Sinking of Ship

Hesperian Passenger Reaches Cranbrook

Miss Bessie Williamson Give Vivid Description of Sinking of Ocean Greyhound

Miss Bessie Williamson sister of Mrs. R.W. Edmondson of this city, arrived in Cranbrook Friday Last, and will make her home here with her sister. Miss  Williamson was a passenger on the ill-fated Allan liner Hesperian, bound for Cranbrook, when that steamer was torpedoed by a German submarine. Miss Williamson lost all her belongings, including some valuable treasures which she was bringing to Cranbrook for her sister.

An interesting account of her experiences consequent upon the torpedoing of the Allan liner was given to a press representative by Miss Williamson. She said:

"We were quite a happy and contented lot of passengers on the Hesperian," she  said, "and no one appeared to be at all anxious as to the success of the voyage. No doubt a great deal of this was due to the assurances that had been given in America on behalf of the German government that no liner would be attacked without notice. The possibility of being torpedoed was certainly discussed by us, but the subject was treated jovially, and I think most of the passengers did not worry about the matter. During the afternoon a number of passengers were amusing themselves by trying to distinguish objects out at sea through their opera glasses. They were much interested in two or three dark objects that occasionally bobbed above the surface of the water. Some people thought they were porpoises, others said they must be whales.

The Torpedo at Work

"Everything went all right up till about half past eight in the evening. After dinner I was speaking on the second deck to a Canadian gentleman, when we heard a  great crash against the side of the ship. This was followed by a horrible grading noise, as though something was boring its way into the vessel. Immediately afterwards a lot of smoke came up over the side-it looked just like steam." A dreadful scene followed. I'm afraid most people were panic-stricken and made a big rush for the boats. Fortunately for me I was near a boat when the crash took place, and assisted by my friend I got into this at once. I think I was about the first to get into the boat. This luck stuck to me throughout, for I was in the first boat to get picked up by the steamer Empress, which came out from Queenstown to rescue us. Thirty or forty people crowded in to the boat after me and somebody started to lower it. As it passed the first deck people who had rushed out of their cabins-some of them very scantily dressed-jumped into it, so that by the time the boat struck the water it contained 70 people.

"You must understand that by this time it was dusk, although not quite dark. At first the rush of people threw me into the bottom of the boat amongst a lot of old sails and other material, and when I landed my clothing was quite saturated with oil. People lay upon each other in the most higgledy-piggledy fashion, and unlucky for me I was underneath. However in time things got a little better, although up to the arrival of the Empress I remained over ankle deep in water. In our boat we had about 30 babies, and I nursed one. The motion of the boat made me sick in the meantime. It was a cheerful occasion! We were in the boat for about three hours, and during that time we picked up an old man of 70. He had been swimming about for three-quarters of an hour, and was on the point of exhaustion. It was wonderful how he kept going so long at his age.

How People Behaved

"At eleven o'clock on Saturday night the Empress picked us up, and we were landed at Queenstown on Sunday morning at about eight o'clock. When we were torpedoed the  ship was 130 miles off the Fastnet."

Asked to express an opinion about the way in which the majority of people behaved after the catastrophe, Miss Williamson said there was a great deal of panic. Having read of the rapid sinking of other boats which had been attacked by German submarines, the passengers did not imagine that the Hesperian would keep afloat for several hours, as actually was the case. That explained why people lost their heads at the outset. Very few of them thought of going for their belongings, although Miss Williamson knew of one case in which a gentleman, having seen his wife into a boat, returned to get some valuables, and did not leave the Hesparian until some hours later. "I cannot speak in too high praise," said Miss Williamson  "of the behavior of the Canadian soldiers we had on board. Their conduct was splendid, and they were calm throughout. Of course in the confusion some wounded men got into boats which badly needed able men. There was one boat which had 30 women in it and only two men. The anxiety was added to because there was such a large number of children on board the Hesperian. I should think there were nearly 100 very young children-quite babies."

Miss Williamson said the passengers were well treated by the Allan line officials, who saw to their comfort at Queenstown, Dublin, and Liverpool. Some of their passengers, nothing daunted by the disaster, promptly booked their passages by another vessel.