BEHIND THE VEIL AT KIEL

Otautau Standard and Wallace County Chronicle, Volume X, Issue 507, 9 February 1915, Page 7

BEHIND THE VEIL AT KIEL

"LAME DUCKS" RETURN TO PORT. A naval writer sends to the London ' Daily Mail ' the following highly interesting account of life at Kiel m war time. The correspondent received the account from a friend who was able to use influence to evade the stringent regulations of the German Government, who have successfully shroulded Kiel m mystery since , the war began : — Kiel is the most jealously guarded town m Germany. Besides being the recognised home of the German navy, it is the abode of the Imperial dockyards and of Krupp's elaborate construction sheds.' Hence it is to Kiel that damaged warships are taken for repair. Furthermore, the spacious harbor i 3 a safe concentration base, and is the headquarters of submarine craft. Since knowledge of the movements of these vessels, on which the Fatherland sets such high hopes, would be of incalculable service to the Allies. Geiimaii authorities have forbidden strangers either to enter or to leave the town, tinder the direst penalties. Even the inhabitants are prohibited from wandering m the vicinity of the harbor, where all restaurants and places of popular entertainment have been closed since the beginning of August. By decree of the Lord High Admiral, all neutral vessels had to clear the port on the outbreak of war, 6O that the navy might proceed with its mobilisation unhampered, and m order that' no enemy might witness the secret preparations. Kiel is to-day a melancholy town. All the enthusiasm for war which marked the departure of the Baltic fleet, under Admiral Ingenohl, to meet the Russians has long since evaporated. Several of these fine 6hips which steamed away to the tune of ' Deutschland über Alles ' will never return. Others have been towed home battered wrecks to swing idly at their moorings, the gaping holes m their sides bearing eloquent testimony to the excellence of Russian marksmanship. For some days before the declaration of war against Russia there was unwonted bustle and stir m Kiel Harbor. The despatch of 22 submarines through the Kiel Canal to the North Sea on the evening of July 30 prepared the populace for the news which came late at night an August 1 : Germany had declared war upon Russia, and was sending troops against France. Late as was the hour, the message spread like wildfire. People crowded into the streets and the restaurants to give expression to their unbounded joy, to dance and sing, and to carry sailors shoulder . high to 1 the depots. The one question on every lip was: "What will England do?" Men stopped strangers to aßk their opinion and to shake their heads ominously. Kiel was assured that the German navy was more than a match for the combined fleets of Russia and of France. Grand Admiral Von Koester had told them so at the time of the Agadir dispute m 1911, when German warships were actually off the French coast cleared for action. But if England joined issue against Germany, Kiel was not so sanguine as to the ultimate result. Those who professed to be the sharers of official secrets grudgingly admitted that the German navy was not yet Teady to meet the overwhelming sea power of England. 1 ABNORMALLY BUSY. "While there has beeh a very considerable rise m the prices of foodstuffs, Kiel has not yet begun to feel the pinch of war. On the contrary, the town is abnormally busy. Large' numbers of trained artisans, chiefly engineers and carpenters, have been brought from all parts of the country to work at the building yards. The repairing shops m particular are so busy that they have to be kept running night and day. While the naval •action off Heligoland on August 28 added very considerably to the pressure -.on the repairing shops, it is not generally known that an engagement some days later had an equally disastrous consequence for the German North Sea fleet. One after another, lame ducks were towed through the Kiel 1 Canal, until something like nine destroyers and torpedo boats, some of them m a hopelessly battered condition, lay alongside the 'Imperial Yard. These vessels, it is alleged by men who served m some of them, did not take part m the action. Beyond this admission they refuse to give information. Local report, which has not yet been contradicted, insists that the damage was caused by a cleverly-laid British mine field almost within sight of Heligoland. The story is well worth repeating, since it reflects great credit on the skill and intrepidity of our sailors. British minelayers followed , the ships into action at a safe distance. Behind this screen, and while the attention of the Germans was concentrated on the action, the minelayers were busy anchoring their deadly- explosives m the way of German warships operating from Heligoland. As this had been prearranged and the positions clearly defined on the chart, the British ships were careful to avoid the danger zone on returning from the fray. Two days after the engagement " a fleet of •German destroyers and torpedo boats were sent out on scout duty. All unsuspecting of danger m their home waters, they steamed into the miiie field. The first vessel to strike one of the mines signalled that she was being attacked by a submarine. Almost simultaneously other vessels met with a ■similar fate, whereupon the German captains, realising the danger that threatened them, carefuHy picked their way back to the base. How many vessels were accounted for m this manner is not known, yet it is surmised that the loss *was considerable, since the fleet tiadi got so far on (to the mine field before making the • discovery that one destroyer was actually struck some considerable distance from the scene of disaster while making its way back to the base.