OCR Text |
Show AUSTRIANS SINK FRENCJICRUISER Warship Watching Strait of Otranto Is Torpedoed by Submarine U-6. 300 MILES FROM BASE Submersible Waits for Prey Throughout Night, Slips Up and Does Deadly Work. Paris. April 28, 3 20 p m A communication com-munication from the ministry of marine ma-rine reciting the torpedoing of the French cruiser Leon Gambetta. was given out this afternoon It is text-ually text-ually as follows "The armored cruiser Leon Gambetta, Gambet-ta, cruising at the entrance of the Otranto Ot-ranto canal, was torpedoed the night of April 2G-27 and went to the bottom In ten minutes "All the officers on board perished at their posts One hundred and thirty-six members of the crew. Including Includ-ing eleven under officers, were rescued res-cued by vessels sent out promptly to their help by the Italian authorities. "The list of survivors has not yet been received at the ministry of marine." ma-rine." Early Brlndisi Report Bnndisi. Italy. Tuesday. April 27, 10:35 a. m., via Paris. April 28, 2:50 p m. The French cruiser Leon Gem-betta Gem-betta torpedoed by an Austrian submarine subma-rine in the Strait of Otranto. has been run ashore. Fears are now entertaiu ed that she may float away on the next high tide Sinking of the Gambetta. Brlndisi, Italy, Tuesday. April 27. 9:4 p. ra.. via Paris. April 28. 2:35 p. m. Delayed in transmission The French cruiser Leon Gambetta has been torpedoed by the Austrian submarine sub-marine U-6 in the strait of Otranto, the waterway leading to the Adriatic sea. The first report of the destruction destruc-tion of this cruiser came from the men on duty at the semaphore at the station o-f Santa Maria Leuca. These men gave the alarm, and vessels were sent out to the aid of the Leon Gam betta from Brlndisi. Taranto, Otranto and Bari. Since the beginning of Anglo-French operations against the Dardanelles. French warships in the Adriatic have limited their activities to watching the strait of Otranto with the idea of preventing any Austrian submarine submar-ine escaping from the Adriatic, at the head of which Is Pola, the Aus trian naval base, and reaching the coast of Turkey. This patrol duty was particularly to protect the vessels of the allies operating against the Dardanelles. The submarine which attacked the Leon Gambetta came from Cattaro, on the eastern front of the Adriatic, a port about 300 miles from Santa Maria Leuca Point. This distance could have been traveled by the submarine in about twenty hours. Three French cruisers were la6t night watching the vessel between the island of Corfu and the Italian coast It appears that the U-6 took up a position about half way between Santa Maria Lucia and the Greek Is! and of Othoni There the c-rait waited wait-ed for its prey and when the opportunity oppor-tunity offered discharged its torpedo against the Leon Gambetta which was one of three French cruisers doing patrol duty. It is believed the Leon Gambetta had on board a crew numbering 714 men. Including 22 officers. A majority major-ity of the men were asleep at the time the cruiser was sunk. - rrv |