A SURVIVOR'S EVIDENCE

Evening Post, Volume XCI, Issue 143, 17 June 1916, Page 5

A SURVIVOR'S EVIDENCE

LORD KITCHENER'S COOLNESS.

LONDON,! 16th June.

Seaman Rogorson, a survivor from the Hampshire, gave evidence that it was not true that Lord Kitchener's boat was overturned. "He did not leave the ship. I saw Captain Saville help the boat ctow to clear tha way to the galley, and heard him calling to Lord Kitchener to go to the boat, but owing to the noise of the wind and the sea, Lord Kitchener apparently failed to hear him.

"When the ■explosion occurred, Lord Kitchener walked calmly from the captain's cabin and climbed the ladder to the quarter-deck. I saw him walking quite coolly and collectedly, talking to two officers. All jtvere in khaki, without overcoats. Lord Kitchener was not the least perturbed, but calmly awaited the preparations to abandon the ship, which were proceeding in a steady and orderly way.

"Owing to the rough weather, no boats could bo lowered. What the people on shore thought were boats were three rafts. Some of the men got into the boats, thinking that if the ship went down the boats would float, but the sliip sank by the head and and turned a somersault forward, engulfing the boats and those on board.

"When I sprang on to a raft, Lord Kitchener was still on the starboard side of the quarter-deck, talking to Ins officers, and not giving any outward sign of nervousness. So little time elapsed between my leaving the ship and the sinking-that I feel certain that Lord Kitchener went down with her, standing on the deck."

Rogerson had terrible experiences on the raft. The battering of the sea killed many, while others died in the fearful cold. "An almost overpowering desire to sleep overcame us. We thumped each other on the back, as no sleeper ever woke. The fury of the sea dashed the raft on the rocks with tremendous force.

"I am not sure how I got ashore. It was impossible for a submarine to have torpedoed the Hampshire in such weather. Probably a mine exploded under the forepart of the ship. It was hard hick for the Hampshire to come through the Battle of Jutland and come to such an end."

Other survivors state that the weather was so rough that the two destroyers which were escorting the Hampshire were sent, back.