FRENCH AUXILIARY CRUISER LOSI IN THE MEDITERRANEAN.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 52, 1 March 1916, Page 5

FRENCH AUXILIARY CRUISER LOSI IN THE MEDITERRANEAN.

ELEVEN HUNDRED OF HER CREW MISSING. ! NO SIGN OF A SUBMARINE OR TORPEDO'S TRACK, \ . 11.45 a.m.); 1 , PARIS, February 29. It is officially announced that the auxiliary cruiser Provence, a steamer of 3,941 tons, built in 1884, and owned in Marseilles, was sunk on Saturday in the Mediterranean. There were 1,800 men on board. Of that number, 696 have been landed, and 1,100 are missing. f French and British trawlers and destroyers have taken 296 of the survivors to Malta, and 400 men have been landed at Melos, According to the accounts of the occurrence given by survivors, no one on board the sunken cruiser saw a periscope of a submarine either before or after the disaster, and no track of a torpedo was seen. The observers and the gun crews remained at their posts until*the last moment. A number of boats are still at the scene of the wreck, and the search for bodies is being continued. SUNK WHILE TRANSPORTING 1 TROOPS TO SALONIKA. ; The High Commissioner cables under'date of London, February 29:—.. Tbe French auxiliary cruiser Provence was sunk on Saturday in the Central Mediterranean while transporting troops to Salonika. A total of 1,104 lives were lost.