The Brattleboro daily reformer. (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1913-1955, 1918-05-02
City of Athens Rammed by
French Cruiser Off the
Coast of Delaware
81 OF THE VICTIMS
WERE PASSENGERS
Collision Took Place at l O'Clock in
the Morning-Fortunatel Sea Was
Calm or Many More Lives Might
Have Been Lost

AN ATLANTIC PORT, May Six
ty-six persons lost their lives when the
steamship City of Athens, bound from
New York for Savannah was rammed
and sunk by French cruiser off the
Delaware coast at / O'Clock yesterday
The missing included 10 men
and two women who were passengers,
seven out of "a United States marines
who were on board, IA out of 90 French
sailors and 33 members of the crew.
Capt. Forward, who was one of those
saved, was painfully injured and was
grief stricken at the loss Of his ship.
lie said he was proceeding at half
speed about 90 niles offshore, sounding
the usual fog signals, when the dim
bulk of the crusier doomed up through
the mist and the crash followed For
tunately the sea was calm, or many
more lives might have been lost.
Capt. Forward refused TO make a
statement concerning the length of
time his vessel remained afoat after
the collision. Members of the crew de-
clared, however, that the City of
Athens sank within four minutes.
) great hole was torn in her side
below the water line near the bow and
she was carried down by her own mo.
mentum as the water rushed in.
Charles b Levy of Bridgeport, Ct,
and his fve-year-old daughter; Mrs
Bonzeiner of Mobile and Mrs. Norman
Harrison of New York with her baby
were brought ashore at an Atlantic
port from the cruiser late last night
and taken to a nearby hospital. All
of them leaped overheard in their night
clothing and all were suffering from ex-
posure. They were supplied with cloth
ing by the Red Cross.
All the passengers and many of the
crew were Ill their berths when the
bow of the warship plunged into the
side of the 2,300-ton coastwise vessel.
Fire broke out almost Immediately aft
rrwuHt IN hold No. /, but it had no
bearing on the fate of the ship, for the
flames were quickly quenched by the
rush of water which poured in.
Capt. J. Forward, one of the veteran
commanders in the service of the
Ocean Steamship company. owners of
the vessel, did his best to avert panic
and man the lifeboats. So quickly did
the doomed vessel sink, however, that
there was no time TO get the boats
away and many of those who persisted
were trapped in their berths.
Those of the passengers aud crew
who were able to reach the deck, all
OF them thinly clad and many without
life preservers, plunged into the sea-
The French cruiser launched lifeboats
Immediately after the crash and turned
its searchlights upon the waters in
which men and women were struggling
for their lives. Sixty-eight persons
were picked up and brought back tc
this port by the warship which was not
seriously damaged
Both ships were carrying running
| lights because of the heavy fog. f. j
Doherty, the wireless operator, was able
to send out only one IS o. So after
the warship's bow plunged into the
| City of Athens side near the bow
! There was no response to the appeal 70,
aid, and the vessel sank SO quickly
Doherty had no opportunity to repeat
the call. He is believed to have been
drowned at his post.
| Many heroic deeds were recounted
last night by the survivors. One OF