Current History, Vol. VIII, No. 3, June 1918: A Monthly Magazine of the New York TimesVarious
History
Current History, Vol. VIII, No. 3, June 1918: A Monthly Magazine of the New York Times
Various
World War, 1914-1918
After transferring the passengers and crew and as much of the cargo as
they could conveniently remove from the Hitachi-maru to the Wolf, her
decks were cleared of the wreckage their gunfire had caused, and a prize
crew was put in charge of her with a view of taking her to Germany. Some
weeks later, however, that intention was abandoned for reasons known
only to the Germans themselves, and on Nov. 5 the Hitachi-maru was sunk.
IGOTZ MENDI TAKEN
The Wolf then proceeded on her voyage, and on Nov. 10 captured the
Spanish steamship Igotz Mendi, with a cargo of 5,500 tons of coal, of
which the Wolf was in sore need. The raider returned with this steamer
to the island off which the Hitachi-maru had been sunk, and one evening
all the married people, a few neutrals and others, and some sick men
were transferred from the Wolf to the Igotz Mendi. The raider took
aboard a large quantity of coal, and, after the Spanish vessel had been
painted gray, the two vessels parted company. The Wolf reappeared on
several occasions and reported that she had captured and sunk the
American sailing vessel John H. Kirby and the French sailing vessel
Maréchal Davout. On Boxing Day the Wolf attempted to coal from the Igotz
Mendi in mid-Atlantic, but, owing to a heavy swell, the vessels bumped
badly. It was afterward stated that the Wolf had been so badly damaged
that she was making water.
A few days later two large steamships were sighted, and both the Wolf
and the Igotz Mendi hastily made preparations to escape. The officers
and crew changed their clothes to ordinary seamen's attire, packed up
their kitbags, and sent all the prisoners below.
Among the latter was the first officer of the Spanish ship, who saw a
German lay a number of bombs between the decks of the Igotz Mendi ready
to be exploded if it became necessary to sink that ship with all her
prisoners while the Wolf looked after her own safety. These bombs were
temporarily left in the charge of the German wireless operator to whom
the Spanish officer found an opportunity of communicating a message to
the effect that he was wanted immediately on the bridge. The ruse was
successful, for the operator promptly obeyed the instruction, and in his
temporary absence all the bombs were thrown overboard. The German
commander, Lieutenant Rose, was furious. He held an investigation next
day and asked each prisoner if he knew anything about the bombs. When
the Spanish Chief Officer's turn came he answered:
"Yes; I threw them overboard. I'll tell you why. It was not for me,
Captain Rose, but for the women and little children. I am not afraid of
you. You can shoot me if you want to, but you can't drown the little
children."
Rose confined him to his room, and the next time the Igotz Mendi met the
Wolf, Commander Nerger sentenced him to three years in a German military
prison.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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