TUBANTIA TORPEDOED BY THE HUNS.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 67, 18 March 1916, Page 5

TUBANTIA TORPEDOED BY THE HUNS.

SEVERAL LIVES BELIEVED TO BE LOST. INDIGNATION IN HOLLAND AT DISASTER. / (Received 10.55 a.m.) , LONDON, March 17. It is officially announced that the Dutch liner Tubantia was torpedoed. The latest reports indicate that several lives were lost. Before the official announcement the Dutch newspapers and public were indignant at the sinking of the Tubantia. and insisted that no credit attaches to the Germane if no live 3 were lost. There is no rea to expect floating mines in tl\at area of the North Sea. If the submarine laid a mine it must have been for the deliberate purpose of sinking the Tubantia, whose hour of sailing and route were well known. The Tpbantia's first and fourth officers and the lookout man have eworn affidavits that the ship was torpedoed. They clearly saw the wake of the torpedo. Mr. Schilling. American Consul at Stuttgart, who was a passenger, says that the ship was mined. LOOKOUT SIGHTS THE WEAPON BEFORE EXPLOSION. VESSEL SINKS THREE HOURS AFTER BEING STRUCK. LONDON, March 17. It is now positively asserted that the Dutch liner Tubantia was sunk by a submarine. A meseage from Rotterdam states that the Tubantia was approaching the North Hinder lightship, off the Dutch coast, at 2 a.m. It was very dark and a high sea was running. The explosion caused by the torpedo, which the lookout saw coming, rent a great hole in the liner amidships. Despite the darkness, and the fact that many of the passengers were thrown out of their bunks, there was no panic. The Marconi operator pluckily sent out wireless distress signals to the last. The captain left the bridge a few minutes before the vessel disappeared. He confirms the report that she was torpedoed, and says that there was an immense explosion. The Tubantia sank three hours after being struck. A Dutch steamer is bringing the survivors to Amsterdam.