Pirate's Dastardly Work - ' Another story of submarine outrage comes from Milford Haven, and once again very serious loss of life has to be recorded. The death roll, unless by some means the men have been rescued unknown to the survivors, amounts to 22 - seven British and 15 Chinese.
The steamship Strathnairn, of Glasgow, bound from Cardiff (Penarth, Port of Cardiff) with a cargo of coal, was torpedoed 25 miles off the Bishops (near Scilly Islands) which appears to be a favourite haunt of the pirates. The Strathnairn carried a crew of 33 hands, eight being British and the remainder Chinese.
Eleven survivors were brought into Milford Haven by the steam barge Thormond, the Chinese walking over the docks into the town barefoot with the few belongings that they could save, and were escorted to the John Cory Sailors' Rest for the night. One of them in broken English was able to give an outline of the tragic occurrence, and tried to describe how the boats capsized and his shipmates were lost. He also showed how the submarine crept round the ill-fated ship to the stern, apparently to ascertain her name.
One British Survivor. The only British survivor is the second officer, Mr. James Wood, of Belfast, who gave his version very clearly when met after reporting the affair. He said:
We left Cardiff at 8 o'clock on Tuesday night. The ship was struck by a torpedo without the slightest warning amidships, 25 miles north-east of the Bishops, Scillies. The force of it burst, the boiler and soon the ship listed heavily to port. We never saw the submarine till after she had done the foul work. Then she went within 20 feet of the sinking ship. As soon as possible after the ship was struck the four boats were got out. Mine, however, was the only one to get clear away, for one was smashed, and the other two capsized on being cut clear of davits. The captain and other officers were in these.
The submarine never offered to assist the solitary boat. In fact, Mr. Wood, observing the Strathnairn was not sinking quickly, pluckily attempted twice to get back to the ship but each time he was foiled by the submarine driving him on. He could not see the number of the submarine, as little more than the periscope was visible.
At 12.45 midnight they were picked up by the schooner Amanda, of Padstow, transferred to the steamer Rosabella, Chester, and at the entrance of Milford Haven were again transshipped to the Thormond.
[The Strathnairn was a steamer of 4,336 tons gross, owned by the Strathnairn Steamship Co., Ltd., of Glasgow. She was built in 1901.]
Two Survivors Landed at Swansea. Two survivors of the steamship Strathnairn, of Glasgow, which was torpedoed by a German submarine off the Scilly Isles, were landed at Swansea on Thursday. Their names are John C. Smith, of Glasgow; and a Chinaman, who is a British subject, belonging to Hong Kong.
These two men were picked up near the Scilly Isles by Messrs. T. W. Ward's boat, Abbotsford, and at the time they were clinging, to the bottom of an up-turned boat. They were 9½ hours in this predicament, and Mr. Smith had to lash the Chinaman to the boat to save him at all.
The two men were picked up in an exhausted condition at half-past six on Wednesday morning.
The Strathnairn was torpedoed without warning. The chief engineer fears there was an explosion on the port side, and this, he thinks, was the cause of the high death roll. Out of a crew of 33 hands, seven British and fifteen Chinese are still missing and believed to be drowned.
The skipper of the Abbotsford is Mr. Richard Noblett, and his attention was attracted to the two men by shouting from the water.
The Strathnairn, which was bound from Cardiff, with a cargo of coal, was torpedoed 25 miles off the Bishops (Scilly Isles), which appears to be a favourite haunt of the pirates. - Herald of Wales and Monmouthshire Recorder [915] [361] 19th June 1915. |
