THE STORY OF THE WOLF

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 254, 22 July 1919, Page 5

THE STORY OF THE WOLF

NOTES ON THE PRISONERS'

DIFFERENT TYPES DISCUSSED

HOME AFTER 451 DAYS

l"A Kow Zealand soldier, who foil Into the liandß of the Germans and waa dotained in Germany as a pris- ' oner of war. brought back to' New Zealand a oopy of a book which is re- ■ ported to havs had a great war-time oale. io Germany. This book contains the complete story of tho sensational voyage of the sea raider Wolf, as told by her commander, Captain Nerger. It was the Wolf which laid the mines off the ooasts of New Zealand and Australia, and which captured ■ and sank tho Union Steam Ship Company's steamer Wairuna .and. other vessels, trading in these waters. We have had a number of tho chapters of tho book translated with a view to piaoing before our readers this first-hapd ytory of the mysterious and elusive raider's exploits.! . ... .-• . IV. OUR PRISONERS. The Wolf;, was.inow in urgent need of :oal after twelvo months at 6ea, and we horied to find coal .in the direction of Durban. *One morning at dawn we Bicrhted a large vessel which turned out to be a neutral, the Spanish ship Igotz Mendi:- Wo could tell at once that she parried coal, and soon had a prize crew on board. We left the neutral'crew to continue their duties, as we had done in the case of the Chinese on the.Turritella. '

The Igotz Mendi gave us another instance of British pressure upon neutrals; She was in ballast front Spain, intending to ship iute in Calcutta for Spain. The English had no objection to that. They were always ready to help neutrals in everv wav. There was only one trifling formality to bo performed first. Would the laotz Mendi obligo by going to Delagoa Bav in ballast/ .and picking up a cargo of coal for the English Government. and delivering it at Colombo? If that could not be done tho English Government would bo obliged to put obstacles in tho way of her loading jute, and so on. Plainly put, the poor devil of a captain had 110 choice, jute being urgently required in Spain. 110 was not paid for the voyage in ballast to Delagoa Bay, and for the coal ho. got 405.-per ton. freights at that time running from .620 to .£35 por ton.. The Igotz Mendi had 7000 tons aboard. We were only sorry we had not met her before lack of coal compelled us to sink tlid Hitachi Maru. It was a bit of luck for all that, because we had a fire in the roal bunkers, while our stock was very low. If tho fire had broken out after we had filled up with tho Igotz Mendi's coal it would have been a great disaster. I must explain that the .temperature in tho coal bunkers is taken twice a day bv means of a thermometer introduced into a lons metal tube. One man was on this iob almost all day. Hitherto the. temperature had only risen graduallv. and to a very small extent. 0n the dav in nuestion (November 9, I think) it suddenly rose to 4 or' 5 degrees (centrierade). Soon thero was a smell of gas and a slight escape of smoke: The supplies being low. there was no difficulty in reaching the seat of the mischief, but it.' would have been most unpleasant if the bunkers had been full. The fire was not long before we reached our .original anchorage with the Igotz Mendi. and wo started coaling at once. After threo days we had filled every bunker 011 the Wolf. ■ We decided to keep the. Spaniard with us, and to shift the women and children on to her. We constructed cabins for them, put in electric light and fans, and 6ent over carnets. mirrors, and similar luxuries, which we had got from other ships. As usual, we obeved the international regulations about the humane treatment of prisoners in strong contrast to flip conduct of the English, who, for instance, treated .the women and children, deported from tlie Oamei'oons. in a very different Way. The number of prisoners had increased so much that, to accommodate them, to feed and look after them, and to. provide for our own safety was a big problem. There were about MO of them, belonging to twenty-two different races. Some were interesting types. For instance, Captain Sleadows, of the Turritella, who had been longest on board. He brought with him nine of his crew and was soon at home. Two of his crew I have already mentioned as attempting to escape off Sundav Island. Meadows was a stout, jolly fellow from Auckland, in. New Zealand. There was only one thing for him: "Old England." He had no appreciation for the merits of other nationalities, and 110 idea of seeing things from their point of view. Everything good and beautiful in the 'world was British, and everything else was . His conversation was often very humorous and wittv. I will give rou a specimen conversation. Meadow, (very sariotis and solemnly): ."Good morning, flying-master!"

Flying-nunier: "Good morning, captain!"

Meadows: "Flying-master, do • you know I've been on board a year to-day? A whole year sailing on a. German nian-o'-war."

Flying-master: "Glad to hear it, captain, you shall have something extra, special in honour of flip occasion."

Meadows: "Well, flying-master. I have n request to make. Please speak'to the captain. Mind you,. I want you to put my request to him and mind you see it comes off."

Flying-mnster: "Eight 'you 'are, Captain Meadows, what am I to say?"

Meadows: "Tell him -I have been a year on the Wolf. I have been through everything- with you, and now I want the Iron Cross! I would like the firstclass. If'he can't manage that, I'll take the second-class."

His face was ; so solomn that it was hard to say whether he was joking or ■not.

.When we were on the way home, one of my officers saw him carrying a trouser leg, iied together ton. and bottom, into which lie had packed his belongings. He did not want to be a beggar, when presently he would have to swim for his life. We told him he would not have to swim. In a few wpeks ho. would be enjoying tennis or football -at Kuhleben and renting from the exertions of'the He shrm'ged his shoulders and raid in a superior way that that was all very well, the Wolf had had incredible luck so far. but now , we .were coming tf> the English block- | ade and: he would have to swim for it' right enough.- lie even wanted to hot on it, a'.fit against a pair of shoes. He though*-, the ,Wolf was much , too slow to reach Germany. When wo were actually in port without, his having seen anv English vessel. 110 waa terribly upset. He seemed quite lost and could onlv nod his head and say: "All 'lies', all lies what they told us, the big Fleet: and the great victories all "bluff and humbug." Wo thought it best to leave him-alone in his dreadful disappointment'. In port he asked for a civilian cap, he had had enough of English uniform. Tho .lumna next supplied us with prisoners. .'. Captain William Shaw Wick-' inan was a quiet,, reserved man, who brought a library on board, and was always reading.. . . In his crew of twentynine there were two men remarkably contrasted. Selver, a Portuguese negro firemail. was tho neatest and tidiest of men with the whitest of linen, n handy man, and always making himself' useful. Alnin. the cook, was a Scotch man, ami flu! dirtiest, creature I ever came cross. 11 is own comrades would not share a cabin with him. But, he was so cheery and good-natured that I found it quite difficult to inflict compulsory baths. Tho Wordsworth brought us twenty men. Irish. Scotch, English, and one •Tananese. Cuulaiu John William Shields took tho sinking of his ship as a personal insult. But he cheered up moru and more with every olher ship that went down, and watched them being sunk with obvious delight. A grand old fellow was John B. Hugg, cantiiin of the Bee. Ho was wonderfully cheerful, careful of his negro crew, and. though ho often made requests for them, never wanted anything for himffllf. The Wairnna gave us Captain Harold sntinders. an Englishman, and a crow of thirty-eight. , The Winslow. Captain E. W. Trudget and thirteen men; the Beluga, Captain

and Mrs. Cameron and little Anita with thirteen men, all Americans; thb Encore. Captain Olaen an old man, and eleven Americans. The stewnrd was an umusintr character, who spun impossible yarns whenever there was a prospect of a drink. The Matunga had on hoard Captain Uonaldsen. Mr. Strangman, Governor of German! New Guinea, Staff-Surgeon and Mrs. Flood, three English captains, nine soldiers. and another officer, and the famous "Mary Stuartess." There was much less room after we fnok tho Hitachi Maru, Captain Sominaga. a crew of over a hundred, and iiftv-seveh passengers. Some were queer customers. I noticed some youths in kimonos, -under which they wore pink-fiilk-liiml petticoats, silk stockings, and nn ten! '"utlier shoes with bows. They were ;ix Englishmen who had been onipk.. .i in tho colonies. There were three English women, a Japanese stewardess a negro woman and baby from Mauritius, and a Chinese woman. A curious ease was that of a young Englishman. who had sailed from Europe on a shin that was sunk by a U-boat, hud been on the Mongolia when she ran into one of our mines, and finally , had been captured by tho Wolf on his return vovaee. , We called one prisoner "King Edward." owing to a remarkable likeness. He said he couldn't livo without whisky, and Tcallv did fall ill. Being Huns, we allowed him three small glasses a day, and he soon recovered. The prisoners had plenty of food, and lived exactly as wo did. Of courso there was at times a shortage of fresh provisions. Once the crow voluntarily surrendered their share of a few sacks of captured potatoes for the benefit of the nick prisoners. At first we allowed the Japanese to cook for themselves, but tliev soon developed scurvy and sleeping sickness. and we put them on' the general diet.

]n fact, we paid the greatest, attention tn health. Our two doctors were always busy, with prophylactic measures. The men were vaccinated for smallpoi, treated with qtunine against malaria, and ffiven citric acid against" scurvy. The Hitachi Maru had a case of typhoid, and eyervone was inoculated for that. After crossing the Equator the men were dailv hosed with cold water, to prepare tiiem for the cold of the high latitudes. On the whole, the relations among the prisoners themselves were excellent. There was only one exception. The English and Australians cot on badly with the Japanese. We observed many instances of the hitter feeling between these so-called allies. • WATER IN THE HOLD. It was now time to make for home. Tho Wolf and the Igotz Mendi sailed apart, only meeting occasionally to coal the Wolf. We met with nothing on the trade routes from Australia to Europe via Durban, and continued round South Africa. After leaving the Cape we sighted a barque running east, an unusual course in her position. She was the American sailer, John H. Kirby, Captain A. F. Blom, of Abo,' in Finland, an American citizen, and a crew of eighteen. The prize officer reported a large quantity of provisions, soap, . toilet articles, and 270 motor-cars. Her destination was Port' Elizabeth and Port Natal, Her unusual course was accounted for by an injury to the only chronometer on board. 'During the whole voyage she had had to rely 011 an ordinary watch. ' ' From wireless messages and other source we hau heard in tho usual bombastic language, that tho English Government was going to do great tliingi in East Africa. The 270 motor-cars were to play a part in the final struggle. Unfortunately they were stowed above tiie provisions, anil owing to tho unfavourable weather we could not get out much of the provisions, and the mptorcars were sunk off the Agulhas Bans. VVe held on through ,the South Atlantic towards the. American coast, and a fortnight later sighted a large sailing ship, a Frenchman, the Marechal Davout, Captain Louis Bret, from Australia with vow for Daccar. He made no attempt to use his two .9-centimetre quick-firers 1 or lua wireless. The latter, because thft operator was only seventeen, and didn't know 'liow. , 011 the whole voyage they RSd not received a single wireless message. She carried six French marine artillerymen, also fresh provisions, and sume barrels of wine. On December 2(J" we met the Igotz Meudt east of Trinidad. Wo proposed to anchor off Trinidad to coal, overhaul our engines, provision tho Igotz Mendi, ana clean her boilers. Here v.e had a great brt of luck. U'e thought Trmklad uninhabited, but we picked up a wireless just in time from thu new Chief of Stait of the Brazilian .Navy "to tho Military Commandant of Trinidad." so -Trinidad had a garrison, a wireless station, possibly an enemy ship, on the watch.' So wft turned south and prepared to coal and repair at sea. But the swell was very bad. We tried to coal with the boats, and found it very unsatisfactory. So we went alongside. But the Igotz Mendi rollut badly, and both snips were rather hndly damaged. In spite of everything we gui 550 tons of coal transhipped in twenty-four hours, a performance such as only men like my creiv could have accomplished. Hit prize crew of the lgota alcndi also did wwiders. On the voyage they hud built then selves a hydraulic press, put .111 about a thuusaii'l rivets, made new pumps for the refrigerators, and put 111 steam-heating into cite prisoners quarters with materials lrum tho Hitachi On January i we sighted a sailing ship running west under neutral colours, and witl* the Scandinavian name, "btoro Brorc" (Big Brother). Besides, she. was m ballast. Still, we wanted to know more about her, so we ran up the British merchant (fag and inquired. She answered much as we 1 expected: "The Norwegian barque Storo Brore, from Beira for Monte 'video, in ballast.' nothing aoin°. We let the "Big Brother go, and wished htm luck. A few ,hours later, when the tips of her masts were barely visible Irom our masthead, we made an interesting discovery in a Lloyd's Register. The St'oi'o Brore was an English ship transferred to the Norwegian Register during the war, just a trick to take ill the stupid Germans. Hound we went and had caught her up before dark. His papers proved that we wore right. I tout the prize ofiicer to make my apolorjes to the captain for wishing him luck and afterwards taking liini prisoner and sinking his ship. We met the-Igots Mendi near the Enuator, and coaled again under similar conditions. The swell was heavy, and more damage \Vas done. Here I received wireless information, of the extension of a German blockade area. I steered north outside it. ■ On the whole we could not complain Of Hie weather hitherto, but from about 30 degrees north onwards, it became abominable. We had a fortnight of hurricane, and when it broke at last our pumps refused to work.. The leaks we bad sot when lying alongside the Igotz Mendi let the water in at tho rate of forty tons an hour. The water rose high in'tiie hold, and now the pumps refused to work-. The men worked heroically, up to their waists in ice-cold water, and streaming with sweat. They had to beoin by building a dam with coal baskets, to block the'floating cargo, and then went at the stoppages, in tho bilge with pick mid'spade, until the pumps worked again and tho worst of the danger was over. HOME. We did not get another hurricane, but the weather 011 our northward trip was persistently unfavourable, and wo felt the cold. ] doubled and trebled the look-out. But on the whole voyage through the North .Atlantic, where, formerly, one would have seen a. ship pretty well every hour, we only sighted three ships altogether. We .took tliat to mean that (tir U-boats had done some damago, ill spite of official denials. We saw why tho Wainnia was crammed with provisions. Ylie English blockade was to bring Germany to her knees by starvation. And now Ihey were hungry,' and we looked out in vain for British men-o'-war. Wo met the Igotz Mendi once more before reaching Icelandic waters. She "as i:ow high out of tho water and rolled mercilessly. Tho captain reported that be had met two largo auxiliary cruisers in thick weather,' apparently accompanied by a destroyer. But tho destroyer was only painted on tho hull. No wonder tho ever-changing Lords of tho Admiralty could announce with pride an enormous increase in tho number of patrol 'bonts and destroyers. The figures no longer astonished me. They'did not fcak9 us in, and can only have been intonded to deceive the British population at home.

On tho Igotz Mendi everything was ready to blow her up in case the was stopped. The Spanish first officer, who bad always pretended to bo pro-German, now thought he would secure a good reception for himself on «n English ship by throwing the explosive bombs overboard. He foolishly told some of the other prisoners. Afterwards he wrote mo a humble apology for bis precipitato action, "but I gave him several days' arrest for all that. We had fitted up hc-ating apparatus on the Wolf, and were well provided with warm clothing, but tho Igotz Mendi was not sot well off. The women prisoners had willingly mnde under-clothing for prisoners and crew, but rot enough. As tho Igotz Mendi carried the old and very young prisoners, we "Huns'' sent over all spare woollen materials f:om tho "Wolf. 'Men and officers ransacked I heir chests, and many of them slave more than they could really spare. The prize officer cleared out a coal bunker over ione of the boilers to nuiko a warm room for passengers and crew. Further north we went and it grew colder and colder. As wo drew near home, though we hml no foni: of being caught in tho blockade, we naturally fell: nervously excited. The prisoners, of course, felt sure the blockade would stop us. They had-all learnt to feel at homo on board, with one exception, the Japanese captain, Tominagn. He had never got liver tho twenty lives lost through his obstinacy, and was permanently mel-' ancholy. Particularly after we took the Mareshal Davout, which carried two quick-firers, and he asked the French captain why he had not used them. Captain Bret replied with a. shrug of the shoulders, that it would have been murder. His guns wore meant for U-boats. That seemed to finish Tominaga, and One day he disappeared. , Knowing the determined character of the man we made a search of the ship, in case lie had concealed himself with the intention of blowing up the Wolf. But he must have ended his troubles by jumping overboard. We afterwards found a letter and a will in favour of his crew.

At last we wore in the North Sea, and welcomed its rough reception. And then came a heavy trial. So near home we had to wait several days for the Igotz Mendi. A few hours later a grey shin hove in sight. It was the German blockade line. We signalled: "S.M.S. AVolf, Captain Nerger." Cautiously tho outpost "ship circled round under our stern to have a good look at us. Gently q. voice reached us with the wind: "You vagabonds!" Loud laughter and cheers' were the answer. We were home after 451 days and a voyago of G4,000 knots. There had been a good deal of anxiety about the Wolf at home, and quite recently the authorities bad warned relatives of the probable loss of the ship. We on .board had never lost confidence that we would get safo home.