“Admiral” Who Sold the Russian Fleet

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1040, 2 August 1930, Page 18

“Admiral” Who Sold the Russian Fleet

The Man From Toronto Whose Enterprise Brought Him £45,000 ... A Deal That Gave Admiral’s Rank to an Ex-Major. SHE white Russians in Paris, who are worked up over the Koutepoff incident, complain that they are unable to join their compatriots in Russia against the Reds for lack of transport. They denounce bitterly the sale of the former Tsar’s fleet. How that fleet was sold is a long story and involves a Canadian, says a writer in j the Toronto “Star.” It is a story of almost unbelievable fantasy, of incredible doggedness, of irrepressible optimism and of unwavering purpose, the story of the sale of tho Russian volunteer fleet live years ago. And the man who sat on the deal for two years and drew his cheque at the finish for £45,000 was an old Toronto boy. Major Allan Poynton. It started in this way, Poynton says. After the war I. like many others, was at a loose end and cast about amid the general restlessness to find something to do which would not he too routine. I went over to drive cars in Italy. I drove in the Grand Prix and later I was piloting a passenger bus. I was then on the British staff, and .'during the Peace Conference I came to Paris. There I made the acquaintance of the Russian, Admiral Kabassoff, naval attache representing the late Tsarist Government’s interests outside Russia, which the Bolsheviks had been unable to seize. He was a man of splendid education and charm of manner as so many of these former Tsarist officers were. The acquaintance ripened. The admiral’s thoughts naturally dwelt on his lost ships, which constituted a large portion Of the late Government's assets, and he lamented the fact that 47 of these were lying about in various seas, off the coaßt of China, in the Mediterranean, in the Adriatic and the Baltic. They were off shore, inaccessible to the Bolsheviks, and manned, in a lackadaisical way by their former officers and crews but, of course, could be put to no sea use. “Could we not sell them?” queried the admiral and his colleagues. Ah! that is a problem. Who can give a title and who will buy them? j ; The ships, mercantile mostly, had been vested in the late Tsar, Ho was dead and. his Government overthrown. The one point encouraging about the position was that the ships were [ sound and well built, most of them | having been laid down on the Clyde and at Belfast, and they could he made serviceable. They averaged about 15,000 tons, and had been paid for at a good price by various cities in Russia whose inhabitants had subscribed to raise enough funds for a ship to bear the name of their town. Hence the name Volunteer Fleet. Obviously England, as a maritime nation, was the country to buy them. But the British Government would not allow them to come under British registry with insufficient title. It

might be considered as an act of hostility against the Soviet Government which England had not at that time recognised, but which she had no intention of antagonising. Besides it might lead to all sorts of complications. Italy alreadj' had seized a number in Italian ports. This was before Mussolini’s day, when Italy was communistic and the Italian Communists claimed that they had a better right to them through their affiliation with the Soviet than their royalist occupiers. The latter having no standing in the courts of any country could not resist, and Italy got them through simple seizure without compenstaion to anybody. Taken Over by English Company Poynton took the matter in hand. It took a good many meetings with his friends in Paris, he said, and he entertained during these preliminaries as many as 100 Russians of high rank at a time. Things would be rosy, he said, when champagne was flowing, but the Russians with the best intentions are the most difficult people in the world with whom to conclude a deal. One night everything would be settled satisfactorily all round, then next morning a new objection would be raised. It took seven months to settle on a course of action. The British Government was sounded on the matter and decreed that title could , be given only by the Russian Tsarist refugees living out of Russia The consent of the Russian heads of each ef the refugee areas in France, in Constantinople, in Bulgaria, in Fiume, where the greater part were congregated, and in all other refugee areas must be obtained. And then the deal would be possible Only on condition that the proceeds of any sale went on to these heads of relief areas for distribution among the refugees.' It took a lot of persuasion, but the English decision was influenced by the fact that English taxpayers together with the French aud Serbs were already paying large sums for the relief of these refugees, aud any payments on account of sale of these ships would go in redUftiop of that sum. It looked like a big job, but Poyuton was not dismayed. The-two per cent, commission looked attractive even though, as he confessed, it involved borrowing money to go.on with, so heavy had his Russian and English entertainment bill in the mean time become. A company was formed in England

to take over the ships at scrap value, about ten shillings a ton. Then the work started. Three things had to be done. The various consents to the sale had to be obtained, the ships had to be taken possession of and finally handed over to the purchasers. Poynton spent two years in the Balkans, Austria, Fiume and other places getting these signatures. What “baksheesh” was paid can never be divulged. It was the same exasperating experience of vacillation and procrastination as in Paris. Then the ships, after these painful preliminaries were concluded, had to be rounded up, cleaned, coaled, manned and brought the middle East ships to Malta and the others to the Clyde, for final overhaul before being put up for sale. For the members of the English pool knew that the ships were much better worth while than Scrap. They lay mostly in the Adriatic Sea. “It was a tt vible joy,” declared Poynton with a M niniscent smile, for he is a cheery raconteur, “and I shall never forget the experience," he added. For the purposes of his commission he had been made an Admiral of the Russian Fleet, and wore the naval uniform complete with epaulettes and rows of ribbon, St. Ann, St. Vladimir. St. Stanislaus. St. George, etc., together with those he had acquired in the war—M.C., Croix de Guerre. That gave him the indispensable authority In his work. The experience with most of the ships was the same. All had difficulty in beina brought away because all had dues and wages against them, but armed with our authority we finally mustered 2G out of the 47. What became of the others I could not tell. The pool was not long in working off the ships once they had been overhauled. Some went to Italy and the Baltic States, quite a number to South America. In the end all were sold and a profit of t.tyi million dollars was made. “One morning,” concluded Poynton, “I went down to the office of the company and was handed a cheque for £45,000 after over two years’ work. But it was worth it.” After completion of the deal Major Poynton went to the south of France, thinking, as he said, that he would never do any more work. But he is of too energetic a disposition to remain doing nothing and at present- he is working on a big deal, which he expects “to pull off” any day.