GUN-RUNNING.

Hokitika Guardian, 18 May 1920, Page 3

GUN-RUNNING.

STIRRING DAYS IN IRISH SEA. RIFLES FOR STNN FEINERS. j When tlie Sinn Feiners surprised the world in tlie famous Easter week rebellion in 1916, Commander Simpson, now | in charge of H.AI.A.S. flotilla leader' Aiizne, was on the sloop Jessamine, off 1 the South Coast of Ireland. He was on '• wnr duty in .search of .“mystery” ships. One nigli£ shortly after the first shot wns fired in tlie streets of Dublin in the' cause of the Sinn Fein Republic, I ho received a wireless message to look out for the Norwegian ship And, “due 1 in a. day or two in Irisn raters” '(states ' : the Sydney “Daily Telegraph”). ! I All that night and through the next 1 clay Commander Simpson kept a iook- ! out but nothing suspicious was seen. As dusk was falling on the eve of Good Friday, however, he sighted a ship ' making for tlie mouth of the Shannon. And signalling lie warned her to stop. The stranger slowed down and waited. When the Jessamine ranged alongside they saw that , the name of the stranger was “And,”- and German officers and a German crew were on board. Commander Simpson had the steamer, which was flying the Norwegian flag, searched in tlie darkness, hut could find nothing contraband. As, however, his instructions wore to detain the vessel and take it to port, ' he manned the steamer with English officers and crew ,and ordered it to . Queenstown. The next day, after the Germans had left the ship, the Aud blew up. A diver was sent down, and he fouiuj large numbers of rifles which, tlie Germans had captured from the Russians in their great drive against 1 the Slavs' some months previously. Further investigation revealed that the Aud was in reality the British steamer • Maud, which was captured by tlie Germans, and was being used in tlie carriage of rifles to me Sinn Feiners. < The rebellion was crushed, aind a naval officer at Queenstown received as ‘ a souvenir of tlie capture of ( tlie Aud one of the Russian rifles destined for the. Sinn Feiners. The two years and a half Commander Simpson was active in Irish seas, one 1 year of which was spent in charge of * a mystery ship, the Cullist, whose principal duty was to decoy submarines. ! Splendid work was done •in this'capo- I city, and on three occasions the Cullist ' destroyed German submarines. . < Tlie Cullist was a tramp steamer, and 1 when an enemy submarine signalled her j ,to stop Commander Simpson’s reply j would be; “Come closer, I do not I understand.” ' 'j - When the submarine came "loser the j Cullist’s two four-inch guns and two j 12-pounders banged, and it was a case 1 * of good-bye, Miss Submarine. j It was interesting work to one of i Commander Simpson’s adventurous na- j ture, but there came a. day when the i tables were turned,, and the Cullist went to the bottom. It was on February 11, 1918, that the Cullist was tramping along looking for familiar signs. Somewhere before noon a cry that sent a shiver along the spines of most who heard-, rang through the ship. It was the look-out’s warning: “Torpedo to starboard!” Those, within hearing only had tune to look and see the weapon of death travelling to the heart of the old Cullist. Then came the impact, and' the explosion, and the old tramp fell to pieces and a “great company” w.-.s scattered. Death touched some swiftly, hut others fell with dreadful wounds into cold waters, there to drown. Commander Simpson was amidships, and he was thrown through tlie air into the sea. When ho rose to the surface of the sea- the Cullist. was gone and all around was the wreckage of his last home. ' With 44 others 1m clambered on to a raft, and in the bitter cold the 45 shivered there for six hours. A trawler came in sight, but to the skipper of this the raft appeared a submarine, so for minutes they were in peril of being shot to death. So they sang ‘‘Tipperary”' and those on hoard the trawler, recognising this, quickly had them aboard, and no place seemed so welcome to those 45 men—all left of the crew of 77 of the old Cullist. Commander Simpson was badly wounded ,in the shoulder in this affair, and for many weeks he lay in hospital. When he left to take charge of minesweeping on the sotitli coast of England he found himself honoured with the D.S.O. And after the armistice went mine-sweeping in Holland, \fter that ho received appointment as commander of tlie Anzac, destroyer leader which arrived in gydnoy waters at tlie liend of tlie gift destroyers presented by the English Admiralty. fr .