The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1918-07-04
Submarine Torpedoes Vessel
Without Warning 70 Miles
From Irish Coast.
.234 PERSONS MISSING.
Only Twenty-four Of Those on Board
the Llandovery Castle Are Saved
Boat Was Under Charter Of
Canadian Government.

London, July 1.-THE 1900 ton
hospital ship Llandovery Castle,
which had been chartered by the
i Canadian government and had been in
the service of carrying wounded and
sick from England to Canada for
many months, was torpedoed by a
German submarine 70 miles from the
Irish coast on the night of June 81.
The ship was on her way to Eng
land. She had on board 25S persons,
| including 80 men of the Canadian
army medical corps and Ia women
nurses.
Twelve Sisters Seen to Drown.
Up to the. latest reports only "a of
those on board, including the captain,
have survived the treacherous attack,
which came without warning.
One of the ships boats containing
IL nursing sisters, was seen to cap
size, according to latest information.
The sisters were drowned.
The commander of the destroyer
Lysander, which rescued the captain
and those in his boat, describing the
rescue, said circumstances of the
sinking as he learned them from the
survivors, made it quite clear that
this was aonther instance of sinking
at night, and that it was obviously
intended to follow the policy Of
Leave no trace" for when last seen
the submarine was apparently she'll
ing in the darkness one of the seven
boats launched.
The sisters lost were thrown out
and were either drowned directly or
caught beneath the boat A Canadian
sergeant who was in the same boat
managed to crawl on the keel.
Nothing had been seen of the re-
naming five boats.
Whether they had been destroyed
by shell fire the commander of the
Lysander could not say. The SUBJ,
marine was observed charging wreck
age, on which might have been sur.
vivors, and in the locality where it
was likely some Of the boats were
drifting. esE stu35@
The submarine commander, who Or
Idered the captain of the Landovery
Castle, several of his officers and
Major T.. Lyon of the medical corps
aboard, declared that he had sunk
the ship because 1t was carrying Ann.
erican aviation officers and others in
the fighting forces Of the Allies. He
added to this later by asserting that
the vessel was carrying munition
stores, because Of an explosion which
had occurred aft.
Red Crosses Illuminated.
All lights We're burning when the
Llaadovery Castle was torpedoed.
These consisted Of a huge electric
cross over the bridge and strings Of
white and green lights on either side.
The red crosses on the sides Of the
vessel were also Illuminated by cleo
trio lights
According to Red Cross informa.
ton many men were Killed In the
engine rooms. There Is hardly any
doubt of this, as there was no re-
Spouse to Captain Sylvester's signals
from the bridge after the torpedo
| struck. AS the enginemen were
either killed or left their posts, there
was no one to shut off the power
and the ship kept on her way not
withstanding the great holes torn by
the. torpedo, not beginning to slow
down until the water rushed into the
boiler room, extinguishing the fires.
This added to the confusion in
launching the lifeboats. There was no
panic, however, and by the time the
Llandovery Castle had lost her mo.
mentum most of the boast were over
the. side. Those above decks began
climbing into them in good order
But many were unable to reach the
boats and the ship was sinking rap
idly. They jumped into the sea and a
few of them were picked up.