At the time the _Wellington's_ S.O.S. was received, the _Warrington_ was operating with a west-bound convoy about eighty miles to the southward of the S.O.S.; but it was not before eleven P.M. that the _Warrington_ was detached by the escort commander, {267} and ordered to proceed to the position of the torpedoed ship. This order was carried out with all possible speed, but the _Wellington_ had meanwhile been making about 7 knots per hour, heading for Brest, but steering badly on account of her being down by the head. Finally radio-communication was established between the _Wellington_ and the _Warrington_, and a systematic search instituted by the latter vessel. Between eleven P.M., the sixteenth, and one A.M., the seventeenth, two eleven P.M. positions were received from _Wellington_ differing by about forty miles. This discrepancy is explained by the first mate who states that the Master got a fix by simultaneous star sights about 11.30 and sent out a corrected position, which was forty miles away from his dead reckoning. I headed the _Warrington_ toward the new position, and at three A.M. picked up _Wellington_ dead ahead. In the meanwhile we had received a radio from her saying she had stopped, but would go ahead again when wind had moderated. Just as we picked her up, the moon set. There was a strong breeze from the southwest and the sea was rough. I exchanged signals with _Wellington_ and she stated that there was every probability of her remaining afloat till daylight and possibly longer, as her volunteer crew had then kept her afloat for seventeen hours. However, shortly after this signal was received, a bulkhead collapsed and she signalled for immediate assistance, and said her crew were abandoning ship. Immediately afterward I picked up her lifeboat containing first and second mates of _Wellington_, five of her {268} original crew, and one of the _Seneca's_ volunteer crew. I searched for more boats, coming as close to _Wellington_ as I dared in the darkness. Going alongside in that wind and sea would have been suicide. I tried to hold _Wellington's_ lifeboat alongside, but it quickly swamped and I had to cut it adrift. Meanwhile, a desperate attempt was made to lower one of our boats, but after two men had barely escaped serious injuries in the attempt, I saw it would be a case of just so many more men in the water. The current was against the sea, so I went to leeward of _Wellington_ and floated down three life-rafts well lighted, my Franklin life-buoys, and a number of circular buoys, all with lights. I learned afterward that _Wellington's_ remaining boats were small and that they had been smashed in lowering, and that for some reason their own life-rafts had fouled and could not be gotten clear of the ship. Accordingly all the remaining men went down with the ship, or jumped just before she sank.