Jasper County Democrat, Volume 17, Number 39, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 August 1914 — 4 AUSTRIAN SHIPS SENT TO BOTTOM BY FRENCH FLEET [ARTICLE]

4 AUSTRIAN SHIPS SENT TO BOTTOM BY FRENCH FLEET

First Decisive Naval Engagement Fought in the Mediterranean. 14,000 TON WARSHIP LOST • Austrian Battle Craft Zrinyl One of Vessels Destroyed—Another Is In Flames—French Sweep Adriatic. Rome, Aug 18—The first decisive naval battle of the war in the Mediterranean resulted in a decisive victory for the French, off Badus, Austria, according to official reports here. The Austrian battleship Zrinyl, a vessel displacing 14,268 tons, Is reported to have been sunk, and the three other vessels of the Austro-Hungarian fleet a few moments later are said to have met a like fate. A dispatch from Nish, Servia, said the French ships, coming up from the southwest, attacked the Austrians. Two Austrian ironclads were sunk, one was set on fire, and the fourth fled toward Cattaro. The fight Is said to have lasted more than an hour. French Sweep the Adriatic. Tire dispatches state that the French fleet has swept the Adriatic from the fopt of Italy as far north as the Gulf of Cattaro, the best harbor of the Adriatic, which the French fleet now dominates. Besides the four Austrian battleships that the French are reported to have sunk off the coast of Montenegro three small cruisers of the Asgern type, evidently the Aspern, the Szigetvar and the Zenta. have been riddled and sunk. The Aspern type of cruisers are 313 feet long, with a displacement of 2,363 tons, and carry crews of about 305 men. \

Zrinyl a Big Warship. The battleship Zrinyl carried four 12-lnch guns in pairs in turrets; eight JM-inch guns, also in pairs In turrets, and 20 3.9-inch guns in her battery, besides a number of smaller cannon. She was a strongly armored ship and fitted out with three torpedo tubes and a crew of 857 men. The French fleet is under the command of Admiral de la Peyrer, who was ordered to destroy all Austrian vessels blockading the Montenegran port of Antivari. Germans Sunk Four Merchant Ships. Panama, Aug. 18. —Captain Zavalley, commander of a Peruvian torpedo boat which has arrived here and will pass through the canal on Wednesday, reports that the German cruiser Karlsruhe has sunk four British merchant ships after taking their crews to Costa Rica. The Karlsruhe is said to be on her way to intercept French ships near Guadaloupe. Austrians Invade Russia. London, Aug. 18.—The Vienna correspondent of the Reuter Telegram company wires that several Austrian army corps have invaded Russian territory. He adds that the Russian advance on Zalosce, Brody and Sokal, in Galicia, close to the Russian frontier and northeast of Lemberg, has been checked. This is in direct contradiction to the official view of the French war office, which says: “The Russian army is moving forward for an offensive blow'. In Galicia the Russian cavalry has crossed the frontier and the Austrian cavalry and infantry have been routed. Germany is being put on the defensive, and it is Impossible to avoid the conclusion that her position at the front is not all that could be desired at such a critical time in her history.”