The Ashmore was a Belgian Relief ship. She had a crew of 28 hands and was carrying a cargo of maize from Rosario to the Belgian Relief Commission, Rotterdam. In accordance with the regulations agreed upon between the German Government and the Relief Commission, the Ashmore was flying flags, had two very large balls hoisted, and the words: “Commission for Relief in Belgium” painted in very large letters on her sides.
On the 12th September at 8.30 a.m. the weather was fine and clear and the sea smooth, the ship then being about 3½ miles E. by N. from the Kentish Knock. Most of the crew were at breakfast, while the boatswain and chief engineer were patrolling the after-deck. Both men were in the act of turning round, the boatswain to starboard and the engineer to port, when the former saw a streak in the water at close quarters to amidships. Before the boatswain could give the alarm a terrible explosion took place. A volume of smoke, coal dust and water was driven up through the engine-room skylight and the starboard side of the vessel, which immediately began to heel over to starboard. The two boats were launched and manned, but the second engineer, donkeyman, and two firemen were never seen again, and must have been killed by the explosion. The Ashmore sank at about 9 a.m.
The two boats were picked up about the same time, and the survivors were landed at Chatham. In connection with this sinking, the following message was sent by the American Ambassador in London to the Secretary of State at Washington:—
“The Admiralty has confirmed to the Commission for the Relief of Belgium the sinking of the Relief-ship Ashmore yesterday. Four of the crew are missing. The ship had a cargo of maize which the Commission had bought afloat. The captain now in London informs the Commission that the ship was torpedoed, that he saw no submarine, but plainly saw the torpedo coming towards the ship, and that the Commission’s signals had been put up. This is, of course, in violation of the German Government’s agreement with the Commission.”
At 1.10 p.m. on the 30th December, 1915, the s.s. Persia was torpedoed without warning when 40 miles from land. The second officer, in charge on the bridge, saw the wake of an approaching torpedo on the port bow, and a moment later there was a violent explosion. This was followed by a second explosion, which, in the opinion of the chief and second officers, was caused by the bursting of a boiler. The vessel at once listed over to the port side and went down in five minutes. No boats on the starboard side could be launched owing to the list, and several on the port side were swamped, torn away, or capsized, owing to the way which was still on the ship. One port-side boat had been smashed by the explosion, another was pressed under water by the davits, as the ship rolled over to port. Only five boats got away, 213 of the crew and 120 passengers losing their lives, through the explosion or by drowning. Four over-loaded boats were adrift for 30 hours before being picked up by a mine-sweeper. The fifth boat, which had been damaged, capsized several times, and contained only 11 survivors when picked up at 8 p.m. on the 31st by another steamer.
The upshot of the Persia affair was that Count Bernstorff submitted an official memorandum to the United States Government, stating that Germany proposed to conduct her submarine campaign according to the rules of international law. The Germans admitted that it was possible that a German submarine sank the Persia, and promised that, if this were so, the guilty captain would be punished.
The Euphrates was a Belgium Relief ship which left Rotterdam in January, 1917, bound for Sandy Hook in ballast. She was provided with a German safe conduct at Rotterdam to cover her voyage back to the States. She flew the Belgian flag aft, and exhibited the Relief Commission’s signals by day and night. In daylight these consisted of a white square flag, bearing in the centre the words “Belgian Relief Commission” in red letters, a white pennant with the same words in the centre, also in red letters, and a ball painted with red and white vertical stripes above distinguishing flags, all at the foremast. At night the words “Belgian s.s. Euphrates, Relief Commission, Rotterdam,” brilliantly illuminated in large letters, extended from about amidships, on both sides, to the stern.
At 8 o’clock in the morning of 22nd January, 1917, the weather was clear, with a smooth sea and hardly any wind. A man named Somers was on deck at the time, and swears that the ship was displaying the daylight signals already described. At 8.30 a violent explosion occurred, and the ship began to sink rapidly by the stern. The crew were ordered on deck, but a second explosion threw them all into the sea. One boat was smashed to pieces while afloat, the others went down with the ship.
Somers and some others clung to the smashed boat but afterwards Somers and the boatswain swam after some hatches and managed to climb on one. At about 3 p.m. Somers lost sight of the boatswain. At about 9.30 p.m. Somers was picked up by a boat from the British steamer Trevean, which had been sunk soon after the Euphrates. Some of the men in the boat told Somers that they had seen the Relief ship sunk, but the Germans prevented them from rendering any assistance. Somers was the sole survivor out of a crew of 33.
At the end of January, 1917, the German Government issued its Note on the subject of unrestricted submarine warfare. This document pointed out that the attempt of the Central Powers to bring about peace had failed “on account of the lust of conquest of their adversaries.” For this reason “the Imperial Government must now continue the war for existence once more forced upon it by using its weapons. The Imperial Government is, therefore, forced to do away with the restrictions hitherto imposed upon the use of its fighting forces at sea.”