It must have been a trying and anxious time for both officers and men, while pursuing their quest, never knowing what force might suddenly be disclosed in opening out one of these harbours. From the weather usually experienced in these parts some idea may be formed of the discomforts. An officer in the Glasgow, writing of this period, says: "It blew, snowed, rained, hailed, and sleeted as hard as it is possible to do these things. I thought the ship would dive under altogether at times. It was a short sea, and very high, and doesn't suit this ship a bit. The Monmouth was rather worse, if anything, though not quite so wet. We were rolling 35 degrees, and quite useless for fighting purposes. The ship was practically a submarine."
Imagine, too, the position of the Otranto, searching these waters by herself, without the least hope of being able to fight on level terms with one of the enemy's light-cruisers. The words of one of her officers sum up the situation: "We finally got past caring what might happen," he said; "what with the strain, the weather, and the extreme cold, we longed to find something and to have it out, one way or the other."
When the depredations of the Karlsruhe became more numerous, the Admiralty dispatched ships—as could best be spared from watching other trade routes—to reinforce Admiral Cradock's command. Thus, what may be termed a second squadron was formed, consisting of the Canopus, Cornwall, Bristol, the armed P. & O. liner Macedonia, and the armed Orient liner Orama. This latter squadron carried out a fruitless search during September and October for the ever elusive Karlsruhe, but, so far as is known, did not succeed in getting near her, for she was never actually sighted. In the absence of orders from Admiral Cradock, the duties of Senior Naval Officer of this northern squadron frequently involved the consideration of matters of no little consequence. These duties primarily devolved upon the shoulders of Captain Fanshawe of the Bristol, who was succeeded on the arrival of the Canopus by Captain Heathcoat Grant. As the poor state of the engines of the Canopus did not enable her to steam at any speed, she remained at the base and directed operations, forming a valuable link with her wireless. Orders, however, were received from Admiral Cradock which necessitated her sailing on October 10th in order to join his southern squadron, so that Captain Fanshawe was again left in command.
On October 24th the Carnarvon (Captain H. L. d'E. Skipwith) arrived, flying the flag of Rear-Admiral A. P. Stoddart, who, though acting under the orders of Admiral Cradock, now took charge of the sweeping operations necessitated by our quest. Admiral Stoddart had previously been in command of the ships operating along our trade routes near the Cape Verde Islands, where the Carnarvon had not long before made a valuable capture, the German storeship Professor Woermann, filled with coal and ammunition.
The comparatively large number of men-of-war mentioned is accounted for by the fact that at this time the Karlsruhe began to make her presence felt by sinking more merchant ships, which caused no little apprehension amongst the mercantile communities in all the ports on the north and east coasts of South America, Brazilian firms at this period refusing to ship their goods in British bottoms, although some British vessels were lying in harbour awaiting cargoes. The German ship's activities were mainly confined to the neighbourhood of St. Paul's Rocks, Pernambuco, and the Equator.
It is not easy to put clearly the disposition of the ships acting under Admiral Cradock at this time, nor to give an adequate idea of the many disadvantages with which he had to contend. The difficulties of communication on the east coast of South America between his two squadrons were very great, on account of the long distances between them (often some thousands of miles and always greater than the range of our wireless). The only method found feasible was to send messages in code by means of passing British merchantmen—usually the Royal Mail liners. The inevitable result of this was that it was frequently impossible for Admiral Cradock to keep in touch with his northern squadron, and important matters of policy had thus to be decided on the spot, the Admiral being informed later.
On the rare occasions that our ships visited Brazilian ports, which were crowded with German shipping, the crews of these ships, having nothing better to do, would come and pull round our cruisers—in all probability cursing us heartily the while—much to the interest and amusement of our men. These visits could only take place at the most once every three months, when the opportunity of getting a good square meal at a civilised restaurant was hailed with delight by those officers who were off duty.
Our coaling base in these waters was admirably selected. There was sufficient anchorage for a large number of ships four or five miles from any land, but protected from anything but a heavy swell or sea by surrounding ledges of coral awash at low water. Sometimes colliers got slightly damaged by bumping against our ships when there was a swell, but in other respects it suited its purpose excellently. The Brazilians sent a destroyer to investigate once or twice, but could find nothing to arouse their susceptibilities, for our ships were always well outside the three-mile limit. Our sole amusement was fishing, frequently for sharks.
Towards the latter part of August, the armed merchant cruiser Carmania (Captain Noel Grant) was sent out to join Admiral Cradock's squadron with coal, provisions, and a large quantity of frozen meat, which was sadly needed. She was ordered by him to assist the Cornwall in watching Pernambuco on September 11th, as it was thought that the German storeship Patagonia was going to put to sea on September 11th to join the Karlsruhe. On her way south she got orders to search Trinidad Island in the South Atlantic to find out whether the Germans were making use of it as a coaling base, and there fell in with the German armed liner Cap Trafalgar, which she sank in a very gallant action that is described in a subsequent chapter.
The armed merchant cruiser Edinburgh Castle (Captain W. R. Napier) was sent out from England with drafts of seamen and boys, as well as provisions and stores for our men-of-war in these waters. On her arrival at the base on October 12th, she was detained on service to assist in the sweep that had been organised to search for the Karlsruhe. Some of us have pleasant recollections of excellent games of deck hockey played on the spacious promenade deck during her all too short stay with us.