Evening star., 1923-12-28
D|XMUDE CAPTAINS
BODY FOUND IN SEA-;
HOPE FOR SHIP DIES
Fishermen Recover Remains
Near SiciIy-No Trace of
Airship Found.
49 MEMBERS OF CREW
MISSING; SEARCH GOES ON
French and Other Craft Comb
Mediterranean for Largest
Dirigible.'
By the Associated Press.

BY the Associated Press.
PARIS. December 2S.-An official
announcement today said that the
dirigible Dixmude had been lost at
sea.
The body of Lieut.. Grenadan, COM
mander of the missing dirigible Dix
nude, has been found in Sicilian
waters. -
The body, was found by fishermen
Elk miles from land off Sciacca,
Sicily. .-. s.
It's discovery was reported by the
italian maritime authorities to the
French naval attache at Rome.
French cruiser and three tor
pedo boats were ordered to Sciacca.
The receipt of a telegram from
the French naval attache in Rome
announcing that the body of Lieut..
Grenadan. commander of the miss
Ing dtrigible. had been found in ST.
Gillian waters caused all hopes of the
safety of tho Dixmude to be aban-
ddoned. These hopes had fared up
last evening on receipt of reports
that the balloon had been seen foat-
ing helplessly over the Sahara
desert.
No Doubt OF Identity.
The Rome adyices convinced the
officials there could be no possible
doubt as TO the identity of the body
picked up. as Lieut. Grenadan had
an ldentif1catfon tag on his wrist.
Italian fishermen hauling in their
nets at the end of their days task
last evening brought the body to the
surface. After-it had been extricated
nlpGhPG 70 ha
that of French naval officer in full
uniform.
1t was. rushed to Girgenti, a small
cove near Sciacca. on the southwest
ern shore of Sicily. None of the
fishermen was able to read the iden-
ttncatfon tag and the identity of the
dead man was only, made a certainty
teacher of the village viewed the
body, which was then taken to Sci
Reca, whence telegram announcing
the discovery was dispatched to
Orders were Immediately tele-
graphed to the naval base at Toulon
to dispatch all available light, speedy
craft to Sicllian waters to continue
the search for bodies from the ILL.,
fated airship.
The fact that no vestige of wreck
age from the airship or other bodies
ministry of marine to refrain from
giving orders as yet to discontinue
the. search of the. African desert for
traces of the dirigible. The comb
ing Of the Mediterranean. however,
between Sicily and the coast Of north
ern Africa, will be the foremost
branch Of the search in the immedi-
ate future.
May Have Stayed With Ship.
1T is surmised thmat Lieut.. Grenadan,
when he realized the dtrigible was
lost, may have instructed his men to
jump with their paracnutes, and that
he decided to remain on board the
ship, which might have stayed aloft
several hours. the commander going
down with her, while some of the
crew may have descended in the
wilds of northern Africa.
The Dixmude had fifty officers and
men on board when she left the
seille. on December 18 for a seventy
two-hoLr cruise. She few across the
Mediterranean and over Algeria and
Tunisfa to- the edge Of the desert of
homes She was last heard from di-
rectly ON Friday, December 81, at 8
PM, when she was about ninety
miles south of Riskra, Algeria, head
ing north toward the Atlas noun,
tains. intending to pass over Algiers
on the Mediterranean. She was in
structed not to attempt to make for
France across the Mediterranean, as
a gale was blowing on that sea.
Since then various reports of the
appearance of the Dixmude have
come from scattered points in north
ern Africa and along the Mediterra-
mean. none Of which received official
confirmation.
Meanwhile a thorough search for
her by all the available French naval
anu military agencies, assisted by
craft of other nations. has been in
progress, while the whole world fol-
lowed with anxiety and deep inter-
est the efforts TO find her and save
her gallant crew.
The Dixmude, a Zeppelin rigid air
ship. built in Germany during the
war and turned over to France, on
reparation account. was considered to
represent the acme of achievement
in rigid airship construction. She
was the largest military airship in
the world, the Shenandoah. the
American dirigible, coming next. The
Dixmude held the worlds record for
distance. and endurance, made last
September with an uninterrupted
flight of $500 miles in 118. hours and
Al minutes, traversing much the same
route that she was travelling when she
disappeared last week.
SEARCH REVEALS NO TRACE.