The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1918-12-15
FIRST STORY OF
D. S. DESTROYER
HEROIC ACTION
ropsan Manager Of N e. A.

European Manager Of N e. A.
London. Dec 14.With a splintering
crash the huge liner--one OF the DIG
gest in the wofld--tore into the Y. =.
destroyer Shaw, and through her.
Thirty feet OF the destroyer's nose was
sliced off
n Fire started. Oil on the destroyer's
deck blazed furiously. Emergency
ammunition lying near the four-in9h
gun was "kr- BOOM ing" at intervala
And\ through the blazing oil, disre-
gardin9 the explosions. knowing that
the magazine right under the flames
might go of any second. scampered
the destrONer's naval crew-cool
Americans w.so never thought OF quit
ting.
They picked up ammunition that
was as likely as not to go up in their
hands, and tossed it into the sea,
Their clothing caught fire often from
walking through the flames. They
beat it out and went on working.
iThey did the job. The fire was
And minus nose the Shaw limped in
to British port backwards.
A lot Of these young Americans
were pretty badly damaged. So was
the Shaw. But they got her in.
Admiral Permits Details to BE Told.
Admiral Sims staff now per,n,is
publication OF the whole story Of the
Shaw collision. All the acts OF hero
ism cannot be told; that would take
a book. And the men mentioned here
are no Drawer than a lot Of others on
that destroyer
But these stories will give an idea
of the kind OF a scene that was en-
acted out there miles from land, after
that collision.
In the first place the Shaw sacri-
feed herself rather than take a chance
OF ramming the liner. The steering
apparatus became jammed. The COM
mander saw his destroyer was headed
acAOss the troopship's bow. If he
spdeded up he might make it. But
he was very like not to make it and
ram the liner-possibly sending a lot
OF soldiers to the bottom of the
ocean.
The other thing to do was to slow
down. That way he couldn't damage
the liner but he would probably be cut
in two. This all happened in a few
seconds and the steering gear was
jammed in such a way that the de-
stroyer wasn't travelling in a straight
line.
So the problem wasn't easy. But
the commander sized it up quickly a>.1
slowed down. He succeeded in man
euvering SO skillfully that only the
front end OF the destroyer was hit
First Thought ls of the Liner.
His first thought was for the liner.
He megaphoned up. from what was
left Of his vessel:
ANY damage to you, sir?''
don't think so, sir; I'm investigat-
ing" replied the skipper of the big
liner.
Then the oil on deck caught on
fire.
Flood the forward magazine was
the order.
That had to be done from the chart
house, which was surrounded by fierce
flames and itself on fire. Lieutenant
Commander Van L. Kirkman and
Lieutenant Edward D. Riley and En-
sign Ross Dierdorf jumped into the
flames Kirkman got the wrench on
the flood cock, but the collision had
jammed the mechanism. She would
not turn.
It had to be done. That meant GO
ing through more fire and getting
more burns. But it was done. Three |
others who assisted were Lieutenant
H. C. Shonerd, Ensign |
T. c.. Briggs and Carpenter G. r.
Lytton.
The shells kept on deck alongside
the 4-inch gun We're also popping al |
the while. That wouldn't do. One
of them might set off the magazine.
The captain gave the order and |
these four men walked over into the |
flames, about five feet from the blaz-
ing oil tank and the hottest place on |
the deck, picked up the shells and |
pitched them overheard:
Chief Boatsman's Mate w. C. Kess- |
Ter, Gunner's Mate =. w. Romspert, |
Chief Pharmacists Mate O. Driver, |
Watertender G. e. Fernandes.