Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-06-03
INK DERELICTS
RU-BOAT VICTIMS
Mystery Ships, Edna and
! Two Other Craft, May
Have Been Attacked
MAY BE KOENIG'S WORK

Ss<S, Belief that the schooner Edna. which
= l60lfs beached on the mud flats Of the
n 6}oti6 laware, off Port Richmond, and two
s econt " mystery" ships that sank of the
s. s'Bufh Of Chesapeake Bay before their
! urged isities were learned, were victims of
Its bats grew today. as details of the
me ta,.es Of German raiders of the New
ss2 ,Sus. coast were made known.
Sji roarerrnment officials are still investi-
fdisfranchisehe cause of the accident" to
# treated liksa and the two other mystery"
mother,jPrhey were found nearly two weeks
ture tot
But oincident with the finding of the der
presscts. the master of a British ship ar
xerneing at an Atlantic port reported that
S..yhe gunners of his ship had fired FIVE
= shots at. what was supposed to be a
Il German raider, $50 miles off the Virginia
capes.
The Edna was found by the crew Of
~ coast guard cutter and had several
& holes below the waterlne. The crew,
= In which there were two Philadelphians
r0 was missing. as were the crews of both
e2Shother Vessels. The two mystery" ships
Re,ank before the coast guard cutter
tnS,eached them.
muir The Edna sailed for Havana with a
the argo OF gasoline from this port. When
he he coast guard cutter crew boarded
Yer she bore every appearance of hav-
Ling been sunk by some missile OF destruc-
n abandoned her, as tables were set as If
III meal were about to be eaten.
Boats of the schooner were missing
and 1t Is supposed the crew was placed
In them and cast adrift, perishing be-
efore<a ship was sighted.
- ~ derelict vessels were sighted by
resched Line steamship under circum-
erniIe Of es which indicated a mystery
II thong the disappearance of the United
me- hes collier Cyclops, which was never
Well. from after leaving port although
Archer. ',lips Of the Allied Governments
sns'y I'd the seas for weeks.
I'm ~ val officials issued a statement
"And ing the theory that enemy sub
but tes lurked off the coast and en-
YOU'RE ying the belief that the ships were
"on TIED by storms There had been lit
title rough weather along the Atlantic
Cast that week, however.
;nReports had been current in newspa-
"Tir offices for some time that German
ker tiders or U-boats were operating off
eyne coast, but Navy Department officials
made persistent denials of all rumors to
that effect.
When the Edna was found her span
Ger and mainsail were still set and she
fad large hole in the starboard side
pnidships.
StIOne Of the two mystery" ships was a
niefge four-masted schooner. sighted
Nout ten miles from where the Edna
eisss found. She was floating with star
--thsd side up, with a large Jagged hole
rs Arc below the waterline.
bug fte other vessel was sighted in lat:-
ears, 81 degrees north, and longitude
gory rtegrees west. She was three
swned schooner, and was half sub
s5a~Ssed. Several small fishing vessels
HI On standing nearby, apparently ex-
SlentIysng her. -.-
de hie Clyde searched the vicinity for
nkentaf hours. In hopes Of picking up
a,rews. but no trace of the men
1s any OF the vessels was found
vay life belts were found floating on
thenea, but bore. no marks of identifi-
wha
p,re was much conjecture among
lsers along the Delaware as to the
VT OF the accidents" and it was
Tally believed that a submarine or
kin'der of some sort was operating
to the American shores. II was
ee<ed that the German merchant sub
bie Deutschland, commanded by
sun Paul Koenfg. made her first
Mig In the United States at Balti-
eluding a Gordon of British ships
byle mouth of the Chesapeake. and
!Captain Koenig. since the United
els entered the war. had several
dared" American destroyers to
him. In every instance he has
hei his alleged location, but the de-
ikers have been unable to find him
any OF the mariners believe Captain
1ig may be in charge of a fleet OF
trs on the American coast.
fashington officials, at the time the
|tish ship commander announced that
gunners had fired on a subma rine,
6e tho announcement that the sub
wine" was probably bit of floating
ockage or some other object.