The lost ship was commanded by Lieutenant Commander D. Mahlman, U.S.N.R.F., and was under charter to the United States Government. To the Board of Inquiry convened for the purpose, he presented his own story of the disaster, which was as follows:
At 4.50 A.M. felt an explosion amidships. Stopped the ship and ordered all hands to stand by the boats. The Engineer Officer reported water and oil leaking into the forward stoke hold. Sounded bilges and found three feet in No. 1; No. 2 full; and Nos. 4 and 5 empty. On examining the engine-room and stoke hold again, I found the water over the floor plates, the engineers meanwhile having the pumps working on the stoke hold bilge. The water was steadily gaining so I ordered the boats to be lowered and the ship abandoned.
Sent two boats away to the U.S.S. Corsair which was standing by, while I remained on board with Ensign Schwartz and boat’s crew to investigate further if it were possible to do anything to keep the ship afloat, the pumps being worked to the full capacity continually. Soon afterwards two boats from the Corsair returned to the ship with some of the officers and crew.
Extra efforts were made by the engineer force to gain headway on the incoming water. When the water had risen to the fire-boxes and continued to increase, on the report of the Chief Engineer that the water was beyond control, I ordered all hands to abandon ship. Having gone aboard the Corsair, the Commanding Officer asked me how long I thought the ship would keep afloat, to which I replied four or five hours. He then suggested towing, so I returned to the ship with my Executive Officer and sixteen men, taking a tow-line which was made fast to the stern, the best method of towing under the existing circumstances. No results were obtainable and an attempt was made to shift the tow-line to the bow.
While the tow-line was being shifted forward, from observations made by me in the engine-room it was evident that the ship could not stay afloat much longer as she was then rapidly settling by the head. I again gave orders to abandon the ship, which was done, and the Californian soon began to sink rapidly, going down bow first until the stern was almost perpendicular. Later the ship slowly righted and the stern disappeared entirely at 9.04 A.M. in Latitude 46° 17′ 15″ North, Longitude 2° 10′ 30″ West.
The Corsair had tried and failed, which was ever so much better than not trying at all, and as one of her men mournfully observed, “With any sort of a break in luck, we would have salvaged her and a cargo that was so valuable that the Army organization was figuring out some way of raising it during the summer.”
A MASCOT FROM THE CALIFORNIAN KNOWN AS “THE MUTT”
THE NEWFOUNDLAND PUP SAVED FROM THE FRENCH FISHING BARK