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Show AMERICANS SING AS SINKS Torpedo Had Destroyed All Lifeboats on One Side of Tuscania. LONDONDERRY. Fob. 7 An American Amer-ican officer on the Tuscania said: "I must not tell you our position in the convoy or how tho various ships were formed but you may take it that all the othor boats have got through as far as I know. As for ourselves, well, tho Huns succeeded in getting only a fraction of our fine fellows in addition to our boat; but if they have, they have put tho iron into our souls and we will be ready to repay them when the chanco offers. "Monday was a wild night. Had the disaster occured during a gale I don't like to think of what would have happened. hap-pened. But Tuesday evening was calm. "The first Intimation wo had of possible pos-sible danger was an order for all men to go on deck with life belts. It was about 1:30 o'clock. At the same time we sharply altered our course. At G o'clock, just as the darkness was setting set-ting well in. we got the blow. Nobody No-body saw the periscope nor could ono I have been seen well. Some soldiers described having heard a hissing sound immediately before the torpedo struck us in the engine room. "We wero instantly disabled. All the lights went out. An order rang out to sond the troops to their boat station and to get the lifeboats out. The shock was not severe. It was t more of a crunching-in feeling that went through the ship than of a direct blow. There naturally was a good deal of confusion. You cannot lower a score of lifeboats from the height of an upper deck in the darkness without with-out some coniusion, but at no time was there a panic." The sergeants say that the Tuscanla took a tremendous list to starboard almost al-most as soon as she was hiL Almost all tho lifeboats on that sldo were either blown into the air or otnerwise rendered useless. The soldiers were immediately lined up and, while standing at attention one man began to sing "My Country, 'Tis of Thee," and "Tho Star-Spangled Banner." The crew, lined up on tho opposite side, sang, "God Save the King." |