The Democratic advocate., 1917-07-13
ON TORPEDOED ship.
PALERMO GOES DOWN WITH 1900 HEAD
OF HORSES AND MULES-IN BOATS
SEVEN DAYS.

The following description OF the
destruction of the Italian steamship,
Palermo" has been given us by
Frank NJ Morrow, son of ]. F. Nor
row, of this city, who was on board
the vessel as assistant foreman in
charge of 1900 head of horses. mules,
foodstuffs and machinery, bound for
Spezia, Italy, an Italian naval base:
The Palermo left New York Novem-
Der IA, 1916, and with its cargo was
valued at nearly $1,000, 600. We sailed
directly across the Atlantic to the
Rock of Gibralter, remaining there for
two days taking on a fresh supply OF
coal. From this point we steamed
down the African coast for two days,
when we changed our course. going
north until we reached the Spanish
coast in the Mediterranean Sea.
At about 1850 a. m. on the morning
of December ,, all hands were on deck
waiting until dinner was ready when
some one shouted. "U-bOat, In an
instant all was confusion. | ran to
the Vessels's side and saw the torpedo
speeding toward us. and hurrledly
tried to get to the port side to escape
tht. explosion. The vessel was hit.
The shock threw me on my face, but
| was on my feet in an instant and
when the Captain came up he saw
that ] was one th"t had not lost my
head He put a pick Ianulc into my
hand and ordered me to follow him. To
restore order among that panic strlck-
en- crowd It was necessary TO use that
pick handle. though ! confess, did
not want to do so. In a f4E minutes.
however. order was restored ana the
life boats were ordered lowered. The
vessel was equipped with is life
Loats. The crew Of l03 and the ~
stock attendants got away in q OF the
boats
The vessel was torpedocd 20 miles
off San Sebastine and it required I
hours hard rowing before we reached
land. Fortunately there was Il smooth
sea. which was greatly in our favor
in getting ashore without difficulty.
After the ship had been tOrpedoed.
the U-bOat came to the surface ana
fired - shots into the Palermo, which
was a twin screw ship. 800 feet long.
After the final shot. it was one hour
and ten minutes before she went down
and lust before submerging the bow
stood 200 feet straight up in the ar.
1t was an awful sight to witness her
going down. knowing the wealth that
she represented AS the boats we're
being manned. one man, John Muir
phv whose home was in Philadel-
phia. was killed He had gotten into
one of the boats which were lowered
when another boat in being lowered,
struck him on the head. The boat
and bp instantly
killed or drowned. for we never saw
him again. Two other men, firemen,
were injured in the engine room, but
managed to reach the deck, Where
thev leaped overheard. These we're
rescued from drowning and were we'll
cared for when they reached the hos
pital at Palafugall, Spain.
| read an article in the Baltimore
Sun of Thursday of last week IN
which it was stated that the captain
of the Palermo was shot and killed by
the crew of the submarine. This is
absolutely incorrect, as l was IN the
same life boat with the Captain and
boatswain. which boat was the last
one to leave the sinking ship and we
all reached land together. The Cap
tain left the next day after landing
for his home in Genoa, I think.
The vessel was struck on the water
line and if the crew had stayed by her,
it might have been possible to have
saved the cargo, with probably the
loss of some of the stock.
While in Spain We were nicely
treated and made thoroughly comfort
able. I can not say too much IN
praise of the hospitality of the peo-
ple we were thrown among.