MUNCHAUSEN IN THE MOLTKE

Taranaki Daily News, 29 January 1916, Page 5

MUNCHAUSEN IN THE MOLTKE

WEIRD NARRATIVE OF VON WIEGAND. New York, October 22. Mr. von Wiegand sends to the New York World an interview with Captain von' Levetzow, commander of the Moltke, describing how his ship was torpedoed in the Baltic by a British submarine. "We were not in the Riga Bay fight," he says, "but a considerable distance off, steaming abreast with the Seydlitz. I was in the chartroom when I heard the Seydlitz'a warning. "Before I reached the bridge there came a terrific explosion forward, ac-» companied by an indescribable metallic ring or loud clang. A column of water more than 7a feet high rose in the air and tumbled over the forward deck and bridge, drenching me and everybody around. The Moltke seemed to pause for a moment, trembled, shook from stem to stern like a dog shaking off water, and then plunged on again. "The torpedo came from the other side of the Seydlitz, and evidently the submarine had fired at the Seydlitz, missed her, and caught us on the bow. The Seydlitz's look-out saw air bubbles caused by a torpedo leaving the tube, and then saw the torpedo's path. He tried to warn us, but was too late. Our excellent bulkhead construction and safety system, however, worked beyond expectations. The torpedo struck the ship on the extreme end of the bow, crushing in only one side of a narrow torpedo chamber, which, with the adjoining compartment, quickly filled. "Altogether we had 435 tons of water In us, but as it would take 15,000 tons to sink the iMoltke, this was not serious. We kept on our cruise two days longer with the water slashing in and out of the hole before we turned homeward for repairs. "We opened the bulkhead doors in dry dock, and after the water had been pumped out, we found four bodies of the eight men of the torpedo crew who had been killed. The other bodies had been smashed. It was remarkable that our torpedoes did not explode. The experience has been of great value. I never considered a torpedo to be fatal to a big ship if the ship were properly, built. This experience strongly con[firms that opinion. I consider that a shell from a big gun when it hits a vital spot is far more dangerous," Captain von Levetzow said he had asked a former crew of the destroyed torpedo compartment what they, •would do if a shell struck them. "We should remain at our post," they answered. "Why not try to get out through, the, emergency bulkhead door!" von Jjevetzow euquired. They replied, "Because that might flood the other compartments and endanger the ship." Von Levetzow said the Moltke participated in the raid on the Haitlepools in December last, when a 6-inch shell from the fort struck her, tearing away several officers' cabins and killing » black cat, which was the Moltke's miscot. A torpedo also passed, he says, between the Moltke and the Seydlitz. The Moltke, he declares, went through the Dogger Bank battle on January 24 unscathed, although cgyejed .wjs> gEijgteri frpji o^f f . •; — \