Show Suo HINE 61 BRITISH NAVY HAS THREE NAVAL DISASTERS WITHIN TWENTY FOUR HOURS battleship torpedoed steamer sink as result of accident and battleship goes down while operating in dardanelles Darda nelles london the british battleship majestic another of the ships supporting file he allied army on the gallipoli penin peninsula bula was torpedoed ani an sunk bya german submarine thursday morning nearly all the officers and crew were saved at about the same time the steamer princess irene a mine layer built last year for the canadian pacific british columbia coast service and was taken over by the admiralty at the commencement of the war was accidentally destroyed by an explosion while at anchor at sheerness where she was undergoing repairs all her crew numbering except one seaman and in addition seventy eight dockyard workmen who were aboard at the time lost their lives the estimates of the fatalities as made by the morning papers vary from to over the daily mail says that in addition to the sev enty eight shipwrights ship wrights there also were on board from chatham as well as members of the crew which would give a total of persons on the steamer these two naval disasters coming within twenty four hours of the sinking of the battleship triumph in the dardanelles Darda nelles have cast a gloom over london both official and unofficial added to this is a deep air of mystery the blowing up of the princess irene is seemingly beyond explanation rumors that it was the work of spies are heard on all sides taken in connection with the disaster to the battleship bulwark on november 26 with a loss of men which was simlar similar in every respect and which has never been explained in spite of prolonged investigation it has stunned naval officials |