sel was struck by a torpedo, this being the first intimation that the passengers had of a submarine in the vicinity. It was 1.05 when the vessel was hit and it sank at 1.10 p. m. Nothing was seen indicating the presence of a submarine. After the explosion I rushed to the deck and previous to the sinking of the ship I jumped into the sea and must have gone down at least fifty feet. When I came to the surface I climbed into a small boat together with some other 28 men. We remained in this boat, keeping it afloat with great difficulty for thirty-one hours, when we were picked up by the Ning Chow and brought to Malta. Only eleven men of the crowd originally on the boat survived, four Europeans and seven Arabs. MAFESSANTI BENVENUTO. Sworn to and subscribed before me this 9th day of January, 1916. WILBUR KEBLINGER, American Consul, Malta. [Seal of the American Consulate.] Ambassador Gerard to the Secretary of State. [Telegram-Paraphrase.] AMERICAN EMBASSY, Berlin, January 17, 1916. Mr. Gerard reports that he has been informed by German Under Secretary Zimmermann that all German submarines have now reported and that a German submarine did not cause the sinking of the Persia. No. 1217.] Ambassador Penfield to the Secretary of State. AMERICAN EMBASSY, Vienna, January 22, 1916. SIR: Confirming my telegram No. 11031 of to-day's date I have the honor to inclose herewith a copy and translation of a note from the Austro-Hungarian Minister for Foreign Affairs disclaiming any participation of an Austro-Hungarian submarine in the sinking of the S. S. Persia, on which my telegram above referred to was based. FREDERIC C. PENFIELD. I have, etc., 1 Not printed. [Inclosure-Translation.] The Austro-Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs to Ambassador No. 282.] Penfield. I. AND R. MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS, The undersigned has the honor, pursuant to his note No. 49 of the 5th instant, to inform His Excellency the Ambassador of the United States of America, with the request to notify his Government thereof, that in the meanwhile all the Austro-Hungarian submarines have returned from their voyages and no one of them comes into consideration in connection with the sinking of the Persia. The undersigned avails himself of this opportunity to renew to His Excellency the Ambassador of the United States the expression of his highest consideration. BURIAN. The Secretary of State to Chargé Philip. [Telegram-Paraphrase.] DEPARTMENT OF STATE, Washington, February 2, 1916. Mr. Lansing informs Mr. Philip that the Department is in receipt of advices that on December 30, 1915, the P. and O. line steamer Persia, British, which carried at 4.7 gun, while southeast of Crete about forty miles and about three hundred miles northwest of Alexandria was sunk without warning by an explosion which occurred on the port side, caused by a torpedo. Immediately before the ship was sunk the wake of the torpedo was seen, and in a few minutes the ship sunk, so that it was possible to launch only a few of the vessel's boats. Two or more American citizens, one of them an American Consular representative, en route to Aden, lost their lives as a result of the destruction of the vessel. Mr. Philip is instructed formally to bring this matter to the attention of the Turkish Government, and to request that he be informed as to whether the sinking of the Persia was caused by a submarine operating under the instructions of that Government, or by one carrying the Turkish flag. Ambassador W. H. Page to the Secretary of State. No. 3073.] AMERICAN EMBASSY, London, February 17, 1916. SIR: With reference to my telegram No. 3805 of to-day's date, I have the honor to transmit herewith inclosed copies of a Note dated February 16th, which I have now received from the Foreign Office, transmitting copies of twelve further statements which have been made by the chief officer, second officer, and second engineer of the S. S. Persia, together with copies of statements made by the surviving engineers, able seamen, and carpenter of that vessel, in regard to her loss. I have, etc., WALTER HINES PAGE. [Inclosure.] The British Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs to Ambassador W. H. Page. YOUR EXCELLENCY: FOREIGN OFFICE, With reference to my note of the 29th ultimo, I have the honor to transmit to Your Excellency herewith, for the information of the United States Government, copies of further statements by the chief officer, second officer, and second engineer of the S. S. Persia, together with copies of statements by the surviving engineers, able seamen, and carpenter of that vessel, in regard to her loss. I have, etc., (For Sir E. Grey :) W. LANGLEY. I, Harold Geoffrey Stephen Wood, of "Westeria," 14 Holmes Road, Twickenham, second officer of the Peninsular and Oriental Company's steamship Persia, make oath and say as follows: I hold a certificate as second mate and have been an Officer in the P. and O. Company's service since March, 1913. I have been in the Persia since June, 1914. On the 30th December last I went on watch at noon and found the captain in personal charge of the navigation. There was a seaman on the lookout in the crow's nest, another on the forecastle, and an A. B. and a lascar on duty at their stations, also looking out on the lower bridge, one on either side in addition to the A. B. with me at the wheel. There were also three of the gun's crew on the poop aft, viz., two A. B.'s aft and one marine gunner. At 1.10 p. m. Captain Hall was on the lower bridge, and I then saw the wake of a torpedo approaching (four points on the port bow) the ship, a second before she was struck. I had not sighted a submarine myself nor had anything been reported to me nor was any warning given. As soon as the ship was struck I attempted to give the the five-blast signal on the whistle which had been agreed upon to order all to their boat stations, but could not work the whistle, as the steam had gone. I then ran down to the lower bridge and asked Captain Hall if I could help with the secret dispatches, and he answered, "No; I am attending to them myself; get out the port boats as quickly as possible and look after your passengers. I left the bridge and went aft, as directed, taking my life belt on the way. The Captain had been personally in charge of the navigation all the day directing and verifying the courses and had not, I gather, been down to the saloon to lunch. The weather was fine, but the sea was choppy and it would have been difficult to see the periscope of a submarine, although all were on the alert for such a contingency. The torpedo struck the ship on the port side just abaft the forward funnel and probably fractured the bulkhead separating No. 3 hold (one of the largest holds) from the stoke hold. After the first explosion caused by the torpedo there almost immediately followed another explosion, and as I saw no second torpedo I concluded one of the boilers had blown up, partly because of the quantity of steam which was rising and for the reason I could not get steam for the whistle, and also from the fracture there was in the deck through which coal and ashes had been blown. There were 20 boats on the Persia, 10 on either side of the ship, which would accommodate nearly 1,000 people and sufficient, even with the starboard boats out of service, to accommodate all the persons on board. One of the boats on the port side No. 6 was blown away by the first explosion, but the crew were going to their appointed stations, as prearranged, and when I reached the poop Nos. 14 and 16 boats were already being properly lowered. I then looked to the two inside boats and found their gripes had been already released so as to enable them to float when the ship went down, so I went over to the starboard side to see if anything could be done to release any of the boats there, and found the third engineer trying to clear away No. 15 starboard boat, which had a number of people in it, but the boat, owing to the ship's list, was caught on the eyebrows of the ports, so I called out to the people in the boat to jump into the water, which was the only thing for them to do. I saw No. 14 port boat clear, but No. 16 was sunk by the ship's davits cutting it as the vessel went over. The Persia went down under my feet, and when I got into the water, I saw two empty boats floating with no one in them, evidently the inside boats No. 14A and 13A, the gripes of which had been released to admit of their floating when the ship sank. I swam to one of them and just as I got hold of it it turned turtle, and I then went to the other, got into it, and picked up altogether 43 people from the water, subsequently taking five more out of the Chief Officer's boat, which was overloaded. Everybody behaved exceedingly well, both passengers and crew, and if there had been only a few minutes' more time we should have, I believe, saved pretty well everybody on board. (Signed) H. G. S. WOOD, 2d Officer. Sworn by the above named Harold Geoffrey Stephen Wood at No. 122 Leadenhall Street, in the city of London, this twentieth day of January, 1916, Before me. (Signed) JOHN A. DONNISON, Chargé Philip to the Secretary of State. [Telegram-Paraphrase.] AMERICAN EMBASSY, Constantinople, March 8, 1916. Mr. Phillip reports receipt of a note verbale dated March seventh from the Sublime Porte, stating that the Persia was not sunk by a submarine flying the Turkish flag, and that as all naval vessels under the instructions of the Government of Turkey must fly the flag of Turkey, it therefore could not have been a Turkish submarine or a submarine acting under instructions of the Government of Turkey. Russian barkentine Imperator with cargo timber from Gulfport, Mississippi, bound for Marseille, France, thrice shot at by cannon 'For additional correspondence concerning the Imperator, see Special Supplement, 1916, pp. 305-306. |