AN ADVENTURE WITH THE KARLSRUNE

Marlborough Express, Volume XLIX, Issue 29, 4 February 1915, Page 6

AN ADVENTURE WITH THE KARLSRUNE

BRITISH SEA CAPTAIN'S EX- ' PERIENCE.. ■ •

"About the latest known adventure of the German cruiser Karlsruhe there is a saucy flavor of the old! buccaneering days of long ago, \rhe*i igood s*hips. sailed tl'ie Southern. Sea:, at the mercy of the black flag with, vthe skull and cross-bones (writes Mr 'William Duckworth for the Daily News). Th^Sßritish captain of whom I write has proved Mmself a match in daring and-strategy for Lieutenant Count yon issen, who according to the captain's'" own story' (which has reached Copenhagen via the. Canary Islands £ and Bergen), is harrying British merchant ships with an escorting squadron" of six coal and other supply, vessels. "The British captain made a heroic attempt to escape this imposing fleet; of marauders. He and his crew showed-the old spirit _of the; sea wlies,.after fruitless "parleying with yon lasen, they openly defied- him and made a dash for liberty under the very nozzles of the Karlsruhe's guns. Unfortunately something went wrong in the engine-room, and the British captain's attempt to run the gauntlet of the whole German ■ squadron did not succeed. He had bad luck.

■ At 2 a.m. -one clear Pacific morning the British-ship M—— discovez-ed she, was /being overhauled' slowly by axiother-shij^witli all lights out. She followed' closein 'the wake of the* M till daybreak. It was the Kreield, one of the escorting squadron. Then a long dark streak of floating gossamer came up with- tlie sun.',. asaeE out of the cloud bank steamed thw dreaded Karlsruhe.

PLAYING FOR.TIME.

The British captain stopped his engines under the impression it was a friendly visitor, but when th© German flag wa.s run tip lie realised in a. flash that rapidity of thought and action was his only salvation, if lie were to keep the old flag flying. He tried first'of all the S.O.S. signal, but yon Issen by some ingenuity or chance picked up the message and sent a very angry message to the M thiat if he persisted' in tricks of that sort lie would be sunk immediately.

The British captain purposely delayed deciphering the signals from the Karlsruhe. He asked for them to be repeated without giving any sign that he was meanwhile preparing to make a dash for it, and while he and yon Issen were arguing the matter half the crew of the M- had stripped in the stokehold and were shovelling in the coal. It was not long before the steam pressure was pretty nearly doubled. The British captain during the conversation manoeuvred his boat in such a way that yon Issen suddenly found himself unable to see the M—■ — through masses of coal smoke that enveloped the Karlsruhe. Now was the British captain's opportunity. He rang down the order "Full speed ahead," and the M'—— was leaping througli the waves like a mad thing. MORE SHOTS IN THE LOCKER.

Yon Issen gave chase. He fired a shot at the British ship—and missed. He fired a second, which chipped a bit off the captain's bridge. Then muttered curses rose from the enginero.om. Something snapped, and the M—- was helpless. A German officer with armed guard soon came aboard, and after falsely accusing the British captain of carrying meat for our troops and searching the ship he had a further interview with the skipper in his room.. Lying on the captain's table was an English ■ newspaper containing a caricature of the Kaiser. Ho frowned indignantly. "You hare ■shocking newspapers in your cabin, sir," he- said. The captain replied that he had worse ones in his locker if You Is-.en would like to inspect them. The captain and crew of the M found themselves prisoners on the Krefeld in jnventy minutes, and there they remni/iod for seven weeks, eating and sleeping well, and taking a k'-cn irV<'r;;:'-fc in the. Knrl.<;run< A \\\\o. -ivi' a::u\uiding squadron,

The. captain of the Krefeld could not comprehend the British crew's breezy indifference to misfortune. They had lost their ship, but none of the spirit of adventure, and they ■used'"to wake up at night and start spinning the armed guard all sorts of yarns. One day a rumor spread through the ship that a British warship was coming to the rescue. The rumor reached the ears of Yon Issen, and a wireless order came from the Karlsruhe that if any more rumors of that sort were circulated the bass inventor would instantly be shot.

A RING ROUND THE

KARLSRUHE.

Animosities began to disappear as the weeks passed. Yon Issen continued to dodge tho British cruisers, and his harshness towards his prison■ers relaxed. JEt was the custom of the Krefeld to steam alongside the Karlsruhe every morning, and the British sailors were ordered on deck to listen to a musical performance given for their benefit by the ship's band —a compliment which the British sailors enjoyed. ' Yon Issen, like Yon Mtiller, conducted his harrying expedition with considerable resource and ingenuity. His escorting squadron consisted of the Rio Negro, Patagonia, Ascunzia, Indrani, Farm, and the Krefeld, wifth 7000 tons of seized coal distributed among them. For the greater part of the seven weeks they were invisible. They formed a vast ring round the Karlsruhe, steaming at a distance of 25 miles. Each vessel was fitted with wireless, and the approach of uny ho.stile ship was immediately reported to the flagship, - and the movements of the whole fleet were altered accordingly.