Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1917-12-30

location of suspected raider. No patrol
boats were seen off the coast
and very few off the coast
The coast was well patrolled
by chasers and armed trawlers. l had
to remain constantly on the bridge as
lit was very hard to distinguish be-
tween q submarine and chaser
Warnings Of submarine activities were
me to restore order, which did with
signal stations.
Cargo Discharged, Tanks Cleared.
AT we discharged the rest
lof the cargo and cleared ali tanks. The
ships crew WAS given shore leave here
and returned drunk and in IL mutinous
condition. The chief officer was at
tackled and the captain and police Of
icials stationed aboard could do moth
ing with the crew The captain asked
me to restore order. which J did with
out any undue force. The gun crew
unmoored the ship and stood all
watches until the crew was sober.
While homeward bound the Iookouts
reported a fare light and heard voices
on the starboard bow. We went to
general quarters and made sure it was
two lifeboats which had been sighted.
In them we picked up thirty-two men
of an Italian steamer. The captain said
he had been torpedoed, as well as two
other ships, at 6 pm. While in the
boats they saw these other steamers
sink. The lffeboats were small, over
crowded. with only a few inches of
freeboard. and would had soon swamp
ed. None of the men had life belts.
Five of the crew We're lost when their
ship went down. Three steamers had
passed the boats. but sheered off and
ran at sighting them.
A rough sea was running. and the
"a N ret ri y = H.
early morning, when the chief officer
and | standing on the bridge saw an
upheaval of water and the wake of a
torpedo coming for us on the starboard
about $50 70 200 yards away. The helm
was put hard to starboard before the
torpedo struck
1T hit just abaft my cabin, blew the
starboard lifeboat to splinters, carried
away the mainmast shrouds and a sec
ton of the deck, snapped off the radio
wires. tore out a large section OF the
ships side. and put the steering gear
out of commission. Parts of the deck
and other wreckage few as far as the
forecastle.
Ship Goes Over on Beam Ends.
The tanks were empty and the shin
went over on her beam ends in less
than minute. The two port boats
were got INTO tue water with great
difficulty. The Navy men acted as they
should. No Navy man was lowered in
the boats. All worked to get the boats
out and lower away. In the port for
ward boat ] sent one man down the fall
to prevent frantic members of the crew
from cutting the boat adrift. When !
gave the order the Navy men abandoned
ship, some jumping overheard and some
sliding down the falls. They were
swimming in the water, but after half
an hour of hard work all hands were
picked up.
THE ship was turning in circle and
the engines had not been stopped. II
was some time before they stopped of
their own accord and the ship lost her
headway
After the ship was hopclessly lost
and the crew in the boats the sub
marine came alongside the third off,
GERS boat and asked US In English the
name of the vessel, her tonnage and
who her owners were. The commander
was masked and wore auto goggles
He then fired two shots into the en-
CINE room to hasten the sinking and
then steamed away on the surface.
The captains boat was picked up by
a Spanish trawler and the chief Off