Jackson County journal., 1919-03-21
Awarded the Distinguished Serv-
ice Medal by President
Wilson.
SAVES 600 YANk SOLDIERS
Goes to Assistance of Transport
Otranto When She Was Sunk in
Collision Off Irish Coast With
American Troops on
Board.
BY e. w. BARRETT.
Editor Birmingham Age Herald.

If ever man were entitled to the
distinguished service medal, it was
that young British lieutenant, Fran.
els w. Craven of the destroyer Noun
sey.
A dispatch from London announced
that President Wilson had awarded
him this medal and that Maj. Gen. Bid
die, commander Of the American
forces in the United Kingdom, haO
presented it to him.
The medal was awarded, in the
words of the London cable, ito Lieut..
Francis w. Craven, who commanded
the British destroyer Mounsey, which
saved 600 American soldiers from the
British transport OtrantO, when she
was sunk in a collision off the Irish
coast on Oct 6, 1918 with the loss
Of 357 American soldiers
Though the British government con-
ferred no honor upon Lieut.. Craven for
his work, because it was not an act
of valOr in war combat, no man in any
navy ever showed more courage nor
demonstrated more perfect seaman
ship than did Lieut.. Craven on this
occasion.
The full story is worth telling, now
that the censorship is off and no fur
ther obligation rests upon the news
paper man who was in the offing, so
to speak. when this horror of the sea
occurred.
Flagship of Convoy.
The Uranto, which went down, was
the flagship of convoy of fourteen
| troop laden, influenza infected ships
which sailed from New York on Sept.
26 last. She was a British Australian
| liner, with something like a thousand
American soldier boys aboard On her
sister Ship, the Orontes, a nasty Old
| plague fkrlected refrigerator freighter
with limited and dirty passenger ac-
| cOmmc,latiOnS, eighteen hundred sol
dier bays, the writer and about fifty
| other passengers We're crowded to-
! gether like cattle.
| We were accompanied from New
York t'y a battleship, cruiser and a
destroyer. The route was to be around
| Irish channel to Liverpool. All sorts
of ha.d luck hit the convoy and par.
! ticularly the Otranto. She first ran
into q r'fishing fleet and cut down two
| boats, but saved the crews. In doing
so sAe fell behind, but caught up
when we ran into a fearful storm and
continued battling against it for sew
eral days.
Scattered In Storm.
BSOre reaching British waters
north of Ireland, the American naval
vesse's turned back or were scattered
In thu storm. Our old ship was strug-
CLING and our captain was begging III
WireEss messages to Capt. Davidson
Of tfe OtrantO for more sea room
He Nared going on the rocky shores
of North Ireland. Capt. Davidson
made no answer to repeated calls
Then our wireless went down, oul
boats were crushed, the smoking room
doors and ports were smashed in, the
galleys dining saloon and many state
rooms were flooded. Only cold food,
were Obtainable. To make matter
worse, 400 soldier boys were dowl
with pneumonia. They were dyin,
like cattle in the public rooms an,
on mattresses streWn about whereye
there was enclosed room. Medicine
were exhausted, and dead and dyin,
were all about
In the meantime every ship pu
about to save its own, heading int
the storm. The OtrantO and othe
ships not needing our captains warn
ings were almost upon the rocks O
Ireland. A yeritable hurricane wa
blowing. Waves broke entirely owe
the ships.
The Otranto, in trying to get out O
its predicament, turned across tn