Between this time and 10.37 a. m., when a towing line was received from H. M. S. _Snowdrop_, various attempts were made by the _Tamarisk_ and two trawlers and a tug to tow the _Cassin_. An eleven-inch towing hawser from the _Tamarisk_ parted. All ships, except her, lost the _Cassin_ during the night. The _Cassin_ was drifting rapidly on a lee shore, and had it not been for the _Tamarisk_ getting out a line in the early morning, the vessel would have undoubtedly grounded on Hook Point, as it is extremely doubtful if her anchors would have held. About thirty-five feet of the stern was blown off or completely ruptured. The after living compartments and after storerooms are completely wrecked 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.