Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-01-11
BACLEY PRAISES CREW
OF TORpEDOED JONES
Commander of Sunken Tor
pedoboat Reports to Navy
Department
MEN COOL AND BRAVE
Philadelphia Boatswain's Mate In
cluded Among Men Mentioned as
Deserving Commendation
WASHINGTON. Jan. II.

The officers and crew of the destroy
er Jacob Jones, sunk by a German sub
marine on the afternoon of December
s, knew their impending fate but were
unable to avert IL. This was disclosed
today in the report of Lieutenant Com
mander David Worth Bagley to the
Navy Department
The torpedo was sighted when at a
distance of half mile abeam and the
officer of the deck. Lieutenant ). i.
Kalk, who afterwards died of exposure,
took prompt measures 10 maneuver the
ship so as to avoid being struck. The
commanding officer realized, however
that the torpedo was too near to- be es'
caped, and Immediately every effort was
made to launch llfeboats and save the
lives of the crew.
AS the radio antennac and mainmast
we're carried away and electric power
failed Immediately, 1t was not pDsstbl"
to use the radio apparatus. BaEley rc-
ported. The gunnery officer. Lieutenan.
]. X. Richards, made every .ffort to get
aft to secure the depth charges. but was
unable to do so. Before the ship sank
three RATS were lost and another floated
fl when the dch'i oyer went down y
small moto~ :nty and two other small
lucts lil<ev-isn flt atSd clear. L" motor.
that was seaworthy, but its engine would
not run. one of the small boats Was
damaged but was of use in getting men
On to the RATS. The whaleboat was
launched. but was useless, owing 10 dam-
age from the explosion.
As the ship settled the commanding
officer ran along the deck and ordered
everybody to jump overheard. Most ol
the men who were not killed by the en-
posion got clear of the ship and reached
RATS or wreckagc. although few were
seen to he swimming at considerable
distance from the ship.
SANK IN EIGHT MINUTES
Eight minutes after being struck the
| DESTROYER sank stern first About fifteen
! minutes later the submarine came To the
| surface and picked up two survivors, al
/ though at the time only one was seen
to be taken aboard. The submarine
| then submerged and was not seen again.
/ Immediately after the sinking the COM
mandng officer who jumped overheard
as the ship sank and was picked up by
/ the motordory. had efforts made to get
all survivors on the RATS and get the
RATS and boats together. He then be-
/ gan to make arrangements to reach the
nearest land in the motorboat, so as
| to bring assistance to the survivors on
/ the RATS
Lieutenant Richards was given orders
| to take charge of the survivors and
keep the RATS together. The command
| ing officer and the navigating oiilcef,
Lieutenant Scott. knew accurately the
position of the ship when she sank and
also knew the course to the nearest port.
They therefore made the trip in the mo-
tordory with four men to assist. All
the provisions and medical kit from the
motorboat were left with the men Oh
the RATS, except few emergency ra-
tions and half bucket of water. The
boat had to be pulled by oars, as the en-
gine would not run.
After a very trying trip. during which
IL was necessary to- steer by the stare
and by the direction of the wind. the
boat was picked up at | o'clock the
next afternoon by small patrol ves-
sci. The senior officer of the station
to which this patrol vessel belonged
informed Lieutenant Commander Bag
lev that the other survivors had all beer
rescued.
PRAISES OFFICERS AND MEN
Commander Gagley gives unstinted
praise to, the behavior of officers anL
men.
Lieutenant Normal Scott. of st. Louis
executive officer, accomplished "A great
deal toward getting boats and RATS into
the water, turning off steam from the
fire room to the engine room, gettinl
lifebelts and splinter mats from the
bridge into the water. in person Trims
signal guns, encouraging and assisting
the men, and in general doing everything
possible in the short time available. H'
was of invaluable assistance during th'
tiip in the Gory.
Lieutenant j. * Richards, of Wash
: ington, D. c. was left in charge "- al
: the RATS and his coolness and cheerful
ness under exceedingly hard condition