German Destroyer Sunk; 66 Drowned.

New York Times 100 years ago today, March 6, 1913:
Rammed by Cruiser, It Is Reported Owing to Risky Night Manoeuvres.
MANY ACCIDENTS OF KIND
Two Other Similar Fatalities in the Last Eight Months — American Embassy Offers Condolences.
By Marconi Transatlantic Wireless Telegraph to The New York Times.
    BERLIN, March 5.— Sixty-six officers and men of the German torpedo-boat destroyer S 178 lost their lives in a collision with the armored cruiser Yorck five miles northeast of Helgoland last midnight.
    The accident, the worst of many which have overtaken the German torpedo service, occurred only a few hours after the departure of the Kaiser, who had been following the manoeuvres in a battleship. The destroyer was rammed amidships by the cruiser and sank instantly, being almost completely cut in two. The high seas, stormy southwest winds, and inky darkness interfered with rescue operations, and the Yorck, aided by another destroyer, was able to rescue only fourteen of the crew of the S 178.
    Accounts differ regarding the precise circumstances of the disaster. In the Reichstag this afternoon, Admiral von Tirpitz, the Secretary of the Navy, stated that he was unable to say whether the collision occurred during or after manoeuvres, or whether or not the cruiser and the destroyer had their lights covered.
    Several reports assert that the S 178 was rammed in the course of one of the daring night manoeuvres of which the German Fleet makes a specialty, namely, in an attempt on the part of the torpedo boats and destroyers to break through the line of battleships and cruisers. Several German destroyers have been lost in former years, with a score or more of their crews, in efforts to bring this new phase of offensive warfare to the highest state of perfection.
    The destroyer's commander, Lieut. von Zastrow, went on leave yesterday, thus escaping the fate of his brother officers. The acting commander, Lieut. Pies, and the navigating officer, Lieut. Schwede, went down with the vessel. The Kaiser heard of the disaster on the eve of his departure from Wilhelmshaven for Bremen. He was deeply shocked and ordered that all German warships in home waters and abroad fly flags at half-mast.

    BERLIN, March 5.— Joseph C. Grew, Secretary of the American Embassy, today went to the Ministry of Marine to express to Admiral von Tirpitz the condolences of the United States in connection with the disaster to torpedo boat destroyer S 178, which is the worst in the annals of the modern German Navy.
    Mr. Grew afterward called on Foreign Minister von Jagow on a similar errand.