of us worked up enthusiasm enough to make a little noise, but the
situation was so depressing that we soon subsided. Not so our German
crew, however. They held high festival in the Engineer's mess, having a
bowl full of punch, whose chief recommendation was that its foundation
was "Aguadenti" and it had an awful kick. The Spanish Engineer, who
had a splendid voice, sang several songs, and the German sailors sang
patriotic songs. At about two o'clock on New Year's morning, some one
woke me up by shoving a bottle of wine through the port-hole for me,
and later on around three A.M. another bottle made its appearance. Some
of the German sailor boys had imagined we were not happy because we
had no wine. The gifts were received in the spirit in which they were
sent. This was by no means the only act of kindness shown my family
and myself by the members of the crew. In fact, throughout the trip,
officers and crew, with the single exception of Lieutenant Rose, were
very friendly toward us. The American contingent was decidedly popular,
though they had no use for the rest. As an illustration, on my birthday
on January 25th several members of the crew came and presented me with
presents in the form of bottles of wine, and even Rose came across
with a box of cigars. Several of the German crew had lived in America
for many years; two had even taken out their first papers. And all of
these talked enthusiastically of going back to America as soon as the
war was over.
I was very much interested in trying to find out just what the German
opinion was of America coming into the war. Lieut. Rose used to stick
his chest up in the air and say that the United States' coming in
wouldn't make any difference in the ultimate outcome of the war, and
that the only difference it would make was that the States would lose
a lot of men and money. Just the same, I am of the opinion that Rose
knew that America's coming in spelled the finish of Germania, though
of course he wouldn't admit it. One day at the table he said that the
"Star Spangled Banana," as he loved to call our flag, was only a joke
and that it looked like a gridiron to him. I made the remark that
possibly the stars and stripes would not prove the joke he imagined.
My retorts to sallies of this kind were very moderate, as I considered
I was in no position to argue the point with him, and didn't want to
lose any of my liberties. I was always afraid to start an argument
with him, as I am very hot-headed and knew that in the event of a row I
was sure to get the worst of it eventually. Rose used to laugh at the
American soldier, saying we were crazy to imagine that we could take
a man and make a soldier out of him in a year, that at best these men
would only be cannon fodder, that Germany had proved it takes three
years to make a soldier, also that our submarines were mere toys, and
that as for submarine defense, just as soon as we figured out some
Yankee patent to protect our ships, they (Germany) would invent some
other way to destroy them. Rose believed that the submarine would
eventually decide the war. It was pretty hard to sit at the same table
and hear an enemy slam the American government and not to be able to
"hit back" or even "argue" the point.
On January 20th, in latitude 33 degrees north and longitude 40 degrees
west, we again met the _Wolf_, and, the weather being exceptionally
fine and the sea very smooth, the _Wolf_ came alongside and we
transferred some 800 tons of coal to her. Each vessel's side was well
supplied with large fenders or bumpers made of large coils of rope,
so that when the vessels would bump together they would do as little
damage as possible. Even under these favourable circumstances, however,
the vessels rolled and tossed around a great deal, and occasionally
some very severe crashes were experienced; but Commander Nerger,
realizing how great was his need for coal, and knowing it might be
months before he would get as smooth sea again, held on and worked
every man available despite the heavy bumping that was damaging both
vessels. The gang of men on the _Wolf_ trimming the coal in the bunkers
could not handle the coal as fast as the other gang brought it to them,
so, rather than delay the coaling, to save every minute, they dumped
the coal on deck; and when the vessels were forced to part owing to
the increasing swells, both guns and both torpedo tubes on the after
deck were covered with coal. If a cruiser had happened along at that
particular moment, the _Wolf's_ after battery would have been out of
commission. However, these conditions did not continue long, as all
hands worked feverishly at the job until all the coal was under decks.
After the two vessels had parted, we took stock of damages and found
that several frames or ribs in the side of _Igotz Mendi_ were broken,
that some plates on her side were badly stove in. These flattened or
stove-in places varied in size from six feet to forty feet in length.
Luckily all our damage was above water line, and the vessel leaked only
when rolling heavily, or when a big sea was running. The _Wolf_ was
also damaged, having several frames broken and four plates cracked. She
was leaking eleven tons of water per hour, while we averaged about one
and one-half tons per hour.
From this point the two vessels separated after arranging another and
final rendezvous at latitude 61 degrees north and longitude 33 degrees
west, a point some little distance southwest of Iceland. The weather
from now commenced to get colder and we with our impoverished blood and
scanty clothing commenced to feel the cold keenly.
Then came another heartbreaking disappointment. Be it remembered that
our daily prayer and hope was that we would meet a cruiser before
we got into the extremely cold weather, where the suffering in the
life-boats would be intense.
On January 24th the weather was very overcast, and drizzly, and
inclined to be squally--regular Channel weather. I was lying in my bunk
reading a four months' old newspaper printed in Africa, when at about
five bells (2.30 P.M.) my wife came to my door and said: "Stan, there
is a cruiser with four funnels just ahead of us." I thought she was
kidding, and said: "All right, Mamie, tell them to reserve an outside
room for me." I then looked at her and saw she was white as a sheet. I
jumped up, knowing immediately there was "something doing." Just as I
hit the floor, the Professor stuck his head in at the door and said:
"My God, Captain, a cruiser at last." I ran out on deck and there just
on the edge of a rain squall was what appeared to be a four-funnelled
cruiser. Just about this time the Spanish second mate, who was on the
bridge, discovered her, and a sailor ran into Lieutenant Rose's room
calling him to come to the deck. As soon as I looked at the cruiser
through my glasses, I saw that instead of being one four-funnelled
cruiser, it was two American army transports, both of them heavily
armed with what appeared to be big guns. There was great confusion
amongst the Germans, and in a few seconds two of them (armed) chased
us into our cabins in no uncertain manner. We altered our course in
such a manner as to pass under the stern of the two transports, and
they were less than a mile from us when they crossed our bow. They paid
absolutely no attention to us, and in a few minutes were swallowed up
in the fog and lost to sight. My God, you can't imagine how I felt
after hoping and praying and building on running across a cruiser, not
for days but for months, and when we at last did meet two of them,
they passed calmly on, not even signalling, nor asking who we were. It
was certainly disappointing. And then to have to sit at the same table
and see Rose sitting with that "Chessy" cat smile of smug complacency
on his ugly Prussian mug. Previous to this episode, he frequently made
remarks about the Stars and Stripes, and after this incident, he never
lost an opportunity to refer to it. Just the same the Germans were a
badly frightened bunch. The first thing they did on seeing the supposed
cruisers was to run to their quarters and put on their good clothes,
fully expecting to be the guests of the American government. The next
thing they thought of was their bombs, and the bomb man going to get
them, found that they were gone. Somebody had stolen them. Holy Poker,
wasn't there hell to pay! If words, looks or wishes could have killed
we would all have been crucified where we stood.
This bomb episode, at this time, was as much a mystery to us prisoners
as it was to Lieutenant Rose. For some reason or other my fellow
prisoners must have thought that I was the guilty party, because every
time I would meet one of them on deck and start talking, he would
excuse himself, having pressing business elsewhere. They seemed to
be afraid that if they were seen talking to me that they would be
"accessories after the act" and liable to punishment. I was greatly
flattered to think that these people thought I was "hero" enough for a
job of this description, but nevertheless I could not help thinking of
how much assistance or co-operation I could have got from this crowd in
case I had undertaken something along these lines.
The following day Lieutenant Rose held an investigation to find out
"who stole the bombs." We were all chased out of the dining room on to
the cold iron deck in a drizzling rain while this investigation was
being held behind closed doors. However, I had not been on board the
_Igotz Mendi_ for this length of time without knowing my way about
and managed to get an "ear full." When the Spanish Chief Officer
was called, Rose asked him if he knew anything about the bombs. He
answered: "Yes, I threw them overboard. I'll tell 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
we met the _Wolf_ Commander Nerger sentenced him to three years'
imprisonment in a German military prison. I consider this a very brave
act of the Spaniard's and wish that I were in a position to show some
substantial appreciation of his humane heroism. After this incident
our guards were doubled and we were chased off the deck if anything
appeared on the horizon.
One day the Spanish Chief Officer, Mr. ----, told me the details of
this episode. At the time of the cruiser alarm he was asleep in his
bunk and was wakened by the unusual amount of noise. As soon as he saw
the supposed cruisers he ran to the wireless room, under the bridge,
where the bombs were kept. This room had two doors, one on each side.
Luckily the side he entered on was the side towards which the wireless
operator, who was intently "listening in" for signals from the other
vessels, had his back turned to. ---- reached under the table, secured
the bombs and went outside again, where he threw them into the sea. The
wireless operator never turned around, thinking that it was the "bomb
man" who had come after his bombs. ---- reached the deck and back to
his room without being observed by any of the Germans. He said he owned
up to the stealing of the bombs so that nobody else would get into
trouble.
A peculiarity of this case was that some time previous to this,
shortly after the _Igotz Mendi_ was taken charge of by the Germans,
I had approached ---- on the subject of trying, should a favourable
opportunity occur, to take charge of the vessel. I did not receive any
encouragement along these lines and was afraid to go into the matter
any further with him. I put it down as a case of cold feet.
Mr. ----, an ex-second officer of a captured British steamer, who
was an invalid who had just come through three months' siege in
the hospital on the _Wolf_, and I, had gone into the details of an
enterprise of this kind, but unfortunately while this Britisher had
the heart of a lion, he was physically unfit for anything as strenuous
as this undertaking, and the matter was dropped, against his will,
although he would admit that he might keel over any time. If the
British army has many chaps like this in it, Kaiser Bill is surely
going to catch hell. It is my belief that at this particular time,
owing to certain conditions that existed, four good two handed men
could have taken charge of the _Igotz Mendi_ and probably would not
have met with much resistance, except possibly from Lieutenant Rose,
and I am sure it would have been a pleasure to tap him on the head.
The co-operation of the Spanish crew could not be depended on at
this time, as they believed that in a couple of weeks they were to be
free again, after coaling the _Wolf_ at Trinidad Island.
[Illustration:
AMERICAN SCHOONER "WINSLOW" BEING TAKEN INTO SUNDAY ISLAND AFTER
CAPTURE BY THE SEAPLANE ON JUNE 7TH. IN THE BACKGROUND IS THE NEW
ZEALAND STEAMER "WIARUMA" GOING OUT TO SEA TO BE SUNK BY THE "WOLF".]
[Illustration:
THE BLOWING UP OF THE AMERICAN SCHOONER "WINSLOW." 566 GROSS TONS.
CAPT. TRUDGETT. SUNK JUNE 21ST OFF SUNDAY ISLAND BY FOUR BOMBS AND
THIRTY-NINE SHELLS.]
After the Trinidad Island disappointment, conditions were such that the
taking of the ship by any of us, even with the unreliable co-operation
of the Spanish crew, was not feasible.
The weather now was intensely cold and we all suffered intensely,
as there was no heat of any kind in the cabins. Our bedding was
continually wet and garments taken off on going to bed would be sopping
wet in the morning from the "sweat" that gathered on the walls and
ceilings. Personally I beat this part of the game by taking my clothes
to bed with me. The food question, too, was getting serious, as owing
to the cold weather we required more food to keep our bodies warm.
The statement has been repeatedly made in the papers in Europe that
on the _Igotz Mendi_ the prisoners had the same food as the German
Commander and crew. Let me show you how it was in reality. Eleven of
us sat down at the first table with Rose at the head. The one platter
started with him. He helped the party (a friend of his) on his right
first, himself next, and passed the plate to the party on his left.
This man was a glutton, and was without shame. These three people got
very nearly and sometimes fully half of the contents of the platter;
what was left was divided amongst the remaining eight, including five
males, two women, and a little six year old child. If we asked for
more, we were reminded that we were short of provisions and had to
make them last. If the platter of food had been equally divided, and
we had all shared alike, it would not have been so bad, but under
this heads-I-win-tails-you-lose division I have got up from the table
actually hungry. It is an awful sensation suddenly to realise that you
actually covet the food another person is eating.
We continued in a northerly direction until February 5th, when we again
met the _Wolf_, and owing to the bomb incident, sixteen additional
Germans were sent on board with their side arms and clothing--but no
additional food was sent with them. We now had eighty-two souls on
board the _Igotz Mendi_ all told. Lieutenant Wolf, division lieutenant
of the _Wolf_, was also sent on board to assist Rose. Lieutenant Wolf
took over the control of the food and the cook's department, and made
an honest effort to better things, which did improve somewhat, at least
to the extent that on bean meals we frequently got all we wanted; but
he was also the inventor of a weird concoction known as "Billposter's
paste" and for this last crime I will never forgive him. Otherwise he
was a decent and fair-minded officer. After his arrival, favouritism
was abolished and we all got a square deal.
On February 6th the _Wolf_ left us and was never seen again by any of
us. We then started to go around the northern end of Iceland, but met
ice and were forced back. We ran south for a couple of days and waited
around to see if the _Wolf_ made it or not, and as she did not return,
we concluded she had either got through or passed to the southward
of Iceland, chancing the blockade. The cold here was very intense and
caused a lot of suffering amongst us. Helped by some of the German
sailors, I fixed a place in an empty bunker, where my wife, Nita and
myself practically lived, only going in the cabin for meals and to
sleep. Lieutenant Rose had canvas put up here for us and lights put in
so that I could lie there and read, and the wife could sit and sew.
Nita of course enjoyed the comparative warmth. The only drawback was
that the air was full of fine coal dust and gas from the fire room, and
we used to get frightfully dirty.
On February 12th we again tried to get to the northward of Iceland, but
again met ice and had to return. Rose was forced to go to the southward
of Iceland, as he could not waste any more time, since the supply of
drinking water was getting very low.
Now that we were about to actually enter the blockade zone, our hopes
commenced to rise. I heard nothing from my fellow prisoners for the
past six months but: "Just wait until they try to run the British
blockade." I heard this so often that I got to believe it and used to
figure the only chance the Germans had to get through was if it was
foggy weather, and then if he was lucky he might slip through.
We ran the blockade between the Faroes and Iceland in fine clear
weather, and did not even see any smoke. So I commenced to think that
it was quite possible, it being winter, that the British weren't
paying much attention to this particular spot and were keeping cases
on the Norwegian Coast, especially in that district around the Naze
at the southern extremity of Norway. On the night of February 18th we
received a wireless from Berlin that the _Wolf_ had arrived safely and
on February 19th we picked up the Norwegian Coast, some sixty miles
north of Bergen. From here we proceeded down the coast, bucking a heavy
head wind and sea, at about five knots per hour, passing inside the
light on the island outside Stavanger, and thence down the coast and
around the Naze. During this time it was fine and clear weather, and
a cruiser could have seen us at twenty miles distance easily; but the
only vessels we saw were a Stavanger pilot boat and a Danish passenger
vessel bound northward. We were a disgusted bunch and no mistake. For
myself, I was sore; I was afraid to speak to anybody. Here I had been
kidding myself and letting others kid me that when I got this far,
somebody would surely pick me up. And then to come down this coast in
beautiful clear weather and not even see anything resembling a patrol
boat was very disappointing to say the least.
From here on all I could see ahead of me was the Gates of Germany and
the certainty of spending from one to five years a hungry prisoner in
a Teuton detention camp. I would have sold out cheap at this time,
believe me. By this time I had given up all hopes of getting free and
had reconciled myself to going to Germany.... If it had not been for
the family I would have jumped overboard and had a swim for neutral
land at some place when we passed fairly close.
The following day while crossing from Norway to the northern end of
Denmark, Jutland, it set in foggy and Lieutenant Rose was strutting
around with a smile on his mug, saying: "Just the weather I want;
made to order; I am all right now." I didn't argue the point with
him, as I thought he was right. About 3.30 in the afternoon we picked
up a fog whistle ahead, of the character we call a "blatter" on the
Pacific Coast. I was standing on deck just under the bridge, talking
to Rose. I nodded my head toward the signal and asked him what it was,
and he said: "Oh, that is the lightship." I thought at the time it
was a peculiar character for a lightship, but dismissed the thought,
thinking, "different ships, different fashions."
Rose had told the British Colonel that this signal was a German torpedo
boat with which he had arranged a meeting, and that the Colonel had
gone inside to tell the rest of the prisoner passengers, which would
give them all a scare. He also suggested that I should go inside and
tell them it was a U-boat, and that I recognised the sound of her
signal. I laughed, and told him I had made so many remarks regarding
the blockade that I was afraid to speak to them. Shortly after this I
went into my cabin and was standing looking out of the port-hole and
talking to my wife, when I noticed that we had altered our course, by
the bearing of the fog signal, and knew that Rose wanted to pass the
lightship close aboard. Suddenly I felt the vessel smell the bottom. I
looked at the wife and said: "Holy Poker! I thought I felt her smell
the bottom." No sooner had I said this than the _Igotz Mendi_ ran slap
bang on the beach, about 350 yards off shore and less than half mile
away from the lighthouse.
Rose's mistaking the lighthouse signal for the lightship's signal was a
lucky piece of business for us because I knew for an absolute certainty
when I felt the _Igotz Mendi_ had taken the beach that it would require
the assistance of a powerful tug to get her off again. I guess we
all realised just how much this stranding meant to us, and the very
nearness of freedom kept everybody quiet and busy with his own thoughts
and plans. I know that for one I had decided to get over the side and
swim for it, provided the vessel should give any indications of getting
off the beach.
Right after the stranding, the weather being foggy, we were allowed on
deck. One of the neutral sailors, a Dane named Jensen, identified the
spot where we were ashore and gave me the good news that the little
town of Skagen was only about two miles distant, and that one of the
best life-saving crews in Europe was stationed there. Sure enough, in
about an hour a life-boat drew up alongside. We were all chased inside
again. Rose invited the Captain of the life-boat on board, and took him
into the chart room just above the saloon for a drink and talk. Our
lady prisoners immediately commenced playing a game of "button, button,
who's got the button?" laughing and talking at the top of their voices,
so that this man on top of the saloon would know that there were women
on board. Also little Nita did a crying act that could be heard, I am
sure. Shortly Rose came down with a blank scowl on his face and said:
"You people can cut out the noise now, as the stranger has gone ashore."
Somebody asked Rose why he didn't introduce us to his friend, and
Rose answered: "What do you think I am--a fool?" Nobody went on
record with an opinion, so the matter was dropped. In the meantime,
Lieutenant Wolf had gone ashore and had 'phoned from the lighthouse
at Scow Point, where we were ashore, to a salvage company in Skagen,
saying that we were a German merchant ship bound from Bergen, Norway,
to Kiel, and that we had run ashore in the fog; and that if a tug was
sent immediately we could be pulled off easily, but if we were allowed
to lie any length of time, the ship would bed herself in the sand and
it would mean a long delay in getting off. I understand he offered
25,000 kroner for the job; at any rate, the manager of the salvage
company ordered his largest tug, the _Viking_, around, but instructed
his captain not to put a line on board until the manager had gone down
overland and investigated a little. Lieutenant Wolf in the meantime
returned on board and reported to Rose, who was immensely tickled and
told us that about midnight a tug would arrive from "a nearby town" and
pull us into deep water, and that by four o'clock in the morning at the
latest we would be on our way to Germany once more.