A new article has been added at Newspaper Abstracts > United States > Delaware > Sussex http://www.newspaperabstracts.com/index.php?action=displaycat&catid=642 Direct link to article: http://www.newspaperabstracts.com/link.php?id=55011 Submitted by: Harrison H Howeth Article Title: Miami Herald Article Date: June 5 1918 Article Description: Survivors of Steamship Carolina, Adrift in Storm, Landed at Lewes, Delaware: Article Text: Lewes, Delaware - June 4, 1918: Ninteen survivors, passengers and crew, of the Carolina, sunk by a German U-Boat, were landed here today with harrowing tales of the attack, the stormy seas, loss of sixteen of their party and the rescue of a young girl as they drifted helpless after a bad storm on Sunday night. Ten life boats of the Carolina were filled with passengers and crew, left the ship, before she was sunk by the German submarine, U-37. The nineteen that were landed here were brought by a British vessel which had picked them up 25 miles off the Delaware Capes. Naval autorities took charge and cared for them at the Lewes Station at Cape Henlopen where they were questioned. None had any knowledge of the Germans shelling the life boats and it was feared the others had not survived the storm. Great joy was expressed when it was found that all had made it to other beaches and had been landed safe. The story of the survivors was not made public until they were taken to the railroad station and left for New York. A German citizen, a member of the crew, was detained pending an investigation. Accoding to the survivors the ship Carolina had word to look out for German submarines, that a thee masted schooner had been sunk earlier and to run without lights. The submarine appeared at surface Sunday evening at six o'clock, flying a German flag. A German officer with an armed guard came alongside and order the captain to lower all lifeboats and load the passengers and crew to leave the ship within the next twenty minutes. The Germans appeared to show consideration to the passengers as they hurried to leave the steamer. All ten boats were lowered and loaded an had swung away as the submarine crew wathched from their deck. One of the officers boarded the steamer, and durig inspection found a crew member that had been left behimd, ordered one of the life boats back to take him aboard. After this and all boats were clear of the Carolina, the German crew shelled her seven times until she burst into flames. The Carolina slowly went down as the sun set and the boats drifted o! ff into a beautiful Sunday evening with smooth seas and no danger apparently. Tied close together, everyone taking a turn at the oars, they drifted for a long time, then faint flashes of light appeared on the horizon, a wind began to strengthen, and they knew there was trouble ahead. The stom came, wind blew a gale making a nasty sea. The boats became separated and pitched wildly. The boat, a motor launch, in which the Lewes survivors were in was capsized, righted, capsized several more times and sixteen of the thirty five people on board were lost to the sea. It was pitch dark as the storm passed and the sea calmed, the survivors were able to right and bail out the launch so that they could again get aboard. At daylight a distant object was seen but there was no way to reach it as the launch had lost its oars and gasoline for its engine, however, it drifted towards the sightings and found a girl alive, clinging to two bodies of drowned men with life belts. The girl, Elona Donate Virola of Porto Rico, appeared to be a good swimmer and with her own efforts managed to remain afloat. She was one of those who had been in the launch and was separated when it capsized and was one of the two women landed. They were picked up by the British vessel Monday aftern! oon. All were exhausted but were well on the way to recovery when they left Lewes for New York. The two women brought to shore wore but little clothing and were supplied with complete outfits by the women of Lewes. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ DE-Old-News ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ NewspaperAbstracts.com - Finding our ancestors in the news! TM http://www.NewspaperAbstracts.com Also visit our other sites: http://www.AncestorsOnTheWeb.com http://www.Genealogy101.com http://www.AutumnWindz.com