ENEMY SHIPS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23916, 18 September 1939, Page 8

ENEMY SHIPS

CHANGE OF OWNERSHIP AMPLE PRECEDENT FOR CAPTURE There are ample precedents for nonrecognition by Britain of change of ownership and registry of enemy ships to avoid capture. In 1915, Germany was greatly hampered in respect of imports of American cotton, and with a view to overcoming the tonnage difficulty a project for the acquisition by American interests of the numerous German steamers laid up in United States ports was started. One ship, the Hamburg - America Line steamer Dacia, was actually purchased by a Mr Breitung, an American citizen of German extraction, and transferred to the United Stales registry. After loading a cargo of cotton at Galvestton, the Dacia proceeded to Norfolk on January 31, 1916, to bunker in preparation for a voyage to Rotterdam. The British Government refused to recognise the transfer of registry and gave notice that if the Dacia should be encountered by a British cruiser she would be seized and the validity of the transaction tested in the Prize Court. In these circumstances the American State Insurance Department refused to accept risks on the voyage, and pending the decision of a test case, no further transfers were attempted. It is to be noted, however, that the British Foreign Office had declared in October, 1914, that cotton for Germany would not be regarded as contraband. Ultimately, the Dacia left Norfolk for Rotterdam. At that time a vigorous controversy was being waged between Britain and the United States regarding interference with neutral trade. In order not to complicate the position, the capture of the Dacia was delegated to the Frency Navy. The steamer was duly seized by a French cruiser, taken into Brest on March 1, 1916, and subsequently condemned by the French Prize Court. No further attempts were made to transfer German ships to neutral registry during the war.