Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-07-24
Ten Members of Grew Are
Dead; Torpedoed Saturday
Morning; Was Dutch Ship
Statendam, Seized by Brit
iSh at Belfast
ON WAY TO U. S. PORT
WHEN HIT BY TORPEDO
With Capacity of Between
1000 and 5000 Men the Big
Transport Had Delivered a
Large Contingent of Troops
For War
By Associated Press

ny slSSNStutCo ETtSS
An Irish Port, Monday, July a.
The giant White Star liner Justicia
has been torpedoed and sunk.
The Justicia carried a crew of be-
tween 500 and 500. Ten members
of the crew are dead. The Justicia,
says Belfast dispatch to-day, was
sunk off the north Irish coast on
Saturday morning last.
Four hundred of the crew of the
torpedoed liner Justicia have been
landed here. They report that the
liner was sunk after a long fight
with submarines.
No passengers were lost and only
ten of the crew were killed.
Had Hard Fight
The first torpedo struck the engine
room and the ship then stopped.
Several other torpedoes were fixed
but only two of the missiles were
effective.
London, July 24.-The Justicia
formerly was the Dutch steamer
Statendam, which was taken over by
the British government on the stocks
at Belfast when she was nearing
plCllOIl. one was d VESSEL OIL -
2S4 tons gross.
Try to Make Port
The Belfast Telegraph says land
had just been lost sight of when a
terrific explosion shook the Justicia.
The crew speedily was mustered on
deck, but it soon was ascertained the
damage was so trivial that the liner
would Eemain afloat for a sufficient
period to enable her to be towed to
port.
A tug pulled alongside the liner
for this purpose when two more
torpedoes were fired by a submarine
which had not been sighted. These
missiles missed the mark, passing
between the liner and the tug.
Time For Rescue
Further attempts were made by
the submarine to torpedo the Jus
ticia during Friday night, but all
failed and it was not until Saturday
morning and after the submarine
had expended numerous torpedoes
that the destruction of the ship was
accomplished.
The final attempt was made at 8
o'clock on Saturday morning when
two torpedoes hit the ship. One
struck the engine room, causing a
violent explosion and the other pene-
trateda forehold.
The liner was in tow at the time
and as she did not sink until two
o'clock in the afternoon there was
ample time to transfer the crew to
other rescuing ships.
New York. July 24-The Justicia,
reported sunk apparently somewhere
off the coast of Ireland, was return
ing to an American port after de-
livering a large contingent of Amer
| lean troops, it was learned here. The
Justicia had a troop carrying ca
pacity of between 1000 and 5000
men. Her crew numbered about 500.
The Justicia in size and tonnage
nearly approached the dimensions
of the great steamship Vaterland
now in the service of the American
government and being used for a
carrier of American troops to
Europe. She was designed as a mod
ern passenger liner for the trade
between New York and Rotterdam,
but never entered the service.
After being completed at Belfast
the Gunard Steamship Company
turned the Justicia over to the Brit
ish admiralty and the vessel for
some time was used as a transport
of troops and supplies.
The Justicia was TAO feet long, S6
feet beam and 43 feet deep.