; first, that an enemy
boat was approaching on a line that threatened to cut off his retreat,
and the enemy ship and the Ancona could have established his radius of
action and could have set a torpedo boat flotilla on him; and second,
there was danger of the Ancona escaping, which, according to his
instructions, was to be prevented in all circumstances. Hence the
conduct of the commander, much as the loss of innocent lives must be
regretted and deplored, cannot be disapproved. On the contrary, if he
had departed without destroying the Ancona, it would have been failure
to do his duty since the Ancona could have notified other ships of his
whereabouts. The loss of American lives is regrettable, as well as
that Americans used a vessel belonging to a nation at war with
Austria-Hungary."

This statement amplified a previous defense by the Austrian admiralty,
in which the latter admitted that the _Ancona_ was torpedoed after her
engines had been stopped and when passengers were still on board. The
American protest cited the admiralty's admission as substantially
confirming the principal testimony of the survivors. It, moreover,
alluded to the correspondence which had passed between Germany and the
United States on the use and misuse of submarines in attacking vessels
of commerce, and to Germany's acquiescence in the American stand
thereon. Yet despite the "full knowledge" possessed by the
Austro-Hungarian Government of the views of the United States, "as
expressed in no uncertain terms to the ally of Austria-Hungary," the
commander of the submarine which attacked the _Ancona_, the United
States protested, failed to put in a place of safety the crew and
passengers before destroying the vessel.

The United States accused the submarine commander of violating the
principles of international law and humanity, and characterized his
conduct as "wanton slaughter of defenseless noncombatants," as the
vessel was not resisting or attempting to escape, and no other reason
was sufficient to excuse such an attack, not even the possibility of
rescue.

A tone of severity and bluntness, not hitherto used in American
communications with the belligerents, marked this note of protest to
Austria-Hungary. Demands were made for a denunciation of the submarine
commander's act as "illegal and indefensible," for his punishment, and
for reparation by the payment of indemnity for the loss of American
lives. The United States left an avenue open thr