OVER 500 FATALITIES.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 14787, 14 December 1918, Page 9

OVER 500 FATALITIES.

MAGNIFICENT HEROISM AND SEAMANSHIP. LONDON, Oct. 12, The loss of the British auxiliary cruiser Otranto after a collision off the Scottish coast on 'Sunday morning, October 6, was one of the most poignant tragedies of the war, redeemed m great part by the magnificent heroism of American Soldiers and British seamen. More than 360 American soldiers have not been accounted fijr, and it is feared they were lost* The horror of the affair is relieved by the glowing staries told of the heroism of the American troops and the thrilling conduct of Lieut. Craven, commanding a British destroyer, who with «timiig courage coupled with magnificent seamanship, succeeded m taking off a laige number of troops, despite , tho fact that he "was operating among j waves running seventy and eighty feet high, and with a wind blowing at hurricane force which every moment threatened to smash his speedy but frail craft against the larger but helpless Otranto, which wounded, was wallowing m the boiling sea. "he Kashmir, on orders of the Otranto, which was the flagship of the convoy, proceeded oil her passage and has^ reached port. r The Otranto and tho other vessels lof the convoy were battling with the j heavy soas and high winds Sunday morning. The storm was so severe and the visibility so bad that the Kashmir, a former Peninsular and -Oriental liner, crashed into the Otranto squarely amidships.

The voyage of the Otranto from New York was ill-fated from tho start to finish. "Usually the big liner, converted into a warship at the beginning of the war, and one of the few vessels that escaped from Admiral von Spec's German fleet when it Sank Admiral Craddock's fleet m South American waters early m the war, carried no troops, but on this occasion there was a surplus of 700 men remaining when the transport vessels m the American troop convoy received their complement. These soldiers were berthed on tho armed | Otranto. Unfortunately they were afflicted i ■with Spanish influenza during the eight j days the vessel was at sea. Sixty ont of the 700 American soldiers on the j Otranto died cf the influenza, and there were a number of other soldiers too sick to leave their beds, a circumstance which aggravated the honvrs of the wreck.

RAMMED AMIDSHIPS. The Otranto was nearing the British coast when very violent gales and mountainous seas were experienced. The seas ran so high pn last Sunday morning that it was for the officers of the Otranto to see the position of the vessels she was guarding. Nor could they make observations. They believed they were off the north coast of Ireland, when, as a -matter of fact, they were five miles south of Scottish Island.

At 7.30 o'clock Sunday morning the big transport Kashmir, suddeny lifted on the crest of a high wave, was sent crashing, inta the Otranto. Her bows struck the liner amidships, tearing a great hole m her side and flooding her engine room.

When the next wave carried the two great vessels apart, the Kashmir disappeared into the spray and those on board the Otranto saw her no. more. Fortunately, though her bows were stove m, the Kashmir's bulkheads held, her engines being unaffected, and she was able to reach port under her own steam, with all on board safe. Far otherwise was it with the illstarred Otranto. The Kashmir struck her just m front of the engine room and unfortunately her bulkheads did not hold. She was helpless m the gale; sbe could not Bteer and was driven along with a list of thirty to forty degrees. She could not use her wireless to summon help, for her engine power was dead and she could not work her dynamos.

In half an hour she had been driven ashoro on the rocks of the Island of Islay, which rise high above the surface of the sea. Here Captain Davidson succeeded m anchoring for a brief time, and, thanks -to this respite, several soldiei'S were able to get ashore over the precipitous rocks.

BRAVE SEAMEN TO THE RESCUE

In the teeth of the tremendous gale, there came dashing down through the mists' the ' British destroyer Mounsey, commanded- by a Bxitish 'officer — a hero clear- through, — Lieutenant-Commander Craven, of equal courage and seamanship. It is thanks to his combination of . these qualities that his craft was able to parry many men away from the doomed ship. The task of getting the men off the Otranto was one of infinite hazard, as the big 12,000-ton liner was rising and falling with every wave, and it was impossible to launch lifeboats because of the high breakers. The only chance was for the destroyer to come down imder the lee of the big ship, and when she rose on each wave, for troops and crew* to jump for their lives. i The imminent danger that, the little destroyer, with her eggshell hull, would by. smashed against tho sides of "Ehe stranded liner was doubly faced. The heavy seas washed over h&i* decks constantly and smothered her civw and her funnels m huge* clouds of spray. The Otranto's lifeboats were partially lowered on their davits to act as fenders between the plunging vessels. Tho American soldiers wero lined up on the decks of the Otranto along with the crew of the liner. Wonderful mih fcavy discipline prevailed. There was not even the slightest sign of panic. It was the ordeal of the Birkenhead (a British transport wrecked off the coast of Africa) all over again, for each man there knew the tiny destroyer could not carry away more than half of them.. With perfect discipline and unwavering -courage those newly-made American soldiers obeyed the orders of their officers to> take off- their heavy field boots and ove'reoats and jump to the decks of the little destroyer, far down under them, plunging m each wave. There was a distance of fifteen feet and the jump had to be nicely timed. ONIiY A SECOND BETWEEN LIFE AND DEATH. Thoße who jumped a fraction of a second too soon fell into the sea and were drowned before the eyes of their helpleßS comrades, while those who jumped a fraction of a second too late were crushed to death between the two ships. The first attempt to reach the liner nearly wrecked tho whole scheme. Thomas L. Campbell, an American V.M.C.A. secretary from Memphis, Term., who was on board the Otranto during the tragic scene described it as follows : — "Suddenly a huge wave dashed the destroyer against the Otranto'B side. The lifeboats were smashed to flinders and the destroyer was damaged by the impact. Her wireless headlights and part of -her bridge were carried away. She began .to make water, but Lieuten-ant-Commander Craven and his men stuok grimly by us. . - "Four times the destroyer manoeuvred alongside us. m imminent peril each time to herself, and eacli time men jumped with the same result, some falling short and others reaching the destroyer's decks. "Some who landed safely— eight men, maybe — were washed off the destroyer arid drowned.' Some had arms broken and some had legs broken. One man had his jawbone fractured by the fall. One soldier who fell on a stay rope after jumping was literally cut m two. "It was the third attempt by the destroyer to oomo alongside when I jumped^ I fell a little short, but managed to grasp a side rail and , haul myself on board the Motnisey. "At the fourth impact, we afterwards learned, the destroyer's oil tank began to leak and the. condition of the vesso] lipcjimo i'priou! 3 ."