Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1918-07-30
LETTER FROM Afford CRANDALI

The following letter is from Afford
Crandall, who was on the San Diego,
when 1t was sunk, recently, to his
parents, and which the Pilot is priv
ileged to publish. All will be pleased
to learn of Affords safety.
New York, July 21st, 1918.
Dear Ones All:
l suppose you are very anxious to
hear from me. / sent you a wire yes
terday and I hope that you received
it so that you need have no cause to
worry. Everything owned went down
with the ship and / did not save
thing. l did hate to lose the watch
but person would be small to think
Of personal property alongside of the
fifty or so human lives lost. / had a
friend who is unaccounted for. He
was only lad of eighteen years, and
it must have been hard for him to die
The time was about lilo a. m.
was forward on the gun deck and all
of sudden the explosion came and
the whole ship shook. Right away
l went up on top side and the ship
was listing to the port side. The
men all went to their gun stations
any objects which were in sight. We
are quite sure that one of the subs
was hit and went down as there was
lot of oil on the water which did
not come from the San Diego. Some
of the fellows claim that two subs
were near, one on the port side
and one ON the starboard. OF course
no one is sure.
At first I did not think that one tor
pedo would sink our ship and 1 did
not go after my life belt. Every body
was cool and happy. After while
l went and got life belt and stood
by until abandon ship" was given.
| was not In the least afraid, and
knew that | was going to be saved.
The torpedo hit in the port engine
room aft. We had 2900 ton Of coal on
and many stores. Coal vas all over
the boat deck and on main deck. The
ship listed to the port so far that
water came in thru the gun ports.
| If we had not been so heavily loaded,
the ship would not have gone down.
Twenty minutes after the blow, aban-
don ship was given, I helped put sew
eral life RATS overheard and then
4
hold of a crawded raft We then
started to get as far away from the
ship as we could. so as not to gel
caught in the suction. AS soon as we
got away, the San Diego gradually
| turned over on the port side ard the
masts broke off. She staid on the sur
face for a little while, and then went
down. There was hardly any sue
ton at ALL All of sudden bubbles
came to the surface and what was
only air escaping from the ship. we
thought the sub was coming 20 the
top and going to take few shots al
us. However, nothing came up.
/ Just before we went down, shiI
was seen on the horizon but 1t die
not come anywhere near us. We were
In the water for three and a hall
hours before being picked up. Mos
OF the fellows suffered with cramps
and / had to do some hard work tC
keep cramps from myself. The water
did get cold after q while, and / was
glad when a small boat from the Col
lier F. p. Jones. picked me up. Their,
were seventy-eight of us on that boa
and we were treated great and hat
a good feed. Another Collier and 6
tanker were also picking up men.
We may get thirty day furlougl
and / may wire for some money 81
that can come home. Probably we
will get longer furlough. So IL yol
see any wire come for money you vii
know that / viii need it very much
had about twenty dollars whiea wen
down. Would like to come up there
and see you all again. think we rat,
a furiough.
Well. | will close now. | do no
know what my return address is
VIII write again soon. Love to all,
AFFORD.