HOW AUSTRALIA WARNED THE EMPIRE.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 138, 12 June 1926, Page 16

HOW AUSTRALIA WARNED THE EMPIRE.

FIRST SHOT IN EMPIRE WAR. CAPTURED CODE INFORMS ALL BRITISH FLEET. Not only did Australia fire the first shot in the World War, but it was owing to Australian vigilance and, promptitude that the Admiralty and the Admirals of the British Fleets all over the world were supplied with the German secret code, which enabled tbem to determine the movements of German vessels in the carlv part of the conflict. Though the German Admiralty twice changed the key. the Navy Office in Melbourne succeeded in discovering the new arrangement, and cabled back to England the interpretation of many of the enemy's coded messages which had been intercepted by wireless. It is not generally known outside tho Commonwealth that Australia fired the first shot in the Great War. This came from a gun at one of the forts at Port Phillip Heads, and was fired across the bows of the German merchant vessel Pfalz, which was attempting to escape, but was successfully brought to by the prompt measures which had been taken. The Pfalz afterwards became the Boorara, one of the Commonwealth line of steamers. When she came into Australian possession on August 4, 1014, the date on which the arresting shot was fired, she was comparatively a new boat, having been built in Germany in 1013. She is a fine vessel of 6763 tons gross register, fitted with electric light, refrigerating machinery and wireless, and is 472 feet in length. The incident above recounted is recalled to memory by an excellent article, "Some Australian Naval Operations," which Vice-Admiral A. Gordon .Smith has contributed to tho April number of that admirable periodical, "The Blue Peter." At the time of the occurrence, ViceAdmiral Smith was one of those lent for service under the Commonwealth Government, and was a member of the Naval Board at the Navy Office at Melbourne. He writes: "When the war broke out the Australian fleet had reached a respectable size. Tt consisted of tbe Australia, a battle cruiser, the Melbourne and Sydney, fast light cruisers, three destroyers, and a couple of modern submarines. There were under construction at the dock at Sydney the Brisbane, the sister ship to the Melbourne and Sydney, and three more destroyers. "When the 'warning telegram' was received this fleet was further augmented by tbe cruisers Encounter and Pioneer, which had been lent from the Royal Navy for use as seagoing training ships. "These ships and a few others were then completed to full complements with men from shore establishments. "The first episode was the c&ptiirc of a German merchant vessel, the Pfalz. This vessel sailed from Melbourne in grent haste on being informed, presumably, (hat hostilities were imminent. But. before she reached the entrance of Port Phillip, forty miles distant, war bail been declared. Our first net at the Navy Office was to telephone to the forts at the entrance to stop her leaving. We were just in time. She was brought to with a shot across her bows, was subsequently interned, and her crew had to spend the next few years in idleness. I believe that this was the first shot fired in the Great War. Seydliti Escapes, "At Sydney, however, we were not so fortunate. A large German mail steamer, the Soydlitz, left that place in similar haste on the morning of August 4, but. was out ofjdght by the time the 'war telegram' was received. A destroyer was sent after her. but she escaped and spent her long holiday somewhere in the Dutch East Indies. A few days later, however, two more captures, which proved to be of far greater value, were made at Port Phillip. We had been informed that all German merchant vessels fitted with wireless installation would have on board a, secret code book for use in time of war when communicating with their naval vessels. We were vatbo.r anxious to obtain one of these little books. The only chance of getting one would be from a ship that had not received news of the outbreak of hostilities. Trap Successful. "On the outbreak of the war, there were three German cargo vessels, titled with wireless., en route from South Africa to Melbourne. It was hoped that they would not hear of the war before their arrival in Australia. To [board them at sea was hazardous. It I was therefore decided to let them i arrive in due course and to search them as soon as they had anchored. "Preparations were made "to fetch these ships in by force if they (showed any hesitation in entering the harbour. But this was not necessary. "The scheme was completely successful. Two of the three ships arrived in Port Philip without suspecting that anything out of the ordinary had fci«curred. Tho Wildenfele | came in late one evening, three days after hostilities had begun. A torpedo boat was waiting for her at the Heads, and as soon as she was in . sight she was ordered to anchor. The ' Captain of the Examination Service then boarded her with an armed guard, ordered the captain and the ' chief officer out of the 6hip, and made a search in the captain's cabin. It was such a surprise party no one on board had time to do anything. A Tense moment. I "The code book was found; but there was, in addition, a key to be used with it, a transposed alphabet, without which the book itself was of little value. This was not discovered. So Captain Richardson, R.A.N., tiie officer in charge of these proceedings, spent the night in the captain's cabin in order to have a further and closer search by daylight; the Wildenfels remaining at anchor under the guns of the fort for the night. "He had his revolver in bed with him, but he did not sleep. He waited. When it could reasonably be assumed that he was asleep, the second officer of the ship came into the cabin stealthily. Captain Richardson cocked his revolver with one hand. and switched on the electric light with the other. "The intruder was discovered to be opening a sliding panel in the bulkhead, and here was found a little envelope containing the missing key to | the book. The captured bootf arrived

at the navy office the next clay, and immediately a code book factory was established there. German scholars, of guaranteed British descent and fidelity, were obtained from the Melbourne University; the book was cut up into sections and translated,- and a squad of typists made copies of it. which were printed off by a cyclostyle machine. Telling the Fleets. "These copies were sent to the admiralty, and to admirals of British Fleets all over the world. , "Subsequently, the German Admiralty twice changed the key, but, after long and tedious labour, the new arrangement was, in each case, discovered, and during the early part of the war, many of tbe enemy's coded messages, which had been intercepted by wireless in various parts of the world, were deciphered at the navy office, and their interpretation sent back by return cablegram. ; "By this means, some indication of the movements of Admiral Yon Spec's squadron was obtained, culminating in its destruction off the Falklands." Other results of this little stratagem were the discoveries by the navy oflice of the rendezvous at which one j of the enemy's Pacific Fleet was to j meet her collier; but in neither casewas there any ship near enough to get i there in time. Vice-Admiral Smith continues: — A Forgetful Captain. "The Hobart, another German cargo-' boat, arri 1 about a week later. Her captain, when asked for his code hook, said he hadn't one, but afterwards remembered that he bad a packet somewhere, r.nd unearthed it. The packet was intact, just as it had been received from tbe German Admiralty, and contained the code lipok, with key complete, as well as instructions for the procedure to be adapted in the event of war .... i "The dear old skipper of the Hobart hadn't had sufficient curiosity even to open this secret packet to find out what it contained. His copy was sent off post-haste to Brisbane, and from there was taken to sea and transferred to the Australia. which was on her way North at that time with the Australian Fleet. | "The third German ship that was expected did not arrive. Presumably she must have picked up the news while at sea, and proceeded to home neutral port, according to instructions, to verify her suspicions." After describing in detail the opera- ' tions of the Australian Navy during the war, Admiral Smith concludes: — "The fleet had justified - its existence. Its presence had saved Australia and New Zealand from any hostile incursion; it had ejected the Germans from their possessions in these waters, and, finally, frustrated their attempt to establish themselves as a power m the Pacfic." I