Maritime Activities

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 153, 24 November 1914, Page 5

Maritime Activities

GERMAN CRUISERS TO RAID THE ATLANTIC. SPECIAL EQUIPMENT FOR MJNESTREWING. Received 23, 7 p.m. London, November 22. The Daily Mail's Copenhagen correspondent reports that the cruiser Berlin is bound from WilHelmshaven for Iceland, and thence for the South Atlantic to intercept British trans-Atlantic liners. Another cruiser is reported to be going to Iceland with the same object. It is understood that the Berlin is equipped for mine-strewing along the Atlantic routes, also for provisioning depots suitable for submarines among the uninhabited Norwegian islands.

MARVELLOUS GERMAN ESPIONAGE. ACCURATE KNOWLEDGE OF BRITAIN'S MOVEMENTS. MINES IN THE BLACK SEA. Times and Sydney Sun Services. Londcn, November 22. A British naval officer writes: "We have long evenings and are always ready to move. There ate German submarines outside even now. It is funny where they get the information of our movements. Tliey khew where the fleet was when at Devonport we did not know ourselves." Athens, November 22. A British destroyer captured a Turkish sailing vessel, bound for Smyrna, with two disguised German officers on board. IVtrograd, November 22. Official. —It is now announced that the Russian eoast of the Black Sea is mined for sixty miles seaward in many places.

A TALL STORY. ROBBERY ON THE HIGH SEAS. STEAMER STRIPPED OF COAL CARGO. Received 23, 7 p.m. Santiago de Chile, November 22. Toe steamer .Sacramento, which has jiist arrived at Valparaiso, reports that she was seized by German warships, taken to Juan Fernandez Island, and obliged to transfer her cargo of (5000 tons of coal. The Chilian authorities are investigating the affair. The American authorities had previously detained the Sacramento on passing San Francisco, not being satisfied as to the destination of the cargo, and questioned the vessel's transfer to the American registry. Eventually she was allowed to proceed. The Sacramento brought to A r alparaiso the crew of the French barque Valentina, which the Dresden sank.

THE RUSSIAN FLEET. It was stated a few weeks ago that the Russian Government had borrowed certain artificers and skilled rating from Great Britain. Later reports indicate that these men were wanted in connection with the completion of the first four Russian Dreadnoughts, which may be in commission already in the Baltic. The ships were to have been ready for service before the end of this year in the ordinary course, of events. They are battleships of a thoroughly modern type, built under the supervision of British firms, and capable of meeting on equal terms any ships that the Germans have afloat at the present time. The displacement of each of the Russian Dreadnoughts is 23,000 tons, and the contract speed is 23 knots. The armament consists of twelve 12-inch guns in triple turrets and sixteen 4.7-inch guns. With these ships in commission, the Russian in the Baltic will assume a new significance, and it will become more than ever impossible for the Germans to throw all their strength against the British in the North Sea. They must keep enough battleships in the Baltic to hold the Russians in check. (The. Russian fleet is playing a part in the naval campaign already, since its existence places a severe restraint upon the German forces. "It is in the presence of the Russian fleet," says a naval writer, "that we find the explanation of tlie reluctance of Germany to risk her battle fleet in n great sea fight in the Niorth.Sea, for if that fight went against her, then the Russo-British fleet would dominate the Baltic, and with the Baltic the long , northern seaboard of the German Empire. iris long as the German battle fleet is unscathed we dare not risk sending a naval force into the Baltic strong enough to meet the fleet which Germany could pour through the Kiel Canal; conversely, Germany can scarcely risk a fleet action in the North Sea with this considerable and growing Russian force in her rear."