PIRATE VON LUCKNER AND THE CRUISE OF THE SEEADLER

Observer, Volume XXXIX, Issue 46, 19 July 1919, Page 18

PIRATE YON LUCKNER AND THE CRUISE OF THE SEEADLER

[Copyright Reserved by Geddis & Blomfield.]

SYNOPSIS OP PREVIOUS INSTALMENTS

Graaf Felix Yon Luckner—Native of. Halle a Salle, Germany—Training in Imperial German Navy and part taken in Battle of Jutland—Brief sketch of his oareer prior to outbreak of warShort account of first news of him received in the Dominion—Description of his ship, the " See Adler," her equipment, etc.—Nature of his Commission from German naval authorities—Selection of crew and plans for evasion of British blockade—How "See Adler's ' papers were prepared, camouflage, etc,—Details of passage through North Sea and examination by British oruiser—How cruiser's officers were cleverly bluffed—Particulars of plan 6f escape had examination by oruiser resulted in capture—Commencement of raiding operations in the Atlantic —First capture and now it was effected—How the steamer (the Gladys Royal) was disposed of —Dispositions regarding crew, etc—Details of second capture—Why the vessel tried to run away after being fired at -The skipper's explanation—The "Sundy Island" Captured—A Sweet Cargo—Suspicions aroused and information gained as to course taken by ships—The Skipper's honeymoon, its interruption and resumption—A oonsiderate Pirate—Capture of a fast and trim Frenchman—A rigid skipper and his crew. The Pirate revives old memories by capturing and boarding an old acquaintanceHe takes a great risk and gainß useful information—How the information was utilised—Wireless at work—The ship with a funny flag and pious crew—A humorous ship whose " saving graoe" did not save her. —A stern chase and some shooting—Accumulated prisoners and how they were disposed of.—Parting words and a rude Dutchman.—Last raids in the Pacific and a spell ashore.—Disaster overtakes the Pirate.—Salvage operations and good-bye " See Adler."—Camouflage at Cook Islands.—The bogus wager and faked letter.—A critical time and hurried departure. Wakaya Island aud the coming of the "Amra."—The Pirate i 8 caught napping.

Captivity. We arrived at Auckland on Sunday, 7th October, 1917, under escort of members of Fiji Defence Force, and were met by Sir Robert Walker, General Staff Officer of the Auckland Military District. We were taken off the "Talune" while in the stream, and Lieutenant Kerscheiss and I were removed to the Detention Barracks, Devonport. Two petty officers and two seamen were handed over and taken to Queen's Wharf Guard Room. In the meantime news of our arrival having become known in the city, some hundreds of people (as I have since gathered) congregated at the wharf gates under the impression that these were part of the crew of the raider responsible for the sinking, of the s.s. "Wairuna." As the crowd were in a very uglymood, and to obviate any disturbance, these four prisoners were taken to Remuera Station, the Wellington express was stopped, and they, together with an escort, supplied by N.Z.M.P. under Lieutenant M. Caughey, were put aboard. On arrival at Wellington they were taken to Soames Island Internment Camp. Two days later they were taken to Wellington and examined by the naval and military authorities there, after which they were returned to Auckland and confined in the internment camp at Motuihi Island. In the meantime Li«ut#nant Kerscheiss and myself were removed to Motuihi, and in November, 1917,

leading Seaman Erdman was, on my application to the authorities, transferred to Motuihi to act as my valet and orderly. (As Yon Luckner always, displayed a certain amount of reticence when referring to the last phase of his adventures as a raider, and in order that readers of this narrative may receive as full and complete an account as possible of the pirate's capture, a report of this, as supplied by Sub-Inspector Hills, of the Fiji Police Force, Suva, is. given.—Ed.) Sub-Inspector Hill's Account. On 23rd September, 1917, I was stationed at Levuka. A half-caste boy came in a cutter from Wakaya Island and stated that there was' a strange launch there with a crew of si x. I questioned him carefully, and lie said tliey would not allow him aboard the launch, which was a whaleboat with a thick fender all round it as if it belonged to a ship. The crew of the launch, he said, talked English in a peculiar way— very much like Mr. Krafft, the exGerman Consul at Levuka, and asked many questionsI got the boy to repeat his story many times, and w ? as convinced that tliis launch and crew were absolute strangers to the Fijis, and must in some way be associated with the launch which called at the Cook Islands in August. On the same day I left Levuka in the cutter "Sunbeam" for Wakaya, but owing to the very rough sea and stormy weather we only got halfway, and had to turn back. From Levuka I 'phoned the authorities at Suva, and asked for permission to arm my native police and go on the following day to Wakaya. The authorities at Suva z;efused to allow me to issue firearms to the natives. I then asked to be allowed to takei my service pistol, and was told that I could do so at my own risk. Having found that the Steamer '"Amra" had arrived at Levuka, I persuaded the Governor of that place to charter her and allow me to go to Wakaya without any delay, as the weather was still very rough, and it was doubtful and risky to attempt the trip in a sailing vessel. This the Governor did, and the "Amra" arrived at Levuka with Mr. Howard, an Inspector of Police, aboard. I paraded my native police, carrying my . sidearms, and explained that I relied upon them to carry out all orders absolutely. As these men had been carefully selected, and had served with me for some time, I had every confidence th,at they would stay by me. As soon as we were under way from Levuka I got the rowing boat ready, and assigned my police to their positions.

I was glad to find that the master of the "Amra" had a revolver. When we came in sight of Wakaya I got the natives in- . to the boat all ready to be lowered. As. soon ac we reached the point I saw the launch, and perceived that they were getting up anchor and making other preparations to move. The "Amra" was at once stopped and anchored, our boat was lowered, Inspector Hills being officially in charge. By this time the launch was under way and heading toAvards the "Gleaner A" and the reef opening. We directed our course so as to head them off, and as we drew near I saw that they were all in civilian clothes. (I was wearing a blue police uniform, Sam Brown belt, with revolver in holster). One of the crew of the launch was forward talking excitedly to another, whom I took to be in charge, in the stern. When we got nearer I stood up in the bow of my boat and waved my hat three times, # and had they been acquainted with the custom of the Islands they would have known that I meant—" Pull up, I want to have a talk" They, however, kept on, but proceeded slower. When we got within speaking distance, I called out, "Stop! that steamer has got you covered with her guns," and the launch stopped, but I could still hear their engine going. I could see only five men. We pulled light alongside, and still keeping my revolver in the holster, but with my hand on the butt, I said, "You are all prisoners. You will surrender an prisoners of M r ar." One man at once stepped aboard and said: "My name is Lieutenant Kerscheiss. I am second in command of 'See Adler.' I surrender-" At the same time handing me an automatic pistol. I removed the magazine. Two of my Fijians then jumped aboard the launch and I called on the man in the stern to surrender, whereupon ho said: " Alright, order j T our men to allow mo to pass." I signalled my men to do this, when he stepped aboard and said: ' "My name is Count yon Luckner, Commander of 'See Adler,' I surrender," at the same time handing me his automatic pistol which I unloaded and returned to him. Three others of the crew then came aboard. They were unarmed. I could see another man on th© launch attending to the engine and I called upon him to come aboard, but he hesitated, so I ordered ono of my Fijians (a giant) to jump on to the launch and get him. As soon ; as the Fijian did so the man sprang ■ to attention and came aboard my boat. I then ordered my crew to pull ; towards the " Amra." Yon Luck- '■ ncr offered to tow us with the launch but I declined. After we had got under way, Yon i Luckner said: "Excuse me, how 1 do I address you? Are you a naval officer? " ".No," I replied, "I am 3 an officer of the constabulary." . "Constabulary!" he said, "what is that?" Kerscheiss, who had, apparently, a better knowledge of English, replied: "That is police." J When we got close to the "Amra," i he became a little excited, and asked s what guns we had on the "Amra." I gave evasive answers. «

When we got the party aboard, Yon Luckner looked round the decks and could see at once that we had no guns or arms of any kind. He was very disgusted, especially as the "Amra" had only four bags of coal left. We got the launch aboard the " Amra " and left at once for Suva, arriving there on the same day. Planning Escape — The Launch Pearl. During the early days of our confinement on Motuihi Island, certain beginnings were made in our plans for eventual escape, and for this purpose we regarded possession of the Commandant's launch as the principal factor. This launch—the Pearl—was fitted with a 15-h.p. Doman engine, and afterwards proved an excellent sea boat. Two of our men being employed on her gave her a complete overhaul. This they were able to do, as both of them were expert launch engineers, and were therefore given much freedom of movement. The launch was brought ashore, and every part carefully examined and improved, the command expressing his satisfaction with the laborious and skilful work which had been done to make the vessel seaworthy and comfortable. We managed to secure spare parts as far as possible, by making excuses that the old ones were broken, etc. As opportunity offered, we experimented during some weeks to give her the necessary stability for the open sea, and found that she was at her best when about three tons of stores were stowed away. Selecting the Crew. I chose for my crew men who were captured at Samoa during the early days of the war—cadets from German merchant vessels—who were also- German naval reservists. I managed, as previously related, to persuade tho authorities to transfer one of my "See Adler" seaman (Erdman) from Soames Island to Motuihi, for, although I had every confidence in the cadets, I wished to have a thoroughly trained leading seaman, gunner, and signaller, and I preferred this man more especially on account of his Englishlike appearance, and -Oris perfect knowledge of the language. Nautical Instruments, Etc. Those of our men who were metal workers had a good workshop near the barracks, and being very skilful, could make almost anything. They made clocks which could do almost anything but talk, consequently the making of compasses and other nautical instruments was not at all difficult. A splendid sextant was made, which was carefully tested, and proved its correctness. An old launch steering wheel cut in half formed the base, the arc being accurately scribed by making v larger copy and then reducing it. As I would have to depend absolutely on this sextant for my bearings it was necessary that it be reliable. I was informed by locally-interned Germans that most pawnshops in Auckland usually had good standard sextants for sale for a few pounds. We had the cash wherewith to buy these, but no opportunity, although I would certainly have preferred a correct factory-made instrument rather than one made by an amateur. There was always the risk of our men being discovered making ours, and had this happened its purpose would have'been obvious. As I would have to depend absolutely that we had no outside help, and I have since seen, by newspaper reports, that it is now in the Museum at Wellington. It is certainly a splendid exhibit of what our'men could" do."

Maps and Charts—How Obtained. Although large charts were not procurable, we had a complete map of Waitemata Harbour, which was used by the commandant of the launch," and We obtained from our library some maps of the Pacific. As my navigating officer, LieutKerscheiss had sailed the iseas oi the world for fifteen years, he found little difficulty in accurately enlarging these and making them suitable for our purpose. In any case we only required information for local use, as I knew that the first ship captured would afford us a supply of maps and charts sufficient for an extended cruise. Tapping the Wires. My men carefully tapped the telephone wires, and were detailed to listen closely to conversations between the island and district headquarters. By this method we were kept well acquainted with all new arrangements. Considering that we had in our party one of the smartest wireless experts in the Pacific the use oi the "metal workers" rendered it possible to make anything we required in the way of electric signalling equipment. Hun Foxiness. Some of the extra stores required by us, such as copper wire, fine canvas, needles, solder, etc., being a little out of the usual line, wo obtained in the following manner :— When it was necessary to obtain things from Auckland a requisition was made out and signed by the Commandant. Our man would make out the list, and leave a space under the last item, then take it to the Commandant for his signature. The Commandant would carefully examine it, then sign, and return it to our man, who would add any additions required. This took quite a long time, but, little by little, we got all we wanted. W 7 e made a novel use of our stale beer by utilising as a flux. A Sword Juggle. Our man also noticed that the Commandant's sword hung in the orderly room in a weterproof coyer, and as ho often had to wait before being attended to, we very soon thought out a plan for stealing it. Soon after our man had observed the sword he got into the habit ot <roin<i to the orderly room clad in an old macintosh, just to get them accustomed to his appearance, and then, on one of his visits, he took a piece of one-inch water pipe about three feet long, also an empty preserver meat tm. When an opportunity offered he slipped the sword out of its case, and hid it under his macintosh; tnen he put the piece of water-pipe m the sword case with the meat tin tor a handle, and carefully strapped the ca-;e up again, when, to all outward nnpearanee, everything was as before. He got away all right, and we "planted" the sword. A feu days later we saw the Commandant come out of the orderly ro'>m with his macintosh over his ar.u the sword (?) case in his hand, on his way to the launch, bound for the city. We often wondered what he said when he opened that sword case and found three feet of lead pipe and an empty meat tin. Guard Whistles, Patrols, and Perturbation. We now noticed that the guard was getting slacker every week, having abandoned the use of rifles and taken to carrying a small cane. It a prisoner objected to do as he was told the guard would threaten to blow his whistle. Early in November Aye noticed an unusual activity in connection with launch 'patrols. EveiJrr ni g ht , ou f men could hear the launches patrolling on all sides of the island, and we became very.much perturbed.owing to this sudden extra precaution.

We could only surmise that someone had betrayed us to the authorities, and we at once ceased all preparations for escape, excepting only our check on the telephone. A careful check was kept of the time when the launches 'would.','first appear. Our observation arid listening posts could carefully check these boats, as it was impossible for a launch to approach within half a mile of our part of the island without being heard. As these boats never carried lights, and the sea at this time was rough, we knew that they were not cruising for pleasure. We also noticed that the visits of .staff officers had become more frequent. "Pirate" Worries Pirate. At first there appeared to be about eight or ten launches passing and visiting the island between 9 p.m. and 4 a.m., but they gradually dwindled down to one, which, owing to the sound of its exhaust, we thought must be the proper patrol launch. This launch, by some queer chance, bore the name, '"Pirate N.Z.M.P." She frequently visited the island during the daytime, flying the New Zealand ensign. We made repeated attempts to discover if this launch carried a machine gun, but as it was commanded by r a dapper lieutenant and carried a cut-throat-looking sergt.major, we desisted. This launch was the worry of our lives for a time, but it, too, ceased its nightly visits. Taken altogether, these launches postponed i>ur to escape for a month, and this delay proved more serious than I ever dreamt of. Puhoi Possibilities. At this time the Commandant was away from the island for short periods, being relieved by other officers. Various reasons were given for his absence.

To be continued next week.)