ON THE HIGH SEAS

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 144778, 7 September 1915, Page 3

ON THE HIGH SEAS

HESPERIAN SUNK AFTER ALL. ANOTHER VESSEL LOST. (Received Sept. 7, 8.30 a.m.) LONDON, Sept. 6. The British steamer Cymbeline has been sunk. Thirty-one of the crew landed. Six were killed and six injured. The crew of tho Hesperian was rescued before the vessel foundered, and this morning landed at Queenstown. ATTACK ON THE HESPERIAN. TORPEDOED WITHOUT WARNING. LONDON, Sept. 6, The Hesperian was steaming at sixteen knots, when suddenly a cry of “Submarine on the starboard quarter!” startled the passengers, who were'promenading tho docks after dinner. The shout had scarcely reached the bridge when an explosion like a cannon-shot occurred. The vessel trembled violently, and a column of'water fifty feet high shot up, flooding the deck. Many passengers dashed, for their cabins for lifebelts. There was much confusion, but no panic. Captain Maino sent out the wireless “5.0.5.” and filed rockets. Three warships responded. Lowering boats in tho darkness was difficult, but the sea was like glass, otherwise the loss of life would have been appalling. One lifeboat capsized and the oecngants were thrown into the water, ome were swimming for fifteen minutes before being picked up. An elderly ladv was picked up dead from shock. Otters, disregarding the boats, slid down ropes or dived into the water. The result was that sixty people were often in a boat that was intended for forty, and was in danger of swamping owing to overcrowding. While awaiting rescue the passengers were in the best of spirits. Some sang “Tipperary” and others “Lead, Kindly Light.” They anxiously awaited the expected final plunge of tho Hesperian, but she remained afloat and kept sending up rockets. The first warship arrived at 9.30 and took aboard the .survivors .from the lifeboats, including 12 Canadian officers and 38 wounded soldiers. Tho American Consul has not traced any United States passengers, though some of tho crew are American. The submarine was within two hundred yards when she launched her missile. It missed the engineroom by twenty feet.