The protests of the United States against lawless submarine attacks were not confined to Germany alone. The Italian liner "Ancona" was destroyed by an Austrian submarine in the Mediter ranean Sea, Nov. 7, 1915. Of 507 per sons on board, 308 were lost, of whom 9 were Americans. The submarine shelled the helpless passengers, as they were trying to get away in the life boats. Correspondence ensued with the Austrian Government, which finally, on Dec. 29, announced that the commander of the submarine had been punished, and promised, with some reservations, to indemnify the families of the victims.
Another item in the account with Aus tria was an attack by an Austrian sub marine, Dec. 5, 1915, on the American oil steamer "Petrolite," off the coast of Tripoli. A sailor was wounded, and the submarine still kept on firing, even after the "Petrolite" had swung broadside to, so that the submarine commander could see her name printed on her side and the American flag flying at her mast. Stores were also taken from the ves sel before she was allowed to proceed. Representations made by this Govern ment were met by a flat denial of the facts. An attack was made on the Brit ish passenger liner "Persia" by a sub marine in the Mediterranean southeast of Crete, Dec. 30, 1915. 335 lives were lost, including two Americans, of whom one was an American consul on his way to his post at Aden. The wake of the torpedo that destroyed the ship was clearly seen, but as the submarine it self was not visible, Germany, Austria, and Turkey denied responsibility.
The winter of 1915-1916 was compara tively quiet, but with the coming of spring there was a revival of submarine outrages. March 1, 1916, the French liner "Patria" with Americans on board was attacked without warning, but escaped. On March 9, a Norwegian ship, the "Silius" was sunk in Havre Roads, and one American in the crew was injured. The Dutch steamer "Tu bantia" was torpedoed on the night of March 15, 1916, in the North Sea. Amer icans were on board but were saved. On March 18, the "Berwindvale" with four Americans on board was torpedoed off Bantry, Ireland, but no lives were lost.
A wanton attack, and one that pro voked a new crisis, was that on the French Channel steamer "Sussex" on its way from Folkestone to Dieppe, March 24, 1916. Eighty passengers, in cluding some Americans were killed or wounded. This flagrant case brought this country to the very edge of hostili ties. The German authorities declared that the "Sussex" must have struck a British mine. It was admitted that a long, black steamer was torpedoed in the Channel by one of their submarines, but it was declared that it was a Brit ish warship or mine layer. Irrefutable proofs were furnished by this Govern ment of the falsity of these statements. On April 18, Secretary Lansing des patched a note to the German Govern ment, which expressed regret that that Government did not understand the grav ity of the situation resulting not only from the "Sussex" attack, but from the whole German method of submarine warfare. The note recalled Germany's promise to respect passenger ships, and asserted that the commanders of her submarines had violated that promise, with the result that the list of Ameri cans who had thus lost their lives had been steadily lengthening until it had now reached 100. The patience of the United States Government was adverted to, and the note went on to say that it had now "become painfully evident that the position that the American Govern ment took at the very outset had been justified, namely, that the use of sub marines for the destruction of an en emy's commerce was, of necessity, be cause of the very character of the ves sels employed and the very methods of attack which their employment of course involved, utterly incompatible with the principles of humanity, the long-established and incontrovertible rights of neutrals and the sacred im munities of non-combatants." At the
end of the note, Germany is warned that if it was still her purpose to per sist in prosecuting relentless and indis criminate warfare, the American Gov ernment would have no choice but to sever diplomatic relations.
The German reply, though delayed until May 4, showed that the Imperial Government was beginning to recognize that American patience had nearly reached the breaking point. It still pro tested that many of the offenses charged against her commanders were due to mistakes, such as occurred in all wars, and it was also contended that the Ger man submarine warfare was only a re sponse to British violations of interna tional law that virtually condemned millions of women and children to star vation. But a pregnant concession was made in the following announcement: "German naval forces have received this order: In accordance with the gen eral principles of visit and search and the destruction of vessels recognized by international law, such vessels, both within and without the area declared a naval war zone, shall not be sunk with out warning and without saving human lives, unless the ship attempt to escape or offer resistance. ' A loophole for escape from this categorical promise was left, however, in the expression of hope that the United States Govern ment would forthwith secure from the British Government a stricter observ ance of the rules of international law and the statement that "should steps taken by the United States not obtain the object it deserves, to have the laws of humanity followed by all the belligerent nations, the German Government would then be facing a new situation, in which it must reserve to itself complete liberty of decision." In its reply, taking cognizance of the German promise, the United States Gov ernment was careful to disclaim any ob ligation to offer a quid pro quo for the concession. "In order to avoid any pos sible misunderstanding," the note de clares, "the Government of the United States notifies the Imperial Government that it cannot for a moment entertain, much less discuss, a suggestion that re spect by German naval authorities for the rights of citizens of the United States upon the high seas should in any way or in the slightest degree be made contingent upon the conduct of any other Government affecting the rights of neutrals and non-combatants. Respon sibility in such matters is single, not joint: absolute, not relative." For a time after this promise was given, it was generally respected, and it began to seem as if actual participa tion by America in the war might be avoided. Although from British sources came the statement that by Oct. 1, 15 vessels had been sunk without the warn ing that Germany had explicitly prom ised to give, the American State Depart ment had no satisfactory evidence to support the statement.