Evening Republican, Volume 19, Number 2, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 January 1915 — ENGLISH SHIP BLOWN UP IN CHANNEL [ARTICLE]

ENGLISH SHIP BLOWN UP IN CHANNEL

Submarine or Mine Given as the Cause—6oo Lives Are Lost and 160 Rescued. t . London, Jan. I.—The British battleship Formidable was sunk this morning in the British Channel by either a mine or a submarine. About 600 of the 750 men on board are believed to have bejn lost. The announcement of the loss was made by the official information bureau briefly as follows: ‘.The battleship Formidable was sunk this morning in the channel, but Whether by a mine or a submarine is not yet certain.” After the official statement was issued the Tor Bay trawler Providence landed 70 survivors. They were rescued by the trawler during a terrific storm during the morning. While the British admiralty has not announced the locality where the battleship was blown up, the inclination here is to believe that a submarine again has been successful in an attack on some ol the British ships that have been bombarding German positions on the Belgian coast. (London has been stirred by the announcement, but this is <jue not so much to the loss of the ship, which was 15 years old and cost about $5,000,600, as it is for the heavy loss of life. Among the 150 rescued of the 750 on hoard are eight officers 4nd six midshipmen. The Formidable had a displacement of 15,000 tons. It was 430 feet long and carried a complement of 750 men. It was heavily armored, and carried four 12-inch guns, twelve 6-inch guns and sixteen 12pounders. It was provided also with four submerged torpedo tubes. The Formidable had assigned to it, according to the British navy list for December,'various fleet officers and consequently it undoubtedly was acting as a flagship at the time of its destruction. Its captain was Arthur N. Loxley and commander, Charles I?. Ballard.