File No. 300.115Az7/7
The Ambassador in France (Sharp) to the Secretary of State
[Received April 5, 8 a.m.]
1974. Referring my No. 1970, 3d.1 Following taken from deposition of Captain O’Brien, steamer Aztec. Nine-thirty p.m., April 1, 9 miles WSW Ushant Light, when on the bridge, captain saw a large flash on the port side forward of the bridge and simultaneously heard an explosion. The explosion was not very loud but appeared to have great force as the boat seemed to be lifted to one side. No submarine nor torpedo was seen. Ship settled back, began to sink forward, listing to starboard and continued to sink very rapidly. The explosion had disarranged the lighting system and wireless outfit. Ship was in complete darkness. All efforts were made to discover any presence of a submarine, nothing was seen. After 10 minutes the ship was completely under forward so the captain gave orders to stand by the boats to abandon the ship. The moon was shining, but the sky was overcast with frequent hail and rain squalls. A light westerly gale was blowing and sea was very rough. About 9.40 the captain gave the order to abandon the ship. Three boats were launched; boats one and three were on the starboard side, two on the port side. Captain tried to get ship’s papers; but when he returned on deck boat number two was gone according to the mate. She had been broken up in getting away from the ship, being on the weather side. Boats one and three were successfully launched, containing all the remaining members of the crew. Owing to darkness and rain it was impossible to tell who was in number three boat. Number one boat contained 19 men; Lieutenant Gresham, 11 of the armed guard, the first mate, the third mate, the third engineer, the boatswain, the wireless operator, the mess-man, and the captain. He saw no trace of number two boat; number three boat was lost sight of after 15 minutes. The Aztec was visible for about 20 minutes and then disappeared in a rain squall. [Page 205] The Aztec had her colors flying over the stern, but carried no lights at time of sinking. After three hours number one boat was picked up by a French patrol boat, which, after unsuccessfully searching until after daylight for the other two boats, proceeded to Brest, where the survivors landed on the 2d instant.
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