WAR NOTES

Taihape Daily Times, Volume 7, Issue 106, 11 January 1915, Page 2

WAR NOTES

FINE STORY OF BRITISH PLUCK. MERCHANT LINER AND GERMAN CRUISER. A DARING ESCAPE. An extraordinary story of British pluck and resource in difficult and dan. gerous corcumslances was revealed on November 20th, in a letter from the British Consul-General at Rio de Janeiro to Sir Edward Grey, which was sent to the London newspapers for publication by the Secretary of the Admiralty, together with a letter in which the Board of Admiralty commend the conduct of a gallant merchant skipper —Captain Douglas Reid Kinneir —to the owners of the Pacific Steam Navigation Company’s steamship Ortega, which he saved from capture by a German cruiser off the southern coast of South America. The letter is as follows: British Consultate-General Rio de Jahiero, October 3rd., 1914. Sir, —The Pacific Steam Navigation Company’s steamship Ortega arrived at Rio de Jauiero on October Ist. The master, Douglas .Reid Kinneir, in reply to ray enquiry as to whether he had anything particular to report with respect to his voyage from Valparaiso, modestly gave men the following facts: — The Ortega sailed from Valparaiso with some 300 French reservists on beard. When she had arrived close to the western entrance of the Straits of Magellan, a German -cruiser of the Dresden class suddenly appeared, and gave chase. Be it remarked that the normal speed of the Ortega is only some fourteen knots per hour, whereas the speed of the German cruiser was at least 21 knots per hour. Under those circumstances, the master of the Ortega took an heroic resolve. He called for volunteers to assist in stoking his vessel; that appeal met with hearty response; firemen, engineers, and volunteers, stripped to the waist, set to work With a will, and the master assured me that they actually succeeded in whacking the old ship (she was built in 1906) up to a good 18 knots. The master headed his ship straight for the entrance of a passage known as Nelson’s Strait, and he made' for the Strait at full speed, hotly pursued by the German cruiser, which kept firing at him with two heavy how guns Luckily none of the shots took effect, and the Oretga succeeded in entering Nelson’s Strait, where, the German cruisdr did net dare to follow her.

In order, to realise the hardihood of this action upon the part of the master of the Ortega, it must he remembered that Nelson’s Strait is entirely uncharted, and that the narrow, tortuous passage in question constitutes a veritable nightmare for navigators bristling as it dees with reefs and pinnacle recks, swept by fierce currents and tide-rips, and with the cliffs on either side sheerto, without any anchorage. I can speak from personal ex. perience ns to the terrifying nature of the navigation of Nelson’s Strait, having once passed through it many years ago in a small sealing schooner. However the master of the Ortega managed to get his vessel safely through this dangerous passage, employing the device of sending boats ahead to sound every yard of the passage. Eventually, by a miracle of luck and good seamanship, he worked his way into Symth’s Channel, without having sustained even a scratch to his plates, and finally brought his vessel to this port. When it is remembered that as already stated, Nelson’s Strait is absolutely uncharted, and that never before had a vessel of any size attempted that most perilous passage, it will. I think, be admitted that the captain’s action in taking an 8000-ton steamer safely through that passage constitutes a most notable feat of pluck and skilful seamanship: and it is reassuring to know that the old spirit of daring and of resource is still alive in cur mercantile marine. I have no doubt that Captain Douglas Reid Kinneir’s services will he fully appreciated, not only by the directors of the Pacific Steam Navigation Company, for having thus saved the Ortega from capture by the enemy, hut also by the French Government for having saved from capture the 300 French reservists who happened to ho cn board his vessel. (Signed): O’SULLIVAN BEARE,' His Britannic Majesty’s Consul.