DEPARTMENT OF STATE.

CASE OF THE ANCONA. 169
Sworn and subscribed to before me this twenty-sixth
day of November, 1915.
HERBERT CARLSON BIAR,
Vice Consul of the United States of America.
Question No. 1. Where were you when you first were
conscious that something unusual was occurring on
board the S. S. Anconaf
In the third-class dining room.
Question No. 2. What, at first, attracted your attention
to the disturbance ?
The firing of the cannons.
Question No. S. Were you on deck or below ?
Below deck.
Question No. 4- K you were on deck, did you have a
clear vision of the submarine ?
Question No. 5. How did the submarine announce her
presence to the S. S. Anconaf
From the port-hole of the dining room I saw the submarine
at about two hundred and fifty meters off the
starboard bow. Presence made known by the firing of
cannon.
Question No. 6. Was any warning given by the submarine
to the master of the S. S. Ancona that he should
stop?
I do not know, because I was below deck at the time,
but the first shot appeared to be fired with blank cartridge,
judging by the sound of the report.
Question No. 7. If a warning was given by the submarine
to the master of the S. S. Ancona how promptly was
that warning obeyed by the master of the S. S. Anconaf
The ship continued on her way after first few shots,
but after about ten shots she put up the Italian flag and
stopped. The submarine then hoisted the Austrian flag.
I know this to be so, because in the meantime I had come
up on deck and entered one of the lifeboats and saw it
with my own eyes.
Question No. 8. If you have any well founded belief as
to the nationality of the submarine, state upon what
facts that well founded belief is based.
The fact that the submarine did not at once hoist its
flag, but waited till the Ancona had hoisted the Italian
flag indicates to my mind that she was not an Austrian
submarine, but rather a German. This belief is held by
the majority of the surviving passengers and crew of the
Ancona.
Question No. 9. Did the submarine display a flag?
When firing commenced it did not display any flag
whatever, but hoisted the Austrian flag as previously
stated after the Ancona had hoisted the Italian flag.
Question No. 10. If so what was the nationality of the
flag displayed by the submarine ?
Austrian.
Question No. 11. Was the flag displayed by the submarine
when her presence was first known to the S. S.
Ancona; if not at what period of the attack was the flag
of the submarine first displayed ?