The Glenwood post., 1918-01-05
WHEN THE ..vERp1" WAS TOR
PEDoED-BY ONE OF HER CREW

ed to relieve the lookout man on the
bridge at 12.45, but my dinner of salt
pork had left me thirsty, so / deter
mined to get a drink before relieving
him. Laying my Coat on the engine
room sky'ights to dry, started for the
pantry on the starboard side of the
! ship, abeam the engine-room and ex-
actly on the water level To get there
was obliged to descend to the third
deck below, go to the forward end of
the ship, and then descended one deck
further. From the foot of this last
companionway low and narrow alley,
running half the length of the ship, led
to the pantry.
1 was within probably thirty feet Of
the pantry when, with a tremendous
crash, the the whole side of the shin
directly in front of me seemed to be
blown inward. / was dazed for a seq
ond, but suddenly I smelled the poison
Gus smoke and heard the rush, of water
IN the darkness. The lights had been
extinguished almost simultaneouslv
with the explosions; the shock had
thrown me down, but | hastily picked
myself up and, holding my breath for
fear of suffocation, started to work nv
way forward through the belittered
alleyway, struggling to get to the mar
70" companionway which led up to the
fore deck. 7 thought I should burst
from holding my breath before I saw
the CLEAN of light from the companion.
way penetrate the darkness of the allev
1t was matter of seconds which seem.
ed ike hours before Lreached the open
deck and paused for breath
The engines had stopped and the ship
mad practically come to a standstill
heeled upon her side with starboard
list of over thirty degrees, the water
tapping her fore-deck on the starboard
SIDE. Like wounded and frightened
deer she seemed as she lay there, still
shlverlng from the impact and rolling
IN the seas. 7 was little shocked tn
note the rate at which she had begun
to sink, for 7 realized that if such a
downward rate continued we should
nave no time to launch life-boats. For
tunately, however, she soon began to
right herself and then went down moro
slowly.
From the vantage point of our little
boat tossed about in the heavy seas we
now witnessed spectacle so enormors
that it will never be blotted from the
minds of those who saw it. Settling
as she was by the stern, the bow of
mat great ship came gradually up out
Of the water. Slowly but steadily she
began to stand on end. Tn what seem.
ed but few moments she was inclined
at an angle of about sixty degrees, the
waves tapping at her stack as though
eager to devour her, while her bow
pointed skyward, was reared high ont
of the water. The place we had called
nome, the very hunks where we had
worked and laughed together so care
lessly was gradually slipping down in,
TO the deep and was carrying with her.
we all knew, some of the best of Us.
Tears came to the eyes of some. while
most of MS watched eagerly but silent
ly. Once the boat had reached n yerti.
cal position she seemed to slip down
more easily. The foremast went down
horizontal. The waves licked higher
In moment the bow slipped quietly
underneath the waves. The submarine
which by this time had been made
ready for its dive, submerged quickly.
as though following its prey to the hot
tom to haunt her even in DEATH
An indescribable feeling of loneliness
came over me when I found time to
realize our situation. The ocean look
ed empty except when occasionally. on
the top of wave, we caught sight of
the other boats. now far astern. bob
bing up and down in the wild waves.
In reply TO the question as to where
we We're, the chief officer had already
told us that we were somewhat over
one hundred and sixty miles from the
nearest land. and we knew well that
no wireless message had been sent, for
the dynamos, situated in the engine
room. had been wrecked by the first
explosion.