DEPARTMENT OF STATE.

CASE OF THE ANCONA. 165
He went out on deck with his friend, the Duke of Cassena.
There was a great panic on board. He saw a submarine
400 or 500 meters on the starboard beam firing at the
Ancona. He and his friend started to get into a lifeboat.
It was so crowded that he got out and started to get into
a second boat.
The wireless apparatus was brought down by firing and
fell across his shoulder. While getting into the second
boat he and the Duke of Cassena were both wounded.
This boat was also so crowded that they got back on deck.
They finally got into a third boat, in which they got away
from the ship.
Mr. Piscione did not observe the actions of the captain
at all. The submarine fired from 40 to 50 shots until
within 50 meters, at which range the last two shots were
fired. The officers' mess room was completely destroyed.
He observed a group of men, women, and children still
on the ship after he left; and these, he thinks, all went
down with the ship after the torpedo was fired.
He did not observe exactly when the submarine hoisted
the Austrian flag, but supposed it was after the Ancona
had hoisted the Italian flag. After the boats were lowered
bis boat and another kept together; the others scattered.
The sails in his boat were lost, and the other boat, in
which was Mrs. Greil, took his in tow. He later got into
Mrs. Greil's boat, due to overcrowding of his own.
The submarine did not fire on the lifeboats in the water,
but followed some of them for about two hours. It did
not attempt to rescue any one except a chambermaid,
who refused and was afterwards picked up by a lifeboat.
Some of the crew of the submarine yelled to men in the
water, "get away, cowardly Italians."
The Ancona first tried to escape, but stopped when the
submarine overtook her. He, the passengers, and the
French officers of the Pluto were convinced that the submarine
was German and would have hoisted the German
flag if the Ancona had hoisted other belligerent flag than
the Italian. .
The boats proceeded until about seven o'clock that
night, when they were picked up by the French cruiser
Pluto, which took them into Biserta, where they arrived
about midnight.
He described the submarine as a new boat 80 to 90
meters long with two guns. He stated that probably the
greatest loss of life was due to drowning, but many were
killed and wounded on board the Ancona by gun fire.
The above statement was made in our presence and is
correct to the best of our knowledge and belief.
J. P. JACKSON,
Lieutenant Commander, U. 8. Navy,
Assistant Naval Attache, Rome.
WILLIAM GAEGUILO,
Secretary of the American Consulate, Naples, Italy.