On the last day of the month of February, 1916, Italy took still another step which showed her prepared to burn all her boats as far as Germany was concerned. On that date the Italian Government requisitioned thirty-four large German steamers interned in Italian harbors. A total of fifty-seven German and Austrian vessels were in Italian ports at the beginning of the war. The Austrian ships were seized by Italy when war was declared on the Dual Monarchy. No action had, however, been taken in regard to German vessels. Their status in the ports of Italy had been regarded as parallel to that of German vessels which remained in American ports after war began. This led to a certain amount of heartburning among the friends of the Allies, who pointed out that it was in line with the Italian policy of maintaining commercial relations with Germany as far as they could be maintained. Rumors had also been rife regarding alleged secret agreements that had been made with the German Government. These rumors were gradually dissipated by the successive measures taken by the Italian Government and the requisitioning of the German interned vessels revealed her as in full cooperation with the Allies. There were also other considerations that weighed with Italy. The submarine had revealed itself as a powerful destructive weapon, and the toll taken by it of allied ships was a heavy one. It was seen that the transfer of German vessels to the flag of Italy and their use by the Allies would do much toward relieving the congestion of goods at American docks which were awaiting shipment to the allied countries. The loot of German vessels then in Italian ports and their tonnage formed a formidable total. They were as follows: At Ancona, _Lemnos_, 24,873 tons; at Bari, _Waltraute_, 3,818; at Cagliari, _Spitzfels_, 5,809; at Catania, _Lipari_, 1,539; at Genoa, _Hermesburg_, 2,824, _Koenig Albert_, 10,484, _Moltke_, 12,325, _Prinz-Regent Luitpold_, 6,595; at Girgenti, _Imbros_, 2,380; at Leghorn, _Amalfi_, 1,756, _Termini_, 1,523; at Licata, _Portfino_, 1,745; at Naples, _Bayern_, 8,000, _Marsala_, 1,753, _Herania_, 6,455; at Palermo, _Algier_, 3,127, _Catania_, 3,000, _Tunis_, 1,833; at Savona, _Bastia_, 1,527; at Syracuse, _Albany_, 5,882, _Ambria_, 5,143, _Barcelona_, 5,465, _Katterturm_, 6,018, _Mudros_, 3,137, _Sigmaringen_, 5,710, _Italia_, 3,498; at Venice, _Samo_, 1,922, _Volos_, 1,903; at Massowah, _Aspemfell_, 4,361, _Borkum_, 5,645, _Choising_, 1,657, _Christian X_, 4,956, _Ostmark_, 4,400, _Persepolis_, 5,446, _Segovia_, 4,945, and _Sturmfels_, 5,660. All these were at the end of February, 1916, put into the service of the Allies, compensating in some degree for the losses suffered by each of these nations from mines and the deadly submarine. CHAPTER L RENEWED ATTACKS--ITALY'S SITUATION AT THE BEGINNING OF MARCH, 1916