THE GRAF SPEE

Waikato Times, Volume 127, Issue 21156, 4 July 1940, Page 12

THE GRAF SPEE

MANY SHELLS IN MAGAZINE The dismantling of the Admiral Graf Spee, scuttled German pocketbattleship, has begun under the closest possible secrecy and is proceeding under great difficulty, telegraphs John D. White from Montevideo to the New York Times. The wreckage has broken into two parts that are steadily sinking into the soft mud of the mouth of the River Plate. When the wind blows from the sea the wreck is completely under water. The men directing the work do not belong to the firm that purchased the wreck, but are British naval experts. This has renewed rumours that the wreck was purchased for British interests and that the local buyer was merely a figurehead. (The wreck of the Admiral Graf Spee was sold in February to Julio Vega Helguera, a Montevideo junk dealer). The workmen were hired only after they promised not to divulge anything they see or do. Most of them are trusted labourers of the firm that bought the wreck. Two divers were hired, one from Buenos Aires, Argentina. They have entered the forward magazine, which did not explode when the ship was scuttled on December 17. They reported that a large quantity of shells remained. The work is proceeding with great caution to avoid an explosion of the magazine. Efforts to salvage the range finder from the fighting tower were frustrated by a recent storm which caused the tower to topple into th« water when it was about to be lifted off by a floating crane. Analysis of the deck plates showed they were made of an alloy of steel with some other metal that has not been identified. The Diesel motors were protected by rustproof plates that also were used in other parts of the warship. The divers found in the bow a hidden anti-aircraft gun with a mechanism that could uncover it and put it in operation with great speed.