AN "EMDEN" VICTIM.

Taranaki Daily News, 6 December 1915, Page 5

AN "EMDEN" VICTIM.

RUSSIAN' OFFICERS COURT . MARTIALLED. IXCREDIBLE NEGLIGENCE. London, Oct. 7. Memories of the activities of the Gef , man cruiser Emden are revived by an ao*' i count recently published' in a Russian ,1 paper of the court-martial of the late | commander and second-in-command of ? the Russian cruiser Jemcliug, which the Emden surprised and sank at Penang in i October, 1914. At the time all sorts • of excuses were made for the .Temchug'* ,i failure, to put up any sort of fight with! the German cruiser, but the facts reached I by the prosecution at the court-martial ; show clearly that the Russian ship was the victim primarily of her own officers' gross carelessness and neglect. Thei ■ facts tlif prosecution placed before the court may be briefly recited. The Jemchug, Captain Baron Tcherkassoff, left Vladivostok on AugUßt 25, 1914, with orders to place herself under the cots* , mand of the British Admiral Jerram, \ who was the senior officer on the spot. Baron Tcherkassoff was accused of fail» J ing to comply with the orders of Ad* 'J miral Jarram, of failing to keep a regu J ; lar rota of watches on board, with £iil« ing to enforce a eliange of watch among the guns' crews nt night, and leaving the torpedo tubes unloaded and unmanned. He allowed the cruiser to lie in open a roadsteads, fully lighted and with only j one man on the look-out. >He allowed ] strangers to visit the cruiser and move ;- freely over her. 'J

At the time the cruiser was at the i 'Philippine Islands seeking for enemy transports, lie sent to the cruiser Aikold a wireless message indicating his own n position without putting it into cypher. 4 At an unprotected port in the Anda- 1 man Islands he left the ship with five of | his officers and spent the night on shore 1 while the Jemehiig was coaling, The j vessel was fully lighted up, and n>> ! guns' crews were standing by, and the torpedo tubes were not loaded, although lie was well aware that the Em- i den had been three times close to ths place. He allowed Ills wife to accompany him during the cruise, and she fol- ( lowed him from port to port in a private steamer.

On October 20, after the search for the enemy in the Gulf of Bengal, he anchored at Penang and ordered all shells and cartridges to he returned to store and ' the torpedo tubes unloaded. He tnen asked the British Admiral for help to clean out his boilers, and emptied thir- j teen boilers, leaving only one with steam. lie did not increase the lookout, and the crews were allowed to sleep i on deck without any regard to watches, *i Baron TcherkassofT went ashore at 0 a.m. and spent the night there. In the •; early morning the Jemchug Was attacked 'i and destroyed in five minutes by the Enuleii. Tne court found both the Baron and his second-in-command guilty of negligence, and taking Into considtration' their hitherto unblemished record and ;< their brave service during the Rumo- < Japanese war, passed the following sen- ' tenee:—

Both officers to lose all eivil rights, to be dismissed from the Imperial »er- j vice, and deprived of all decoration*. ) Captain TeherkassofT to lose Ilia rank of ■« baron, and be sent to goal for three and i a half years, and Lieut-Commander Kuli- j bim for a voav and a-half. ■: These sentences are severe, but tha negligence shown by the Baron and his lieutenant called for drastic punish* ment. The facts related reveal a negligence almost incredible. If ever a naval commander "asked for trouble" it \vu ) surely Baron Teherkassoft'.