"I am 'operating' at, but not inside your gate; tomorrow I come inside with a letter from the Kaiser."
On Sunday, October 8, the world was startled by the news that the U-53 was sinking British and neutral vessels near Nantucket Shoals Lightship, a hundred miles from Newport, U. S. A., and leaving the crews and passengers in small boats on the open sea. The underseas craft had stationed itself in the steamer lane where nearly all incoming and outgoing vessels from New York must pass, and its day's work consisted in sending five ships to the bottom, as follows:
- The Strathdene, a British freighter.
- The West Point, a British freighter.
- The Stephano, a British passenger liner.
- The Bloomersdijk, a Dutch freighter.
- The Christian Knudsen, Norwegian freighter.
New York Times, October 9, 1916.
