CEUISE OF THE WOLF.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LV, Issue 16850, 15 May 1918, Page 8

CEUISE OF THE WOLF.

CAREER IN PACIFIC OCEAN. CAPTURE OP THE WAIRUNA. MINES LAID OFF NEW ZEALAND. [from oxna, own correspondent.] LONDON, March 19. Most of the following narrative of the capture of the Wairuna by the raider Wolf was given by Mr. T. E. Rees, the -second officer, who has just returned to London by way of Norway; by Mr. R. Donovan, the cook, who* formerly rode for Sir William Russell's stable; and by Mrs. Agnes Mackenzie, of Wellington, the stewardess of the Matunga. The Wairuna left Auckland for San Francisco at 11 p.m. on May 31, and shaped the usual course across the Pacific. About 3.20 on the afternoon of Saturday, Juno 2, as she was closing "with Sunday Island, the largest and most northerly of the Kermadecs, a steamer was sighted, evidently at anchor off the northern side of the island, where Mr. Bell has his homestead. She was about four miles distant. The Wairuna kept on her course, and about 20 minutes later those on board saw, to their astonishment, a seaplane rise from the water and soar towards them. The plane had no marks at all, and Hying low over the Wairuna, it dropped a . meosoge outlier deck warning the captain ; that if he tried to use his wireless he would be bombed. The steamer meanwhile had hoisted the German colours and begun to move, and, the Wairuna having been stopped in obedience to orders, a boarding party came across and took possession. " I knew at once they were Germans when I saw the seaplane, said Mr. Rees, whose experience dates back at least as far as the Dardanelles. Having that mkhng of trouble, he set to work to pick up as many as possible of the' New Zealand newspapers on board, and to destroy them so as to prevent the Germans getting more information than could be helped. Unfortunately there were still half-a-dozen or so left., and they were greedily seized by the Germans, who had been out of touch with civilisation for half a vear, and digested for the benefit of the intelieence branch. • The Wairuna was taken in close to the island, and ordered to anchor near the raider. That night the officers and the wireless operator Vers token off. The Germans were delighted to get such a wellfound and well-provided ship. Not only was there ample coal and provisions for the Trans-Pacific voyage, but the cargo comprised a good many things they were in need of after their long tramp at sea; and they looked with greedy eyes at the 42 live sheep in pens on the deck. In their long cruise, it seemed, they had been on tie New Zealand coast before, and they had also been as far south as the Antipodes.

Cargo Working Interrupted. On the following morning, Sunday, June 3, the sea was too rough "to do much in the way of working cargo, and both ships moved round to the lee-side of the island. There they were lamed together, ani\ commenced straightway transferring coal, fresh water, and stores, and 14 bags of mails;—more grist for the Intelligence Department. On the 4th the captain was taken on board the Wolf and he and the other officers transferred most of their luggage to the raider. On the sth and 6th all hands were working day and night, and the ships bumped together very violently in the heavy swell. It was on the latter day that the sheep were transferred, and eight of them were so badly injured in the operation that they had to be killed forthwith. On the 7th the sea was so rough that the vessels moved round again to the other side of the island, and for two days no work could be done. On the 9th they made a complete circuit of the island, looking for calm water, but without success, and on the 10th again it was too rough to do anything. "None of the prisoners," Mr. Rees said, "would volunteer to help in transferring cargo, though it was pat to them. There were two Irishmen in the crew, and the Germans tried hard to pursuade them, .telling them that Germany was the friend of Ireland, and that the fate of Casement was an example of what the English did to Irishmen. '.The English did not do half enough to Casement, was the reply. 'If we had bad hold of him we would have done much more than England did.' With this satisfaction the Germans left the subject alone." On the 11th it was rough again, and on the 12th it was w bad that brth resselo had to put to sea They came back at 9 p.m. on the 14th, and, anchoring very close together, resumed work on the following morning. On the 16th all hands were taken off the Wairuna, and she was got ready for sinking.

Bombarding the Wairuna. The whole security of the raider being dependent on covering up her traces, great care was taken to prevent the wreckage floating away. The cabin doors were carefully nailed up and their hatches battened down, and the tanks and lifeboats destroyed. As the vessel was being taken out to sea a little American schooner was sighted; and the work had to be stepped to chase her with the seaplane. She was duly captured, and a prige crew put on board, and she remained at sea for the night. On the morning of Sunday, June 17, the Wairuna was finally taken out to her doom, an event which all the prisoners were allowed on deck to witness.

At 8.30 a.m., when the Wolf was about 1000 yds off, one of the bombs was seen to explode. The only visible result was that the Wairuna sank about a foot deeper in the water, at which level she remained for fully an hour. Then at about 400 yds the Wolf commenced, bombarding the vessel amidships. The first few shells had very little effect. They struck about the waterline, evidently just clearing the engine tops. The Germans were poor gunners, for some of the shells even at that distance fell short, and others went clean over the mark. The Wairuna took a slight list, and there was a pause in the firing, but her position did not seem to change. The Wolf steamed right round her, but got no satisfaction. She was apparently very little damaged. More shots were fired at her amidships, and one brought a great mass of flame, shooting up from the en-gine-room, but it died down, and still apparently the Wairuna woe seaworthy. Then by aiming at the bulkhead, between No. 1 and No. 2 holds, the gunners set the cargo on fire. She gradually listed over to port, burning heavily, and eventually turning tfver on her side, she sank at 2.46 p.m. As she went down quite a lot of wreckage broke away from the hatches, and one of the derricks also floated off.

Having spent a good six hours and 16 heavy shells disposing of the Wairuna, the raider turned her attention to the schooner, which had now returned. She was the Winslow, with a quantity of coal and .fire bricks. Attempt at Escape. The Winslpw's cargo kept the Wolf occupied until June 22. " She was the first wooden victim the Wolf had caught," said Mr. Bees, " and they had a great 'job to sink her. They could only blow her to bits. They put four big bombs on! board and set her on fire, and they had to I fire 39 shells at her before they could polish her off." Mr. Reea tells of what looks like a tragedy that occurred while the Wolf was working cargo at the Kermadecs. Two of the crew of the Turritella, a victim of the earlier stages of the Wolf's cruise, were a New Zealander named, I think, Steers, of Port Chalmers, who was second engineer, and the chief officer, Oleland. They had determined to make an attempt to escape, and Mr. Rees and other prisoners assisted them. Steers and Cleland were both strong swimmers and felt confident of gaining the shore, which was two miles off. But as C&ey were kept securely below at night it was essential they should get out of the abip is daylight. I

Under pretext \of fishing , for sharks a party of the prisoners got a strong ropeline over the counter, and down this both men made their escape while the sentries were not looking. They had matches securely sealed in bottles, and felt pretty certain they would find all' the food they required on the island. But until it was dark enough to commence swimming ; they had to remain - hiding under the counter of the ship. Though the Kermadecs are in a warm latitude, it was winter, and a choppy sea was running. Moreover, there were no lights on the island, Nothing was afterwards seen or heard of the two adventurers. Time may show whether either of them reached the shore or whether their heroic endeavour ended their lives. Mines.Round Hew Zealand. On finishing up at the Kermadecs, and .failing in her hope of cutting off the Niagara, the Wolf proceeded to lay some mines between North Cape and the Three Kings, and then went right down the coast and sowed more mines in Cook Strait. On June 27, Mr. Roes and Mr. Donovan, the cook, got their last glimpse of .■New Zealand, for on that day the raider was in sight of Mount Cook. On July 9, another small American schooner, the Beluga, fell a victim. The captain had on board his wife native of Newcastle, New South Wales—and their six-year-old daughter; and it was a pathetic sight to those already close captives to see the little girl, standing on the after-deck, waving her handkerchief as the strange steamer approached. It was about a month later that the Burns-Philp steamer Matunga was captured off Rabaul and carried off to an island near New Guinea, where the cargo was ransacked and the Wolf replenished. "It was terrible to see her being sunk," said Mrs. Mackenzie, the stewardess. " She was our only home, and I felt like jumping overboard to get to her." Treatment ol Prisoners,

Mrs. Mackenzie, who c6mes from Wellington, protested vigorously to the German commander against women being made prisoners. There we're now a dozen of them in the Wolf. But he replied that women were making munitions, and, therefore, their capture was quite legitimate. It had been thought possible that, owing to J*** i American captain having his wife and child on board he might release" the schooner Beluga, but the whole key-note of raiding success is to leave no traces. Hence all the ships were destroyed, and their crews taken away to Germany. Mr. Bees served in a transport which took Australian artillery to the landing at He was afterwards in the New Zealand meat-liner Ashburton when she was torpedoed, and his account of his experiences on that occasion appeared in the very copies of the New Zealand Herald which were found by the Germans on the Wairuna. It was duly underlined in red and shown to him by the German commander, who particularly wished to know what ' barbarians were. Of the six months Mr. Bees spent in the Wolf he was most of the time in the hold, with 162 other captives. The food was so bad that he was over and over again sent to hospital, and photographs of some of the prisoners show brawny giants reduced to *™°» haggard skeletons. Mr. Bees pleaded that if he were kept under such .conditions he must inevitably die. and asked that he should be transferred to the Igotz Mendi. Ihe commander knew that he had in keeping a diary, and replied significantly that xpJF'Z ° mu u h to * *«*V of the -J i J?T he got so bad th at he was at length transferred with the women and some Others to the Spanish steamer. Here £L?W * f v fod and the fine wholesome bread, based by Donovan, worked a great change, a " he gradually recovered