or gone, and all stores and clothing from these parts
of the ship are gone or ruined. About forty-five members of the crew,
including the chief petty officers, lost practically everything but the
clothes they had on.

At the time of the explosion there were a number of men in the after
compartments. How they managed to escape is beyond explanation.

The officers and crew behaved splendidly. There was no excitement. The
men went to their stations quietly and remained there all night, except
when called away to handle lines.

[Sidenote: Efficiency of officers and men.]

The work of the executive officer, Lieutenant J. W. McClaran, and of the
engineer officer, Lieutenant J. A. Saunders, is deserving of especial
commendation. These two officers inspected magazines and spaces below
decks and superintended shoring of bulkheads and restaying of masts.
Lieutenant (Junior Grade) R. M. Parkinson did excellent work in getting
an improvised radio set into commission. W. J. Murphy, chief electrician
(radio), and F. R. Fisher, chief machinist's mate, are specifically
mentioned in the commanding officer's report for their cool and
efficient work.

Twenty-two enlisted men are mentioned by name as conspicuous for their
coolness and leadership.

[Sidenote: Luck in favor of the submarine.]

From the statement of all the officers it is evident that luck favored
the submarine. The destroyer probably would have escaped being hit had
not the torpedo broached twice and turned decidedly to the left both
times--in other words, failed to function properly.

[Sidenote: The results of the explosion.]

The equivalent of 850 pounds of T. N. T. is estimated to have exploded
in and upon the _Cassin's_ fantail; this includes the charges of the
torpedo and of both depth mines. No. 4 gun, blown overboard, left the
ship to port, although that was the side which the torpedo hit. The gun
went over at a point well forward of her mount. The mass of the
wreckage, however, went to starboard. Explosion of the depth charges,
rather than that of the torpedo outward or in throwback, supposedly
effected this. About five seconds elapsed between the torpedo's
detonation and those of the mines. They probably went off close
together, for accounts vary as to whether there were in all two or
three explosions.

[Sidenote: The bulkhead buckles.]

Of the two after doors, that to port threatened to carry away soon after
the seas began to pound in. The main mass o