A WAR ECHO

Southland Times, Issue 20496, 26 May 1928, Page 23 (Supplement)

A WAR ECHO

i SUNKEN CRUISERS’ PLATE. After being held for several years by the Customs Department, in Sydney, a large part of the mess plate of the German cruisers Scharnhorst and Leipsic is to be retuned to the German Government by the Commonwealth Government as an act of grace. Both cruisers belonged to the squadron of Admiral von Spee, which with the exception of the cruiser Dresden, was destroyed off the Falkland Islands on Bth December, 1914, by the British squadron under the command of Vice-Admiral St-urdee. The arrival of the plate in Australia was shrouded in a certain amount of mystery; but it would appear to have been left for safety, on the outbreak of war, by the Germans at their depot at the Caroline Islands, whence, after the occupation of those islands by the Japanese, it found its way to Sydney. There it passed into possession of a dealer in curios, and was later seized by the Customs Department as dutiable, and held in trust pending determination of its future by the Commonwealth Government. The silver trophies which belonged to the German ships are substantial and of solid design. First in order is a massive salad bowl belonging to Von Spee’s flagship, with a cut-glass dish inside. It bears the inscription besides the names of the donors, “Offizermesse, S.M.S., Scharnhorst, Hamburg, April, 1908.” Then there is a mighty silver punch bowl, inscribed to the officers’ mess of the same ship, and with the date 11th August, 1912. The inscription expresses thanks for services rendered by one of the ships to a great shipping company. Next there is a large silver cup. Inscribed upon it is: “1908. 11 Kutter, S.M.S. Furst Bismark,” and, below, “1909, 1 Kutter, S.M.S. Leipsic.” Finally there is a silver cup with the inscription in English: “To H.I.G.M. Flagship Furst Bismark.” This was presented by the owners of a British Steamer with very grateful thanks for valuable services rendered by the Bismark to a steamer when in distress in an eastern port in 1907. How the plate of the Furst Bismark came to be with the others is difficult to say. The Furst Bismark was launched in 1900, so, having been more or less obsolete when the war broke out, perhaps her plate was divided among the other ships of the German Navy.