Evening star., 1942-06-24
13A|Iied Ships Sunk
By Subs in z Days
In Caribbean
Other Losses in Gulf
And Atlantic Increase
War TotuI to 310
By the Associated Press.

By the Associated Press.
Following the announcement
yesterday that Is United Nations
merchantmen had been sunk in
the Caribbean Sea over a 12-day
period, the Navy Department re-
ported today that small Yugo-
Slavian merchant vessel had been
torpedoed in the Gulf of Mexico
and that survivors had been
landed at an East Coast port.
The Yugoslavian ship was blown
to bits June l9 by a submarine at
tack only 25 miles from shore.
The entire crew of 81 rowed into
harbor in two lifeboats.
"A torpedo tore into the for
ward tanks on the starboard side
in the early morning" said Capt.
A. j. Vernazza. she started to
sink and l ordered the men to
Hfeboats. Everybody got away
safely"
Blast Follows Second Torpedo:
Four minutes later another
torpedo ripped into the ship, fol-
lowed by an internal explosion
which crewmen said tore the ship
to pieces
The sinkings in the Caribbean and
Gulf and the announced loss of two
more vessels in the Atlantic swelled
to 3l0 the total of Western Atlantic
area sinkings.
Casualties ran high, with 48
known dead and 81 missing in the
Caribbean Sinkings occurring be-
tween June 3 and IA; dead
and IS missing in the June IA sink
ing of medium sized United States
merchant vessel off the New Eng
land coast and five dead in the tor
pedoing of British freighter the
same day in the same area.
Victims Include 5 u. S. Ships.
The Caribbean victims were five
United States Ships two medium
sized and three small; five British
merchantmen, four medium and one
small, and one Honduran, one Nor
wegian and one Dutch vessel, all
small.
Six hundred thirty-fve survivors,
including 126 passengers, related
tales of suffering and heroism on
being landed at a Caribbean port;
told OF encourtering EngliSh-Speak-
ing Axis submarine commanders
and of being photographed by
German cameraman aboard one of
the undersea craft
Torpedoes, shell fire, or both. were
used in sinking the Allied ships, they
revealed.
The June Is sinking of the Amer
lean ship rs miles off the New Eng
land coast was one of the wars
worst torpedo disasters to United
States merchantmen, with more
persons lost than rescued.
Three Soldiers Killed.
The three dead were United
States soldiers. while IS other Amer
lean soldiers were among the IS
missing. Eighty-one survivors, in
Guiding % more soldiers, brought to
an East Coast port by vessels which
were nearby when their ship sank,
said:
She was blown to hell"
Two enemy torpedoes found their
mark as the ships engines were
going full blast and the stricken
vessel heaved over on its side and
went down in three minutes before
its 10 lifeboats could be launched.
Many were trapped in their cabins
below deck and Capt. Arthur E.
Buck, master pilot for the British
Admiralty, declared later:
II don't know why every one
wasn't killed. The torpedoes appar-
emily tore the ship in half, causing
a list of 10 to rs degrees.
Returned to Freighter.
Eighty-siX survivors, including
three passengers, of the British vic
tim sunk Is miles off the New Eng
land coast, told how the skipper and
two other officers perished after
returning to the freighter in an at
tempt to save it.
Crew and passengers had aban-
doned ship-excepting an oiler
killed in the first of two torpedo
blasts and an engineer who was
drowned below deck-but the YES
sci was still afioat at daybreak
when a rescue ship picked them up.
Capt. H. c. Jeffrey, Chief Officer
Philip Munday and an officer of the
rescue ship reboarded the still
floating victim and had signaled
they could get it safely into port
when it suddenly foundered, drag
ging with it a small boat into which
the trio had jumped.
The Argentine government an
nounced from BuenoS Aires that its
freighter, the Rio Tercero, which
was sunk Monday ITS miles from
New York, was the victim of a Ger
man submarine. Thirty-six sur
vivors, including one passenger,
reached New York aboard a naval
patrol vessel and five were miss
ing The announcement brought
a new element into the relations
of neutral Argentina and Germany,
which only last week apologized for
torpedoing the Argentine tanke-
Victoria.
DR.. Francisco Aranbarri. the pas
senger, said later in an East Coast
port interview that American planes
had bombed the attacking Nazi sub
marine before it could submerge. At
least seven bombs were dropped,
but he said he could not tell whether
or not the U-boat had been hit.
He added that the name Inns
bruck and an image of a porcupine
were painted on the coming tower
OF the submarine and that its crew.
men were obviously German.
Dr. Aranbarri said there could be
no question as to the identity of the
Rio Tercero, as five Argentine flags
were painted on each side and there