THE NEW RAIDER.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVII, Issue 29, 3 February 1916, Page 4

THE NEW RAIDER.

The eea-lanes have so long been clear, of Gorman surface craft that the' enemy's highly successful raid on one of the Atlantic routes comes as a bolt from the blue. At present the affair is a mys[tery, and the full story will be awaited with keen interest. It is stated that a German submarine captured a steamer off the African coast, that a crew and guns were put on board, and that this ship captured tho Appam and sank six other vessels. This theory, however, is denied by the British Consul -at New "i ork. If it is true it is another proof that the submarine service is the most enterprising department of the German navy. There is a daring, resource, and flavour of romance about the story that should appeal to British instincts, even though we are sufferers by the deed. But there is a serious objection to this way of accounting for the raid. What submarine could spare enough men to man a commerce-raider, and from them supply a prize crew for a liner? It is more likely that the Moewe, as the raider is called, slipped away from some neutral port or sailed from Germany through the British cordon in the North Sea. The identity of the ship has not been established. There was a Moewe in the German navy, but she was sunk in an African harbour by the Pegasus, and the only Moewe of any size in the merchant service is a German ship of | 1251 tons. It may be that the old name ; has been given to a new light cruiser built in Germany, or to a fast merchantman converted into a cruiser. To overhaul shipping a raider would require a fair turn of speed, which is against the sub-marine-capture theory. ' Vigilant as is the British watch in the North Sea, it is impossible to keep a stretch of bOO miles of sea closed as if by a gate. The Navy, however, is much better equipped for dealing with such a raider than it was in the early days of the war. Then we were handicapped in detaching fast light cruisers by the needs of the Grand Fleet, but now some of these ships should be easily spared. In the meantime Mr. Lansing has another addition to his many troubles. A captured merchant vessel is supposed to be taken to a port of the captor, but what happens when she runs to a nentral port, and has to stay there? We doubt whether the Germans have any power under international law to dispose of the prize in America. The prize-crew, being belligerents, arc, wo should think, liable to internment.