THE LOST ITALIAN DREADNOUGHT

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2875, 13 September 1916, Page 5

THE LOST ITALIAN DREADNOUGHT

SINKING OF THE LEONARDO DA VINCI STORY OF THE DISASTER Australfan-Ncw Zealand Cable Association. (Rcc. September 12, 7.25 p.m.) , ' 1 Rome, September 12. An official statement, with regard to tho sipking of the Italian Dreadnought Leonardo Da: Vinci on August 2 last shows that.a fire broke out near the munitions section. Tho ship was flooded) but tho explosion caused the battleship to sink forty feet under water. A committee has J)con appointed to inquire, as to the best means of raising the warship. Regarding tho possibility of internal foul play, tho inquiry' disproved the suggestion of external enemy action; HEROIC MARTYRS TO DUTY. (Rec. September 12, 10.10 p.m;) London, September 12. The "Daily Chronicle's" correspondent at Rome states that tho catastrophe to the Leonardo l)a Vinci occurred at Taranto Harbour at midnight. An explosion,in the munitions section tore a hole forty feet squaro in the side of the battleship. Hoping to avert a further disaster, tlie commander ordered the bulkheads to bo opened, and the sliip was scuttled. Twenty-one officers and 227 of the crew sacrificed their livos by obeying tho order. Thirteen officers and men landed in torpedo boats, many of them wounded. The rest swam ashore, including the commander, who succumbed to his injuries later. [The Italian Dreadnought Leonardo Bit Vinci was completed in 1914. She registered; 22,340 tons, 23 knots; and carried a complement of 999. Her armament consisted of thirteen 12-inch guns, eighteen 4.7-inch guns, with smaller guns.]