SINKING OF THE BRITANNIC.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume III, Issue 872, 25 November 1916, Page 2

SINKING OF THE BRITANNIC.

DASTARDLY WORK OF SUBMARINE. S.O.S. CALL COUNTERMANDED BY ENEMY. BOATS CAUGHT IN PROPELLER AND SMASHED. "By Cable. — Press Association. — Copyright. Australian and N.Z. Cable Association. ATHENS, November 24. One hundred and fifty survivors of the Britannic have landed at Pirams. The steamer was torpedoed Avhile members of the Royal Army Medical Corps and nurses were at breakfast. The boats were quickly swung out, but after 20 minutes it was difficult to launch them, owing to the heavy list, despite the special appliances. Three of the first boats launched were caught in the screws and cut to pieces, most of the people in them perishing. Some of the crew were caught by the explosion, and egress from the forward part of the vessel was cut off. Two navigating officers who were on deck state that they saw the wake of tivo torpedoes. The captain is also convinced that the disaster was due to torpedoes. After the disaster the Britannic ? s wireless sent out the "SO.S." call. A neighbouring destroyer received the signal, and replied, '' Hastening to the rescue,'' but the destroyer received another message, countermanding the distress signal. This was given out by a German submarine in a dastardly attempt to stop help reaching the victims. The destroyer momentarily turned back, but discovered the cowardly trick when further urgent calls were received. This was the vessel's sixth voyage as a hospital ship. At the time of the explosion she was steaming 12 knots. The explosion accounted for many of the deaths. The engines were not harmed. The captain tried to beach the Britannic until the forward dip became too pronounced. Thirty boats were afloat before the list prevented the proper launching of the rest. • Two hundred men who were remaining on the decks were ordered to break their ranks, and advised to jump into the water. Instead, they went to the upper deck and threw the rafts overboard. Meanwhile a shocking tragedy occurred. The propellers were on a level with the water, and several boats and rafts were drawn into the whirlpool. It was an awful sight to see the poor fellows struggle . against the inevitable when they saw that their boat was doomed to encounter the propeller blades. Most of them tried to escape by jumping into the water. The screws caught the boats with a ripping and smashing sound, and flung human beings into the air, cut and mutilated. The Britannic went down with a slow, gradual movement. Probably the engines shifted to starboard, as the vessel lurched to starboard before going down. As each great funnel touched the water it was ripped off like a piece of brown paper and fell to port.