SEALED NAVAL BASE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 198, 29 January 1915, Page 6

SEALED NAVAL BASE.

BEHIND THE VEIL AT KIKL. "LAME DUCKS" liETUP.N TO PORT. A naval writer sends the Daily- Mail the following highly interesting account of life at Kiel in war time. Kiel is the most jealously guarded town in all Germany. Besides being the recognised home of the German Navy, it is the abode of the Imperial dockyanks and of Krupp's elaborate construction sheds. Hence it is to Kiel that damaged warships are taken for repair. Furthermore, the spacious harbor i,; a safe cinecntration base, and is the headquarters of submarine craft.

Since knowledge < f the movements or these vessels, on which the Fatherland sets such high hopes, would be of incalculable ecrwee to tin' Allies. German authorities have forbidden strangers either to enter or leave the town under the din si penalties. "lOvcn the inhabitants ar;. prohibited fn,:,i wandering in the vicinity of the liar'.)-!:-, where' all restaurants and places »f popular entertainment have be:'i closed since the begimd:';;- of Ai-gust. By decree of the loid high admiral, all neutral vessels had to e\:;r the port at the outbreak of war so that the navy might proceed with its i!-.ol>i!i:-:i1.:r.,, unhampered and in order th::t :■:> enemy might witness the secret !'Ve,.:)>':iie.".s. .Kiel is to-day a melan-

All ir.('-\'. :.;■-'•.: for war which marked the dova'. <:;■'• <if ii:e Baltic fleet under Admiral Ivy:. :>;ih! to meet the Russians has long r.ivee. evaporated. Several of those (iee i'lip which steamed away to the tune of '-Oeui.s ii'end über Alios" will never return. Others have been towed home battered wrecks to swing idly at their moorings, the gaping holes m their sides hearing eloquent testimony to the excellence of Russian marksmanship.

■WHAT WILL ENGLAND DO?" For wmv davs 1-ei'ore the declaration of Wi;r agaiiy-;-. (lie Russians, there was iinv.'oiiti-d l"i"'" ■■■•)'.\ stir in Kiel harbor. The (I:-.-■;'!•;ill of 12, submarines throrgh the Kiel r->r\ to the North Sea on Hie evi'iiir.i:' or .luly 30 prepared the popuboe for ihe news which came lute at night on .A-.jgnsfc 1. Germany had declared war upon Russia and was sending troops against France. Late as was the hour, the message spread like wildfire. People crowded into the streets and the restaurants to give, expression to their unbounded joy. to dance and sing, and to carry sailors shoulder high to tile depot. The one question on every lip was: — "What will England do?" Men stopped strangers to ask their opinion and to shake their heads ominously. Kiel was assured that the Germany navy was I more* than a match for the combined fleets of Russia and France. Grand Admiral von Koester had told them so at the time of the Agadir dispute in 101], when German warships were actually off the French coast cleared for action. But if England joined issue against Germany Kiel was not so sanguine as to the ultimate result. Those wdio professed to be the sharers of official secrets grudingly admitted that the German Navy was not yet ready to meet,the overwhelming sea power of England. ABNORMALLY BUSY. While there has been a very considerable rise in the prices of foodstuffs, Kiel has not yet begun to feel the pinch of war. On the contrary, the town is abnormally busy. Large numbers of trained artisans, chiefly engineers and carpenters, have been brought from .ill part's of the country to work at the building yards. The repairing shops in particular are so busy that they have to be kept running night and day. While the naval action off Heligoland on August 28 added very considerably to the pressure on the repairing shops, it is not generally known that an engagement some days had an equally disastrous consequence for the German North Sea Fleet. One after the other, lame ducks were towed through the Kiel Canal until something like nine destroyers and torpedo boats, some of them in a hopelessly battered condition, lay alongside the Imperial Yard. These v! ssels, it is alleged by men win; who served in some of them did not take part in the action. Beyond this admission they refuse to give information. CLEVERLY LAID MINE-FIELD. Local report, which, has not yet been contradicted, insists that the damage was caused by a cleverly-laid minefield almost within sight of Heligoland. The story is well worth repeating since it reflects credit on the skill and intrepidity of our sailors.

British mine-layers followed the ships into action at a safe distance. Behind this screen and while the attention of the Germans was concentrated on the

action, the mine-layers were busy laying their deadly explosives in the way of German warships operating from Heli- ; goland. As these had been prearranged [ and the positions clearly defined on the j chart, the British ships were careful to j avoid the danger zone of returning from' the fray. Two days after the engagement a fleet of German destroyers and torpedo-boats were sent out on scout duty. All unsuspecting of danger in their'homo waters, they steamed into the mine field. The vessel to strike a mine signalled that she was being attacked by a submarine. Almost simultaneously other vessels met with a similar fate, whereupon the German captains, realising the danger that threatened them, carefully picked their way back to the base. How many vessels were accounted for in this manner is not known, yet it is surmised that the loss was considerable, since the fleet had got so far On to the mine field before making the discovery that one destroyer was actually struck some considerable distance from the scene of disaster while making its way back to the base.