CRUISE OF THE WOLFF.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 14658, 16 July 1918, Page 7

CRUISE OF THE WOLFF.

MINE- LAYING OX THR XEW ZEALAND COAST.

' A story more picturesque than the picturesque dtog-watyh romance is at piesent going the "rounds of shipping oireks m respect to the raider Wolff and the linding of enemy mines on the New Zealand coast, states the Dunedin Star. It is. indeed, a .strange story, and .«nni'? people vouch for the facts, which so far have not been either authoritatively coniirmed or repudiated. Some weeks ago it was reported that two of the officers of the Union Company's missing' steamer Wairuna had arrived m KngT.and,' and had told the story (now well known) of the capture of tlie Wairuna. by tin; raider Wolff and the subsequent wanderings of the Wolff, including the transference of a number of her 'prisoners- to the captured Spanish steamer whjch afterwards- stranded on the Danish coast. It appears tlv.it one of the officers m question kept his •weather eye open-, ns the sailors say, and that he secretly charted the wanderings of the raider Wolff, recorded dates as well as latitudes and longitudes, these details, however, not figuring m his daily diary, which was ""vised," and passed as harmless by his captors. This illicit chart is said to be interesting, and to show such detail, as the- Three Kings, Cook Strait, and portions of the Australian coast. Not the least interesting feature of the proceedings . is how this charted course of an enemy raider and mine-layer found' .its way to Engvand and thence to New Zealand.

The details are lacking. But the few that are available arc nevertheless very interesting. When the Spanish prize vessel ■ stranded on the Danish coast, a # German destroyer made a dash to take .charge of tho disabled steamer. -JFhtt a Danish destroyer \yliich was also m the vicinity dashed, quicker, ,w:th the result that the .Spanish ploajner was declared intprned m neutral waters. The German dost rover (hen .sheered off. and the periscope of 'an accompanying U-boat also retired to a. respectful distance. v M'««aii'whih> the s.-eivt chart of the Wolff's wanderings had found safety m a Jittlo satchel containing the daily diary of the officer, and a few other persona;! papers. But is .seemed fated to be lost whien the prisoners on tluv Spanish ship were ordered to leave all baggage behind, its considerable difficulty was ibpin^; experienced of rescuing them from tha disabled vessel. As a. fnvou, however, the officer war* allowed to take his little .satchel, and ah. unsuspecting Cierman-stand-ing on the steamer's deck held it while its owner was negotiating a ladder down the ship's side, and then passed it down to him. The chart reached England safely. Tlie noxt peculiar coincidence attributed to its eventful earner >is the remarkably short time which elapsed' between its arrival m England ami tire starting of mine-sweeping on the N«e\v Zealand coast. Two further details are said to be included m the story of the surreptitious ■ chart. One. is that a steamer struck, a. mine on the ' coast, the day after the Wolff deposited it;. there; the second is that less than half tho mines la.id in* the vicinity of the Three King? fed of Coble Strait hjvve yet : bee'n v accounted for. Sweeping )for enemy mines m New, Zealand waters' is, ..it is understood, hot yet discontinued. ■ With: reference to 'the above, a San Francisco paper of May 26 records that Captain J. W. Cameron, his wife and daughter, liad returned to that city after a aeties of thrilling experiences. The Avas master of the steamer. Beluga, which sailed from San Francisco on May 15, ,1917, and was held "up m the South' Pacific on June 11 and everyone on board, transferred to the Wolff, which turned ita guns upon the helpless tanker and sunk her. The following nine months the? captain and his wife and] 17- --, year-oild daughter Juanita were prisoners on the raider and saw the sinking of eight -vessels, after" the crews 1 were transferred, to the Wolff. GERMANS TAKE GASOLINE. *-'t was the most surprised man m the worlS' TPhen my vessel w.as held up m the South Sea by the Wolf," said Cameron "I did not think they were operating so far away from the European waters. "We were held' up about dusk. After transferring all of the people 13pm my •vessel to the Wolf, the Germans took all the gasoline they needed .and then sank the vessel. On. board ire found ,tbc crews and passengers of six other vessels that had met the same fate as my own. My wife, and daughter were the only females on board, m fact the only 1 . ones' the captain and crew had seen for many jnonthsl ,-. We were given quartei's on the officers- deck and treated I ' well, but > s'eraainder of the crew and .passengers of yny vessel, as well as others, were treated Tike dogs! • • "'Following, the sinking of the Beluga we stayed out nine months <i.d 1 saw eight vessels sunk after they had beer looted: The Wolf lived by plundering.

lt l understand a little Germ m and, bocame friendly with. Captain Hans Nergev and knew many of the 375 members of the craw quite well. I was allowed the freedom of the officers'' quarters and ivade the best use' of my time. 1 was mbitf by-looking over the records to get copies of ■ everything tlu> Wolf had done and every place she had been f>ve montjit previous to my arrival. Of course, afiei that I di<s not need to consult records; as I was a. witness to \t all. VESSEL WELL EQUIPPED.

•"The Wolf was ;<• vessel of 6726 tons, fully for raiding. It hud ji six-inch\ gun forward find one of the same size-, aft: four four-point-sevo guns, two --forward and two aft; en torpedo tube* and a- hydroplane for scouting. ~ "■ - "Every day the - hydroplane would leave the steamer and sail aloft to . . height of 3000 metres, frorii which v could see'vessels .at a distance of riinety miles. When a victim was spotted the hydroplane would descend kind give t> . general direction, and ottl the piroto started, m quest of loot. luring tie time I was aboard the Woif we -;ot almost a vessel a month and a total of •438 prisoners. • "The Wolf was originally intended i>a a. mine layer, and when it- started from the . Kiel canal it was equipped with r OO mines, winch were laid m *th« feoi.th Pacific-ocean and charted. -

"During the time that I was copying the reaorasvfrom Captain Merger's bopis I managed to get a copy of the chart showing the . positions of every one of the 500 mines, than had been laid hy the Wolf before it became a., raider. This chart, or the copy of it, I gave to the Government:-, trith all the other oatai .that I was able to get." Other details are given of tiie n;i.e mouths' cruise similar to those already published. , •. .