Submarine Sinks Steamer.

New York Times 100 years ago today, May 13, 1913:
Eighteen Persons Saved by Quick Work in Norfolk Harbor Collision.
Special to The New York Times.
    NORFOLK, Va., May 12.— In a collision to-night off the Navy Yard, the small steamer Annie, of the People's Line, operating between Norfolk and Elizabeth City, was sunk by the submarine C-5.
    The Annie went down within four minutes after the collision in thirty-five feet of water.
    The fact that several Navy launches as well as small harbor craft were within a few yards of the scene of the accident is all that prevented a serious loss of life, as the crew of the Annie had no time in which to launch a single boat. Rescuers worked admirably, however, and all of the eighteen on board were rescued from the water, suffering only a chilly bath. The accident was due to a misunderstanding of signals. The submarine was backing from the dock at the navy yard. The Annie was bound to Norfolk from the Albemarle Canal on her regular run. When her lookouts caught sight of the backing submarine it was too late to avoid a collision. The war craft struck the Annie, a wooden steamer, amidships, wrecking all of her superstructure and tearing a great hole in her side which extended below the water line. She went down so quickly that no effort could be made to beach her. The submarine was only slightly damaged.
    The officers of the submarine and of the Annie declined to make any statement to-night. A naval inquiry is certain.