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Show Iroic ieIF shuke told Americans in French Waters Wa-ters Write Brilliant Page in Nation's History. Vain Attempt Made to Save Eritish Freighter Hit by Torpedo. By TRAZIER HUNT. (New York Times-Chicago Tribune Cubic, Copyright, 1118.) A KKKN'CH PORT. Sept 24. American blue jackets from n. United States roast n:rrl boat serving in French waters, wtotrj a new page in American naval history his-tory and a shining chapter for the book of American deeds of valor and bravery, when. last Monday, they boarded an abandoned torpedoed British ship that was Binklngc and tried to bring it to a port 200 miles away. Ten of them gave their .lives to the gallant attempt, and in all the long lists of brave things done in this war none has been finer. It is hard to try to tell this story and keep it within conservative bounds. Because, Be-cause, when one has talked to the British eailoru, who were saved, and heard from their own quivering lips the tale of valor of these plain American sailor boys who went to their death gallantly and unafraid, un-afraid, he wants to stop the whole world and make it pay homage to the outh of America who dies us bravely on the sea as he dors on land. This lime, too, like many before, these American boys died tor others. The British ships were in a great convoy con-voy escorted by a L'nited States coast guard ship attached to an American naval na-val base. It was a slow convoy, and suddenly, sud-denly, shortly before noon: by the luck of war. a submarine was able to get into tho heart of the column and torpedoed ono of them. It was what the sailors call "a turret ship," and a few feet above the water line the sides bellied out, resembling re-sembling the old whaleback steamer of Lake Michigan. The torpedo struck in the forward hatch, carrying away some thirty feet of i he ship, so that the waves beat against The thin bulkhead. The crew of thirty-six men took to the lifeboats, while the coast guard ship stood by to help and try- to get the sub. As in all such cases, the remainder of the convoy put on full steam and went ahead to get out of the danger zone. Less than th irty minuteE after the torpedo struck the survivors were pulled on the American ship, but even before they were taken a board, a young American officer, Lieutenant Fletcher Webster Brown of Brockton, Mass., received the permission of his captain to call for volunteers to go upon the torpedoed ship. Boy Is Taken. True- to the traditions of the service every man on the ship volunteered, but Brown chose only eighteen. One ot these was a smiling, popular 17-year-old lad named Jimmy Neving, from Xorwlch, Conn., w ho insisted upon going. Lieutenant Lieu-tenant Brown refused him permission half a dozen times, but he pleaded so baicl that the officer finally consented. Jimmy was one of the- ten who never came hack, and last night over in the barracks, where the ones who did come back were gathered, the talk was mostly about this brave lad who pleaded to go to his death. On the same 'heboat that the British crew had rowed to the rescuing ship the eighteen American Failors and officers returned to the torpedoed freighter. The British captain accompanied them, and a few minutes later eleven more of the British crew followed in a small boat. On boarding the abandoned ship two of the bluejackets were station to man ,the aft gun, another as passenger on the bridge with the officers, while a fourth took charge of the deck. "Sparks" Mason, a volunteer wireless operator, hurried to the radio room, while the remaining re-maining thirteen went below to the boiler and engine rooms. The water gauge of the boilers showed no water and any eecond the tubes might burn out. but the boys "stuck" and be-iran be-iran filling the boilers with sea water Then they built up tne fires, which now were low, and in a few minuie3 the ship, with its prow blown off and the bulkhead open to the sea, was doing five knots. "We will nvike. It ail right," Lieutenant Brown radioed to his ship, and it an-pwered an-pwered back: "Very wen. good-by' Then it was off to join the big convoy, where it was badly needed. .Soon the last ppeck of smoke had cleared from the horizon. The torpedoed ship was alone on the ocean with a trashing trash-ing wound forward and with eighteen brave American bluejackets and eleven scurdv British seamen to take it 300 mil s to port. Below deck twenty-four men of the same tongue were feeding the boilers and tending the engine in a sealed compartment that any moment might be turned into their tomb, while above cjx-k the men stood ready at the guns and all the time in the tiny radio room th American boy had the receivers strapoed over his ears, keeping in touch with the ships that had sailed away. Remains on Duty. Through the long afternoon the prow-less prow-less ship made Its five knots hourly. The mon changed watches every few hours, those from below exchanging places with the men on deck and with the guns. Some refused to leave the hot and dangerous boiler room right through to the end. Mike Rvnn, a first-class machinist mate from Buffalo, was one of these, and for twelve hours straight he fed the fires. iN'ght came on and It was a dark one. A sea rose and the high waves knocked and pounded at the thin bulkhead, demanding de-manding to be let in. If the bulkhead could hold 'the ship would win and it would reach port. The hours dragged on, with everv man giving all he had to the Khip in Its battle against the sea. It was an even chance, and all of the twenty-nine twenty-nine men and officers knew it. The soa rose higher and the pounding Increased it was like bringing up heavy artillery to break through. It was an angrv ocean that would not be denied. A little before midnight It won. The thin1 steel plates gave way and No. 2 bulkhead was flooded. The engine and boiler room were next, and now it was only a question of time. All hands were called on deck. The British captain ordered the lifeboat lowered low-ered from the davits and a crew of eight men to man it and take all on board. Lieutenant Brown, however, decided to stay with the ship and chose four Americans Amer-icans and four Britishers, who volunteered volun-teered to stick with him. Seas were running high and wild now, and once the boat was lowered it smashed against the whaleback turret and was almost capsized. It was a desperate des-perate battle to keep the boat from being be-ing carried by the waves to the top of the turret and crushed to pieces. Again and again the boats crew tried to hold it ! close to the ship's side so that the men I could drop into it. but it was useless the great seas carried the boat away, flinging it about like so much cork. S. O. S. Sent Out. For more than an hour these eight men battled to keep the lifeboat close by. Then, completely exhausted, the boat , crew gave up. A single American blue-I blue-I jacket in the boat, Dan Grlmshaw of East Hampton, N. J., tried to swim back to the ship with a line, but failed. While all this was going on the radio ; operator was sending out desperate "S. O. : S." calls. An American destroyer picked it up and answered trial it was coming. The crew of the torpedoed ship, knowing how grave its position was. begnn sending send-ing tip colored distress signals, but it started raining, making the night even ; blacker and the signals were useless. Suddenly the men in the lifeboats saw j the lights of the destroyer come out of the ; darkness. With renewed hope they sent j up the last of their rockets and shouted, j and then the destroyer, recognizing them. ; swept the waters with its searchlights, j Against the rain and heavy blackness they were like candlelights. But they ; told the way to the rescue, and the life- ! boat, wallowing in the heavy seas, reached it, and the men were thrown life belts and pulled aboard. In the meantime the twenty-one men still remaining on the torpedoed ship were calmly, bravely awaitirg their end. The destroyer, circling about, and not ; daring to come too close, tried a score of ; times to get lif'i lines aboard, but the high sea, black night, and storm combined to make it a failure. There wa? nothing to be done except to hope and wait until un-til morning came. It was after 2 o'clock now. At 4 o'clock the radio operator on the destroyer got this message; "We are turning" over; you've done everything you cculd. Good-by." Shut Off Fans. Crying on account of their helplessness, helpless-ness, the men on the destroyer circled close in and threw overboard their life rafts and boats. They could hear the calls for help come out of the black night; then, maybe for a second, their searchlight search-light would pick up some shipmate struggling strug-gling in the water, and then the tumbling seas would carry him away. These dark hours before the light broke were hours of the most intense and terrible suffering. There was nothing they could do but wait, with the cnes of their shipmates coming up from the black seas. J"st before the great ship had turned over and mad? its last final plunge to death, most ol" the twenty men left dived overboard, holding to some bit of wreckage. wreck-age. Shortly before, when there had silil been hope that the ship might live, George Christy, a machinist mo te from Stat on Island, N. Y., slipped down into th boiler room, shut off the fans and opened the fire doors so that the boilers would not explode. All this tme the water was rushing rush-ing throuKii the bulkhead and coming up. He reported on the bridge tha t the nh Ip w:is doomed, "Gupps tli is is my turn, lieulena nr." the British captain said tn the American officer, turning and shaking ha r.ds wn.n hi in. "You know, I can't swim." Lieutenan t Brown tried to hold him over the side and clear of the shin, It wasn't any use. The sens tore him down and he was drowned. Ho wan a young man and married, and his saved ship-males ship-males sa id he hud two or three babis. Mopt of the- men had left the ship now, and slowly it began turning on !U side. Lieutenant Brown and the sturdy young coxMwaln. James Clarence Osborn, who enlisted with the coast guard from Chi-ingo, Chi-ingo, slipped oyr the side anil stood on the fhip s propeller. Thou the great boat shook, lunged, and went flown. Hf-re. on, the propeller, (inborn threw off his life preserver, tore, off his clothe and whrn he dived Into the water was mUr-tl. It was 4 o'clock now and Htill d;irk, a nd he swain a round, h!Hmr through the darkntus, from one FhipinaU: to another. 0 Half ;in hour later Osborn wa riding Ihf v.avca on a amah Improvtrud lif raft. Rescues Comrade. Suddenly he lira rd Rnnieon (ailing for help. .Swimming In that direction with thf! raft, lie i e;irhrd Cuxsw aln A ugUHl fcu-rhf u, a foreign -born American bailor, clinging to a bit of wood In fi rOinplotft stale of exhaiiHtlon. J'ulllng him to Ills raft, Unborn laid him on top of it, while lie held him then with his frrn arm, All the time he kept rncourngl ug him, promising r:uc with tho dawn. Flmdly the light brokf arid all about, riding tho rriit tumbling waves, were mMi clinging to rafts, life bells and anything they could grab. Thru the rw.ve work begun. The urns madr- It hard find almost Impossible. Tho 'b i'troyrr would run near a man. throw htm a line ond pull him on Imnrd. Tho workrd faHl and dcprrntclv. Thru, orf on the port low. 1hrouh thr dim morning light, the lookout reported :t. n a Imd ma n Mandi ng on a nift. He wan signaling with Mr hhiib, and a wnllor flailed out. The words: "H-i-l-p havo dying n inn. Hun y. H-n-l-p." vvith glHR.'-u-a tho men on the, bridge miild m;il(o out tho figure of n, mtllor lying ly-ing mi tho ni.fl hfld friHt bMwmi thr: rx I 'ndej fro t of Ihe tih krd mn n, Thry pointed Htra ight for him, nnd drawing n-ur, threw Ihe lino. Iln initid it. Then the dist rovtr turned about anu threw another, an-other, Th 1 ft Mnio he grabbed it. but fell Troiii inn raft. As h" did hlM exhaunted shipmate- slipped Into the vntrr. Or-boru Or-boru r.wi'iied htm. held him up. and tied Hi" life line under his arms. Thon the, di'Mt rover irirn pulled 1 'et rnil illxmrd. A H'wond linn wa thrown to (.inborn, and he v.iim ptillefl nbn.iid. Si Rina fi Kn Gormun of Brook I vn anil Lieutenant Itrowii worn tho lawl. .o be j)l' l('d up. ' i Omv on bori rd th officer kept mi'm- ' LI i i ik ovrr nnd over ngain, hyaUrlntllv: "1 hud rUihleen mr-n. I had ol Jit let; n lll'Tl." For hourH ihe drntroyer rulmd about the fpr.l, seaichlnu for mir vlvtirp. Thon It turned It h nrie town rd thin port . While the moil and th Gei-unin ubntn rlue ma y Ha tin t 1 A nm rim n ho vn. a 11 A merle, i. 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