THE ARMED MERCHANT CRUISER CARMANIA

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume IV, Issue 241, 25 September 1914, Page 3

THE ARMED MERCHANT CRUISER CARMANIA

WHICH PLUCKILY FOUGHT AND SANK A GERMAN VESSEL.

The auxiliary cruiser Carniania is a 19,500 ton vessel belonging to the Cunard line. She is a turbine ship, i with a speed of about twenty knots and probaly is armed with 4.7 inch guns. All the vessels of this line are at the disposal of the Admiralty in time of war, and two of them, the 32,000- ton, 25-knot Mauretania and Lusitania, are classed officially • s Royal Naval Reserve merchant cruisers. These big ships are fitted to carry twelve 6-inch guns each, anil it is probable that they are serving with the patrolling squadrons along the Atlantic trade routes at the present time. The Carmania went into action on the 11th September, off the East Coast of South America, with a Ger man armed merchant cruiser, supposed to be the Cap Trafalgar or the Berlin, mounting eight 4 inch guns, pompoms and machine guns. Thaction lasted 1 hour and 45 minutes, when the German ship capsized and sank. Survivors were rescued by an empty collier. Of the crew of the Carmania nine men were killed and five seriously injured, and twenty one men slightly wounded. No of’i eers were injured. The First Lord of the Admiralty sent the following telegram to Cap tain Noel Grant, of the Carmania :— “Well done ; you have fought a fine action to a successful finish.” The duel must have been uniqjie in the annals of naval warfare. The thin sides of the liners would offer scarcely any resistance at all to the smashing blows of the shells from modern guns, and the crews which took the ships into action must have shown great pluck. One accurately placed shell would have wrecked the unprotected engine-room of either combatant. Apparently the British gunners, drawn from the Royal

Naval Reserve, proved themselves the better marksmen. i CaptainiNoel Grant. R.N.. who is in command of the Carmania, r. been unattached for some months. He previously commanded the bat tieshin Irresistible in the Second . Fleet, having been appointed to her ion March 26th, 1913. He was pro- ! moted to the rank of commander on ! December 31st, 1902, and served in ■ that capacity in the armoured cruiser I Blenheim, and in several other ships, j He was promoted to the rank of cap ! tain on December 31st. 1908, and j after serving in several ships was j appointed to the light cruiser Sap- : phire. and the command of the Fifth Destroyer Flotilla, on December 20 = 1910. He held that position until ■ his appointment to the Irresistible. I The Cap Trafalgar, which was a ! new steamer completed only a few i months ago. was one of the magnifi i cent steamers built by the Vulcan I Company, of Hamburg, for the Ham I burg-South American Line, and ■ was th.- lates t product of the j continuous development in that com p iny’s fleet which maintains the mail ; and passenger express service be ■ (ween Geimany and South American ports. The Cap Trafalgar iVas : , triple screw liner of 18.710 tons gross I resister 611 feet in length. 72 feet in breadth. She was fitted with two ; sets of reciprocating engines and a low pressure turbine, giving her a i speed of 18 knots. Her passenger ; accommodation was of the most j sumptuous style, and included ting- : nificent winter gardens, cafes and a I swimming bath on her boat deck. * The Berlin is (or was) a large twinscrew liner of 17,324 tons gross register, 610 feet in length and 70 feet m breadth, and a speed of 18 knots. ■ She was built in 1908 at Bremen, and is owned by the NorddeutscherLloyd.