DEPARTMENT OF STATE.

288 SUBMARINE WARFARE.
board side in No. 5 hold aft of the engines and listed
to starboard. The passengers and crew took to the
boats without disorder, although owing to the list, the
starboard boats got away with least difficulty and consequently
carried most of the women and children.
That the ship's way was stopped immediately when
the vessel was struck by the torpedo to facilitate in
taking to the boats. Approximately twenty minutes
after the first torpedo, when most of the boats were clear
of the ship, a second torpedo was fired, striking the
Laconia on the starboard side fair amidships. At the
time she was torpedoed, the vessel was making a speed
of approximately 16 knots per hour. Her navigational
lights were not showing and no other lights out board.
The lights were extinguished at once. The ship sank
about 60 minutes after the first torpedo had struck.
That some 12 boats got away, and that as far as is
known 12 lives were lost in taking to the boats. The sky
was overcast, so that it would have been utterly impossible
for the submarine to have seen the protecting 4.7
gun on the stern of the Laconia. As there was not the
slightest prior intimation of the presence of the submarine
there could be and was not the slightest attempt
to escape or resist the submarine. The wireless apparatus
was put into service immediately upon the impact
of the first torpedd, and was in touch with Admiralty
vessels immediately. Nine rockets were also sent up to
indicate the vessel's position. The sea consisted of
heavy swells, with a height of 10 to 12 feet from trough to
crest, and there was a rather light breeze with considerable
chill in the air as the night wore on.
That the submarine came alongside the lifeboat which
was in charge of Officer Coppin and asked for the Captain,
and made inquiries concerning the ship's cargo. No
offer of assistance was made and no inquiry as to casualties.
As the ladies in the boat were apprehensive, the
submarine Officer, who spoke excellent English, reassured
them and said that the Admiralty patrols were on their
way to the scene and would reach it in a very few hours.
That the Admiralty vessel reached the boats between
3.30 and 5 a. m., February 26; and gradually took on
board their occupants, the operation being very difficult
by the heavy swells. In one boat, No. 8, there were
deaths from exposure.
Witness our hands.
W. E. D. IRVINE, Master.
A. W. ROBERTSON, Oh. Off.
L. H. MORRISON, 1st Officer.
G. JONES, 2d Officer.
C. T. SPEDDING, Purser.
S. WOOD, Senior 3d Officer.
Subscribed and sworn to before me this 27th day of
February, anno 1917, as witness my hand and seal of
office.
WESLEY FROST,
American Consul.
[Seal of tile American Consulate.]