NORTH SEA RAID

Evening Post, Volume CXXVI, Issue 135, 5 December 1938, Page 8

NORTH SEA RAID

UPON A SPANISH SHIP

SINKING OF THE CANTABRIA

SURVIVORS' TALES

Further details of the sinking of the J 5649-ton Spanish Government steamer Cantabria by the Spanish nationalist ship Nadir off Cromer on Wednesday were given to a representative ofj "The Daily Telegraph and Morning Post" last night by Captain Manuel Arguelles, master of the Cantabria, said the "Daily Telegraph and Morning Post" on November 4. Captain Arguelles, with his wife and two children, Gona, aged eight, and Ramon, aged six, and a steward, was rescued by the Cromer lifeboat. They arrived in London last night with eleven other members of the crew, who had been landed at Yarmouth by the British steamer Pattersonian. "The Nadir flew no flag until she was almost up to us," said Captain Arguelles. "Then the Franco flag was run up from her mainmast and she opened fire. "Reports that the Nadir was a sort of 'Q' ship are entirely false. She approached us from the south, that is from behind, as we were sailing up the English coast towards Immingham. On board, not camouflaged in any way, were three guns. "Two heavy guns were forward under the poop and the other, smaller, was right aft. "High on the superstructure, forward of the funnel, were machineguns. REPEATED SOS CALLS. "We could do nothing. The Nadir was faster than the Cantabria, and when I tried to steer for British territorial waters her captain placed her inside us and so cut us off. "There was nothing to do then but wait for the end. The Nadir was only 50 yards or co from us and we were doomed. "While the Nadir was attacking us we sent out repeated SOS calls. Various ships were in our immediate neighbourhood, and some passed us almost as close on one quarter as the Nadir was on the other. None offered to help us. "Our crew was loyal to a man. But each one of us was faced with the alternative of surrendering or of going down with the rapidly sinking Cantabria. In despair many of our men manned the lifeboats and rowed over to the Nadir. "It was difficult to do anything else. The Nadir threatened to sink any boat which rowed away from her and the ships in the neighbourhood showed no sign of encouragement. "One of our boats, with 11 men on board, did get away. The men rowed as if tired and unable to make progress towards the Nadir. Then suddenly, when they had drifted away, they made a dash for the British ship Pattersonian, which took them quickly on board. "For my part 1 chose for my family the fate of going down with the ship rather than that of being captured and, I have no doubt, killed. "Then, when we were ready to drown and the ship was near foundering, the Cromer lifeboat approached. It was getting dark, and we flashed a torch. The lifeboat saved us and the steward who was with us." ONE MAN WCUNDED. Captain Arguelles said he believed only one member of the crew ' was wounded in tfcc shelling—one of the 29 who went on board the Nadir. These included the radio operator, Eduardo Collado, his wife, and two children, aged four and six, and the head cook, his wife and three-months-old baby. Shortly before Captain Arguelles and the rescued members of his crew arrived in London by train, the 315-ton Tyneside steamer Pattersonian, which landed the eleven seamen at Yarmouth, reached Deptford Creek, London. The captain of the Pattersonian, J. Blackmore, described how his ship went under the guns of the Nadir and picked up the men. The ships were about 300 yards apart, and as the after part of the Cantabria was hidden in steam it was thought she had broken down, although she was not flying the broken down signal. "A boat left her," said the captain, "and went to the Nadir and I thought a tow rope was being passed. Then I saw men on the Cantabria frantically waving white sheets and shouting. "It made me think that I had better go, in case they i had a badly-injured man to be taken ashore. I signalled both ships, but got no reply, so I approached in a circle. As I passed the stern of the Nadir she suddenly revfcrsed towards me. "I had to reverse quickly to avoid a collision. I feel sure that the Nadir had been attempting to head me off from a boatload of escaping sailors, but she failed. I went on, and the boat, which had eleven men in it, hurried towards us. "We threw out a line, which one man grabbed. All the eleven men threw themselves en. to the deck as their boat drifted away. They were terribly excited and threw their arms round the necks of my men. "One man, who spoke a little English, declared that they were attacked by a Fascist ship and that one shell had penetrated the engine-room and smashed the condenser, so that the vessel was enveloped in steam." MYSTERY OF RAIDER. The Nadir had evidently been acquired only recently by the Spanish Nationalist authorities, for she bears no resemblance to any known vessel of the Nationalist or Government fleets, wrote the naval correspondent of the "Daily Telegraph and Morning Post." It has been suggested that she may be one of the Jupiter class of mine-layers launched at Ferrol in 1935. These ships are of 2000 tons displacement, with a speed of 18J knots, and were to be armed with four 4.7 inch and several smaller guns. They ar% however, flush-decked, whereas the Nadir apparently has a raised forecastle and carries much more top hamper than the Jupiter type. It is a moot point whether the Nadir was entitled to molest the Spanish Government ship on the high seas, in view of the fact that belligerent rights have not yet been granted to either side in the conflict. In unofficial circles, however, the view is held that the Nationalist raider did not necessarily commit a breach of international law, as the vessel attacked was admittedly under the control of the Spanish Government.