Norwich bulletin., 1918-10-12

helplessly toward the rocky. coast Of Islay Island. where most of the THs- cania victims met their deaths. J
 Thirty minutes after the. crash lEle British. destroyer Mounsey, herself damaged by the heavy seas. appeared out of the haze in answer to the dis tress calls of the Otrauto. When the destroyer manoeuvred to get along snde. Captain Davidson of the Otran- to warned Lieutenant Craven, com handing the destroyer, not to make the attempt
 When it was seen that Craven would make the attempt anyway, 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 hundred feet and then gradually came nearer, against the great odds of high waves and the wind. which threatened momentarily to carry her entirely away from the Otranto or to dash her to pieces against the side Of :hc wounded vessel.
 1 The Otranto struck the rocks Sun day night south of Saligo Bay, Tslay Island, an uninhabited section where the coast line in many places rises straight out of the water to the rocky peaks many feet above.
 As the destroyer neared the side of the Otranto the men began tG jump 1 from thirty to forty feet from ner l decks. The more experienced sailors ] of the crew of the steamer had bet i ter success than the soldiers, many of whom had never seen the sea until l this trip.
 | As the destroyer steered toward the side of the steamer many of the men 1 leaped too quickly and missed tnefr reckoning and dropped between the 1 boats. Some of these disappeared; z in i the water. but others of them were l caught and crushed to death between 1 the boats and the lifeboats which had 1 been lowered to act as buffers. The destroyer was badly battered
 The captain of the destroyer, eaci 1 time it was brushed away from the 1 side of the Otranto. again would pusf l near enough for many more men tc l jump to the deck of his vessel. He l described as a veritable rain the mum ] Der of men landing on the destroyer Many of those who rearhed th'
 decks of the vessel suffered broker l bones or otherwise were hurt. Thos'
 who missed the deck of the destroye
 went to almost instant death.
 Four times the battered destroye
 came alongside, and each time tn previous scenes were repeated. A
 the end of the fourth trip she had 31
 Americans, 236 of the crew, thirt,
 French sailors and one British office
 on board. The boat was full and, hay
 ing done all possible, she started fo
 port.
 The survivors saw the Ontrant drifting helplessly toward the rocks a , they pulled away toward the Iris coast. The destroyer barely had tim to send a brief message when he wireless was carried away. The littl overloaded vessel had a rough trip port.
 One of the American troops on boar ! the Otranto pictured the scene whe 1 the vessels coI1ided. Soldiers lined tn : decks as though on parade. and at tn
 word of command stood at attentio l ] like statutes They never waveFed, re Inaining there in military formation exemplifying during the crisis the nc ] hlest traditions of the army for hero Ism and discipline The same thina sI said the soldier, applied to the sea t men,. Numbers of bodies today were bein l washed up rapidly on the shore z
 was reported that ,175: had been count = ed at noon and nearly all, of them ha t been identified. n A seaman on the Orlando describe n the most tragic moments of ,ithe dis = aster as that when the order can d for the men to jump. to save then
 selves. The destroyer looked a ven e small boat alongside the former Oriel r. liner, and many landsnens among u
 American troops thought themselw