The Ward County independent. [volume] (Minot, Ward County, N.D.) 1902-1965, 1918-02-21
SURVIVOR OF
JACOB JONES
VISITING PARENTS
Patrick Judge Spending Few Days With
Parents, Mr.. and Mrs. Stephen
Judge, Gives Independent
Story of Disaster.

Patrlck ii. Judge. survivor OF the
the first vessel of the United States
navy to have been torpedoed and sunk
in the present war, was in the city the
parents, Mr. and Mrs. stephen Judge.
who reside at 314 Second ST.. s. r.
Mr. Judge enlisted in the. navy the
first time January z 1872 in oma9a
/ 1916 also took place in Omaha.
Telling of the story of the attack on
the Jacob Jones and of her sinking and
his subsequent experience, Mr.. Judge
on the afternoon of December 9Th, 1917
when we We're struck Our boat sank
eight minutes after she was hit and of
her crew SiNty-tWO We're lost and forty
two survived.
between the coasts of England and
France. A short time before the at
n"G wien wny my waters f
a book, Suddenly 7 felt the shock of
partment in which 7 was, lying was
plunged in darkness. I got up, rather
! dazed, and made my way toward the
deck. 7 suhconsciously realized that we
| had been torpeOed and I made my way
| over some Wreckage, got on deck, where
! I encountered others of my mates, all
cooly making their way to the boats
side 1t every man for himself. I
! grabbed fender and went with it over
the side into the water. After while
/ | drtttcd against splinter mattress and
abandoned my precariOuS position on the
render FOR more secure place on the
mattress. Soon afterward 7 hoated
against catamaran raft on which were
Il number of other sailors. When T, the
! last man. got aboard this, there were
! twenty-one men on it. Lashcd to this
raft was another smaller one on which
/ We're eight men. The weight of the
burden OF men on the raft was so great
/ that it was submerged over our shoe
4 tons. We were atloat on our RATS from
/ 20 in the afternoon until S:A5 the next
II. NJ $ eloop Camellia The seventeen
4 hours or more that we spent on the raft
Werr hours of misery. The water was
colo and there was not dry stitch on
us Rut the men laughed, iolIed and
san" songs and told what they would
do t. the Huns when they had an oppor-
tu V. Several men on the raft died
dlr inGl the nj ght froro exposure Ensign
talk Of Omaha who J knew well was
from 2 o'clock IN the morning, until
daylight. \ stiff wind blew up and
continued to get stronger as the night
Wore, on. high sea, was lashed up
and the waves engulfed us time after
/ time We chung to the raft in des-
neration. though haif,drowned by the icy
nd wn5e Tie ss6 AG basd a4sh we se e t4rm ike w3nn
/ that had been rescued from death a
second time.
"The sight of the Camella as she hove
to us was a welcome one to us. We
We're taken aboard and every tar of her
/ british crew helped to make us COM
Portable. rubbing our numhed limbs, Civ
ing c, us warming drinks and nourishingg
/ foods. 1T seems as though they could
not do enough for us
After it was al over the morale of
the men was as high as it was before
we had been alta cked Every man was
! could he assigned to another shin and
get back on duty. T have been billcted
to another vessel that is to sail shortly,
l@nd / am rarein' to GO.
! Mr.. Judge. accompanied by his father
paid the Independent office q visit Tues
day afternoon and for an hour, we lis
tened to Mr.; Judges! story, Of the. dis
aster and other thrilling tales of the
sea-. Mr. Judge stated that he knew i'm
! D0ediately what had happened to the
Jacob Jones, the minute the boat was
struck by the torpedo. The torpedo. as
many might believe, does not enter the
boat which 1t strikes. the explosion
merely taking place on the outside of
the jacob Jones, the sr boat to's' VAS torn 19N all
most in two. Many of the men near
Mr.. Judge We're killed outright, one of
whom was lying in the bunk just above
! him. His pal was playing solitary on
/ a chest near by but he managed to get
away from the ship afterwards dying Of
m on the ti Taft ec As th Mr. 3udEe
hris. the. oil from the broken oil tank
was, rushing in and he gulped down
much of the oil. making him i'll for days
after. EIe rushed up onto the deck,
ana as the vessel was listing badly, he
lost little time in plunging Into the
sea He swan away from, the, vessel
rs rapidly as possible and when he was
only 150 yards away, he saw it upend
and sink: AS the vessel sank. air was
forced thru the pipes, making a hor-
rible sizzling sound.
Shortly afterwards the submarine was
seen for the first time about a mile
away. and in the opposite direction from
that in which the torpedo came. He
submarine come out on deck and wipe
the submarines gun with oil. Mr..
Judge says the submarine made no at
young German American on his raft
remarked that if they started shelling.
he,d he q. jump into the water. Mr.; Judge
will shell the Americans from torpe
doed American ships as they do the
rig,, English ar; and. French FOR short d1, time
he took part. in the capture of a crew
of Germans from their submarine which
sGsng Gei The out
down on their knees and prayed to the
Almighty to save them. When they
sell they appeared afraid of their lives
for they had been told that Americans
would cut. Their. hearts open and drink
. rub. warm clothing and food. they
changed their minds, and as they were
taken off the ship, to be sent to Eng
land one young German, who spoke ex-
cellent English walked in front of the
stars and stripes and saluting said: "I
salute you"
Referring to the attack of the torpedo
on the Jacob Jones. Mr. Judge remark
ed: "They say the German torpedoes
are not as effective as formerly, but If
there are any with more kick. in them
than this one had, don't want to have
anything to do with it,.
| Asked by his father, why the German
| prisoners were treated so well, the son
| replied: well. father, they are fight
ing for their country the same as we
are for ours. Before one or the other
gives up, we stop at nothing. but after