SINKING OF THE OTAKI.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LV, Issue 16798, 14 March 1918, Page 6

SINKING OF THE OTAKI.

GERMAN STORY OF FIGHT,

MOOT SEVERELY HANDLED.' j fnY- TELECEAfH.— COHRESPOXDEST.] L / DUNEDIN, Wednesday. A fuller account of tho sinking of the New Zealand Shipping Company steamship Otaki by the German raider Moewe, on March 26, 1917, is given by Lieutenant Rohr, an officer on board the latter ship.

"Tho Moewo fired shell after shell at the Otaki," he says, "whilst the steamer was hit several times, her gun' was left undamaged. Sho had the luck to have an extremely good gunner on board and soon ho scored an 'outer,' which passed through tho signal bridge of the Moewe, without causing much damage. Shell followed shell, each side firing hard. I was on my way along tho deck, and just as I passed by the funnel I was flung down full length. I scrambled up to see a large smoke cloud pouring from the side of the ship. Thee enemy had scored a bull's-eye. "Nobody had thought of such a thing, and even 'H.' and '5.' discovorod great respect for the English. A pigmy shell had pierced the belt and set tho bunker coal on fire. The flames wero spreading rapldlv, and water was pouring in from the hole in the hull. Then tho prisoners broke loose, Our situation was far from happy, and all the time tho enemy lay thero refusing to sink and firing shot after shot. Fortunately her own condition and the weather prevented her aim from being effective. • ' "Half an hour later, hammered and torn by our guns, but still firing, the Otaki sank beneath tho waves."