Men working below decks.
Of the 23 men who were lost, the following 7 men were engaged in work below decks in the forward end of the ship, and they were either killed by the force of the explosion of the two torpedoes which struck in that vicinity, or were drowned by the inrush of the water.
H.A. Himelwright, storekeeper, second class, United States Navy; F.W. Wilson, jr., yeoman, second class, United States Naval Reserve Force; B. Zanetti, coxswain, United States Navy; A.S. Egbert, seaman, second class, National Naval Volunteer; G.B. Hoffman, seaman, United States Navy; J.A. Jenkins, seaman, second class, United States Navy; F.A. Hedglin, seaman, second class, United States Navy.
One raft probably went down.
The remaining 16 men were apparently caught on the raft alongside the ship and went down, this being probably caused by the current of water which was rushing into the big hole in the ship's side, as the men were on rafts which were in this vicinity.
Danger from submarine.
Although the German submarine commander made no offers of assistance of any kind, yet otherwise his conduct for the ship's company in the boat was all that could be expected. We naturally had some apprehension as to whether or not he would open fire on the boats and rafts, I thought he might probably do this, as an attempt to make me and other officers disclose their identity. This possibility was evidently in the minds of the men of the crew also, because at one time I noticed some one on the submarine walk to the muzzle of one of the guns, apparently with the intention of preparing it for action. This was evidently observed by some of the men in my boat, and I heard the remark, "Good night, here comes the fireworks." The spirit which actuated the remark of this kind, under such circumstances, could be none other than that of cool courage and bravery.
Instances of self-sacrifice.
There were many instances where a man showed more interest in the safety of another than he did for himself. When loading the boats from the rafts one man would hold back and insist that another be allowed to enter the boat. There was a striking case of this kind when about dark I noticed that Chief Master-at-Arms Rogers, who was rather an old man, and been in the Navy for years, was on a raft, and I sent a boat to take him from the raft, but he objected considerably to this, stating that he was quite all right, although as a matter of fact he was very cold and cramped from his long hours on the raft.
The Balsa rafts excellent.