Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1918-09-15
Destroyers on All Sides.

| UeSCrOYeTS on ALI SIDES.
The Mount Vernon. formerly the Ger
man ship Kronprinzessin Cecile. was be-
ing escorted with her sister ships
through the so-called danger zone by a
sufficient number of American Destroy
much as possible any attack. There
| were destroyers ahead and on all sides.
| 1t was shortly after daybreak when
the attack was made. It was very
clear when the submarine shot up
the tip, of one periscope and took a
hasty glance to obtain the angle.
Then it lowered the periscope and
dove. firing torpedo at the same
time.
It was no ordinary U-boat COM
chances Of being rammed by the ships
or destroyers and Of gunfire and depth
charges. He must have been one of
the few experienced submarine men
left in the German fleet.
Periscope Is Seen.
No. gun crew Of the Mount Vernon
saw the periscope first and then in
crews. including the fire control
officer. No. 1 gun fred one shot.
which narrowly missed the periscope.
Gunnery Officer Doyle ordered the
dropping Of depth charges which
| 1uuCtlOHSU properly UuL pIOUAOiy ulu
not harm the submarine much beyond
shaking 1t up considerable. At the
same time destroyers dropped several
depth charges and also used their
guns.
Some think that several submarines
took part in the attack and that at
least one was damaged. The torpedo
produced a rather light explosion
which, nevertheless, signifying the
presence Of an unknown enemy.
caused the, nerves Of the crew to
moment of trial the officers and, crew
of the Mount Vernon proved the
value of organization. discipline and
preparedness. distinguishing them
selves by what they did and ennobling
Kept Engines Running.
Instead of stopping the engines they
obtained more speed from the re-
naming boilers than they ordinarily
did from all the boilers. Instead Of
the the topsde to save their SKINS s'i tsos Sc
on duty remained at their posts, while
those off duty rushed to the aid of
their shipmates by toiling at the next
tons of water and threatening to break
at any moment.
| This devotion to duty enabled the
| snip u the SuOhAIlH0 ana SS-
cape the continuance Of the attack,
as was the case when the Justicia was
Instead of abandoning the. ship Capt
creased the speed of the vessel and
ran for port. calling for the daily
routine, abandoning the ship drill for
| the Army only fully two hours after
the torpedo struck.
Cool, Precise Judging.
t was cool: precise judging Of a
difficult situation, instead OF starting
wild panic by launching boats. Some
OF the passengers unaccustomed to
the Navy officers Gained their fears.
On board were Senator James Ham,
ilton Lewis Of Illinois and the blind
RIepresentatiys Thomas D: schall Of
with q detail and conducted quickly to
2 nfeboat In the care OF the sailors
there were more than 100 wounded and
officers returning home to train the
new army: The crew helped these dis
abled to the lifeboats OF be ready in
fhsee 9n an ea.a g
credict Given Undertook Men.
The credit for saving the transport
| is due to all the officers and men, but
particularly to the chief engineer,
Lieut.. Commander Guttermsen, with
his sections Of engineers and fremen,
who In the most dangerous Of DO
sitions never wavered from their duty
T OF remaining by the engines and pre-
I venting the boilers from being food
ed by the bursting of the straininE
bulkheads. The pressure behind the
bulkheads was enormous and It was
like working at the feet Of a BURST
ing dam.
Unfortunately, thirty-six men were
killed in the explosion or died from
burns. Their names. have already
been made public. Those Injured
were mostly burned. They are H. g.
Smith, fireman. Cornell, Iowa; q. A
OConnor. chief water tender, North
Cambridge, Mass: r. l.. Powers
water tender. Jamaica Plains, Mass.
G. C. Remig, fireman, Milton, Pa;
NC, v. Graham. fireman. Leris, 8. c.;
W. Murphy. fireman. Mansfield, Mass.
and r. C.. Chagnon. fireman, Mount
Carmel, Conn.
Those who were only injured enough
| to be on the sick list are p. Fttx.
gerald. fireman. Jamaica Plains. Mass;
Bennett. water tender. New York
city; G. Shradef. fireman, 6hamokin
Pa. and T. Jones. water tender, Scran.
ton, Pa.
Killed Were In 11rsrooan.
Most Of those killed were caught
IN tho Areroom Department and the
i $RNyxva NaA .A>s