LAST OF THE RAIDERS.

Northern Advocate, 10 May 1915, Page 2

LAST OF THE RAIDERS.

KROX PRINZ SEEKS COVER. |

NEWPORT NEWS (Va.l, April 11

The last of Germany's sea raiders, the Krou Prinx Wilhelni, scourge ; swept, her crew facing starvation, her bunkers empty, barred from New \ York harbour by the perpetual guard j of British cruisers, sought, sanctuary here to-day. The auxiliary cruiser had been at sea 23;") days, during which time she sank 15 merchantmen. Twelve of these were British, two French, ami one Norwegian. Her last victims were the British Royal Mail steamer T-auiar and the British steamer Coleby. Commander Thierfeldt on his arrival explained that his ship was badly hi need of repairs. Her bottom, he said was foul, and her boilers needed over-hauling. He stated that he would request to have repairs made here. NORWEGIAN SHIP SUNK. The sinking oE the Norwegian ship Satnantha, the only neutral vessel sent down by the Kron Prinz, was almost a duplication of the sinking of the American barque William P. Frye by the Prinz EiteJ, her sister raider. • A-sked why he sank the Norwegian vessel, Commander Thierfeldt said: "She was carrying contraband of War. She had a cargo of wheat which i believed was intended for the use oi ! the British Army and Navy." The appearance of the Kron Prinz Wilhelm just one day after the internment of the Prinz Eitel Freidrich created great surprise- When last heard from the Kron Prinz wae id the South Atlantic. She had been reported sunk half-a-dozen times. The big liner, 613 ft in length and 14,700 tons displacement, steamed majestically up Hampton Roads early this morning and was directed to an anchorage oft the plant of the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry-dock Company -by the United States submarine G7. As the Kron Prinz steamed past Fortress Monroe and thorugh the fleet of 1C United States battleships assembled in Hampton Roads, she neither fired a. salute nor dipped her flag, an act which caused considerable comment. BOARDED BY U.S. AGENTS. Collector of Customs Norman R. Hamilton immediately boarded the vessel and held an extended confeience with Commander Thierfeldt. During the conference Lieutenant Ford, attached to Admiral Fletcher',; staff, came alongside in a launch from the Wyoming and joined the conference. Later ;e<)-) wk- were invited aboard by Commander Thierfeldt. He sa : :l he was *'• tircl to talk, but directed that members of his staff show the visitors over the ship. Commander Thierfeldt, however, gave a brief but graphic description of his voyage to Dr. Hal McCafferty, United States quarantine officer at Old Point. - "We were chased by British cruisers three times," said Commander Thierfeldt, "but were fortunate enough to escape each time, although some of the escapes were too close for comfort. RUN SHORT OF FOOD. "Since leaving New York 255 days ago we have touched at no port. For weeks we were forced to eat rice to live, and that is responsible for the 66 cases of illnese aboard. The men are suffering from beri-beri. ''-•After a while, though we captured and sunk a French steamer and got provisions and stores which lasted us a long time. Among them were 10,000 bags of coffee-; One of the most interesting accounts of the cruise obtained by the newspaper men was given by one of the petty officers.! This officer, who requested that his name be not used, at one time was a member of the crew of the U.S.S. Kearaarge. He J spoke English fluently and gave a I vivid description of the Kron Priuz i Wilhelm's career as a raider. "Wβ left Hoboken on August 3," he said- "We met the cruiser Karlsruhe off the Bermudas. We were engaged in transferring poal and supplies to the Karlsruhe am? jrnns an J men from the Karlsruhe U) our jship when the British cruisers Bristol, Suffolk, and Berwick came up and we were forced to run to sea. 'While the Karlsruhe was engaging the British cruiser we escaped. \V f : have not heard from the Karlsruho since three days after that. Our .last message said that the Bristol had been damaged anxl was then making for port for repairs and that no damage had been done the Karlsruhe ami that no easualtfeß had been sufferei aboard. "Before we left fixe Karlsruhe we took aboard Lieut. Captain Thierfeldt, two :}-inch guns, one macMH<? gun. and two S-centimetro rn.pid-ni'c guns iuul a. number of men. W<- iben J began our cruise as ;i raider. ■ "Our lira! prize wa.s the liritiso su-'a in fir Indian Princr. which wo over-nauled and sent down in the South /Ythttoic on September 7. "Tell me, Mary, how to woo thee, Teach my bosom to unfold Language which can soothe and cheer thee, When thou hast a cough or cold. But if pleading cannot gain thee, I'll invoke an aid more sure, E'en a queen could not disdain me Offering Woods' Great Peppermint Cure."

TELLS OF RICHEST PRIZK. "Our next capture proved to ht: tin , richest prize of the entire trip. This j was the British steamer La Corren- , tina. This ship had two :.'-inch guns | mounted on her deck, but did not put up a fight, as she had no ammunition. I We took the two guns and mounted \ them. I "We also got a large quantity Ji: j supplies from the steamer, including j r>oo.ooo pounds of meat. This sup- j ply lasted us until about 10 days ago. j We did not take another prize until j November 11., when the French bar- j que Union, coal laden, was over- j hauled. We transferred 3100 tons :c> | the Kron Prinz, filling the bunkers to J overflowing, and put as much as we j could in the first-class cabin. W,; i needed it badly. SEIZE SUPPLIES AT SEA. "On November 21 we captured and sank the French steamer Anna d-: Bretagne. On December 12, just. a» our coal was again running short, w-i came upon and took possession of the British steamer Bellevue, which had 4000 tons of coal aboard. "Our next prize was the French steamer Montaget. She. was empty and, after transferring her crew to our ship, we sent her to the bottom. "On December 28 we captured the British steamer Hemisphere and secured 5000 tons of coal from her. This enabled us to proceed without any fear of running short of fuel for a long time. "The British steamer Peter fell victim to Uβ on January 10. This vessel was in ballastSINK NEUTRAL SHIP. i "The British steamer Highland Brae we overhauled on January 14. In addition to a crew of l>l, this steamer had 51 passengers aboard. We took what we wanted from her, transferred her crew and passengers to the Kron Prinz, and sent the .vessel to the bottom. I "On the same day we captured tho British steamer Wilfred 11. She was i loaded with tish and potatoes, much j of which we took aboard. "The Norwegian ship Samantha, the only neutral vessel we sank on our long voyage, we overhauled on Februj ary 3. This ship, we were told, had on board a cargo of wheat, consigned to the British Army and Navy, so w: .sent her down because she was carrying contraband. "We did uot come across another ship until February 22, when we captured the British steamer Chase Hill. After taking coal and provisions from her we put about 500 prisoners aboard her and told her captain to take them to the nearest port. We left her food and Goal enough to make port, and hefore putting the prisoners aboard fitted up sleeping accommodation for them. "While we were transferring coal to the Kron Prinz the French passenger steamer Guadeloupe, with a. crew oi' 1.">3 men andofficers and 1.43 passengers,'.came up, and we took her in charg«. These passengers were also placed aboard the Chase Hill, and after taking what we wanted from the Frenchman we seui him down by opening his seacocks. GREAT COFFEE CARGO."We did not sight another ship until March 24, when the British Royal Mail Line Tamai\ firom Santtos to Havre, with (38,000 Backs of coffee, was overhauled off the Brazilian coast. We took off 33 officers and men, and sent the ship to the bottom. "Four clays later we captured the British steamer Daleby, from Rosario to St. Vincent, with a cargo of wheat. The crews of the last-named two ships we now have aboard. "Although our boilers and bottom are in bad shape, we would not have put into port here had it not been for the capture of the ship which was to bring us coal and provisions. She made a dash from Las Palmas about three weeks ago, but was captured by th* British about a. week later. "As ttoeiv. wa,s no relief in sight, we J had no alternative !w.t to. put in hero ! for supplies. We la ad barely .enough coal left in our Imnker.s i.o get to port, our provisions were almost exhausted, and for weeks we have been drinking sea water distilled in the ship's condenser.