Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-08-06
ZRICAN AMONG
VICTIMS
"a When Hospital Ship
arilda Was Torpedoed
Ia English Channel
WOUNDED HEROES SLAIN
ard Wiped Out by Explosion
and Total Death List
Is 123
Special cobic 70 Ernrirg Public Ledger

lf 0pecgdf C00fe TO Etcrtre Funuc Lph7"'
ceppr.oh., 1918. by Nr'r York 7;'ncr Co.
London, Aug. 6.
london was shocked by the news or
the torpedoing in the channel of the
ambulance transport NVarilda, with
h the loss Of 12S lives. One Of the dead
Il d an American.
The warilda had on board about 500
Hwounded soldiers, a large proportion OF
\ whom were stretched helplessly on
!. cots. The vessel was attacked in the
n blackness of night in the middle Of
Nthe channel, and it was only by the
greatest of good luck that the dam
q ked shin was kept af1oat for suii'
cient period TO enable the great ma
jorfty of the wounded men to he trans
ferred to lifeboats and afterward 70
destroyers. which arrived promptly on
the scene of disaster in response to
.eignals of distress.
That so many woundeS heroes lost
4 their lives is attributed 10 the fact
4 that one of the wards on the ships was
wiped out by the torpedo, These men,
unable to help themselves because of
!. wounds received on the field of battle.
must have had a terrible experience,
The torpedo which nit the Warilda
Z severed the ladder or ~angway, which
Of itself would have rendered the work
4 Of rescue doubly difficult, but worse
4 than that, parts of the ward were
3 blown to bits by the force of the eX-
4 piosiUn, while the penetration of tine
{ torpedo allowed a tremendous rush of
fe,- f., taY nf
which took very serious list.
II Is difficult to ascertain the total
I number of persons on board In addi-
; tton to the hundreds of " unded, there
were a full medical comr rent and a
number of members of the woman's army
anxiliary corps, as well as a crew of
nearly 120 men.
Captain Sims was in conman nd Of the
Warilda. She was one of the biggest
boats of the Adelaide Steamship Com
pAny, and was magniicently fitted for
her task of transporting the wounded. of
whom she has carried many thousands.
The vessel left a foreign port Friday
last, and was making a very good pas
4 eage when she was attacked in mid
6ehannei The time was between |: 30
and o'clock on Saturday morning. and
such was the smartest Of the work of
fsscue that some of the crew made an
unexpected appearance at their homes in
time for the midday meal.
Crew Quickly Mt stations
One stalwart sailor said he was awak-
Aened from deep sleep by the terrific i'm
Epact. He Immediately fought his way to
34fe deck, and for a moment or two
XI vybody-he meant the deck crew
~s stsstupef1ed by the force of the eXplo-
ston.
e ssHowever," he added, I'VE soon real
Q5ed that there had been some dirty busi-
51ees, and our men knew exactly what
svas expected of them in such an emer-
15eency. The order that every man should
take his station was promptly obeyed
"At first our biggest trouble was the
extent of the ships damage which meant
that for a time, at any rate, there was
always tine fear that the vessel might
disappear from under our feet at any
moment.
II don't know that ! can tell YOU
what went through my mind when the
thought of the wounded men first came