ON THE SEAS.

Press, Volume LIV, Issue 16160, 14 March 1918, Page 7

ON THE SEAS.

THE WAIRUNA'S FATE. SUNK AT THE KERMADECS. NARROW ESCAPE Oi' THE NIAGARA. (By Cable.—Pre93 Association.— Copyright.) (Australian and N.Z. Cablo Association.) (Iteccived March 13th, 11.45 x>.m.) LONDON, March 12. Mr Thomas Roes (second officer) and B. Donovan (who was described in a a previous message as a New Zealand "jockey), members of tho Wairuna s crew, have reached London. They state that tho Wairuna was captured off the lvcrmcdecs, where the raider was close inshore re-fitting. A German baud was playing aboard the Wolf and one of the musicians sighted the approaching steamer. A seaplane flow over the and dropped a paper ordering the ship to stop. At the same time the Wolf fired a shot across her bows. A prize crow went aboard and took possession. Tho raider worked at tho Wairuna for 16 days, and romoved 1200 tons of coal and provisions, and 42 sheep. At this time the Wolf "was at starvation point in the matter of food and coal. The Germans twitted tho Wairuna's crew for not scuttlinjr tho vessel when its capture was inevitable. When the dismantling was completed bombs were placed in tho bow of the Wairuna, and sho was sunk. The Wolf nearly waylaid tho Niagara (tho Union S.S. Company's Pacific mail steamer) on two occasions, cruisers sending wireless messages which, warood her about the Wolf and the imminence of danger.

Sir Thomas Mackenzie provided for Rees and Donovan's wants. Tho Kermadec Islands are about 600 miles north-east of Auckland. The .principal island, Sunday, is 300 miles eastward of tho steam rout©, to Fiji> and 150 miles westward of the steam route from Auckland to Rarotonga. I>ETAILS OF THE MATUNGA'S FATE. (By Cable—Press Association.—Copyright.) (Australian and N.Z. Cable Association.) (Received March 13th r 8 p.m.) LONDON, March 12. Mrs Mackenzie, a stewardess on the Matuuga, has supplied a graphic story of hor experiences.

"T*Ke Matunga," she says, "was about 18 hours off Rabaul, on August 6th, when the Wolf came in sight. She had picked up the Matunga's wireless messages the previous night announcing our arrival. Evidently the 'Wolf was informed that we were taking 500 tons of coal, of which she was desperately in need. She waited for us for five days. Immediately the Wolf appeared she sent up a seaplane, -which circled over the Matunga to investigate whether we wore armed. She then came closer, hoisted the German ensign, and signalled us to stop. Tho chicf officer apparently mistook tho signal and went on, whereupon the Wolf fired a shot across our bow at 500 yards range. A prize crew from the Wolf, with a bombing officer, immediately followed. They were all fully armed, and carried a large number of bombe. Boats from the Wolf took off the Matunga's captain and officers, also the military officers and soldiers and three male civilians.

"We then sailed to Dutch New Guinea, where wo discharged our coal. The Wolf shipped the coal, and all our provisions, and transferred the stewards, sailors, and others, who had been left on the Matunga, aboard tho Wolf. We proceeded seaward for ten miles, on August 27th, when the Matunga was sunk by means of time bpmbs. Every precaution was taken to prevent refloating the wreck, and the steamer disappeared within half an hour.

"The subsequent course of the "Wolf I can only surmise. I presume that we wont acrcss the Indian Ocean. Once we were off Colombo, and later were near Singapore, and Borneo. "The Wolf sowed mines nightly. We heard the rattle of the sounding lines; then the mines were carefully lowered." Details follow relating to the capture of the Hitachi Maru, and the other vessels already mentioned in the cables. "The Wolf was now making for the Trinidad Islands," Mrs Mackenzie continued, "but she picked up a wireless message stating that a Chilian warship had arrived thero, and she thereupon altered her course to the opposite directon. After shipping coal from the Igotz Mendi, she headed for Germany. "In the mid-Atlantic two armed ships, apparently American transports, suddenly hove out of the mist and passed close to the Wolf, and the Igotz Mendi, causing great consternation aboard, but they proceedod without signalling." Stormy weather prevailed during the latter part of the voyage, and Mrs Mackenzie was ill for three weeks, and does not know what happened till the

Igotz Mendi stranded, but she understood that they slipped down the Norwegian coast without meeting any British warships. TO COMBAT THE U-BOATS. (Reutcr's Telegrams.) (Received March 13th, 8.20 p.m.) PARIS, March 12. The Government has placed a contract for tho construction of a large number of vessels which experiments "have shown can be torpedoed threo times without sinking.