sickness
FINAL DETAILS NOT
 AVAILABLE AS YE'

Some of the Names of Those Dc,I Have Been Given Out, IncludilI ORourke, Junior Engineer OfIicd of Bridgeport-Fortuna BQ,
 Was Coming Home.
 Washington, Oct. 2O.-The Germ4 U-boat has claimed it's first victSl from Americas war forces. With1 24 hours after an American destroyI had been disabled by an unders1 attack, a torpedo crashed into the a1 zine room bulkhead of the hon1l coming transport Antilles, and sf1 her to the bottom with the loss of l lives. Sixteen soldiers and several q listed men of the navy were includ( in the submersib1e's heavy toll. Administration officials are awa ing with profound interest today developme from the meagre e tails cabled to the navy departmA, yesterday by Vice Admiral Sin4 Names of the great majority of Fl victims are lacking, yesterdays deI patch giving only those of four nayl seamen and three engineer officers l the transport The list cannot be cod l pleted until the muster roll made at the French port of embarkati1 i can be compared with the roster l survivors.
 1 Relief was general over the f1l Fthat tneav essel had met her fate wl1 l homeward bound and not on the VI
 over with troops on board. She M
 struck in a vital spot and plun44 l below so swiftly that comparativ6
 few could have survived had a] been carrying troops. 1 Interest is intense as to how t1
 submarine managed to elude the pfl
 tecting conveys. Maya, officers nres
 the opinion that the German col mander lurkeds below the. surfa until the rowing destroyers paf l over head and then waited for < big troop ship to come into cas-, ranl before releasing the deadly missil It is inferred from Admiral Sims Fl port that the ship went down in few minutes. This fact, coupled vii the necessity of rescuing survivo1| made impossible, it is believed ad lttSIIpl tO sIOCdIo the O-DOlI. d
 The absence of casualties amo1 army and navy officers aboard is al 'tributed to the fact that their sta1 rooms lay along the decks from whitI they could jump to the waters belo| in hope of being picked up.
 It is believed that the attack VI made well out at sea, since it tod two days for news of the disaster reach Washington. Survivors al thought to be safe ashore in Franc2 England or Ireland
 The loss of the Antilles marks tI| first impairment of transport ser{ ice that has operated successful since Americas active entrance ind the war.
 Official Statement.
 The official announcement of u disaster, authorized by Secretary the Navy Daniels. after conferenV with Secretary of War Baker, af after the matter had been discussA by President Wilson and the cabinA follows:
 "The department is in receipt of despatch from Vice Admiral Sin which states that the steamship Al
 
 pedoed on Oct. IT while returning this country from foreign servic This vessel was under convoy patrol vessels at the tim
 'The torpedo which struck the Al titles was not seen. nor was the sul marine which fired it. The torped hit abreast of the engine room bull head and the ship sank within fiJ $r4,1 1$1c HyN~ seven persons out of about 237 d board the Antilles were saved
 About seventy men are missin All the naval officers and officers the army who were on board tl ship at the time were saved, as wei the officers of the ship, with the ed ception of the following:
 Walker, third engineer officer.
 Boyle, junior engineer officer.
 O'Rourke, junior engineer officer.
 The following enlisted naval De sonnel were lost:
 E. L. klnsey, seaman. second clas next of kin Thomas B. Kinsey, fathe Water Valley, Miss.
 J. w. Hunt, seaman, second clas next of kin Isaac Hunt, father, Noun tain Grove, Mo-, R. No. ?. box A.
 c. l.. Ausburn, radio electricial first class. next of kin R. Ausbur1 brother, No. 2S00 Louisiana avenul New Orleans.
 H. F. Watson, radio electrician third class, next of kin Mrs. w. 5eger, mother, Rutland, Mass
 There were about thirty-three e he army enlisted personnel on board of whom seventeen were saved. Th names of the missing of the army CT,
 Continued on Eleventh Pagel