SCAPA LIES

Otago Witness, Issue 3442, 2 March 1920, Page 41

SCAPA LIES

VON REUTER'S ORDERS. Two extraordinary documents, found in the safe of the German cruiser Emden, scuttled at Scapa end afterwards salved, were published recently (states the Daily Mail) by the Admiralty. . They have been in the possession of our Government, and they prove that the German Government lied last month when it refused reparation for the scuttling of the German Fleet _at Scapa on June 21, denying its complicity, and that it lied again on June 28, -when it declared that the ships had been sunk, "without the knowledge of any German civil or military subordinates," by the act of the Admiral in Command, von Reuter, with whom it had no means of communicating. The documents are : _ 1. A letter from Admiral von Trotha, head of the German Admiralty, to von Reuter, at Scapa, marked "Most secret" and dated "May 9," which insists that the ships must not be surrendered, though it. does not give a direct order for their scuttling. 2, A series of detailed instructions from von Reuter,. dated "June 17," giving the'German captains orders how and when to sink their ships on a .signal from him. . Though a censorship was maintained by oUr Navy, there was no means of presenting messages or orders from reaching von Reuter if hidden in food or clothing. On May 4 the German transport Dollart arrived at Scapa with food for the Germans, and on June 17 the Geman transports Rardenia and Schleswig arrived. One of these clearly brought von Trotha's letter.* Von 'Trotha's letter states: "It appears that our opponents are considering the idea of depriving us of the interned ships on the conclusion of peace; they waver between the destruction of the distribution among themselves or these ships. The British naturally raise some, doubts about the latter course. "These hostile intentions are in opposition to the hitherto unquestioned German right of ownership of the vessels, with the internment of which we complied on the conclusion of the armistice only because we were obliged to consent- for the duration of the armistice to an appreciable weakening of the striking power of the German Fleet. "You may -be assured that it will be no more than the plain duty of our naval delegates at Versailles to safeguard the fate of our interned ships in every way and to arrive at a solution which is in accordance with our traditions and our unequivocal German rights. In this connection the first condition will be that the ships remain German, and that their fate, whatever turn it may take under the pressure of the political situation, will not be decided without our co-Qperation and will be consummated by ourselves, and that their surrender to the enemy remains out of the question." Von Reuter's orders are headed: "Only to be sent by an officer —personal," and are contained in 11 paragraphs. A vital passage is:

The commanding officers are ordered to make the necessary preparations lor sinking their ships so as to ensure that on reccipb of the order they will sink as rapidly as possible Instructions are then given to have all internal doors • and hatches open permanently, and, at tho discretion of the commanding officers, to take "additional steps" for the rapid opening of valves and torpedo tubes, admitting the water. "For sinking tho ships at a given hour the signal will ber 'To all commanding officers paragraph 0913. Acknowledge.' la,

this the first two numbers indicate the datf and the last two numbers tlie hour a£ which the sinking- shall bev'n. "From Wednesday, June 18, onwards in*C creased vigilance by day and night will be necessary, to observe not only any unusual behaviour on tho part of the English, also signals from Emden." i. The reference to "signals from Emdcn'S seems to show that a wireless order wa< sent from that German base —not thfi cruisr Emden —to scuttle tho ships. Votfc Renter made no promise for handing thoni over. It is thus established that the Got«S man Government exchanged orders anffl signals with von Reuter, and bears with hu£| the responsibility of his aot of treachery*