BRITISH TRANSPORT SUNK.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXVII, Issue 1438, 19 August 1915, Page 3

BRITISH TRANSPORT SUNK.

IN THE AEGEAN SNA

WITH CONSTDERABLE LOSS 01*' LIFE. London, August 17Official. —The British transport Royal Edward was sunk by a German submarine in the .Egeau Sea. There, were 1600 men aboard, of whom don were saved. I'lie High Commissioner reports : The Admiralty announces that the Britisli transport Royal Edward was sunk by a submarine in the ylvgean Sea on Saturday. According to information available, the trnnspart had thirty two military officers and 1350 troops aboard, and the, ship’s crew of 2;>o officers and men. The troops were dy reinforcements of the Division, and details of the R.A.M.C. It is known that about don were saved. | The transport was a vessel of 11,117 tons gross. She belonged to the Canadian Northern Steamship Company, and was built in 190 S by the Fairfield Company, Ltd., Glasgow.] London, August rR. The newspapers, while conceding that the enemy scored a legitimate success, pay warm tributes to the Navy’s splendid guardianship in protecting hundreds of thousands ot troops in all the seas of the globe, including convoys from such remote Dominions as Australia and New Zealand. The Daily Mall states that the shock of the event seems greater by reason of its rarity. It throws into vivid relief the Navy’s wonderful achievement in the first year of the war. The Daily News says that there is ample material in the three friendly navies patrolling the eastern seas for countering any measures threatening the safety of ships. Therefore, the fear of the German torpedo will not divert from Gallipoli a man, nor a shell, nor an ounce of stores. The Daily Telegraph says that the Royal Edward’s fate suggests, not the failure, hut the triumph of our sea power. Only when the war is over will the public realise the harassing burdens which the transport services have thrown on the Navy. That as many as six hundred men should have been saved is almost a miracle, as the Royal Edward was not built to resist torpedoes.