THE BURNING OF THE 'VOLTURNO' - PAGE 15
'L'ILLUSTRATION' - OCTOBER 18, 1913

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Here is another page of data, now at last complete, which provides most of the images and text contained in the Oct. 18, 1913 issue of 'L'Illustration', a weekly magazine published in Paris, France. The particular issue is # 3686 & 'L'Illustration' was then in its 71st year of publication.

The content consists of a full page photographic image of the burning Volturno, taken from Carmania (first image below). And a total of seven other images, two of which relate to La Touraine, & are on site page 82. And an article (in the French language, of course) on pages 286 & 287 of the publication. Which I have now completely transcribed. The French accents are not easy to get correctly for an English speaker & re some of them I had to improvise! Is there a symbol for << with the symbols on top of one another and the second < smaller than the first? I can only do the best that I can in transcribing it all perfectly.

An image of the two pages, i.e. pages 286 & 287, as they appear opposite one another in the magazine, is at the bottom of this page.

Pride of place must go to the full page image, taken from Carmania, which had to be scanned in two sections & knitted together because of its size. Its caption reads 'L'INCENDIE DU << VOLTURNO>> EN PLAIN OCEAN' and 'Une baleinière (visible au centre de la photographie) essaie par mer démontée d'atteindre le navire en feu.' & also 'Photographie prise à bord du Carmania - Voir les autres documents et l'article, pages 286 et 287.' A 'baleinière' is, I learn, a 'whale-boat'.

The horizontal format of a computer screen surely creates problems with such a vertical image. So if you wish to see it in a large size, click here. It is, however, a truly giant image. So beware! To see the 'baleinière' or 'whale-boat', you do need to see that large image in full size. And even then look closely!

And next are three of the general 'L'Illustration' images. That appear with the text on pages 286 and 287. The top pairing (they appeared side by side on the printed page) are entitled, respectively (left first) 'Le paquebot Volturno, de l'Uranium Steamship Cy.' & 'Le Volturno incendié, après le sauvetage des passagers.' Each printed image was about 4 1/4" by 2 3/8". The caption of the lower image reads 'La Volturno en feu vu du Carmania dont les projecteurs ont permis de commencer, pendant la nuit, les opérations de sauvetage.' I cut a few pixels off the top of the lower image so you could see it on this page without scrolling. The printed image is 8" x 5 1/2".

The fourth & most dramatic image, & the 5th and final image, are both now on site, lower on this page.

The text of the article? It has been on this page for a number of years in its original French, Complete with, I now realise, some transcription & other errors. Now, thanks to Hans R. Wüthrich of Elsau, Switzerland, (thank you Hans!) we have a good French text & a fine translation of it into English. Which translation I have modified somewhat. Site visitors may, however, read below the initial text in French as it was published in 1913 & read beside it the result of our combined efforts at a translation into English. Enjoy!


 

UN DRAME DE LA MER

 

A DRAMA AT SEA
 

  Le feu à bord, dans la tempête et la nuit, au milieu de l'Atlantique, à peu près à égale distance de New York et du Havre ; le télégraphe sans fil amenant sur les lieux du sinistre dix paquebots dont les équipages voient se rétrécir graduellement la partie du pont qui ne flambe pas encore et essaient, longtemps sans succès, tous les moyens de sauvetage : voilà, résumée en quelques mots, l'histoire du naufrage du Volturno qui apparaît comme un des plus impressionnants parmi les grandes drames de la mer.

  Le Volturno, paquebot de 3.000 tonnes, appartenant à la Compagnie anglaise Uranium, avait quitté Rotterdam le 2 octobre, à destination d'Halifax ; il emmenait 22 passagers de cabine, 538 émigrants et 93 hommes de équipage.

  Le jeudi 9 octobre le feu éclate à l'avant, provoqué, croit-on, par un fumeur imprudent. Les bagages hétéroclites des émigrants, les
<< marchandises diverses >> , nom qui désigne des caisses de toutes dimensions autour desquelles l'air circule aisément, ne sont bientôt qu'un vaste brasier, alimenté pars des barils d'alcool et impossible à éteindre. A 8 heures du matin. le navire lance par la télégraphie sans fils l'appel de détresse. Dix paquebots de différent pavillons sont successivement touchés ; ils se dirigent à toute vapeur vers le lieu du sinistre.


  Le Volturno danse dans l'eau and dans le feu, inabordable ; les émigrants, parmi lesquels beaucoup de femmes et d'enfants, entassés à l'arrière, hurlent d'effroi. La terreur des naufragés, l'angoisse des navires qui courent au sinistre, l' héroïsme des officiers et des matelots de toutes nations, nous apparaissent avec une précision saisissante dans le rapport de capitaine Caussin, commandant le transatlantique la Touraine, qui, ayant reçu l'appel à 8 h. 30, change aussitôt sa route. La télégraphie sans fils le tient au courant de toutes les péripéties du drame ;


  <<... A 3 h. 15, le Volturno réclame d'urgence des succours... le pont s'ouvre. Il demande de commencer le sauvetage par tous les moyens possible. Le Sedlitz, le Grosser-Kurfürst arrivent au Volturno.

  >> Les bâtiments présents ne peuvent pas envoyer d'embarcations parce que la mer est très grosse. Le Sedlitz fait un essai, mais il est obligé de renoncer à ce moyen. Le Carmania met une embarcation à la mer sans personne dedans et essaie de la remorquer jusqu'au Volturno ; la manœuvre est trop difficile ; le Carmania abandonne.

  >> Le Sedlitz et le Grosser-Kurfürst font d'autres essais avec des bouées qu'on laisse dériver et des canons porte-amarres. Aucun moyen ne réussit.

  >> A 8 heures du soir, le Volturno signale : << Aidez-nous à tout prix, le feu gagne. >> Nous apprenons, par les autres pacquebots déjà sur les lieux, que sa passerelle a sauté et que la télégraphie sans fils ne fonctionne plus.

  >> A 8 h. 1/2, le Carmania ne croit pas que le Volturno puisse tenir jusq'au jour.

  >> A 9 heures, nous apercevons le Volturno en feu. At 10 h. 30, nous stoppons. >>

   Personne n'avait encore pu accoster le Volturno. Quelques hommes se sont jetés a l'eau, un seul a été recueilli par le Carmania ; deux canots du navire en détresse, a peine mis à flot, surchargés de monde, ont été engloutis.

   A 10 h. 45, soit quinze minutes après l'arrivée du transatlantique français, la première baleinière de la Touraine s'éloinge du bord avec le second capitaine, M. Rousselot. ; officiers et matelots se disputent l'honneur d'embarquer. Le lieutenant Izenic part dans une autre canot. On est à deux or trois milles des naufragés ; les deux barques disparaissent dans la nuit.

  Au bout de trois heures, à 1 h. 30 du matin, on voit poindre un fanal ; le lieutenant Izenic ramène 5 passagers ; le premier, il a pu accoster le Volturno :

  <<  ... Le spectacle, rapporte-t-il, était effrayant, tout l'avant et le milieu du bâtiment ne formaient qu'un brasier, le navire roulait et tanguait énormément. Les passagers et l'équipage étaient réfugiés à l'extrême-arrière et c'était une clameur ininterrompue d'épouvante.

  >> La baleinière fut collée malgré elle contre le bord par suite de la dérive du bâtiment. Immédiatement, elle fut envahie par les passagers qui sautaient ou s'affalaient au moyen des cordages. Deux se tuèrent et disparurent sous l'arrière du navire. >>

  M. Izenic et ses hommes veulent repartir. Le commandant préfère changer l'armement et confier la baleinière au second maître Couté.


  Dix minutes plus tards, le capitaine Rousselot amène 3 passagers et repart aussitôt. Il s'approche d'un palan d'embarcation où pendent plusiers filins.


  Une veritable grêle humaine s'abat alors sur la baleinière. Les passagers affolés se laissent tomber de tous côtés sur les matelots, paralysant les avirons et mettant en grand danger l'embarcation qu'ils font piquer au point d'embarquer de l'eau par l'avant.

   Le lieutenant Rousselot n'a que le temps de s'éloigner, ayant à bord 14 passagers, dont il donne 7 à l'autre baleinière.

   A 4 heures du matin, la Touraine a recueilli 22 personnes. La mer grossit, on attend le jour pour continuer le sauvetage.


  Vers 6 heures, tous les navires présents se rapprochent du Volturno ; la panique est moins grande ; le sauvetage s'achève avec une facilité relative. Le commandant du Carmania a eu l'heureuse idée d'appeler un pétrolier, le Narragansett, qu'il savait dans ces parages ; en filant de l'huile on amortit l'effet des vagues. Le capitaine Inch, commandant le Volturno, quitte son bord le dernier. A 2 h. 30, les navires saluent l'épave qui brûle toujours et reprennent chacun sa route ayant sauvé un total de 513 personnes.

  Il manque à l'appel 140 personnes. Sans la panique des premières heures à bord du Volturno, on eût, semble-t-il, sauvé tout le monde.

  En rade du Havre, nous sommes monté à bord de la Touraine où nous avons vu les 42 rescapés, dont 2 femmes et 8 enfants. Plusieurs des bambins n'ont pas plus de trois ou quatre ans ; tous se trouvent séparés de leurs parents.


  Ces malheureux émigrants sont de diverses nationalités : Russes, Polonais, Galiciens, Autrichiens, Bulgares. Portent sur eux toute leur fortune, ils ont la résignation silencieuse des simples qui, n'ayant guère connu les douceurs de la vie, acceptent plus philosophiquement que d'autres, peut-être, les pires catastrophes.

  Le monde civilisé a appris avec terreur cette histoire tragique ; mail il admirera sans réserve le rôle merveilleux joué, pour la première fois avec une telle ampleur, par la télégraphie sans fil, grâce à l'esprit chevaleresque de marins de tous pays, qui, avec un rare ensemble, surent oublier << les intérêts de l'armateur >> pour mettre l'héro
ïsme de leurs équipages au service des naufragés.

F. HONORÉ.

 

  A fire on board, a stormy night, in the middle of the Atlantic, almost equidistant from New York and Havre; the wireless directing ten ocean steamers to the scene of the disaster, their crews having to watch the ship consumed by the advancing flames, while trying, for a long time without success, all means of rescue: This, in few words, is the story of the sinking of the Volturno which ranks as one of the most impressive of the great dramas of the sea.


  The Volturno, an ocean liner of 3,000 tons, belonging to the English company Uranium, had left Rotterdam on the 2nd of October bound for Halifax; she carried 22 cabin passengers, 538 emigrants and 93 crew.


  On Thursday October 9th, fire broke out forward, caused it is believed, by an imprudent smoker. The varied luggage of emigrants, the 'mixed cargo', a description signifying a diversity of goods in cases of different dimensions around which the air circulates freely, soon are but a vast blaze, fed by barrels of alcohol, and impossible to extinguish. At 8 o’clock in the morning, the vessel sends out a distress call by wireless. Ten ocean steamers of different flags successively receive the message and rush at full steam to the scene of the disaster.

  The Volturno dances in the water, in flames and unapproachable; the emigrants, amongst whom there are many women and children, are crowded in the after part of the ship, screaming in terror. The horror of the shipwrecked, the anxiety of the steamers racing to the site, the heroism of officers and sailors of all nations, manifests itself in the report of Captain Caussin, commander of the ocean liner la Touraine, who, having received the call at 8.30, immediately changed his course. The wireless keeps him informed of the state of the disaster.

  At 3.15, the Volturno calls for immediate assistance, the bridge opens up. They insist that rescue operations should be started by any possible means. The Sedlitz, and the Grosser Kurfürst arrive on the scene.

  The vessels in attendance cannot send boats as the sea is very heavy. The Sedlitz makes a try but is forced to give up. The Carmania puts an unmanned boat into the sea and tries to tow it to the Volturno; however, the manoeuvre proves to be too difficult, and has to be abandoned.


  The Sedlitz and the Grosser Kurfürst make other efforts, setting adrift life buoys and firing lines with guns. Nothing succeeds.


  At 8 in the evening, the Volturno signals: 'Help us at all cost, the fire is gaining.' We learn through other steamers on the scene, that the Volturno's bridge has blown up and that the wireless equipment no longer works.

  At 8.30 the Carmania believes the Volturno will not outlast the day.

  At 9 o’clock we spot the Volturno on fire. At 10.30, we stop.

  Nobody has been able to get to the Volturno. Some men had leapt into the sea, one only had been picked up by the Carmania; two Volturno life-boats, being overcrowded, were inundated soon after they were launched.

  At 10.45, just fifteen minutes after the arrival of the French ocean steamer, the first whale-boat leaves la Touraine under the command of 2nd captain M. Rousselot. Officers and sailors contest for the honour to join the crew. Lieutenant Izenic leaves in a second boat. The distance to the shipwreck is two or three miles; the two boats disappear into the night.

  After three hours, at 1.30 in the morning we saw a lantern; Lieutenant Izenic brought back five passengers; he was the first to be able to reach the Volturno.

  The scene, he reported, was scary. The front and the middle of the ship was red hot, the vessel was rolling and pitching dramatically. The passengers and crew had taken refuge at the extreme stern of the ship and there was a never-ending sound of screaming.

  The whale-boat was stuck against the Volturno's side due to the drifting of the ship. Immediately it was invaded by passengers who jumped or descended on ropes. Two were killed and disappeared under the stern of the vessel.

  Mr. Izenic and his men wanted to return. The commander preferred to replace the crew and entrusted the whale-boat to 2nd boatswain Couté.

  Ten minutes later, 2nd Captain Rousselot returns with three passengers and immediately departs again. He approached one of the hoists from which several ropes were hanging.

  A mass of bodies descended on the boat. Frantic passengers dropped in from all sides, paralysing the oars and putting the boat in great danger, rocking her until she started to take water in the bow.


  Lieutenant Rousselot has enough time to take 14 passengers on board of whom he passes seven to the other whale-boat.

  At 4 in the morning, la Touraine has rescued 22 persons. The sea turns heavier and daybreak is awaited to continue the rescue effort.

  Toward 6 o’clock all steamers on the scene close in on the Volturno. There is less panic. The rescue goes ahead with relative ease. The commander of the Carmania had had the good idea to call a tanker, the Narragansett, which he knew was in the area; the viscosity of the released oil diminished the sea swell. Captain Inch, commander of the Volturno is the last to leave the ship. At 2.30, the steamers salute the abandoned shipwreck which continues to burn and each vessel takes up her route, having saved a total of 513 people.

  The roll call reveals 140 persons missing. Without the panic aboard Volturno during the early hours, it appears everybody could have been saved.

  In the port of Havre we went on board la Touraine, where we saw the 42 survivors amongst whom were two women and eight children. Several of the toddlers were not older than three or four years old; all had been separated from their parents.

  These unlucky emigrants were of various nationalities: Russians, Polish, Galicians, Austrians, Bulgarians. Carrying all their worldly possessions, they have the silent resignation of ordinary people who, perhaps are able to accept, more philosophically than others, the very worst of disasters.

  The civilised world has been shocked by this tragic story; but admires without reservation the marvellous role played – for the first time to such an extent – by the wireless, and honours the chivalrous spirit of the seamen of all nations who in rare unison forgot ‘the interests of the ship owners’ and put their crews in the heroic service of the shipwrecked.


F. H
ONORÉ.

And here is the fifth general 'L'Illustration' image. A dramatic image indeed! With a caption that reads 'Un canot de secours près de l'avant en feu du Volturno.' Again I trimmed the top of the image for your better viewing & tidied up the slightly distracting black markings in the original.

And the final image. With a caption that reads. 'Les paquebots appelés par la T. S. F. autour du Volturno en feu.'

And last but not least on this page, is a composite image of pages 286 and 287, side by side, as they appear in the magazine. Both pages had to be scanned in halves which were then combined, & the results then assembled into this composite image.

L'ILLUSTRATION - OCTOBER 25, 1913

This is as good a place as there is to mention that the next week's edition of 'L'Illustration', i.e. issue # 3687 dated Oct. 25, 1913, contains some references to Volturno - as I learned from a long-expired e-Bay item. The words used by the vendor were 'La maman de passage et le petit naufragé (Volturno)', which must relate to the unaccompanied children saved by La Touraine & landed in France. I cannot get that text sensibly translated via a WWW translation site. If anyone can provide the magazine content for use on this site, it would be much appreciated.

Copies of 'L'Illustration', # 3686 & 3687, do not come up on e-Bay very often. A copy of # 3686 was available in Apl. 2008 but did not sell for EUR 1.99 or approximately U.S. $3.18.

If YOU have any new data about the Volturno, or in any way related to the Volturno, I would welcome your dropping me a line.

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