The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1917-06-01
One Reports Loss Ship Officer
Who Was American.
Germans Fire on Vessel, Then
Loot and Sink Her.
ALL THREE CREWS RESCUED
"Subs" Use Gunfire Instead of
TOrpedOes in Each Case.
Were Carrying CargOes From
United States to Europe.

| London, June 1.-The American
sailing ship Dirigo has been sunk by
a German submarine. The crew has
been landed with the exception of
John Ray, third mate, who was
drowned when the small boats were
being launched. The boat was at
tackled without warning.
A statement issued by the British
admiralty says that the Dirigo was
attacked by gun fire by a German
submarine which gave no warning.
The vessel was subsequently sunk by
/ bombs after it had been ransacked by
! the crew of the submarine. The sink
ing occurred May 81 and the crew
was landed at Plymouth.
| The Dirigo was a four masted sail
ing ship of 3,OO5 tons owned by A.
Zewan & Co., of Maine, she sailed
from New York, May 8, for Havre in
command of Captain J. A. Urguhart
and carried a crew of thirty-one men,
nine of whom were American citizens.
The records of the United States COM
missioner of shipping in New York
gives the following names OF the
Americans in the crew:
Donald E. Mcdonald, mate, Nova
Scotia, naturaliZed.
A Anderson, second mate, Danish,
naturalized.
j. NJ. Ray, third mate, Maryland.
Y. Yucasta. engineer, New York
J. P. Shields. boatswain, New York
A Winter seaman, Brooklyn.
Harry Barinn,. seaman, French, nat
uralized.
Chester Wright, seaman. McAlester
Okla.
]. Trate, seaman, New York.
-,J-- 1@I~ Ill
in the morning. The weather was
fine, altho hazy. The men were res
cued before o'clock. Joseph G.
stephens, American consul at P1ym-
outh, is caring for the survivors.
Crew Landed at Cadiz.
London, June 1.-The American
sailing ship, Frances NJ, was attacked
by gun fire on the morning of May
IS, according to a report from Cadiz
given out today by the admiralty. All
the members of the crew are at Cadiz.
The American schooner, Frances NJ
sailed from New York April T. for
a European port. She carried a crew
of nine men, including the following
Americans:
Capt. Charles Penniw;ll, Bath, Me-:
John E. Pogers, mate, Philadelphia:
August F. Lang, engineer, Philadel-
phia, AMI Oscar Tate, Ivandale. Va
The Frances NJ. was built in 1926. She
registered 1929 tons and was 2G4 feet
long.
Sunk Near Gibraltar.
London, June 1.-The admiralty re-
ports that the American sailing yes
sci Barbara was attacked by gun fire
of a German submarine az Z o'clock
on the morning of May "a. All the
members of the crew were landed at
Gibraltar.
Carried Cargo of Case OIL
The American schooner Barbara,
owned by the Foreign & Domestic
reported on sailing March 20 from
Port Arthur, Texas, for Spezia, Italy,
with a cargo of case oil The Barbara
was built at Chelsea, Mass, in 1909,
was 1855 feet long and of S3S tons
gross. Before the war she was engaged
in coastwise traffic between North At
lantic and Gulf ports.
The Barbara carried a crew of
eleven men in command of Capt. F. L.
Laury. other Americans on board
We're: ]. Johnson, second mate, Har-
riSburg, Pa; P. Walton, seaman, Chi
cago; Harry Stone. steward, colored !;
Mrs. F. E. Laury, assistant navigator,
and Thomas Stoker, first mate.
The presumption is that both the
Frances M. and the Barbara were
sunk following the attacks.
Dirigo Had Been Sold.
New York, June 1.-A1tho the
American shipping register shows the
Dirigo to be owned by SewaH & Co..
/ it was learned here today that she
had been sold to C. c. Mengeli Bros.
| of Louisville Ky. The Frances NJ
| had been sold to Cummings Bros, of
Philadelphia
+ Loot Ship-Sct Crew Adrift
! Pensacola, Fla. June AFTER
robbing Capt. John Van Nance and
looting and bombing the American
schooner Woodward Abraham, 500
miles from Liverpool on April %, a
German submarine commander or
dered the skipper not to return to the
/ barred zone.
| The disclosures are made in letter
to Pensacola friend from Michael ].
! O'Brien. who shipped as an able sea-
man on the Woodward Abraham In
/ his letter O'Brien gives an interesting
detailed account of his eventful voy-
age. The Woodward Abraham left
/ Pensacola February 10 lumber laden
! for Liverpool. encountering such bad
weather that it was necessary to run
under double reefed sails all the time.