On This Date in Minnesota History: October 17

*October 17, 1917 – The first man killed on an American ship of war since the Spanish War has been sacrificed to a German U-boat. The Navy Department this evening announced that an American destroyer was torpedoed Tuesday in European waters, with a loss of one killed and five slightly wounded, including a Minnesota man, fireman William Zimer, from Dundas, Rice County, Minn.

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The vessel was not sunk and has since made port. The body of the man killed, gunner’s mate Osmond Kelly Ingram of Pratt City, Ala., was not recovered; he was blown overboard.

No details of the encounter were made public. The name of the ship and the exact location of the attack were withheld.

The Minneapolis Morning Tribune; “U-Boat Torpedoes U. S. Destroyer; 1 American Killed. Minnesotan Is Among 5 Wounded; Damaged Warship Makes Port. First man Killed on American Naval Vessel Since the Spanish War Is Victim of German submarine in European Waters. Reverse Comes After Months of Patrol Duty.”; Oct. 18, 1917; pp. 1 & 2.

¹http://www.cityofdundas.org/about_maps.htm

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