On the Sea

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXV, Issue 13, 16 January 1915, Page 5

On the Sea

THE KRONPRINZ'S CAPTURE. Unhid Pbesb —bsooiation London, January 15. A member of the crew of the Bellevue, which was captured by the Kronprinz Wilhelm, relates that on the outbreak of war the Kronprinz received from the Karlsruhe two guns, a naval officer and thirty men. She captured eight ships and scuttled them, and made the Bellevue follow for twelve days while her cargo and all brass and copper were removed. Then the Bellevue was scuttled too. THE BERESFORO PROTEST. London, January 15. The Morning Post is supporting Lord Charles BeresfordV protest against sending battleships into sub-'marine-infested, waters without protecting destroyers, and demands an enquiry. ECHOE OF THE COCOS ISLAND

RAID. (Received 11.50 a.m.) London, January 15. A letter from Sumatra states that the schooner Ayiesha from Cocos Island readied Padang, purchased cattle and provisions, and left the same day. The crew were armed to the teeth, having three machine guns. They expressed their intention of getting alongside an English steamer at night, capturing her, and then having some fun with»other English vessels, eventually proceeding to East Africa.

The captain of H.M.A.S. Sydney said in connection with the Emtfen's crew: "The Emden's landing party commandeered two months' supplies, and left on the schooner Ayesha belonging to Mr Ross, owner of Cocos Island, at six o'clock in the evening." At the same time he said that he had seen only 30' men on the Emden.

Mr J. Clunies-Ross, a grandson of the original Captain J. G. CluniesRoss, who was r known as the "King of the Cocos Islands," arrived in Wellington on Wednesday, after a tour of the North Island. Mr Clu-nies-Ross recently arrived in New Zealand from London, where he has his headquarters. He stated to the Wellington "Post," that the schooner Ayesha, which was commandeered by the landing party from the Emden, belonged to the Clunies-Ross family, and was there while he resided on the islands, where he was born. It was originally built in Plymouth, and was at the time of the raid in a state of disrepair. North Keeling Island, on which the escapees took refuge, was seventeen miles north of the Cocos Islands, and advice had recently been received that the vessel had been recovered by the rightful owners.