say that I have read carefully the foregoing sworn statement of Third Officer Winnett, of the S. S. Carib, regarding the voyage we jointly made in the said steamer from Charleston to Bremen, with special reference to the sinking of said steamship Carib on the morning of Feb. 22, 1915, and depose further that said sworn statement of Third Officer Winnett is, according to my knowledge, in every way correct and true; and I further depose and say, that I know of no details concerning the sinking of the above-mentioned steamer Carib which would either detract from, or add to, the said sworn statement of Third Officer Winnett. In testimony whereof, witness my hand at Bremerhaven this 28th day of February, 1915. AMERICAN CONSULAR AGENCY, JESSE BOYD, Second Officer S. S. "Carib." City of Bremerhaven, Empire of Germany, ss: Subscribed and sworn to before me this 28th day of February, 1915. J. F. BUCK, Consular Agent of the United States of America. [Seal of American Consular Agency.] [Inclosure 5.] Sworn Statement of Chief Engineer George S. Keowen, My name is George S. Keowen. I was born in Brooklyn, January 10, 1875. I never made the trip to Germany before. I joined the S. S. Carib November 29, 1912, as chief engineer. So far as I know, the vessel was absolutely in a seaworthy condition. Her boilers were sound. We left Charleston for Bremen January 27th, 1915. On the trip from Charleston to the Isle of Wight we encountered two severe storms, and the steering gear parted on both occasions. The first time the steam steering chain broke, and on the second occasion a rod on the starboard side broke. Repairs were made as soon as possible, and as far as I knew the steering gear was placed in as good shape as ever. We took the English pilot at the Isle of Wight. During the entire trip everything was in good condition in the engine and boiler room, with the exception of six boiler tubes, which had to be plugged. I saw eight mines myself, after leaving North Hinder, on the 19th of February. I should judge that the nearest we came to these mines was about 500 feet. Having no glasses, I could not see the mines clearly. I saw that one mine at least had the letter "H" painted in white. The mines looked like ordinary buoys with a stick across the top; some were black and some were red. We left Mass Lightship on Feb. 21st. After leaving we ran up to about 9 knots per hour, on an average, steadily up to the time of the explosion. I received no orders to slow the speed down. Our full speed in fair weather is about 10 knots per hour, and when the sea is rough and we have bad weather our full speed was 6 or 7 knots per hour. The explosion occurred at about 11 o'clock on the morning of the 22nd of February. The vessel was running at about 9 knots. It was hazy and we could not see over two or three miles. Everything was in order in the engine rooms. When the explosion came it caused one of the two boilers to explode, and in all probability one of the boilers was lifted out of the saddle and the steam pipe was broken, because with the explosion of the mine the engine room was completely filled with steam and it was impossible to see anything. The first look I had the water (sea water) covered half of the cylinder. The vessel lost her headway almost instantly; the engine probably made not more than 10 or 15 revolutions. It was out of the question to attempt to shut off the steam, and the breaking of the steam pipe rendered the engine absolutely impossible to control. At the time of the explosion the Third Assistant Engineer, William Bazzell, was in charge of watch; Frank Redmond, oiler, two firemen, and one coal passer were on watch. Of these five men, the oiler and one fireman were saved; the Third Assistant Engineer, Bazzell, Fireman Antonio Martinez, and Coal Passer Segunda Blaz lost their lives. I could not say how they lost their lives, but I think they must have been killed instantly, either by the rush of scalding steam or inpouring sea water. Two attempts were made to reach these men, but unsuccessfully. I and the first assistant, Mr. Hubbel, went back twice, but the water was so high we could not enter the engine room, and the live steam also prevented us. We got into the boats then, and in about 20 minutes we had cleared the vessel. I was in No. 2 boat. We waited a short distance from the ship for over 30 minutes, to see if there was a trace of life on board, but saw nothing more of the missing men. We were picked up by the German scout boat Annie Busse after about one and one-half hours, and after 48 hours' delay on account of fog were taken in to Wilhelmshaven and later sent to Bremerhaven, arriving at the latter city at 10 o'clock at night, February 24th. AMERICAN CONSULAR AGENCY, GEORGE S. KEOWEN, City of Bremerhaven, Empire of Germany, ss: Subscribed and sworn to before me by the above-named Chief Engineer George Keowen on the 28th of February, 1915. J. F. BUCK, Consular Agent of the United States of America. [Seal of American Consular Agency.] [Inclosure 6.] Sworn Statements of First and Second Engineers Assistants of S. S. "Carib." We, Frank Hubel, born at Westfield, Connecticut, October 10, 1880, and Thomas P. Tracy, born in New York City, May 30, 1881, the first and second assistant engineers, respectively, of the steamer Carib, having been duly sworn do hereby depose and say that we have read carefully the foregoing sworn statement of Chief Engineer George Keowen of the S. S. Carib, regarding the voyage we jointly made in the said steamer from Charleston to Bremen, with especial reference to the sinking of said steamship Carib on the morning of February 22nd, 1915, and depose further that said sworn statement of Chief Engineer Keowen is, according to our knowledge, in every way correct and true; and we further depose and say, that we know of no details concerning the above-mentioned sinking of the S. S. Carib which would either detract from, or add to, the said sworn statement of Chief Engineer Keowen. In testimony whereof, witness our hands at Bremerhaven this 28th day of February, 1915. AMERICAN CONSULAR AGENCY, FRANK HUBEL, First Asst. Eng. S. S. "Carib." Second Asst. Eng. S. S. "Carib." City of Bremerhaven, Empire of Germany, ss: Subscribed and sworn to before me this 28th day of February, 1915. J. F. BUCK, Consular Agent of the United States of America. [Seal of American Consular Agency.] Referring to your Excellency's kind note of the 5th instant about the sinking of the American steamer Evelyn, I have the honor to make to your Excellency the following communication: The investigation of the Evelyn and Carib casualties brought to light the fact that the vessels had on board Dutch, not German pilots. Those pilots appear to have been furnished by the Rotterdam branch of the English Furness Steamship Company. Those pilots according to the inquiries made are not competent to navigate German waters. It was found, for instance, that H. Benne, the pilot taken by the steamer Osmulgu, who was formerly a Dutch district pilot but is already on the pension list, declared he knew nothing of a certain sailing direction for the German coast which is enough to show that he is not fit to steer a vessel to Germany. As a matter of fact he did not ever observe the sailing directions issued by the German Admiralty for the German coast and it was just luck that saved the Osmulgu from the fate of the Evelyn. The master of the Evelyn declared that he sailed through the Channel and had a mine pilot along the English coast. It seems that the English officer who came on board with the pilot told him that he should steer not the Northern course but the Southerly course below the East Friesian Islands, which was the course taken by the other steamers. Whereupon he steamed for Rotterdam and there took a pilot. On being asked why he had not steered for Listertief, he replied that he had left everything to the pilot. According to his chart the casualty occurred fifty-three degrees fifty-two minutes north six degrees seven minutes east. The pilot who had the looks of an old Dutch fisherman and made a rather unfavorable impression declared that he had steered that course. because he had heard that other ships had taken it. In reply to a question he said that he had never come with a ship into the German Bay since the war began. In order to avert further casualties as much as possible I have the honor to leave it to your excellency kindly to consider whether it may not be advisable to warn in such manner as may seem appropriate the American steamship companies concerned against applying to the above mentioned firms for pilots. I make this recommendation all the stronger as there is reason to suspect that the enemy will spare no efforts to expose ships bound for Germany to danger and that influence is possibly brought to bear on the pilot service. I would in this connection again repeat that the course recommended in the Nachrichten für Seefahrer, No. 3161/14, North around Scotland to the guiding buoys of Listertief offers the least danger. Accept, etc., J. BERNSTORFF. 2770/14. NACHRICHTEN FUR SEEFAHRER. [No. 52-Berlin, 1 October 1914. p. 898.] III. NORTH SEA. Germany-North Sea-Making for harbors. H. 8088/14. Berlin, September 26, 1914. The course of merchant vessels bound for German North Sea ports in the Jade, Weser, Elbe, and Eider is set at the Listertief steerage buoy. The course for the Ems remains as in peace. The directions of N. F. S. 14-2248. Figure 2 paragraph 2 and No. 2423, paragraph 3, are at the same time superseded. Approximate position of the Listertief Steerage buoy: 55° 34' N.; 8° 17′ W. NACHRICHTEN FUR SEEFAHRER. [No. 52-Berlin, 1 Qctober 1914. p. 1006.] III. NORTH SEA. 3093/14. German Bay (Deutsche Bucht). Sailing regulations. H. 9342. November 4, 1914. Supplementing N. F. S. 2770 the following directions are issued for the regulation of navigation in the Deutsche Bucht of the North Sea: |