July 15—Germany expresses formal regrets for the torpedoing of the American steamship Nebraskan, stating it was due to a mistake, and offers to pay damages.
FOOTNOTES
[1] Captain Trickey, describing the destruction of his vessel, through which several Americans lost their lives, said on July 1 in Liverpool:
"We sighted the submarine about 6.48 o'clock Monday night, June 28, when we were about twenty miles west of Trevose Head, on the northwest coast of Cornwall. We were then about four miles away. She drew closer. She fired two shots across our bows. I then turned my stern to her and ran for all I was worth. The submarine shelled us all the time, killing several of the crew and cutting away several of our boats. The boats had already been swung out, and some of the men had taken up positions in them ready for the order to lower away. In some cases the falls were cut by shrapnel, and several of the men fell into the sea.
"A stern chase ensued, lasting for about an hour, the German shelling us unceasingly. My steering gear was cut and knocked out of order. One shell came through the engine-room skylight, and another knocked the Marconi house away. Still another shell went down the funnel, disabling the stokehole and making it impossible to keep up a full head of steam. Thirteen of my crew were lying dead on the deck, and the ship was on fire in three places. Then I decided to surrender. It was the only thing I could do. By this time the submarine had decreased the distance between us to about a mile.
"From the moment we surrendered the Germans acted fairly toward us and gave us ample time to get out of the ship. They even rescued some of the men—three, I think—who had previously fallen from the boats and were still afloat aided by their lifebelts. When we had got away from the ship the submarine fired two torpedoes into her and she sank at 8.07 o'clock. We remained in the boats all night and were picked up the next morning by the Belgian steam trawler President Stevens."
[2] In a long statement seeking to justify the use of asphyxiating gases in warfare the semi-official Wolff Telegraph Bureau asserted in German newspapers of June 25 that the Allies first used such gases against the Germans, and it cites French documents as proof that France in February, months before the German advance at Ypres, made extensive preparations for the application of gases and for counteracting their effects on the attacking troops.
After quoting the official German war report of April 16 that the French were making increased use of asphyxiating bombs, the statement says:
"For every one who has kept an unbiased judgment, these official assertions of the strictly accurate and truthful German military administration will be sufficient to prove the prior use of asphyxiating gases by our opponents. But let whoever still doubts consider the following instructions for the systematic preparation of this means of warfare by the French, issued by the French War Ministry, under date of Feb. 21, 1915: