SECRET GERMAN SALVAGE

Taranaki Daily News, 19 December 1933, Page 5

SECRET GERMAN SALVAGE

DEATH OF LORD KITCHENER

EXAMINATION OF HAMPSHIRE

PERSONAL PAPERS RAISED

BERLIN NEWSPAPER CLAIM

By Telegraph—Press Assn. —Copyright.

London, Dec. 17.

A German vessel is secretly salvaging the ship in which Lord Kitchener met his death, H.M.S. Hampshire, according to the startling assertion of the Berliner Illustrierte - Zeitung, which publishes a carefully-documented account of the operations and detailed statements of the divers, including the Australian Costello, who was injured when one of the three bombs exploded in the wreck caused an unexpected explosion of the Hampshire s ammunition, hurling the divers into the mud; ■ ■

The salvage operations were unsuccessfully commenced in 1931 and were started again in April, 1933. The salvage ship approached the Hampshire With the greatest secrecy, the captain taking a round-about route from Kiel to avert suspicion. The diver Costello found the wreck within three hours of descending. Whitefield, the German deep-sea expert, was the first to enter the Hampshire commander’s room. As the steel door opened the body of a man rose from a chair, and, drawn by suction, floated past Whitefield and' vanished into the framework of the sunken ship. Using oxy-acetylene cutting apparatus the salvage crew raised £lO,OOO worth of gold bars and personal papers relating to Lord Kitchener’s Russian mission. The British Admiralty is not aware ot the reported salvaging.

On June 5, 1916, Lord Kitchener and his staff embarked on the armoured cruiser Hampshire (10,850 tons) for the purpose of proceeding to Russia to consult with the chiefs of the Russian Army in regard to a projected combined offensive in the East and West. By an unhappy error of judgment,” writes his biographer, “an unswept channel was chosen for the passage of the cruiser, and Kitchener—the secret of whose journey had been betrayed was to fall into the machinations of England’s enemies, and to die swiftly at their hands.” , „ The Hampshire was sunk off Warwick Head, on the west side of Orkney Islands. A heavy sea was running, and the only survivors were one warrant, officer and 11 men. The bodies recovered numbered 75, including Lieut.-Colonel Fitzgerald, Lord Kitchener’s military secretary. Mr. Lloyd George had intended joining the Hampshire, but a last-minute decision was made altering his plans.