ON THE SEA.

Taranaki Daily News, 3 July 1918, Page 5

ON THE SEA.

HOSPITAL SHIP TORPEDOED. NO SICK OR WOUNDED ON BOARD. 200 MISSING. received July 2, 5.5 p.m. London, July 1. The hospital ship Llandovery Castle, carrying Canadian doctors and nurses, was submarined on Thursday off Fastnet. Two hundred are missing— Reuter. Received July 2, 5.5 p.m.

London, July 1. The Admiralty reports that the British hospital ship Llandovery Castle was torpedoed at 10.30 on the nis'ht of June 27, I lli miles south-west of Fastnet, and sank in ten minutes. She was homeward bound from Canada, therefore no sick or wounded were aboard. The crew consisted of 164, The vessel also carried 80 Canadian army medicals and 14 female nurses. Of the total of 258, one boatful of 24 landed. There is a bare possibility of other survivors. It must be noted in this, as in all other instances, the German submarine had a perfect right to stop and search the hospital ship under The Hague Convention. The enemy preferred, however, to torpedo the ship, which showed all navigating and regulation hospital lights.—Aus. N.Z. Cable Assoc. and Reuter.

GERMANY'S AWFUL CRIME. SHI'P TORPEDOED WITHOUT WARNING. CALLOUS SUBMARINE CAPTAIN. LIFEBOATS PROBABLY SUNK BY HUNS. Received July 2, 11.10 p.m. London, July 1. The Press Bureau states that Germany's awful debt to the world continues to grow. Another hospital ship lias been torpedoed, this time 170 miles from the nearest land, her people beiiig turned adrift in boats to sink or swim, and though, as happened, she was a Canadian hospital ship returning from Halifax with no wounded aboard, the tale of crime reveals wanton deliberation on the part of the submarine commander, almost suggesting that he hoped to find her full of helpless and injured men.

The Llandovery Castle was chartered by the Canadian Government to convey sick and wounded from England to Halifax, and had on board at the time 80 members of the medical corps, including seven officers. The Llandovery Castle was steaming at the rate of 14 knots, with the usual navigation and hospital ship lights showing, under an overcast sky. She was plainly visible, and unmistakable for anything but what she was —a ship immune by every law of war and peace from attack or molestation.

No one aboard saw the wake of the torpedo. The first intimation that a submarine was in the vicinity was the jar and roar of the explosion from aft. Then the lights went out, and everything after that occurred in the darkness, except for dim light shed by the emergency dynamo until just before the ship foundered. The engines were immediately rung to stop, then full speed astern was signalled, but from the engine-room came no answer. The ship's rehearsed routine, however, held good, for with the Germans one must be prepared for every such emergency. Along the darkened decks the crew groped their way to the boat stations and stood by for orders to leave. The captain megaphoned from the bridge, "Hold on till the way is off the ship." The carpenter went aft and examined the damaged Marconi wireless. The operator remained in his cabin, vainly striving to transmit the ship's position, but gained no response. The carpenter reported that a 'hole had been blown in the aft part of the ship, which could not remain afloat. The order was given to lower the boats and abandon the ship. The officer commanding the Canadian medical corps reported that all his people were out. This is important, inasmuch as only the captain's boat has been picked up. Except for any of the ship's company or engine-room crew killed by the torpedo it is clear everyone got away. The captain and the second officer entered the last boat and got clear just in time to avoid being sucked under. As the vessel's stern went down, one boiler seemed to explode as the water reached it.

The ship sank in ten minutes from the time it was torpedoed. The captain's boat rescued eleven men from the. wreckage. When the submarine was seen she hailed the boat in English, "Come alongside!" The second officer replied: ''Wo are picking up drowning men!" The voice from the submarine replied: "Come alonspido! ' The boat held on its course, hut two revolver shots were fired over it, the commander of the submarine shouting: "Come alongside or I shoot my big gun!" The boat obeyed. The captain was ordered aboard the submarine and questioned regarding' the name of the ship. The commander did not appear surprised when told it was a hospital ship. He said: "You were carrying eight American flying officers," which the captain denied, stating he had seven Canadian medicals aboard the ship chartered by the Canadian Government to carry sick and wounded.

■Replying to the commander's reiterated statement that the vessel was carrying American flyers, the captain gave his word of honor that the steamer only carried patients, medicals, sisters, and crew.

The commander then ordered one of the Canadian medicals on board, who was roughlv handled by the Germans. He had a small bone of his foot broken. He was interrogated, but protested his character as a medical, and was then ordered back into the boat. Then the captain of the submarine circled round the wreckage and again stopped the Do al, questioned the second and fourth officers, aild invented a new excuse, stating the vessel must have been carrying munitions owing to the big explosion aft. The second officer explained that the explosion was due to the boiler. They were then allowed to return to the boat. The submarine began firing at an unseen target, possibly at the tother boats. The captain decided to make for the Irish coast, and tiad proceeded seventy miles when picked: up by i a destroyer and Txpuj&t to Queenstawn. •-ErewAasoe.

RUSSIAN BLACK SEA FLEET. (LARGE PART TAKEN BY GERMANY. Received July 2, 8.20 p.m. London, July 1. Speaking in the House of Commons, Mr. Bonar Law said that tlie Russian sailors of tho Black Sea licet had succeeded in destroying some vessels, but, unfortunately, a large part of tho fleet fell into German hands. —'Press Assoc. Moscow, July 1. The Foreign Commissary informs the press that part of the Black Sea fleet has returned to Sebastopol and that the other part blew itself up. He says that the Government agreed to the return of the fleet expressly on condition that Germany and her allies

should not use it during the war. It was only upon condition that the fleet returned to Sebastopol that Germany stopped the advance of her troops at Novorosisk. —United Service.

ANTI-SUBMARINE MEASURES. New York, June 30. Mr. Charles Grasty, the London correspondent of the New York Times, interviewed Admiral Sims, who said: "The presence of submarines on our coast will not affect the outcome of the war. A year ago Allied tonnage was decreasing and the Central Powers were winning the war; now the position is reversed. Allied tonnage is increasing and the number aad efficiency of the U-boate are decreasing.

"There ale between 4000 and 6000 anti-submarine vessels of all types operating. In effect, the best means of combating U-boats is the use of convoys, the dropping of depth charges, and a device whereby a surface vessel is able to follow a U-boat under water by the sound of its engines. Experience shows that Germany has been able to keep about 10 per cent, of its U-boat fleet actively engaged, which is equivalent to between 15 and 20 U-boats. This number has now been greatly reduced, but the Allies have still not enough anti-U-boat vessels and must build more all the time."