Sea Duels of the War

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 323, 7 April 1928, Page 10

Sea Duels of the War

MERCHANT-CRUISER FIGHTS

Alcantara's Battle With Greif

QUCH was the purport of a message ° sent to the President of Liberia

by the commander of a German submarine, who arrived at the port of Monrovia, West Africa, and demanded from a neutral country men of belligerent nations, who under the rules of warfare were interned until peace could be declared. The Germans would have carried their plan to a successful issue had it not been for an unobtrusive master mariner, who considered it his duty to take a hand in protecting a defenceless town. The Silent Service It is one of the romantic stories of the many successes scored during the war by men of the merchant service, which through the necessary censorship received little or no publicity. Indeed, it is doubtful if the many conspicuous gallantries on the part of those who served in the Royal Navy or the merchant service will ever be recorded. Sailors do not advertise, and it is only now and again that the curtain is lifted to afford the public a brief peep behind the scenes of the greatest war in history. Ten years elapsed before Captain Selwyn M. Day, R.N.R., was known to the public as a hero, through the speech of the Prime Minister at a shipmaster’s banquet. Mr. Baldwin described how, single-handed, the gallant commander of a small armed boarding steamer, with inferior guns and an untrained mercantile crew, overpowered and sank a.heavily-armed raider, vastly superior in size, tonnage, speed, and armament. A Little “Popgun” When a short time ago Captain H. A. Yardley, D.S.C., retired from a lengthy and honourable service in the employ of Messrs. Elder, Dempster, and Co., a few of his intimate friends recalled the gallant action of the s.s Appam off Monrovia. Another of the heroic and outstanding incidents 0? the war. o It was not the intention of the Appam to call at Monrovia, but when heavy firing was heard, followed immediately by heavy explosions, Captain Yardley, the commander of the steamer, thought that It was his job to investigate. Not that he could do much good with a little popgun which the Admiralty had seen fit to mount oil the stern of his vessel as a protection against submarines. “Still, if the enemy is shelling the town, somebody is getting hurt, and I may be able to help,” thought the captain. So he ordered his ship s bows to be turned toward the port, and told his handful of men to get the gun ready in case they were attached. “Anyhow, there was no harm in having a look round!” he told them. Settling Old Scores Much to the surprise of everyone on board the steamer, it was soon discovered that a long, low-lying Lboat was firing high explosive shells from her big gun on the inhabitants of a defenceless neutral. Captain Yardley could not stand by and see this done, so he quickly decided to take a hand in the game. He owed the “U” boats a score whicn there and then he decided to settle. He had a gun, and if that failed—well, he had a strong steel stem that would cut the “tin fish” in twain if he could get

close enough! Meanwhile the Germans were too much occupied to pay any attention to a merchant steamer. They v ould shell the town first and look after the new arrival later. Swinging the stern of his vessel m position the merchant captain gave the order to fire. It was a splendid shot and passed so uncomfortably near the German vessel that the “U - boat crew decided not to wait. "Here,” they thought, “is a cruiser disguised as a merchantman. We had better clear out before we get hurt.” And clear out they did, as quickly as they could submerge. Business as Usual Captain Yardley, who makes little of his exploit, was the hero of the hour. He did not wait for public thanks, however, he had business to attend to. In the words of Mr. King, President of Liberia, Captain Yardley saved the town from destruction, and hundreds owed their lives to his action. For this service Liberia bestowed the highest honours they could on Captain Yardley by making him a knight of the Order of African Redemption. On his arrival home the King, for this and other actions on the high seas, bestowed on the captain the Distinguished Service Cross, and the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty sent him a letter of thanks and presented him with a cigarette case. But Captain Yardley also possesses other honours for saving life at sea. His last gallant action was the rescue of four natives clinging to an overturned canoe, which had been drifting for more than a day in shark-infested waters under a broiling African sun. One of the occupants of the canoe, a woman, was drowned. Commerce Raiders The fight between the R.M.S. Alcantara and a heavily-armed raider is recalled by the retirement of Paymaster R. Williamson, R.N.R., from many years’ service in the employ of the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company. Mr. Williamson was paymaster of the liner when, as an armed cruiser, to be the pick of the German High Seas Fleet. Carefully Disguised The intention of the Greif was to cut through the cordon of British patrol ships, get well out into the Atlantic away from harassing destroyers and cruisers, and sink without trace any inoffensive merchant ships that happened to be navigating outside areas of interference. Her mission was to be kept a profound secret. WTien a joke was made about her name, it was said that she would bring much grief to England. It was just fate that immediately before hands were piped to breakfast in the morning watch that the Alcanatra saw smoke rising above the horizon. Then came the masts and funnel of a : large Norwegian ship with the national ; flag of that country painted on her : sides to show her neutrality and make i her immune from attack by Germaa i

UNLESS you deliver to me all the Allied combatants interned in your country by noon to-morrow, I shall be compelled to open fire upon the town indiscriminately. Not a house or building shall be left standing. I shall shell the town to ruins.”

submarines. More than that, her name, Rewa, the colour of her funnel, and general appearance, corresponded with the s.s. Rewa in Lloyd's Register. It was with such a craft that the Germans had sought to perpetrate an effective disguise and deceive any nosing Britisher who might see fit to examine her more closely. Her papers were in good order in case an enemy suspected her. The British were taking no chances. Men stood by the guns as the ships drew closer. Then, seeing the game was up, the German decided to take a chance at what he thought an easy victim. As soon as the Greif brought all her guns to bear she let down her gun screns and fired a salvo. Her devastating fire poured upon the decks of the British liner. The steering gear was smashed, the bridge fittings torn asunder, and her upper structure riddled. A Burning Mass That was the beginning of one of the hottest fights in the history >f the war. It lasted less than 30 minutes. Speedily the after gun of the raider was put out of action. Then a shell from the Alcantara caused a heavy explosion on the foredeck of the Greif; flames as high as the masthead shot up from the deck, an.', the raider became a burning mass fore and aft. By this time the hand steering gear had put the British vessel under control. Men indifferent to the terrible onslaught stood by the wheel on the after deck steering the ship as directed, and then, having given the raider her death blow, the British crqw looked round for the safety of their own ship, which by this ime was listing so heavily that it was not possible to walk upright on her decks. It was found that she had been noted below the water line by the raider, and there was nothing left to the gallant survivors but to take to the remaining boats.

This was accomplished as orderly as. if they were going through boat drill in Southampton water, and the crew had no sooner got clear than the vessel, with the British flag flying from her masthead, sank leisurely beneath the waves.