Torpedoed without Warning (1918)

Description

Date: 16 October 1918

Transcript:

Torpedoed without Warning

Mr. Herbert Price, the Pembrokeshire county coroner, held inquests on Monday, on eight victims of the Japanese Liner, Hirano Maru, which had been recovered from the sea. Witnesses from the Yokahama Specie Bank, London, indentified [sic] the bodies of Mrs. Suyo Aokie and her son, the wife and child of Takyshi Aokie, the Bank's Accountant, who were passengers on board bound for Japan; the father and one other son have not been recovered. One body was identified as Shers Ohosaki, a steward, aged 24 years, and the other four bodies were evidently members of the crew. The eightth [sic] body was that of a young boy, evidently a European, whose body was washed up and by him was a woollen jacket marked J. Ointow Carleton. It was proved that a Rev. Oslon Carleton, with his son, was a passenger on the ship bound for Durban. It also transpired that the Hirano Maru was a ship of 7935 tons, outward bound and was torpedoed without warning in the early morning of the 4th inst., that she carried 97 passengers and 143 crew, of which 30 were saved. Verdict that deceased met their deaths by drowning owing to enemy action.

MILFORD HAVEN ENGINEER AMONGST SAVED FROM THE "OTRANTO."

Engineer Sub-Lieut. George Croft, of Gracechurch Terrace, Pill, Milford Haven, was one of the engineering staff of the Otranto sunk in collision off the Irish coast last week. Mr Croft is a man of few words, but tells his friends a graphic story of the terrible experience, and the amazing sangfroid of the Captain and of the American troops meeting death. Mr Croft was for many years an engineer on the Milford trawlers, and since joining the service during the war has made substantial progress and travelled much. He is a son-in-law of Mrs Barnes, Marble Hall Terrace.


Source:
'Torpedoed without Warning.' Haverfordwest and Milford Haven Telegraph. 16 Oct 1918. 3.

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