BRITANNIC OUTRAGE.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 5, Issue 238, 29 December 1916, Page 5 (Supplement)

BRITANNIC OUTRAGE.

SUPERB DISCIPLINE

TERRIBLE SCENES WITNESSES

Mr Jeffries, the Daily Mail correspondent at Athens writes:— "Rescued medical corps officers tell me that the Britannic wan on her sixth voyage as a hospital ship. On her last voyage fog delayed her for 30 hours, and various minor mishaps occurred, causing the captain to say jokingly, 'I believe we've a Jonah on board. Something vvill happen to us.' "It was a brilliant sunshiny morning;, and the vessel was steaming at 10 or 12 knots, all aboard being at breakfast, when the explosion shook the ship, shaking the dishes from the table. The nurses say that everybody rose from their seats, but most of them reseated themselves, realising that something had happened, but confident of their safety because of the great size of the ship. A RA.M.C. officer compared the noise- to that of a great drum booming and revcrberatating. This officer stated that the captain said that undoubtedly it was a torpedo. Another officer saw two torpedoes comi'ig towards the bows. The deck reeked of the odor of powder.

A.HEROIC MATRON. "There was no panic- The nurses sat or stood in groups in the saloon. A doctor came up and said: 'Ladies, you'd better hurry up,' the message oeing the first revelation of their real plight. The nurses received the intimation calmlv, went to their cabins, donned lifebelt's, and got into tho boats. The crc.w tested the boat fittings prior to the launching. The matron refused to enter until she had counted all the nurses. When the women, numbering 700. were safe, she effected her own escape. The others fell in on deck in absolute order, minus the unfortunate victims of the explosion and those killed by an emergency staircase that was blown off, and, jamming the bulkhead doors, isolated those in the bows, which wore the first to sink. The steamer lurched to starboard, dipped heavily, and sank. Tho captain Attempted to beach her. but the forward dip was too rapid.

HORROR OF WHIRLING BLADES An officer said that the calmness

and discipline of the men was supsrb. Two hundred remained on the decks after the boats had left, and were ordered to break ranks and advised to dive in. Out they and the officers did not yield to the primary impulse, but went to the upper deck* instead and threw rafts overboard. The Britannic's propellers were then level with the water, and drew in several boats and rafts, and a number of swimming men into tho whirlpool, with its horror of whirling blades. The suction as she sank also imperilled other boats at the side of the mammoth ship. The officer said that it was an awful

■nt to see the poor fellows struggling against their inevitable doom. The screws caught the boats with a ripping, smashing sound swinging tho occupants into the air, cut, mutilated, and sundered. '"I saw half-bodies, limbs, and heads flying,'' he said. "It was frightful beyond * speech." "Other boats saved all possible. Tho Britannic plunged forward so deeply that not a drop of water penetrated the engine-room. The steamer went down with a slow, gradual movement, and each great funnel when it touched the water was ripped off like brown paper.

WHO SENT THE SIGNALS? "Several officers vouch for the statement that a British destroyer, coming in response to the wireless appeals, received countermanding signals. The Britannic renewed her appeals, and the destroyer immediately responded again. But who sent the countermanding signals? Nothing was saved except what the s-urvivors wore- One hundred and fifty ar? missing, including the principal military officers."