On the Sea

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXV, Issue 281, 25 November 1914, Page 5

On the Sea

WILL THE FLEET COME OUT AND FIGHT? GREAT ACTIVITY AT EMDEN. Limes and Sydney Sun Services. London, November 21. Reports from the north of Holland show that unusual activity prevails in the neighbourhood of the port of Emden, and the impression prevails that the German fleet is preparing for a decisive action.

Prince Henry of Prussia visited Emden on Saturday, and inspected the torpedo and submarine craft. ' i (Emden. —A seaport town on Dollart Bay, Hanover, Prussia, has a population of 17,000. Is the port of an agricultural and live stock district. It is an important naval base). HAVE THE GERMANS A SECRET BASE IN CHILI? GOVERNMENT WILL INVESTIGATE. United Press Association. Washington, November 24. The State Department is informed that the German fleet in South Aerican waters is maintaining a secret naval base on the Chilian coast. Chili states that she will immediately investigate the matter, and suppress any breach of neutrality, if proven. THE RAMMED DESTROYER. Copenhagen, November 24. As the 5124 was going at full speed off Falsterbo, with lights out, the Anglo-Dane rammed her 'midships. German torpedoers rescued most of the crew.

NORTH OF SCOTLAND. / London, November 24. The German submarine UlB was detected near the northern part of Scotland during the morning, and the patrol reported the ramming at noon. The submarine. was not again sighted for.an hour, when the crew were seen on deck, flying the white flag. The destroyer Garry came alongside as the submarine foundered, and rescued three officers and twenty-three of tho crew, one being drowned. BLOWN UP BY MINES.

London, November «24. Two Lowestoft fishing boats were sunk by mines and the crews lost. THE EMDEN'S END. EYE-WITNESS' STORY. GLOWING TRIBUTE PAID TO AUSTRALIAN PLUCK. , Colombo, November 23. The Sydney's wounded and the Emden's survivors landed and sent to hospital tell a gallant story. The Times of Ceylon publishes the following from eye-witnesses:—"At 7 on the morning of November 9th the Sydney got a wireless, saying that there was a German cruiser off Cocos Island. She went off so fast that we could not see her for the furrow ■ cut in the water. At 9.40 we sighted the Emden, which opened fire at 10,000 yards, carrying away the Sydney's foremast and range-finder. "The Sydney replied most effectively, and it did one's heart good to hear the yells of joy of our chaps as the shots went home. Most of our lads were quite young, but not the least afraid. They gloried in it. "The first salvo damaged the Emden. We soon shot away successively her foremost funnel, the foremast, and second funnel. At each success our lads shouted 'Hurrah! There's another. She's a goner I' "The Emden, badly damaged, and afire aft, went ashore at 4.20 p.m. The Sydney chased and captured the collier Buresk, but she sank, owing to the crew smashing the valves, and then returned to the Emden, sending boats to pick up the Germans in the water, but as the German flag was flying, and the Emden refused to answer the demand to surrender, the Sydney was compelled to fire again. Five minutes later the German ensign was hauled down.

"If it is true, as we have been told by many of the German prisoners, that they fired no less than 1650 shots, then their shooting must have been very poor. Throughout the action it was very clear our shooting was far superior. The trajectory of the Emden's guns was more pronounced than ours. She seemed to drop her shots on board us when she was anywhere near us, while our shells wont far straighter and appeared to do a good deal more damage when they got home. The Emden's shells completely failed to penetrate our armor-plate. One shell came very near doing a lot of mischief. It struck the edge of the armor-plate, within inches of one of the ward-room portholes. All the wounded were in the ward-room with the surgeon and staff.

"According to the German wounded, the Emden left Tsing-tao on July 31. Her engines had been working for three months without a break. They deny that she flew the Japanese flag when she entered Penang. They were flying the German flag. The only thing they did was to put on a dummy fourth funnel.

"One man said, 'So far as I saw, everybody on the Sydney proved himself a little hero. They never stopped working, and the way they kept, their guns served was a fine examplo of Australian pluck."