THE GRAMA'S VICTORY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LII, Issue 15900, 24 April 1915, Page 9

THE GRAMA'S VICTORY.

SINKING OF THE NAVARRA. ACCURATE BRITISH FIRE. RESCUE OF GERMAN CREW. The British auxiliary cruiser Orama, which steamed into Valparaiso with the wounded from the German cruiser Dresden, sunk at Juan Fernandez, brought the first news of a battle off the River Plate, on November 11, in which the German armed merchantman Xavarra was sent to the bottom. The Orama, taken over by the British Admiralty early in the war, and fitted with a formidable battery, was proceeding early in November to join the British squadron at tli*t time seeking the German Admiral von Spee in the South Atlantic, when she sighted the Navarra off the mouth of the Plate. Tho Orama gave chase and the auxiliaries exchanged shots. Tho gunnery of the British vessel

' was the more accurate, and after a brief [ engagement the upper works of the Ger- • man were seen to be afire. The Orama : redoubled her efforts, but her guns ceased : fire when the crew of the Navarre took ,to the water. Four small boats remained i undamaged, aad in these the crew pulled I away from their vessel just before an explosion sent her listing far to starboard. ! The Navarra's crew scarcely had been ' taken aboard the Orama when the ship turned slowly over and disappeared. To prevent the possibility of her becoming I a derelict, the Orama steamed as I close as safety permitted, and sent a few more shells into the burning hulk. The Orama escaped undamaged from the action and without a wounded man among the crew. The casualties aboard the Xavarra were few. From the narratives of the German prisoners the men of the Orama gathered that the Xavarra, one of the big Ham-burg-American line steamships, was bound for South American ports when war was declared. She touched at Pernambuco early in September and stopped at Punta Arenas on October 10. She then was bound for the Pacific, where she got in touch with Admiral von Spee's squadron near Juan Fernandez Island just before the battle off Coronel. The men aboard the Orama are convinced it was not until the Xavarra joined the Herman squadron that she received her armament and took her place as a commerce destroyer. ! Leaving the warships commanded by Admiral von Spee, the Navarra returned 1 to the Atlantic, avoiding recognition and i a report of her whereabouts from Punta Arenas by making the long trip around the Horn. It is understood her disastrous meeting with the Orama occurred before she had an opportunity to prey on allied shipping.