It is untrue that at any time the submarine displayed
the English flag. The submarine throughout the affair showed as much
consideration for the Falaba as was compatible with safety.
COMMANDER SCHMITZ'S STORY.
[From The New York Times, May 6, 1915.]
_J.J. Ryan, the American cotton broker who went to Germany on March 30
and sold 28,000 bales of cotton he had shipped to Bremen and Hamburg,
returned yesterday on the Cunard liner Carpathia very well satisfied
with the results of his trip. He said:_
While I was in Bremen I met Commander Schmitz of the German submarine
U-28, which sank the British African liner Falaba off the English coast
on March 28. He told me that he regretted having been compelled to
torpedo the vessel, as she had passengers on board. In explanation, he
said:
"I warned the Captain of the Falaba to dismantle his wireless apparatus
and gave him ten minutes in which to do it and get his passengers off.
Instead of acting upon my demand he continued to send messages out to
torpedo destroyers that were less than twenty miles away, to come as
quickly as possible to his assistance.
"At the expiration of the ten minutes I gave him a second warning about
dismantling his wireless apparatus and waited twenty minutes, and then I
torpedoed the ship, as the destroyers were getting close up and I knew
they would go to the rescue of the passengers and crew.
Pages:
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103