PRIZE STEAMERS UNDER THE HAMMER

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2398, 2 March 1915, Page 7

PRIZE STEAMERS UNDER THE HAMMER

HIGH PRICES REALISED High prices, amounting altogether to £130,725, were recently for the five German prize steamers sold by auction at the Baltic, but the feeling among owners is that if the present; shipping "boom"' continues for any length of time the buyers will reap handsome profits. Undoubtedly orio of the most popular features of the sale is that the prooeeds will go to swell the Poundage Fund to Be distributed among the. men of the Fleet. About a thousand representatives of British shipping interests were present. Some had come to bid: many more had come to watch, realising that the occasion was historic. Hie Merchants' Hall had been enlarged for the occasion, yet it was not large .enough to accommodate comfortably all those who wanted to be present. Before the pro.oeedings began there was "stanaing room only," and. while the auctioneer, Mr. Kellock, was reading the ponderous conditions of sale a'seething mass of City men was struggling to pass through the wide-open doors and get within earshot.

The reading of the 11 Conditions took some time, for the comprehensive phrases,,were designed to cover -various contingencies. The essence was in No. IX, which stipulates that the buyer "must not be an enemy or a foreigner or foreign corporation or corporation under foreign control; and neither the vessel nor any share or interest therein can be purchased on behalf, of, in trust for, for the benefit of, or so as in any way to be under the control of an enemy or a foreigner, foreign corporation, or corporation under foreign control, and the buyer, or if the buyer is a corporation, some principal officer of such corporation shall, before completion, make and deliver to the Admiralty Marshal a-statutory declaration giving effect to this stipulation." Lively Bidding. These preliminaries out of the way the auctioneer quickly started bidding for the steel single-deck steamer TJUa Boog, of 1698 tons gross, built at Rostock in 1908 by the Ait. Ges. Neptun. The first offer was £14,000, and . by gradations of first £100, then £50, and finally £25, the steamer was knocked down to Messrs. Baird, of West Hartlepool, for £23,150. Applause followed the sale. Then the chronometer, for which bidding started at £5, was sold for £13. The second steamer, the Marie Glaeser, was also bought by Messrs. Baird after spirited bidding. The vessel is of 1317 tons, built at Rostock in 1905 by the Akt. Ges. Neptun. She is thus rather Smaller and older than the Ulla Boog, and she was (bought for £18,225. For her chronometer £14 10s. was_paid. Then came the turn of the Iranz Horn, a' steel single-deck steamer of 1314 tons, built by the same company as the previous ships, but longer ago— in 1898.. Bidding started at £8000, and for £11,600 she was bought by Messrs. F. Jones and Co., of Cardiff. The chronometer fetched £12 10s. The Nauta, a single-deck steamer of 1137 tons, built at Tonning in 1903 by Sohomer and Jensen, was acquired by Messrs. Robertson, Cooper and Co., of Brierley BLill, for £12,550 The chronometer "went with ship" for £13. Finally the Schlesien, late of the Nord-deutschcr-Lloyd, was offered. She was described as the piece-de-resistance, and [the assembled company, who, like the auctioneer, were now: in high good humour, were told that th&y might sing the "Marseillaise." The liner is fitted with submarine signalling, but this, it was pointed out, must be bought separately, and a lease from the Crown wjll be necessary. The first bid was £20,000, and'step by step the price rose until for £65,200 she was bought by Messrs. W. Thomas and Co., of Liverpool. The vessel is-of 5536 tons gross, and was built under Lloyd's special survey at Flensberg in 1907 by the Flensburger Schiffsban Ges. There are still some 1500 tons of zinc ore lying in the vessel, which are to be discharged at the earliest opportunity, bad weather having hitherto prevented the operation. Two chronometers belonging to the ship were sold for £20 each. • • •• , The proceedings closed with .three cheers for the Royal Navy, which captured the slips, and with the singing of the National Antheip.