May 25--American steamer Nebraskan, en route from Liverpool to Delaware Breakwater, without cargo, is struck by either a torpedo or a mine forty miles off the south coast of Ireland; the ship is not seriously damaged and starts for Liverpool at reduced speed; Italy declares a blockade of the Austrian and Albanian coasts; allied warships bombard Adalia, Makri, Kakava, and other places along the coast of Asia Minor, destroying Government buildings and public works; Austrian ships sink an Italian destroyer near Barletta. May 27--Captain Greene of the Nebraskan, which arrives at Liverpool, states that he thinks his ship was hit by a torpedo; the American flag had been hauled down shortly before she was struck, but the ship's name and nationality were plainly painted on her sides; British auxiliary ship Princess Irene is blown to pieces off Sheerness, 321 men being killed; it is presumed that careless handling of explosives caused the disaster. May 28--Austrians sink an Italian torpedo boat destroyer, while the Italians sink an Austrian submarine. Danish steamer Ely is sunk by a mine off Stockholm, crew being saved. May 29--Statement from the German Foreign Office is transmitted to Washington through Ambassador Gerard, urging that American shipping circles be again warned against traversing the waters around the British Isles incautiously, and especially that they make their neutral markings on the vessels very plain, and that they light them promptly and sufficiently at night: American naval experts find the facts to indicate that the Nebraskan was torpedoed and not struck by a mine, so Ambassador Page reports to Washington; British Admiralty puts stricter rules in force for navigation in the war zone. May 30--British Legation at Athens issues a notice that, beginning on June 2, a blockade will be established off the coast of Asia Minor between the Dardanelles and the Strait of Samos. May 31--An Admiralty statement shows that since the beginning of the war 130 British merchant ships and fishing vessels, with a tonnage of 471,000, have been sunk. June 2--Two Italian torpedo boats sink two Austrian merchant vessels in the Gulf of Trieste and damage an auxiliary cruiser. June 4--German transports, torpedo boats, and submarines seek to enter the Gulf of Riga, but sheer off on perceiving the Russian fleet; three German transports are sunk by mines. June 5--A strong German fleet has appeared in the middle Baltic and has exchanged shots with the Russian fleet near the Gulf of Riga; Winston Churchill, in a speech at Dundee, declares that the British Navy is growing at an amazing rate, and is much stronger, both actually and relatively, than at the beginning of the war; Greek steamer Virginia is blown up by a floating mine while heading for the Gulf of Trieste, her crew being killed.