THE NAVAL MISSION

Hokitika Guardian, 30 December 1918, Page 3

THE NAVAL MISSION

I PATICULARS OF JOURNEY. ; AUSTRALIAN & N.Z. CABLIS ASSOCIATION] (Received this day at 1.80 p.m.) , LONDON, Dec. 27. Admiral Browning's Naval Mission found (lie Germans had employed most of the interned British merchant ships on war duties. They required much alteration before they were refitted for their original purposes. Hamburg is a dead port. The Mission inspected the Cyclop, a submarine cruiser capable of lifting five hundred tons; also the Moewe which lias now reverted to a merchant ship. The destroyers that captured Captain Fryatt’s steamer, Brussels, carried two of the Brussel's lifebuoys as souvenirs. Conditions at Kiel were deplorable. Discipline was non-existent- The Mission in one case refused to proceed with the inspection until the crew quitted the ship. ' Admiral Browning refused to proceed with. the Workmen’s and Soldiers’ Council, though obviously they were in complete control of the situation. The German Commission at Kiel inchided Steinbrinck, the submarine comma is tier who claims to have sunk two hundred thousand tons of shipping. The British Mission were treated everywhere with marked respect, including the officials' of the Workmen’s and Soldiers' Council, who smoothed the way everywhere. Naval officers acted, with dignity, but a sense of humiliation was only too apparent, but the men appeared unashamed. The Mission closely examined all surface and submarine war ships, naval aircraft, and merchantmen.