Ten months in a German raider

by John Stanley Cameron

New Year's eve we all sat up to see the New Year in, and one or two 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.