BRITISH CRUISERS CATCH RAIDER OFF JUAN FERNANDEZ.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVI, Issue 64, 16 March 1915, Page 5

BRITISH CRUISERS CATCH RAIDER OFF JUAN FERNANDEZ.

DRESDEN LOWERS COLOURS AFTER FIVE MINUTES' FIRE EXPLODING OF MAGAZINE CAUSES GERMAN SHIP TO SINK. WELLINGTON, this day. The High Commissioner reports from London under date March 15:— The Admiralty announces that on Sunday morning the cruisers Glasgow and Kent and the auxiliary cruiser Orama caught the Dresden near the Island of Juan Fernandez, 420 miles west of Valparaiso. After five minutes' bombardment the Dresden hauled down her colours and hoisted the white flag. The Dresden was then much damaged by fire. Finally her magazine exploded, and she sank. The crew, numbering over 300 men, were saved, fifteen being bady wounded. The Germans were landed at Valparaiso. There were no casualties among the British, and on the British ships no damage was caused. THE SUNKEN VESSEL A SISTER TO THE EMDEN. The Dresden was a sister ship to the notorious Emden, but as far as we know she has done very little in the way of emulating that craft's exploits. She really belonged to the High Seas Fleet, and when war broke out she was cruising in the South Atlantic. It was reported that-she was among the enemy ships that took part in the battle off the coast of Chili, but this was subsequently proved to be an error. The Dresden fought in the Falklands battle, and her escape from that encounter at which so many of the German : fleet met their doom was due to the fact that the British ships which might . have given chase stood by the Nurnberg iv an endeavour to save the crew of x - that vessel when she was sent to the bottom. The Dresden made for the Straits of Magellan, and she was last reported to be at Puntas Arenas in those waters. The Dresden was built in 1907, a year before the Emden. She. had a displacement of 3,000 tons, and her best recorded speed was 25 knots. SJie was armed with ten 4.1-in guns, eight 5-pounders, and four machine gun 3. Her complement of men was 321. With the Dresden out of the way it only . leaves the 4,900-ton cruiser Karlsruhe to be accounted for. The island of Juan Fernandez is about four hundred mile 3 west of Valparaiso, and belongs to Chili. It will be remembered that when the Pacific Fleet—the Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, and the other vessels —were cruising in these waters tlicv made a temporary naval base at Juan Fernandez, much to the professed annoyance or the Chilian Government. Juan Fernandez is famous iii literature as the home of Robinson Cru>oe. H.M.s. Kent is a cruiser of 9,800 tons, armed with fourteen 6in guns. She lias a speed of about 24 knots. The Glasgow, which lias figured frequently in events in the South Atlantic and South Pacific, is a smaller boat. Her tonnage is 4,800, and her armament consists of two Cm guns and ten 4in guns. She has a speed of 25 knots. She escaped from the battle off Coronel. The Orama is one of the many big merchant cruisers which the Government took over and fitted out as auxiliary cruisers. She is a boat of 12,000 tons, and her speed is 18 knots. The Admiralty was evidently well acquainted with the movements of the Dresden, for the announcement was made a fortnight ago that information concerning the sailing of steamers for the Eastern Pacific, the West Coast •f America, aud Britain, via the Horn, must not be made till within a week of the sailing data-