The Sentinel=record., 1918-10-12
OtrantO Was One of a Con- vOy and Collided With Another Vessel Off the Irish Coast.
After Being Rammed in the Side the Transport Was Crushed to Pieces on the Rocks--British Destroyer Goes to the Relief and Held Along Side While Many of the Men Jumped Off.

A British Port, Oct l0.--A large number of American troops have been lost as the result of the sinking of rhel transport Otranto in the North Chan neI between the Scottish and Irish coasts in a collision with the steamer Kashmir.
 The Oranto after the collision vas dashed to pieces on the rocks off the South Scottish coast, with probable loss of 372 American soldiers.
 Three hundred and one men were taken te Belfast by the British des- troyer Mounsey, tAs only vessel which made an attempt at rescue in the terrific gale ~-hen the Hashmir. an- other vessel in the convoy, with the Otranto, ramnied the otranto amid ships
 Seventeen men were picllel up alive on the Scottish coast.
 Of the 699 American soldiers onI board the otranto. BIO. were landed. Seventeen were rescued alive at lslay, leaving 372 unaccounted for.
 The Otranto and the other yesselsl of the convoy were battling with theI heavy seas and high winds sunday morning. The storm was so severe and the visibility so bad that the, Kashmir former Peninsuiar & Oriental liner. crashed into the 0tran- to squarely amidships.
 The Kashmir backed away badly damaged but was able to make port.
 As the bcws Of the Kashmir were pulef from the great hole in the sidel of the Ouanto, the water rushed ls, but for time 1t did not serve to stop the engines. The Otrant6 tried to proceed but made no headway a2ainSt the gaie in her crippled condition
 Within a snort time the wa5er Fut ont her fires and the Otranto drifted helplessly toward the rocky coast or Islay island where most of the Tus- eania victims met their deaths
 Thirty minutes after the crash the British destroyer Mounsey, herself damaged by the heavy seas, appear ed out of the raze in answer to the, distress calls of the Otranto.
 When the destroyer maneuvered to get alongside, Captain Davidson of the Otranto warned Lieutenant Craven commanding the destroyer, not to make the attempt.
 When 1t was seen that Craven would make the attempt any way the men were ordered to remove their shoes and heavy clothing and try 10 save themselves as best they could
 The destroyer stood off about a hundred feel and then gradually came nearer against ;he great odds of high waves and the wind which threatened momentarily to carry her entirely away away from the Otranto CT oasif her to pieces against the side of the wounded vessel.
 The news of the collision reached London Monday but nothing was known of the fate of the Otranta un- iii this morning when the first re ports came from Islay. The storm continued to make further attempts at rescue impossible. No ships pass close enough to that coast in rough weather to see stricken Yessei ashore.
 The Atranto struck the rocks sun day night south of Saligo BBay lsiay island. and uninhabited section where the coast line In many places rises straieht out of the water to the rocky peaks many feet above.
 As the destroyer neared the side of the Ottranto the men began to Sump from thirty to forty feet from ser doolss,. The more experiences