DEPARTMENT OF STATE.

SUBMARINE WABFABE. 215
We reported these mines to two Dutch torpedo boats
that same afternoon.
I never saw any more mines after that, but one was
reported on the next watch which I did not see.
The first night after leaving Maas, the 21st, we steered
NE. i E., I think, but I am not certain. Then at 10.45
we changed the course to NE. J E. by compass. While
we were on that course I went off watch. When I came
on watch the next morning at 8 o'clock we were steering
East by South. We took a cast of the lead at 10 o'clock
and the bottom was 14 fathoms. Overcast and light fog
at the time. After 10 o'clock it shut in thick and we
were still steering East by South. At 11 o'clock we
struck an obstruction amidships. It was within 2
minutes of 11 o'clock.
The approximate position when we struck was north
and west of the position of Norderney Lightship, about
3 miles away, 13 fathoms of water by the lead.
The vessel did not lose her headway when we struck.
I do not know how the tide was. The boiler burst and
the steam was shut off automatically. The explosion
broke the vessel in two amidships and cracked her up
to the hurricane deck. There was a hole in her and when
she listed to port this hole came up to the water line and
could be plainly seen. The hole must have been at
least 6 feet in diameter and, I presume, she was split
up right from the bottom.
There was only one explosion while we were on board.
The boats had been swung out constantly since we
left the Downs. In 20 minutes we were clear of the
ship.
Three men were lost. They were the Third Assistant
Engineer William Bazzell, and one Spanish fireman and
one Spanish coal passer. These men were presumably in
the after fireroom or coal bunker. That is where they
would be in any case while on duty. No one in our crew
saw these men after the explosion occurred, to my knowledge.
The engine and boiler room space was filled with
steam and water instantly, and there is no question in my
mind that three men were either killed instantly or were
drowned after being first rendered unconscious by the
shock. The engineers went down into the engine and
boiler rooms as far as they could and looked for these
men, but it was impossible to find any trace whatever of
them. It was also impossible to remain long, on account
of the volume of water pouring into hole from the sea. I
am satisfied that all possible was done to find the men,
and that they were not abandoned until danger made it
absolutely imperative.
I was in the captain's boat. After we had cleared we
heard one more explosion, about 25 minutes after clearing,
and we believe it to have been a second mine. As
soon as we got a short distance away the ship was closed
in by the fog, and we did not see her sink. There is no
question in my mind that she sank very soon; she was
down by the stern and a heavy port list, her port rail
being under when we last saw her.