SCAPA LIES.

Taranaki Daily News, 13 March 1920, Page 11

SCAPA LIES.

SCUTTLE TITE FLEET: VON REUTER'S ORDERS.

I Two extraordinary documents, found in the safe of the German cruiser Emden, scuttled at Scapa and afterwards salved, were published recently (states the Daily Mail) by the Admiralty. They have been in the possession of our Government, and they piove that the German Government lied mst month when it refused reparation for i.\ie scuttling of the German Fleet at Scapa on June 21, denying its complicity, and that lit lied again on June' 23, when it sectored that the ships had been sunk, "without the knowledge of any German civil or military subordinate?," by the act of the Admiral in Command, von Renter, with whom it had no means of communicating. The documents are: (1) A letter from Admiral von Troths, head of the Germ.ni Admir- , alty to von Reuter, at Scapa. ; marked "most secret" :tnd dated "May 9th," which insists that the ships must not be surrendered, though it does not Rive a direct order for their scuttling (2) A series of detailed instructions from von Renter, dated "June 17th," giving the German captains orders how and when to sink their

ships on a signal from him. Though a censorship was maintained by our Navy, there was no means of preventing messages or orders from reaching von Reuter if hidden in food or clothing. On May 4th the German transport Dollart arrived at Scapa with food for the Germans, and on June 17 the German transports Banlenia and Schleswig arrived". On" of thaw clearly brought von Trotha's letter. Von Trotha's letter states:

"It appears that our opponents are considering the idea of depriving us of the interned ships on the conclusion of Peace; they waver between the destruction or the distribution among themselves of these ships. The British naturally raise some doubts about the latter course.

"These hostile intentions are In opposition to the hitherto unquestioned German right of ownership of the vessels, with the internment of which we complied on the conclusion of the Armistice only because we were obliged to consent for the duration of the Armisticeto an appreciable weakening of the striking power of the German Fleet. "You may be assured that it will be no more than the plain duty of our naval delegates at Versailles to safeguard the fate of our interned ships in every way and to arrive at a solution which is in accordance with our traditions, and our unequivocal German rights. In this connection the first condition will be that the shins remain German, and that their fate, whatever turn it. may take under the pressure of tho political situation, will nt.t be' decided without our co-operation and! irltl be consummated by ourselves, and that their surrender to the enemy remains out of the question." Von Reuter's orders are headed: "Only to be sent by an officer—personal." And are contained irf eleven paragraphs. A vital paragraph is:— The commanding officers are ordered to make the necessary preparations for sinking their ships so as to ensirre that on receipt of the order they will sink as rapidly as possible. Instructions are then given to have all i internal doors and hatches open permanently, and, at the discretion of the commading officers, to take "additional steps" for the rapid opening of valves and torpedo tubes, admitting the water. "For sinking the ships at a given hour the signal will be: 'To all commanding officers paragraph 0913. Acknowledge' In this the first two numbers indicate the date and the last two numbers the hour at which the sinking shall begin. "From Wednesday. June IS, onwards increased vigilance by day and night will be necessary, to observe not only any unusual behaviour on the part of the English, but also signals'from Emden."

The reference to "signals from Emden" seem to show that a wireless order was sent from that German base—not ths cruiser Emden—to scuttle the ships. Von Reuter made no promise for handing them over. It is thus established that the German Government exchanged orders and signals with von Reuter, and bears with him the responsibility for his act of treacherv.