“HERR SCUTTLER”

Wairarapa Times-Age, 21 December 1939, Page 7

“HERR SCUTTLER”

SINKING OF COLUMBUS | i SIGNIFICANCE OF GERMAN j POLICY. I I DESPAIR OF WINNING WAR INDICATED. (British Official Wireless.) (Received This Day, 9.30 a.m.) RUGBY. December 20. The Columbus is the eighteenth Nazi merchant ship scuttled since the outbreak of the war. When hostilities commenced she took refuge at Vera Cruz in Mexico. She | is said to have been laden with 30,000 barrels of oil and food for Germany. In the neutral, as well as in the British Press the practice of scuttling is inevitably interpreted as indicating the German Government’s despair of winning the war. The “Daily Herald.” in a leading article headed “Herr Scuttler,” asks why the Columbus sent herself to the bottom.” There was no need for it. She was in no danger of capture. She need never have left Vera Cruz. She could have run into any United States harbour and stayed there for the duration of the war and gone home after the war—lf Germany had won. This harakiri policy can mean just one thing—that the German High Command fear that they are going to lose the war and that at its end their ships will become Allied property. A Washington message states that the American cruised Tuscaloosa, • which found the Columbus sinking, reported by radio that she was heading for New'York with 579 survivors, including nine women. The message added that no lives were lost, but in a later report the Tuscaloosa ;md a muster of the crew of the Columbus showed that two firemen were missing. The liner was on fire from stem to stern and was sinking slowly when the cruiser left. STAGGERING BLOW ADMITTED BY GERMANS IN NEW YORK. COMMENT ON EXTRAVAGANT RISKS. NEW YORK. December 20. The scuttling of the Columbus and the forcing of the Arauca to port has brought the war closer to the United States than at any time since the start. Thousands of German-Americans living in New York’s “German section” gathered at the bars and the street corners discussing the Reich s latest setback. There was consternation at the New York offices of the North German Lloyd Lines when the news was received. “Oh, my God, said the manager, Mr John Schroedei, “it’s one blow after another.” He added that as the Columbus was unarmed he believed the crew was entitled to an indefinite stay in the United States. The line would take care of them. Asked whether they would be returned to Germany, he replied, “How could they be?” The Tuscaloosa is due at 2 p.m. with 579 of the crew of the Columbus, who will disembark at Ellis Island (New York’s landing depot for immigrants and other aliens). The Tuscaloosa reported that two firemen are missing, but it is not believed there are other casualties. The German Legation in Mexico City, however, states that 630 Germans were aboard. Seventeen Chinese members of the crew refused to make the Atlantic dash and three Italians deserted earlier.

LINER’S LAST MOMENTS. When last seen from the Tuscaloosa. Germany’s third largest liner was burning from stem to stern and settling slowlv. The cruiser reported that the hulk and 22 boats from which the crew were taken constituted a menace to navigation. It is believed the Tuscaloosa stopped to destroy these and also to make certain that the Columbus was sinking. There is much speculation why an unarmed ship left the safety of a neutral. port. The New York “Herald-Tribune” suggests that the most plausible theory was that the sacrifice was risked in order to refuel some important warship which was short of oil. The Mexico City correspondent of the United Press states that . reports are circulating that the cargo included hundreds of thousands of Mexican shoes for the German army, and also half-filled drums of oil which were to be dropped overboard for submarines. The “New York Times" editorially says that by scuttling the ship the Germans lost whatever prestige they may have gained by the Bremen's escape. The “Herald-Tribune" in an editorial says the liner’s fate was unmistakably ominous news. A regime that expects to win the war would hardly be likely to take such extravagant risks with a costly possession that was anchored in a neutral port from which a German victory would have redeemed her. THE ARAUCA’S PROSPECTS. The Washington correspondent of the “New York Times” says there is a strong possibility that the Arauca will be declared a Nazi auxiliary naval vessel and interned. It is understood that an investigation has been ordered to determine how the vessel, which left Vera Cruz five days ago with her declared destination New Orleans, happened to be near Florida. As she is carrying Mexican oil. it is felt that possibly she was preparing lo refuel warcraft. The Arauca was built this year for the Hamburg-Amerika Line. 'rhe Columbus, a ship of 32,581 tons, was the third largest vessel in the German merchant marine. NEWS SUPPRESSED NO ANNOUNCEMENT MADE IN GERMANY. (Received This Day. 11.15 a.m.) BERLIN, December 20. Neither the Press .nor the radio announced the scuttling of the Columbus.