We regret to have to record a serious German naval
disaster. The submarine ` II3 ' sank in Kiel Harbour on Tuesday morning, and though the crane tugs were soon at work, the vessel was not raised until 4 a.m. next morning. Three men, a Lieutenant, a petty officer, and a stoker, entered the submarine through the torpedo-tube when her bows had been raised above water, and rescued twenty-six of the crew from the fore-part of the vessel, where they had been kept
alive by the supplies of oxygen ; but the Commander, Lieutenant, and a sailor were found dead in the conning- tower, where they had remained in order to see to the beaching of the ship, and had been cut off from the fore-part. The President of the Reichstag, who read telegrams describing the disaster and the splendid gallantry of the men engaged on the salvage operations, invited the Members by rising in their places to do honour, as did the whole of the German people, to the three brave men who had given their lives for the Fatherland in as loyal a fulfilment of duty as though they had fallen in battle against the foe. The British Navy and the British people, unhappily familiar with similar disasters, will join in every 'word of this fine tribute.
