File No. 841.857/365
The Consul at Cork ( Frost) to the Secretary of State
[Received February 24.]
Sir: I have the honor to transmit hereby, in duplicate, a copy of a letter and affidavit received this day from Vice Admiral, Sir Lewis Bayly, Commanding, Coast of Ireland, with reference to the sinking of the British collier Eavestone on February 3, 1917, by a German submarine.1 The affidavit was taken by a shipping agent at Castletown Berehaven, early on the 6th instant, and appears to coincide substantially with that taken by this Consulate at a later hour on the same day. The affidavits, both that transmitted herewith and that forwarded by my despatch No. 278,1 of the 6th instant, will be found somewhat elliptical, owing to the natural tendency of the survivors to slur over the attempt to escape from the submarine. As stated in the despatch just cited, however, the Eavestone’s efforts at flight could under no canons excuse the submarine’s act in deliberately firing upon unarmed small boats.
It should have been mentioned in my despatch No. 278 that the Eavestone, although unarmed, had a gun platform which was described by First Officer Roderick as being conspicuously placed, and as having inspired the submarine with no little mistrust of the Eavestone. This, also, is a minor circumstance. Presumably the platform had been prepared for a gun which was to be placed on the Eavestone when that vessel next returned to a United Kingdom port.
[Page 145]There were no American citizens on the Eavestone with the exception of Richard Wallace, the deceased seaman.
The earlier of the two cable messages to the Department in the Eavestone case was inadvertently not confirmed by a copy to accompany despatch No. 278, owing to the extreme haste in which the latter was completed and mailed. The confirmation copy is accordingly transmitted hereby.
Possibly the Department may be interested in one or two general points relating to the submarine campaign which is being waged off this littoral. Probably the most important generalization to be made is that exceedingly few lives have thus far been lost in proportion to the number of vessels sunk. I should place the number of vessels sunk off this district within the past week at about one dozen; and so far as I am aware the Eavestone case is the only one in which lives were lost at all, although I am by no means positive as to this statement. The Eavestone case, so far as the circumstances could be gathered here, constituted an appalling instance of irritated ruthlessness; almost sufficient, in itself, to obliterate the general impression of reasonable humanity which the campaign creates.
This latter impression may be purely fortuitous. The weather has favored the safety of survivors, as it has been phenomenally clear and calm; and the admiralty patrols have been exceptionally numerous and ubiquitous, so as to be never far off from the scenes of disasters. I was last evening informed by the master of a torpedoed steamer that his vessel was sunk without the faintest warning, and that the submarine was never even seen. (Nevertheless this master saved his entire crew of 40 persons.)
The absence of Americans from the crews of these vessels has been unexpected. Most of the vessels thus far, I think, have been outward bound or from South American ports. I have carefully verified in each instance the absence of Americans on board each vessel; the Admiralty cooperating with just sufficient courtesy so as not to seem eager as to American intervention. The Admiralty are naturally very greatly rushed at this time; and the masters of torpedoed vessels are prone to be busy, excited, and chafed. I have accordingly taken pains not to intrude questions unless American rights were involved.
No descriptions of supersubmarines have as yet been forthcoming; and there appears to be no radical departure in the direction of size or novel devices. The submarines are now habitually taking food and other stores from such vessels as surrender on demand, before sinking the vessels. The method of sinking such ships is by bombs [Page 146] set with time fuses or by overside bombs exploded by electrical wires. In a number of recent cases the submarine has retained the British master as a hostage. Only yesterday the master of the Palm Leaf was so retained. To vessels which offer no resistance the submarines often show much consideration, when they consider it feasible. In the case of the Isle of Arran the submarine returned to the boats at the approach of evening, after four hours’ absence, and towed them toward the land for five and one-half hours, casting them off only when a steamer had been sighted which picked them up. I can vouch for the correctness of this story; and it is probable that other similar acts could be recorded were the general conditions other than they are.
The conduct of different submarine commanders varies considerably. In general it would seem that no opportunities of sinking vessels are overlooked, no matter at what cost of life; but it is of course impossible to say whether submarines ever voluntarily refrain from attacking vessels, because in such instances the vessels would be unaware of the self-restraint exercised by the submarines. There is no doubt that when they can safely do so, except in the rarest cases, the submarines take pleasure in extending every courtesy and consideration to the vessels which they destroy; but this attitude is not incompatible with a “beyond good and evil” attitude when anything is to be gained.
Mr. Heraty, the new assistant in this Consulate, is unfortunately confined to his room by illness; and I have as yet been unable to locate a competent stenographer in pursuance of the Department’s most considerate instruction No. 151, of January 5, 1917.1 But I have today procured a temporary stenographer, and shall hope to be able to handle the work respectably even if worse cases supervene.
I have [etc.]