The Oronsa, British Liner, Is Sunk By U Boat; All Passengers Saved

Description

Date: 1 May 1918

Transcript:

The Oronsa, British Liner, Is Sunk By U Boat; All Passengers Saved

[photograph THE S.S. ORONSA]

Y.M.C.A. Workers on Way to France Are Among Fifty-Seven Americans on Board.

London, Tuesday.—The British steamship Oronsa was torpedoed and sunk by a German submarine early yesterday morning.

All the passengers were saved. They included 57 Americans on their way to France to work for the Army Young Men’s Christian Association. Two men of the crew are missing- and a third was
killed by the explosion of tho torpedo which struck tho vessel amidships.

The ship sank in about ten minutes. There was no panic on hoard. The submarine was not seen.

One of the American passengers said:

"The ship was torpedoed at one o’clock in the morning. The boilers exploded three minutes later and the vessel went down twelve minutes after being struck.

"The boats were lowered without any hitch and there was no rush or flurry.

"The passengers and crew got away safely and half an Lour later we were picked up by a destroyer who lauded us five hours later."—Havas.

The Oronsa was a steamship of 8,075 tons; 345 feet in length and 56 in beam. She belonged to the Pacific Steam Navigation Company of Liverpool and was built at Belfast in 1906.

Source:
World War history: daily records and comments as appeared in American and foreign newspapers, -1926. (New York, NY) 28 Apr. 1918, p. 196. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/item/2004540423/1918-04-28/ed-1/.

• https://www.loc.gov/resource/2004540423/1918-04-28/ed-1/?sp=196 (link opens in new window)