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Show British Transport Tyndareus, Tyn-dareus, With Battalion of Middlesex Regiment on Board, Strikes a Mine Off Cape Agul-has, Agul-has, the Southernmost Point of Africa. OFFICERS PARADE TROOPS ON DECK Roll Is Called and the Men Sing While Waiting Wait-ing for the Ship to Sink; Vessel, However, Remains Afloat and All Hands Are Rescued by Two Steamers. LONDON, March 28, 9:55 p. m The British transport Tyndareus, with a battalion bat-talion of'the Middlesex regiment aboard, struck a mine on February 9 off Cape Agulhas, the southernmost point of Africa. Afri-ca. The men were paraded on deck, and after roll call began to sing, while tihey waited for tho ship to sink. The Tyndareus, however, was saved, and the troops were transferred to two rescuing steamers, having upheld, as expressed in the official admiralty report, re-port, "the cherished tradition of the Birkenhead. ' ' The admiralty issued the following statement on the incident tonight: The admiralty transport Tyndareus, Tynda-reus, with a battalion of the Middlesex Mid-dlesex regiment aboard, struck a mine at S in the evening of February Febru-ary 9 off Cape Agulhas. A strong southwesterly gale was blowing, and immediately after the explosion the ship began to settle by the head, with propellers out of the water. "Assembly" wras sounded and the men donned lifebelts and paraded pa-raded in perfect order. Boll was called, and upou the order "stand easy," the whole battalion began to sing. Two steamers, dispatched to the rescue, arrived on the scene within half an hour. During this trying time, although faced by the probability proba-bility of imminent death, the troops maintained steadfast courage and discipline. Never was the tradition of the British army more worthily upheld than on this occasion. Thauks to the devotion and perseverance perse-verance of the captain and the officers, of-ficers, the ship was saved. The troops were transferred to the two steamers and taken to Simonstown, where the Tyndareus subsequently returned under her own steam, with two holds flooded and another leaking. leak-ing. The king has graciously expressed his deep admiration for the conduct con-duct of all ranks in upholding the cherished tradition of the Birkenhead. Birken-head. The British steamer Tyndareus. apparently ap-parently the one alluded to in the official of-ficial statement, was an ll,0P.U-ton vessel, ves-sel, built last year at Greenock, and owned by the Ocean Steamship company com-pany of Liverpool. Shipping records show the Tyndareus leaving Liverpool on December 20 last for Yokohama and Hongkong and reported arriving at Simonstown, Cape Colony, about February Febru-ary 8. The Birkenhead, a British troop ship, struck a rock off Simons bay. South Africa, on February 26, 1S52. while having hav-ing on board 836 persons, largely troops on their way to the Cape. Of the crew and soldiers on board 454 were lost The Birkenhead was an iron paddle wheel vessel. SHIPPING REPORT SHOWS LOSSES OF GREAT BRITAIN LONDON, March 28, 8:15 p. m.-Dur-incr the week ending March 25, 2314 ships over 100 tons net arrived at ports in the United Kingdom, according to an official statement issued This evening. During the same period 2433 vessels of over W0 tons net sailed from ports in the United Kingdom. These figures are exclusive of fishing vessels and local shipping. Eighteen British merchant vessels (Continued on Page Eignt.) oiTio BY BRITISH TROOPS (Continued from Page One.) over lBOO tons gross, including two during dur-ing the previous fortnight, and the hospital hos-pital ship Asturias, were sunk by mines or submarines. Seven merchant vessels under 1000 tons also were sunk. Thirteen Thir-teen British merchant vessels, including three during the previous fortnight, were unsuccessfully attacked by submarines. subma-rines. Ten British fishing vessels, including in-cluding nine sailing vessels, were sunk during the same period. |