An
item referred to the sinking of the 13.680 ton cruiser USS San Diego (1) on 19
July 1918 10 miles
off Fire-Island after hitting a mine taking causing the lives of 50 men. It was
supposed that the explosion was caused by a floating mine which cut off her
anchor by a German submarine. Until then however this explanation could not be
proved. In the meantime spoke a former German navy lieutenant with the Allied
secret service and stated that the heads of the German spies in the USA Curk
and Jahncke were responsible for the disaster. The cruiser hit a mine laid by
Germans lead by Jahncke active from the coastline. This item was earlier
published by another Dutch newspaper Algemeen Handelsblad dated 23 January
although the latter more details. The former lieutenant was named Witsche of
which the death penalty was changed in imprisonment. In this item was only Kurt
Jahncke named.
Note
1.
Armoured cruiser laid down at the shipyard of Union Works on 7 May 1902,
launched on 28 April two years later by Miss Florence Pardee, commissioned on 1
August 1907. With a displacement of 12.680 long tons/13.900 tons were her
dimensions 154 x 21,18 x 7,95 metres or
504’x 69’6” x 26’1”. Her armament consisted of 4-*”/20cm guns, 16-6/15cm guns,
18-3”/7,6cm guns, 12-3pd/4,7cm guns and finally 2-18”/46cm torpedo tubes. Her
crew numbered 830 men. Original named USS California (ACR-6) but in 1914
renamed San Diego.Suspected to be sunk by a submarine.
