The newspaper Middelburgsche Courant dated 28 June published an item dated Berlin 28 June which referred to tidings from Helsingfors. According to this tidings was at the Memel on 6 June a Russian transport of 8,000 tons sunk. The 2,000 Austrian and British prisoners of war which were on board and returning from Russia drowned.
The newspaper Vlissingse Courant referred to tidings from Helsingfors published by the German newspaper Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung according to which she sunk on the 5th with 2,000 Finnish, British, Austrian and German prisoners of war on board. There were no survivors.
The edition of the latter Dutch newspaper dated 3 July published a quite different account referred to details supplied by an eyewitness to the German newspaper Neue Freise Presse. All prisoners of war except for 10 Austrians were saved. It was the former transport Narodowolex of 8,000 tons now fitted out as a hospital ship and anchored in the Newa harbour of St. Petersburg for almost two years. Since then was she sloping towards the river bank caused by the silting of the river. She was to be visited by a commission on 8 June and her commissary decided to solve her sloping. The first engineer did not inform the ships’ officers and engineers when he let in water via a bulkhead in the right hull of the ship. When the ship which was stuck in the sand did not responsible immediately allowed he the water to enter via all bulkheads. The result was a sudden further sloping which an increasing speed. On the two lowest decks were around 300 seriously ill Russian sailors accommodated, on the decks above around 200 Austrian and Hungarian prisoners of war waiting for their transport to the Estonian port Narwa. The fact that it was a beautiful summer day resulted that just a few prisoners were within the ship, some were on deck and others on shore. There were also just a few sailors on board. The increasing sloping caused a panic and when men tried to escape via the stairs collapsed these stairs. The most prisoners succeeded in escaping onboard of tow nearby lying Russian steamboats and others jumped overboard in the water where they were saved by boats. Except for ten prisoners of war and one sick sailor were all men saved. In the meantime was the ship lying almost horizontal in the river.
The newspaper Vlissingse Courant referred to tidings from Helsingfors published by the German newspaper Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung according to which she sunk on the 5th with 2,000 Finnish, British, Austrian and German prisoners of war on board. There were no survivors.
The edition of the latter Dutch newspaper dated 3 July published a quite different account referred to details supplied by an eyewitness to the German newspaper Neue Freise Presse. All prisoners of war except for 10 Austrians were saved. It was the former transport Narodowolex of 8,000 tons now fitted out as a hospital ship and anchored in the Newa harbour of St. Petersburg for almost two years. Since then was she sloping towards the river bank caused by the silting of the river. She was to be visited by a commission on 8 June and her commissary decided to solve her sloping. The first engineer did not inform the ships’ officers and engineers when he let in water via a bulkhead in the right hull of the ship. When the ship which was stuck in the sand did not responsible immediately allowed he the water to enter via all bulkheads. The result was a sudden further sloping which an increasing speed. On the two lowest decks were around 300 seriously ill Russian sailors accommodated, on the decks above around 200 Austrian and Hungarian prisoners of war waiting for their transport to the Estonian port Narwa. The fact that it was a beautiful summer day resulted that just a few prisoners were within the ship, some were on deck and others on shore. There were also just a few sailors on board. The increasing sloping caused a panic and when men tried to escape via the stairs collapsed these stairs. The most prisoners succeeded in escaping onboard of tow nearby lying Russian steamboats and others jumped overboard in the water where they were saved by boats. Except for ten prisoners of war and one sick sailor were all men saved. In the meantime was the ship lying almost horizontal in the river.
