The Tuscania was the first troopship to be sunk en route to France, though the Antilles was sunk in October, 1917. This boat, however, it must be noted, was returning from France. At this time 70 lives were lost. The comparatively small loss of life on the "Tuscania" was accepted as evidence of the efficient training and bravery of American troops under all conditions.
The Tuscania was torpedoed when entering what until that time were considered comparatively safe waters. The ships were within sight of land, which was just distinguishable in the dusk of evening when the torpedo hit the Tuscania amidships. This was at about 7 o'clock.
When the crash came the khaki-clad young heroes of the American army lined up as though on parade, and sang the "Star Spangled Banner" at the top of their voices as the Tuscania sank by inches under them. Across from them their British cousins of the crew came back with the echoing "God Save the King," which too cool-headed exponents of what occurred in a crisis of a sea disaster say accounts for the fact the Germans took only a toll of 113 lives out of the 2,397 souls on board the Cunarder when she met her fate.
AMERICAN COURAGE PRAISED.
If the singing man is a fighting man, he also is hopeful, and in the combination of fight and hope there came the baffling of the German attempt to reduce the American war forces by almost a full regiment. Taking stock after the disaster, the officers of both the army and navy praised the courage of the Americans as the chief reason for the saving of more than 90 per cent of the men on board.
No submarine was seen until the torpedo struck the Tuscania fairly amidships. A moment later another torpedo passed astern of the vessel. There was a terrific explosion, and it is believed most of the casualties were caused by this and by subsequent difficulties in lowering the boats.
The vessel immediately took a heavy list and the men were called to their lifeboat stations, but the list prevented the boats from being properly lowered, some of the upper-deck boats falling to the lower deck. Many of the men jumped into the water, and the difficulty in lowering the boats was responsible for many casualties.
The survivors of the Tuscania landed at points in Ireland were received with great honor in the various communities, and great tribute was paid to the surviving soldiers by the Mayor of Dublin.
The American troops on the Tuscania were part of the forces being hurried to France to hold the Germans in check, and at the time American troops were holding a sector with the French in Lorraine, northwest of Toul, while American artillery were supporting the French in Champagne. The date set for the big German drive was announced as January 28, and the fact that Germany made an open proclamation of the fact that they proposed to wage offensive warfare was somewhat puzzling to the minds of those studying the situation. Making her position more impregnable, Germany halted her armies in Russia upon the acceptance of peace terms by the Russian delegation at Brest-Litovsk, which were concluded on March 1, 1918, and daily the activities of the German forces on the Western Front grew in intensity. On March 6, in anticipation of the drive, it was for the first time publicly stated that 81,000 troops of American soldiers were holding an eight mile line on the Lorraine front, with three full divisions in the trenches. The gathering together of this force and other American troops in France drew Secretary of War Baker to the scene of activities. He was the first American Cabinet officer to cross the ocean after America entered the war.