London, Dec. 23.
Details of the sinking of the Dutch vessel Sliedrecht on November 24, show that a U-boat sank the vessel 150 miles from land, in bad weather, without making any provision for the safety of the crew.
The mate, one of the five survivors, in an interview, declared after examining the ship's papers the commander of the German submarine said he would have to sink the tanker, and gave the crew half-hour to abandon ship.
When he was told the Sliedrecht was a central vessel bound for a neutral port, the U-boat commander said he would still have to sink her. Asked to take the crew aboard the submarine and transfer them to another vessel, the commander refused, saying he had no room.
The mate further alleged the crew were warned that if they sent out any distress signals they would be sunk immediately.
The crew took to two open boats, one of which was lost. The survivors subsisted on bread and water in an open boat for seven and a half days before being picked up.—Reuter.
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