HUN ADMIRAL'S SECRETS

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 250, 16 July 1919, Page 3

HUN ADMIRAL'S SECRETS

REVEALED BY HIS WIDOW SHIPS UNFIT IN 1914 (By F. Sefton Delmer, in tho "Daily Mail.") Just before I left Berlin it was revealed to mo that shortly after war broke out tho German naval authorities suddenly discovered that certain portions of tho High Seas Fleet were incapnblo of fulfilling the task expected of them. With the greatest secrecy, and with fear in their hearts lest the secret should any day leak out, they carried out the necessary reconstruction. Tho fncts were stated to me in conversation with Frau von Pohl, the widow of tho Chief of the Admiralty Stall', who carried out tho reconstruction,- and who, according to Fran von I'ohl's account, killed himself with overwork in doing so. At tho time von Pohl's death was shrouded in mystery, and thero wero even suggestions of suicide. "I havo recently, with the proioundest interest, boen reading Admiral Jellicoe's admissions about the conditions prevailing in the British Fleet before the Battle of Jutland," said Frau von Pohl, a smart, bright-eyed, intelligent little woman of some 42 years, and an intimate friends of the ex-German Crown Princess. "Tho strange parallel between Germany and Britain struck me as almost comical, and as there is no harm in talking about these things now that the Britisli have begun to discuss their own failings so openly, I should like to tell you tho story. Poor Cruiser Guns, "In the first month of the war we suddenly found out two vital faults in our Fleet. Our destroyers and cruisers were as good as useless. Our destroyers could not possibly run to England and back at full speed. The fuel system with which they were provided was obsolete and defective. It was found that they exhausted tho coal, the only fuel which they could burn, on the outward journey alone. They therefore had to bo refitted to burn oil fuel, a laborious undertaking. It was furthermore discovered that the guns of, our cruisers wero of no avail against British ships of the same class, being of too short a range. When these discoveries wero made the Emperor summoned my husband and commissioned him with the important task of reconstruction.. "Admiral von Tirpitz, to whoso unbelievable short-sightedness tJieso deficiencies wore due, at oneo fell into disgrace, but ho was continued in office for 6omo considerable time lest tho enemy should suspect from his fall that something serious was the matter and Attack before the necessary reconstruction was carried out. , "The German Navy in those days, as my husband often explained to me, lived in a constant fever of trepidation. "Why do'the English not attack?' 'Will the English attack to-morrow?' wero tho questions wo asked ourselves hourly. We felt like crabs in the process of changing their shells. The greatest secrecy was observed in all our dockyards, and apparently our secret never oozed out." I said to Frau von Pohl that it seemed to me incredible that Tirpitz and his staff of experts could' have made such mistakes. "It is not incredible," she said, "when ono remembers tho egoism of Tirpitz, his self-confidence, his domination of the Emperor and the public through Us special Press, and his own ness in wishing, to speed up trfe' eon 7 fltruction of his fleet for more show purposes, so that he might bluff his enemies, stupid man, by the mere prestige of numbers and appearances. If any man deserves hanging it is Tirpitz. Kaiser Learns the Truth. "All tho alterations were complete two months before the Battle of Jutland, and my husband hsd even then drawn up the pian, which he showed m e and which I still have at home, afterwards followed by lus successor in the Battle of Jutland." • Frau von Pohl, despite my reference to admitted British losses at Jutland, was reluctant to be drawn to talk about what the Germans had suffered in that figlfti She went oi> to lament the gang which had surrounded tho weak-minded Kaiser and isolated him from all sound criticism and sober warning. She related how William II had remained in his illusions as to the real state of tho war, up to the very last minute. It was not until November 6 that any of his Ministers dared to reveal to him the fatal state of his armies and his throne. "A few days ago," said Frau von Pohl, "my friend, Frau Drews, tho wife of tho former Minister of the Interior, told mo that her Husband had taken upon himself tho unpleasant duty on November 8 of opening His Majesty's eyes to the truth. The Emperor listened first with amazement, then with incredulity, and ultimately in a passion of rage, calling Dr. Drews a madman and an arrogant fool, and drove him in fury from tho presence."