Chapter III: The Pirate as Barbarian

"_We Germans represent the latest and highest achievement of European Kultur._"[D]--PROFESSOR A. LASSON.

On the 25th November, 1914, the British Admiralty announced that on 26th October, 1914, the French passenger steamer _Amiral Ganteaume_, while on passage from Calais to Havre with upwards of 2,000 unarmed refugees, including a very large proportion of women and children on board, was torpedoed. By pure chance and the greatest good fortune, the British steamship _Queen_ was within a short distance of the _Amiral Ganteaume_, and succeeded in rescuing most of the passengers, only about 40 being killed. Subsequent examination of one of the vessel's damaged life-boats led to the discovery of a fragment of a German torpedo. The Admiralty announcement concluded:--

"This action of destroying with aim and deliberation in broad daylight a defenceless passenger ship, full of refugees, is on the whole the best specimen of German methods yet recorded."

On the 10th April, 1915, at 9.55 a.m., the Belgian relief-ship _Harpalyce_ was torpedoed without warning 26 miles from land. At the time of the attack the vessel was flying the Belgian Relief Commission's flag and displaying screens on both sides, marked: "Commission Belgian Relief, Rotterdam," in letters 2½ feet high. The ship had also been granted a safe conduct by the German consul at the Hague. After being struck she went down by the stern and sank in five minutes. Seventeen of the crew, including the master, were lost. As the ship sank, the third officer saw the periscope of a submarine going away to the northward.

The liner _Lusitania_ was 30,395 tons gross register; she carried 1,257 passengers, and a crew of 702, making a total of 1,959 persons on board. Of the passengers 688 were men, 440 women, and 129 children. When 11 miles from land on the 17th May, 1915, at 2.15 p.m., the ship was struck on the starboard side, almost simultaneously, by two torpedoes, while a third, which missed the ship, was fired at her port side shortly afterwards.

On being struck, the vessel took a heavy list to starboard. This made it impossible to launch the port side boats properly, and rendered it very difficult for the passengers to get into the starboard boats, which were thrown too far outboard. The port boats, of course, came inboard, and some of them, catching on the rail, were capsized.

Those which did reach the water were seriously damaged and leaking. The ship sank in less than twenty minutes after being struck, and 1,198 men, women, and children were consequently drowned.

Perhaps the most effective comment upon the destruction of the _Lusitania_ may be found in the German Naval Prize Regulations. This is Article 116:--

"Before the destruction of a vessel, all persons on board are to be placed in safety, with their goods and chattels, if possible, and all ship's papers and other relevant documents which, in the opinion of the parties interested, are of value for the decision of the Prize Court are to be taken over by the commander."

The American protest against the sinking of the _Lusitania_ was answered by the German Note of 8th July, 1915, extracts from which are here given:--

"The Imperial Government learned with satisfaction how earnestly the Government of the United States is concerned in seeing that the principles of humanity are realised in the present war. This appeal also finds a ready echo in Germany, and the Imperial Government is quite willing to permit its statements and decisions in the present case to be governed by the principles of humanity, just as it has always done.... Germany has always been tenacious of the principle that war should be conducted against the armed and organised forces of an enemy country but that the enemy civilian population must be spared as far as possible from the measures of war.... If the commander of the submarine which destroyed the _Lusitania_ had caused the crew and passengers to take to the boats before firing a torpedo this would have meant the certain destruction of his own vessel.... It was to be expected that a mighty ship like the _Lusitania_ would remain above water long enough, even after the torpedoing of the vessel, to permit the passengers to enter the ship's boats. Circumstances of a very peculiar kind, especially the presence on board of large quantities of highly-explosive materials, defeated this expectation. In addition, it may be pointed out that if the _Lusitania_ had been spared thousands of cases of ammunition would have been sent to Germany's enemies, and thereby thousands of German mothers and children would have been robbed of their bread-winners.... The Imperial Government will always be ready to do all it can in the present war to prevent the jeopardising of the lives of American citizens. The Imperial Government, therefore, repeats its assurances that American ships will not be hindered in the prosecution of legitimate shipping, and that the lives of American citizens on neutral vessels shall not be placed in jeopardy."

On the 1st September, 1915, Count Bernstorff handed the following written communication to Mr. Lansing:--

"MY DEAR SECRETARY,

"In reference to our conversation of this day, I beg to inform you that my instructions concerning our answer to your last _Lusitania_ Note contain the following passage: 'Liners will not be sunk by submarines without warning, and without ensuring the safety of the lives of non-combatants, provided that the liners do not try to escape or offer resistance.'"

The passenger steamer _Arabic_, a vessel of 15,801 tons gross register, was outward bound to America on the 19th August, 1915, when at 9.30 a.m. she was torpedoed without warning, being then 45 miles from land. She carried 176 passengers and 261 crew, 437 in all. The submarine appears to have been hiding behind a steamer, which had been stopped and was then sinking. While hidden thus, the U-boat submerged and headed for the _Arabic_, which she torpedoed before anyone on board had become aware of her presence. The force of the explosion blew one of the boats into the air and disabled the wireless telegraphy apparatus. The ship sank in about 10 minutes. Thanks to the good seamanship and courage of her officers and crew, 390 persons were embarked in the boats before the vessel went down, only 47 lives being lost. As soon as the torpedo had been discharged the periscope of the submarine disappeared.

With regard to the sinking of the _Arabic_, Count Bernstorff sent the following communication to Mr. Lansing:--

"Prompted by the desire to reach a satisfactory agreement with regard to the _Arabic_ incident, my Government has given me the following instructions:--

"The orders issued by His Imperial Majesty to the commanders of
German submarines, of which I have notified you on a previous
occasion, have been made so stringent that a recurrence of
incidents similar to that of the _Arabic_ case is considered out
of the question. According to the report of Commander Schneider
of the submarine which sank the _Arabic_, Commander Schneider is
convinced that the _Arabic_ intended to ram his submarine. On the
other hand, the Imperial Government does not doubt the good faith
of the affidavit of the British officers in the _Arabic_, according
to which the _Arabic_ did not intend to ram the submarine.

"The attack of the submarine was undertaken against the
instructions issued to the commander. The Imperial Government
regrets and disavows this act, and has notified Commander Schneider
accordingly.

"In these circumstances my Government is prepared to pay an
indemnity for the American lives which, to its deep regret, have
been lost in the _Arabic_. I am authorised to negotiate with you
about the amount of this indemnity."

The statement of Commander Schneider that he thought the _Arabic_ would ram him cannot be accepted. If it were true, the ship would have been struck in her fore part. This, as Colonel Concannon, of the White Star Line, has pointed out, was not the case. The _Arabic_ was struck aft. No effort was made to ram the submarine, for it was not seen, and no attempt was made to escape for the same reason. No guns were mounted on the _Arabic_.

The _Ashmore_ was a Belgian Relief ship. She had a crew of 28 hands and was carrying a cargo of maize from Rosario to the Belgian Relief Commission, Rotterdam. In accordance with the regulations agreed upon between the German Government and the Relief Commission, the _Ashmore_ was flying flags, had two very large balls hoisted, and the words: "Commission for Relief in Belgium" painted in very large letters on her sides.

On the 12th September at 8.30 a.m. the weather was fine and clear and the sea smooth, the ship then being about 3½ miles E. by N. from the Kentish Knock. Most of the crew were at breakfast, while the boatswain and chief engineer were patrolling the after-deck. Both men were in the act of turning round, the boatswain to starboard and the engineer to port, when the former saw a streak in the water at close quarters to amidships. Before the boatswain could give the alarm a terrible explosion took place. A volume of smoke, coal dust and water was driven up through the engine-room skylight and the starboard side of the vessel, which immediately began to heel over to starboard. The two boats were launched and manned, but the second engineer, donkeyman, and two firemen were never seen again, and must have been killed by the explosion. The _Ashmore_ sank at about 9 a.m.

The two boats were picked up about the same time, and the survivors were landed at Chatham. In connection with this sinking, the following message was sent by the American Ambassador in London to the Secretary of State at Washington:--

"The Admiralty has confirmed to the Commission for the Relief of
Belgium the sinking of the Relief-ship _Ashmore_ yesterday. Four
of the crew are missing. The ship had a cargo of maize which the
Commission had bought afloat. The captain now in London informs the
Commission that the ship was torpedoed, that he saw no submarine,
but plainly saw the torpedo coming towards the ship, and that
the Commission's signals had been put up. This is, of course, in
violation of the German Government's agreement with the Commission."

At 1.10 p.m. on the 30th December, 1915, the s.s. _Persia_ was torpedoed without warning when 40 miles from land. The second officer, in charge on the bridge, saw the wake of an approaching torpedo on the port bow, and a moment later there was a violent explosion. This was followed by a second explosion, which, in the opinion of the chief and second officers, was caused by the bursting of a boiler. The vessel at once listed over to the port side and went down in five minutes. No boats on the starboard side could be launched owing to the list, and several on the port side were swamped, torn away, or capsized, owing to the way which was still on the ship. One port-side boat had been smashed by the explosion, another was pressed under water by the davits, as the ship rolled over to port. Only five boats got away, 213 of the crew and 120 passengers losing their lives, through the explosion or by drowning. Four over-loaded boats were adrift for 30 hours before being picked up by a mine-sweeper. The fifth boat, which had been damaged, capsized several times, and contained only 11 survivors when picked up at 8 p.m. on the 31st by another steamer.

The upshot of the _Persia_ affair was that Count Bernstorff submitted an official memorandum to the United States Government, stating that Germany proposed to conduct her submarine campaign according to the rules of international law. The Germans admitted that it was possible that a German submarine sank the _Persia_, and promised that, if this were so, the guilty captain would be punished.

The _Euphrates_ was a Belgium Relief ship which left Rotterdam in January, 1917, bound for Sandy Hook in ballast. She was provided with a German safe conduct at Rotterdam to cover her voyage back to the States. She flew the Belgian flag aft, and exhibited the Relief Commission's signals by day and night. In daylight these consisted of a white square flag, bearing in the centre the words "Belgian Relief Commission" in red letters, a white pennant with the same words in the centre, also in red letters, and a ball painted with red and white vertical stripes above distinguishing flags, all at the foremast. At night the words "Belgian s.s. _Euphrates_, Relief Commission, Rotterdam," brilliantly illuminated in large letters, extended from about amidships, on both sides, to the stern.

At 8 o'clock in the morning of 22nd January, 1917, the weather was clear, with a smooth sea and hardly any wind. A man named Somers was on deck at the time, and swears that the ship was displaying the daylight signals already described. At 8.30 a violent explosion occurred, and the ship began to sink rapidly by the stern. The crew were ordered on deck, but a second explosion threw them all into the sea. One boat was smashed to pieces while afloat, the others went down with the ship.

Somers and some others clung to the smashed boat but afterwards Somers and the boatswain swam after some hatches and managed to climb on one. At about 3 p.m. Somers lost sight of the boatswain. At about 9.30 p.m. Somers was picked up by a boat from the British steamer _Trevean_, which had been sunk soon after the _Euphrates_. Some of the men in the boat told Somers that they had seen the Relief ship sunk, but the Germans prevented them from rendering any assistance. Somers was the sole survivor out of a crew of 33.

At the end of January, 1917, the German Government issued its Note on the subject of unrestricted submarine warfare. This document pointed out that the attempt of the Central Powers to bring about peace had failed "on account of the lust of conquest of their adversaries." For this reason "the Imperial Government must now continue the war for existence once more forced upon it by using its weapons. The Imperial Government is, therefore, forced to do away with the restrictions hitherto imposed upon the use of its fighting forces at sea."

Neutral ships plying within the new barred zones were informed that they would do so at their own risk, although precautions would be taken to protect neutral ships which sailed thither prior to the 1st February. In a Note to the United States, Germany declared that she must abandon the limitations which had hitherto governed the employment of her weapons at sea, and added: "Neutral ships which are lying in harbours in the barred zones can with security still leave the barred zones if they depart before 5th February, and take the shortest route to a free zone."

In the middle of February, 1917, Berlin issued an official telegram explaining that the period of grace for neutral steamers whom news of the blockade could not reach in time elapsed on the night of the 12th February as regards the zone in the Atlantic and English Channel. For the North Sea the period of grace expired on the night of the 6th February, and for the Mediterranean on the night of the 10th. This telegram concluded: "It is expressly stated that all the news spread from the enemy side regarding torpedoing without previous warning of neutral ships before the dates mentioned for the various blockaded zones is incorrect. The periods of grace mentioned were also in force for enemy passenger vessels, because it was possible that on them were neutral passengers who were perhaps without knowledge of the sea blockade."

The Danish vessel _Lars Kruse_ was a Belgian Relief steamer, which in February, 1917, was carrying a cargo of grain from Buenos Ayres to Rotterdam for the Belgian Relief Commission. She bore the neutral Commission's flags and markings, as described in the case of the _Euphrates_; and it must also be remembered that the German authorities in the United States had stated specifically that they did not mean to interfere with Relief ships. Nevertheless, at 10 p.m. on the 3rd February, when 16 miles off Ushant, the _Lars Kruse_ was torpedoed without warning, her crew of 18 being all drowned, except the chief engineer.

On the 27th March, 1917, the British steamer _Thracia_ was 10 miles N.N.E. of Belle Isle, travelling at a speed of 7 knots, the time being 8.15 p.m. She was suddenly torpedoed without warning by a German submarine, being struck forward of the stokehold. The explosion burst her boilers, killing an engineer, a greaser, and two firemen. Immediately after the explosion the steamer went down by the head to starboard before any attempt could be made to lower the boats. Her crew of 38 all perished, except two men, one of whom, Douglas V. Duff, acting fourth officer, has described his experiences.

Duff went down with the ship, and on coming to the surface, swam to an upturned boat--the starboard life-boat, which had had her stern blown off. Seven other men clambered on to her, two of whom had been severely wounded. Both these men were soon washed off the boat. Three of the remaining six slipped back into the sea, in order to swim to a steamer which was visible about a mile away; but a few minutes afterwards the steamer went away. The three men did not return. There were now two other men on the boat besides Duff, and although he did not actually see them go, there is no doubt that they were both washed away by the sea.

At about 11 p.m. a black object came into view, and Duff was hailed in English by the German commander, who asked what ship he had sunk, where she was from, and what was her destination. Duff answered all the questions. The commander then said, "I am going to shoot you." Duff told him to shoot away; but the commander replied that he would not waste powder on a pig of an Englishman, and added, "Drown, you swine! Drown!" The submarine then disappeared. At 10.30 next morning Duff was picked up by a French fishing-boat, and afterwards transferred to a French torpedo-boat. The only other survivor was picked up by a Norwegian steamer, the _Nordborg_, and landed at Barry.

In the evening of the 17th April the hospital ship _Lanfranc_ and s.s. _Donegal_ were transporting wounded across the Channel. The _Lanfranc_ carried 234 wounded British officers and men, 167 wounded German prisoners, a medical personnel of 52, and a crew of 123. The s.s. _Donegal_ carried a number of slightly wounded, all of whom were British. Between 7 and 8 p.m. both ships were torpedoed without warning.

The Germans on board the _Lanfranc_ at once made a rush for the boats. They managed to launch one, but it was overloaded and swamped. The British soldiers stood to attention and behaved with great coolness, as also did the medical staff and crew. As a result of the outrage two wounded British officers and 11 other ranks were drowned, as well as one of the R.A.M.C. and five of the crew. Of the Germans, two wounded officers and 13 other ranks were drowned. The casualties in the _Donegal_ amounted to 41.

This outrageous German crime was the sequel to a series of accusations by the Berlin Government to the effect that Great Britain was misusing her hospital ships. The evidence produced by the Germans in support of their assertions proved to be of a flimsy and wholly untrustworthy character, as the following examples taken from the British Government White Paper, Miscellaneous, No. 16 (1917), will show.

A man named Alexander Buttler, of Hamburg, swore that he had sailed in the s.s. _Escaut_ from Brooklyn to La Rochelle, where he arrived about the middle of July, 1915. There he saw a British hospital ship being loaded with munitions from the _Escaut_, which carried no cargo but munitions of war: The reply of the British Government was as follows:--"No British hospital ship was at La Rochelle during July, 1915. All British hospital ships have their names painted distinctly on them in the usual place, and all fly the Red Cross flag and the British defaced Blue Ensign worn by transports. The credibility of the witness may be judged from the fact that the log of the steamship _Escaut_, on which he claims to have been serving, shows that that vessel called neither at La Rochelle nor at La Pallice in June, July or August, 1915, and that she was fitted at the time for the transport of horses. He cannot have been in a position to know that the ship on which he served, if his story is not entirely fabricated, carried no cargo but munitions of war."

Another witness is thus described by the German Government:--"... merchant, a Dutch subject, living at Rotterdam," ... declared that he was at Cardiff on business from the beginning of December to the end of January, 1916. About the middle of December the hospital ship _Formosa_ arrived, was docked and took in coal and a number of cases. On the 29th December about 300 infantrymen in marching order were taken on board, besides about 50 naval officers who went on board on the 1st January, the date of departure. He adds: "I can confidently assert that the soldiers and the 50 naval officers sailed with her."

To this the British Government replied:--"The witness's statement that the _Formosa_ arrived at Cardiff about the middle of December is incorrect. She was at Belfast from the 16th November to the 30th December, 1915, and did not arrive at Cardiff till the 2nd January, 1916. His statement that she left Cardiff in the night of the 1st and 2nd January is therefore also incorrect. It is, moreover, contradicted by the witness cited by the German Government in Annex 14, who states that the _Formosa_ was still at Cardiff on the 7th January. She actually left Cardiff for the Mediterranean on the 13th January with no passengers on board."

It was on the strength of such trumped-up evidence as this that Germany decided to commit the crowning inhumanity of sinking hospital ships. In all probability, she was judging others by her own standards, and, knowing that in Britain's position she would not have hesitated to misuse hospital ships, she came to the conclusion that the British Government was doing so. Her unfounded charges were denied. In a despatch dated 5th October, 1917, Mr. Balfour stated:--"His Majesty's Government have already issued the most categorical denial of the assertions of the German Government that British hospital ships have ever been used except in accordance with the provisions of the Hague Convention."

However, Germany was not to be deterred from her new path of atrocious crime, and so we find 75 men murdered through the sinking of the _Donegal_ and the hospital ship _Lanfranc_, 15 of the victims being Germans.

The s.s. _Addah_ left America, homeward bound, on the 1st June, 1917. All went well until the 15th June, when a loud explosion was heard on the port side, and the ship began to settle down very quickly. The wireless was put out of action, and the master gave the order to abandon ship, which was carried out with the two boats. Ten minutes later the chief officer saw the periscope of a submarine, and then her hull, about a point on the starboard bow. From this position the submarine fired several shots, hitting the vessel seven times. She then came alongside the chief officer's boat, which was entered by five Germans. They boarded the steamer and returned with some stores and the ensign. After they had been rowed back to the submarine, the Germans told the chief officer's boat to shove off.

Meanwhile the master's boat, which had been badly smashed by a shell, was about 350 yards away. The submarine now opened fire with common shrapnel, taking the stern of the master's boat right off and killing eight men. Having sunk the boat in this way, the submarine shelled her crew as they were swimming about in the water, still with shrapnel. Apparently under the impression that he had wiped out the unfortunate men, the submarine commander next opened fire on the chief officer's boat. He fired eight shrapnel shells, and succeeded in holing the boat, breaking the oars, and slightly wounding several men. Fortunately, no one was killed this time. The submarine then proceeded in a northwesterly direction on the surface. The master and the survivors from his boat were taken on board the chief officer's boat, which was eventually picked up by a French patrol steamer on the 16th June.

On the morning of the 15th July, 1917, at about 3 o'clock the steamer _Mariston_ was struck by a torpedo. Just afterwards there was a second explosion, which destroyed all the midship cabins, and the vessel began to sink rapidly. When she had gone down, a large black submarine came to the surface; an officer opened a trap-door in her conning-tower and watched the survivors struggling in the water. The unfortunate men called to him for help, but he ignored their appeals, although there were no other ships in sight at the time and he could have rescued them without any danger to himself.

There were about 18 men struggling in the water, and while the U-boat commander watched, he saw them dragged down one after another. A shoal of sharks had attacked them, and every man except the cook suffered this terrible death. Meanwhile the German had submerged, leaving them to their fate.

The cook, who escaped, remained in the water for 15 hours, being picked up by a British merchantman at about 6.30 p.m. that day.

The master of the Swedish steamer _Vanland_ reports that he was attacked by a German submarine at 6.45 p.m. on the 23rd July, 1917. He was 4 miles from the shore at that time, and at once made for land on a zig-zag course. The U-boat chased him, firing continually. Seven shells hit the hull of his vessel, and 20 hit the deck cargo aft, while the port life-boat was carried away and the davits of the starboard life-boat were broken.

Directly the steamer took the ground her master and crew embarked in the starboard life-boat; but when 100 yards from their ship, the Germans opened fire on them with a machine-gun and wounded the second mate. The submarine then torpedoed the _Vanland_ and submerged. Altogether 46 shells were fired by the Germans, in addition to the machine-gun fire directed against the life-boat.

At about 7.50 p.m. on Thursday, 31st July, 1917, the steamer _Belgian Prince_ was travelling at 10 knots an hour, when the wake of a torpedo was seen upon the port beam. Her helm was at once put hard over, but she was struck between the after part of the engine-room and No. 5 hold. Her main engines and also her dynamo were disabled, so that the wireless became useless and no S.O.S. signal could be sent out. The ship took a very heavy list to port, and the crew proceeded to get into their life-boats. Two of these and one small boat were launched, and all hands were safely embarked in them.

When the boats were clear of the ship a German submarine came to the surface, and, approaching the boats, ordered them alongside. All the officers and crew were transferred to the submarine, the master being taken below. The Germans were very abusive, and, after searching their prisoners, ordered them to take off their life-belts. These were placed on the deck of the submarine, and one of the German officers proceeded to throw most of them into the sea.

Five German sailors now entered the small boat and rowed her back to the _Belgian Prince_. Other Germans entered the two life-boats, threw the oars, balers, and gratings overboard; took out the provisions and compasses, and then smashed the boats with an axe.

The Germans who had boarded the _Belgian Prince_ now signalled to their comrades with a flash lamp; the submarine cast off the broken life-boats and steered away to the eastward. It was about 9 p.m., and the crew of the _Belgian Prince_ were still standing on the deck of the submarine, most of them without their life-belts. The submarine stopped. Slowly she began to sink. Then, quite suddenly, she submerged.

W. Snell, second cook of the _Belgian Prince_, was standing with his shipmates, but he was more fortunate than most of them, because he had managed to pick up his life-belt and put it on under his rain-coat without being observed by the Germans. When he felt the water rising over his feet as the submarine went down, he jumped into the sea; and he says that his companions did the same. Snell remained in the water all night, and was picked up at about 7.30 a.m. next day in a very exhausted condition.

Thomas Bowman, chief engineer, was also in the water all night. He struck out in the direction of the _Belgian Prince_ and at daylight next morning he sighted her still afloat. At about 5.30 a.m. he saw her explode and go down. An hour later he was picked up by a British patrol-boat.

George Silessi, A.B., was the only other survivor out of a crew of 42.

Such are the circumstances that accompanied the sinking of the _Belgian Prince_, and one looks in vain for any fact that can excuse the conduct of the Germans. They appear to have carried out their work with the sole object of taking as many lives as possible. To understand the out-look of such men is impossible. What was at the back of their minds when they dismantled and destroyed the life-boats? What satisfaction could they derive from the fact that their prisoners had no life-belts? These belts, it will be noticed, were thrown overboard by a German _officer_. What is to be said of the submarine commander who allowed such conduct? Here was a responsible officer who ordered his craft to submerge, when he knew perfectly well that most of the 38 men outside on deck were without any means of saving their lives. Imagination boggles at the cold-blooded cruelty of the deed.

THE PIRATE AND NEUTRALS.

_A Selection of Cases._

Portuguese s.s. DOURO 3rd April, 1915. Swedish s.s. FOLKE 14th April, 1915. Dutch s.s. KATWIJK 15th April, 1915. American Oiler GULFLIGHT 2nd May, 1915. American s.s. NEBRASKAN 25th May, 1915. Danish schooner BETTY 25th May, 1915. Norwegian s.s. SVEIN JARL 9th June, 1915. Norwegian s.s. RYM 14th July, 1915. Norwegian schooner MAGDA 18th August, 1915. Dutch s.s. TUBANTIA 16th March, 1916. Norwegian s.v. TAMARA 3rd Feb., 1917. Norwegian s.s. SOLBAKKEN 4th Feb., 1917. Peruvian barque LORTON 5th Feb., 1917. Swedish s.s. VARING 7th Feb., 1917. Greek s.s. AGHIOS SPYRIDON 12th Feb., 1917. Norwegian s.s. FALLS OF AFTON 20th Feb., 1917. Norwegian s.v. MABELLA 1st March, 1917. Norwegian s.s. GURRE 1st March, 1917. Danish s.s. ROSBORG 3rd March, 1917. Norwegian s.v. SILAS 8th March, 1917. Norwegian s.s. EINAR JARL 12th March, 1917. Norwegian s.v. COLLINGWOOD 12th March, 1917. Danish s.s DANA 9th June, 1917. Norwegian s.s. HELMA 12th June, 1917.