Five Months on a German Raider: Being the Adventures of an Englishman Captured by the 'Wolf'Trayes, Frederic George
History
Five Months on a German Raider: Being the Adventures of an Englishman Captured by the 'Wolf'
Trayes, Frederic George
World War, 1914-1918 -- Personal narratives; World War, 1914-1918 -- Prisoners and prisons, German
She had been one of the Hansa line before the war, called the
_Wachfels_, was about 6,000 tons, single screw, with a speed of about
ten knots at the outside. She had been thoroughly adapted for her work
as a raider, had four torpedo tubes and six guns (said to be 4.7), with
concrete emplacements, not to mention machine and smaller guns--to be
used against the prisoners if they should attempt escape, etc.--none of
which could be seen by a passing ship, to which the _Wolf_ looked, as
she was intended to look, exactly like an innocent neutral tramp painted
black. This was in itself a camouflage--she needed no other. When in
action her bulwarks dropped, giving free play to her guns and torpedoes.
There was telephonic communication between her bridge and every gun and
every part of the ship; she carried a huge searchlight, her masts and
funnel were telescopic, and she could rig an extra funnel. She carried
large supplies of bombs, hand grenades, rifles and small arms; had
hospitals with two doctors on board; the officers had the best and most
powerful binoculars; among her crew of more than three hundred were
representatives of every trade; she was thoroughly well equipped in
every way, and absolutely nothing seemed to have been forgotten. There
were, it was said, only three of the officers who were Imperial Navy
men; the Commander, the Artillery Officer, and the Lieutenant in charge
of the prisoners. All the other officers and a great many of the crew
were from the German mercantile marine, who had travelled with, mixed
with, and lived with Englishmen in many parts of the world. To this we
undoubtedly owed the kindly treatment we received on board, treatment
which was infinitely better than we expected to receive. The majority of
the officers and men were certainly kindly disposed towards us. There is
no doubt, however, that the fear we might be taken by a British cruiser
also had something to do with this treatment, for if we had been treated
badly the Germans knew they would have had cause to regret it had they
been captured.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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