New-York tribune., 1918-06-26
Transport Thought Life
boat of Dwinsk Was Ca
mouhaged Submarine
Al Survivors Here;
3 Boatloads Missing
Sailors, in Tiny Craft, Toss
144 Hours on Ocean Be-
fore Being Rescued

British transport Dwinsk. reaching this
.ity yesterday reported that their
l;feboats had been shelled by pass
ing American transport, apparently in
the belief that they were disguised
U.boats The sailors, headed by Cap
tain Nelson and several other officers,
brought with them thrilling tale of
Of hardship and peril while their boats
we're tossed about for three days and
nights on the high seas.
The men arriving at New York were
in two lifeboats when they were picked
up. Five other boats which had been
suched with them disappeared. Two
Of them were brought to Atlantic ports,
subsequently,, while three others are
still missing.
rescued they were blistered by the
fierce sun and soaked by continuous
downpour Of many hours. For seven
ty-two hours they had been living on
ships biscuit and half cup of water
apiece q d~y. They had rowed and
ssiled over 200 miles toward New York
but were so weak toward the latter
part of their voyage that they could
not man the oars, so used their sails
exclusively.
Two Are From Yonkers
Of the men who reached here, John
and Robert Mckay, two brothers. of
Yonkers, are the only Americans. John
Mckay. surrounded by his shipmates.
told the story of their adventures in
the rooms of the Seamen's Church In
stitute, 25 South Street.
II was below decks when the torpedo
struck" he said. "That was at 9
o'clock of the morning of June IS,
week ago, when we were about 700
miles off the Delaware Capes. We
rushed on deck to find that the tor
pedo had struck aft, on the port side.
NO submarine was to be seen; we
had been hit without warning. Even
when we launched our seven boats in
good shape and got them away without
a single casualty the U-boat had not
shown herself. There was no panic. al
though several of the men jumped into
the water, from which they were
quickly rescued.
THE Dwinsk was lurching slowly to
the port side when Fritz came up, about
!our rifles away. At that distance she
lsoked like big destroyer or cruiser,
and the impression of her enormous
size was confirmed when she came I'M
@We rowed away from the sinking
ship and were two miles from her when
tse boat came alongside. There were
ABOUT forty men on her deck, which was
four hundred feet in length, and the
gun crews were handling four pieces.
placed on either side of the coming
tower. There were two 6-inch guns and
TWO rapld-hr!ng, anti-aircraft guns of
smaller calibre.
u-Boat Shells Shin
The German captain, in very good
english, shouted at US from the CON
nlng tower: Hold on your oars! Pm
going to she'll the ship! Keep clear!'
Then she began shooting at the Dwinsk.
one fred nineteen shells in all, but
only six Of them took effect on the hull
OF our boat.
captain Nelson had left the Dwinsk
10 ne 1he last boat, and was only about two
tnundred yards from her when the u
1oas started shelling. They pulled hard
" get out of the line of fire, but the
sacsioh Sc,l OF the sinking ship kept them
oeck' and several shells flew over the
crowded boat, uncomfortably close. and
Isopped into the sea a short distance
'esund. Luckily, no one was hurt.
II ~ TOOK two hours for the Dwinsk to
ss!iie. sse!,ie. She went down aft first. her
Ioners and magazine blowing up. The
Ast we saw of her was when she
3umpled up suddenly and disappeared
-, A5out two hours after the end of
sae pwinsk Fritz duckcd suddenly, and
t.s. ssw that a large vessel, which
~lned out to be an American transport
vas approaching.
Shelled by Transport
h...mse mad raised sails on the life
so@ss and reJoiced that we were about
so oe picked up, although we feared
;;Ss tne safety of the American shin
= sne approached the hiding U-boat
distance, "" 10 from
:. Sheiis S, dropped all about us, some
s;.e.e = c.ose as fifty yards. We could not
S;.snsi for fear the U-boat would get
~ torpedo. We tried to get out of
ss: us way, when the transport stopped
ma hs and raced away. / met the gun
~. oI thls transport later, and he told
ss ~S tney believed our lifeboats were
Amoofaged U-boats.
tb.r rnsey ss had flred because they thought
aey nad blundered into a nest of en-
emy my submarines. As it was. the T-hoat
ths"aoiy ~ did try chance torpedo. for
nss, gunner declared that one had
Sya @sI oniy five yards astern.
w.,a hext morning only three boats
.ssse s,e together, and the U-boat. wb;ch
az aeappeared. took itself off Then
thy sea came up. and another ~
h;s..oats hs ooats was lost. We had but I;ttIa
o.," 'sut ~ and water, and each man cat
day. s a'o na'i a pint of water a
.r, biistered by the Sun
"aen we left the Dwinsk we wer.
onr sseo only IN singlets and trousers
asreaae aeet and heads bare. There was
,s,s;i,s sun the first day, and we wero
ih;,.e. blistered and near diving Win
orr Ihe salt made our faces breaL
,o~ me next day it started rainino snd
,;nrneht eight hours there was . COW
thus downpour. We were soaked
cola oiSusn and through. and suffered from
watsuna ana exposure. Our boats were
tlme .osged, and we had to bail ali the
sar w keep from going down.
p...sS tnlrd day an American steamer
vsrs va Us at little distance. W.
asn.u sifaid the U-hoat might still, he
dnss with a couple of spare torne-
nj 90 we did not signal the shin. and
81 ~ pass. We were sailing a course
IA ~ .or New York by Captain Neon
II sApected to make it in few dsvs
o'f rations held out. '
a., Rescued by Transport
a. re h were picked up on FRIDAY morn.
~ ~ an American transport aftar e, ~.
made 205 miles toward New yorL
Wster ,s'n xnad four days Of biscuit and
4 prosss .sit When the transport ap-
fnx< Il a