On the German Raider Wolf SHETLAND OFFICER S EXPERIENCES. Running the Gauntlet from the Pacific to the Baltic.

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1 T h e W o lf S h e t l a n d s W a r P a g e 1 Shetland News 20 February 1919 page 4 On the German Raider Wolf SHETLAND OFFICER S EXPERIENCES. Running the Gauntlet from the Pacific to the Baltic. We publish below a very interesting interview which a representative of the Shetland News has had with Mr Peter Isbister, who was sailing second officer of the s.s. Wairuna at the time she was captured by the German raider Wolf. Mr Isbister is a son of Mr and Mrs Thomas Isbister, formerly of Freefield, Lerwick, but who for a number of years have been residing in New Zealand, and who were very well known and highly respected in Lerwick. After release from his long captivity in German hands, extending to a total of about 19 months, Mr Isbister took a run north for the purpose of visiting his many friends in the town. Mr Isbister said he was sailing Second Officer on the Wairuna, a steamer of 6000 gross tons, owned by the Union Steamship Coy., New Zealand. We were bound from New Zealand, he continued, for San Francisco with a general cargo, and we were captured by the Wolf on 1st June, 1917, when passing Sunday Island, about 500 miles north-east of New Zealand. Sunday Island is in the Kermedec group (uninhabited). About 5 o clock in the evening we were passing this island in order to set a good course for Frisco. As we approached Sunday Island we observed the two masts of a steamer lying behind a low headland. THE RAIDER S SEAPLANE. At first we thought it was a vessel ashore, but no sooner had we opened her up than a seaplane shot out from her side and flew right over us. He first dropped a couple of bombs about 50 yards ahead, and then, descending almost to our masts, dropped a small package on our decks. When opened this package was found to contain orders to stop immediately or the German cruiser would instantly open fire. Simultaneously

2 T h e W o lf S h e t l a n d s W a r P a g e 2 the raider the Wolf, as it turned out to be dropped her bulwarks and exposed her seven 6 inch guns and two torpedo tubes on either side. She was a large vessel of 10,000 tons, but looked exactly like an ordinary tramp. We were unarmed and had no means of defence whatever, so there was nothing for it but to obey orders. The Wolf was only a mile away and was already steaming out towards us. Her boarding party came alongside and ordered the captain and three officers to leave the ship within half an hour. We were taken on board the Wolf, where the first thing they did was to strip us of our clothing, which they put into a disinfecting drum. We eventually got a few rags to cover us while our clothing was being fumigated. When we got below we found about 50 other men, the crews of three other ships which had been captured or sunk. One of these three the Germans had made into a mine-layer, but she was subsequently sunk. BETWEEN DECKS FULL OF MINES. The area between decks of the raider was full of mines. She had loaded a large cargo of mines prior to leaving Germany, and we learned that she had laid quite a lot of them before we were captured, chiefly round Cape Town, Colombo and outside Bombay. There were still a large number of mines on board, however, and there were rails running fore and aft leading to the shoots on either quarter, from which they were dropped overboard. The mines between decks did not leave very much accommodation for prisoners, and their presence also left very unpleasant feelings when we reflected that a shell might hit the raider. About the time we came on board, tea was being served, and we were invited to come along and view the food. We could smell it all right. It consisted of black coffee without either sugar or milk, and black bread. The flour had gone bad on them and the bread was pretty ripe. For the first two or three days we could not eat anything, but at last hunger forced us to take our share of the food. The next day the Wolf went alongside the Wairuna and took 1200 tons of her coal. On the second day of our captivity a New Zealander and an Irishman, the mate and second engineer, respectively, of the first ship captured by the raider, the Turritella, an Anglo-Saxon oil tanker, escaped from the Wolf. The sea was full of sharks, and

3 T h e W o lf S h e t l a n d s W a r P a g e 3 whether they got ashore to Sunday Island or not we never learned. These men preferred the risk of swimming through a mile of shark-infested water to captivity on the German ship, but I fear the poor fellows never survived. Because of the escape, or attempted escape, of these two men, all the other prisoners were strafed for 21 days. Unbroken confinement below in the terrible heat, together with the other punishment inflicted, was nothing short of hellish. We could not have survived it much longer. BENZINE FOR THE SEAPLANE. We lay 14 days at Sunday Island, during which time the Germans took everything they wanted from the Wairuna, including all the coal and provisions. On the fifteenth day the Wolf had just got this accomplished when an American schooner hove in sight. She turned out to be the Winslow, bound for Samoa with coals, fire-bricks and benzine. The benzine was the very thing the Germans needed for their seaplane. They speedily emptied the American of her coals and benzine and then sank her. We then left this locality and headed for Cape Farewell spit and the North Cape. Mines were laid in the traffic routes, and then the Wolf shaped a course for the Australian coast and laid 30 mines off Gabo island, in the track between Sydney and England. A big steamer belonging to the Federal Houlder Line struck one of these mines, but the crew managed to get her beached, although she eventually became a wreck. The Wolf then ran round the north of Australia, and while lying in the vicinity of German New Guinea a wireless message from Sydney was intercepted, stating that the Mantuga, belonging to the Burns Phillips Line, had left Sydney with a cargo of provisions and coal for the garrison at Rabaul. The Wolf waited ten days till this vessel came up, and of course the Germans captured her and took her to a little island north of New Guinea. In a little land-locked harbour the Sydney steamer was discharged, everything that could be of use to the Germans being taken out of her. This work occupied 14 days, and we remained in the little harbour all that time. They actually took the copper steam pipes of the decks, the brass ports, and everything that could possibly be moved. Thereafter the Mantuga was taken out and sunk in deep water.

4 T h e W o lf S h e t l a n d s W a r P a g e 4 A CRUISER THAT ASKED NO QUESTIONS. The Wolf then wended her way up through the Celebes Islands and up around the north coast of Australia. She steamed up the Java Sea with the object of laying mines at Singapore. On the way up the Java Sea we passed a cruiser. There was great alarm and excitement on board, and all hands were mustered. The guns crews were summoned to action stations and the torpedo men stood by their tubes. The cruiser, however, went past without asking any questions, and we proceeded on to Singapore, where the Germans laid 100 mines. We then came back through the Java Sea and through the Sunda Straits into the Indian Ocean. Passing Sumatra we were so close to the shore that we could see towns and villages. During this time the Wolf was in very narrow waters. FIRE OPENED ON BIG JAPANESE SHIP. We had been in the Indian Ocean two or three days when we sighted the big Japanese mail-boat Hitachi Maru, bound for London with a very valuable cargo. She also had 30 or 40 passengers on board. The seaplane went up and stopped the Jap, and when the two ships came nearer the German gunners fired a shell which went right through the wireless house. The fire was continued until the steamer s decks were practically swept, the seaplane meanwhile bombing the hapless ship. The Hitachi Maru had a gun, but she never got a shot fired. Here three gun s crews were wiped out in succession as they made for the gun. Many of the Japanese were killed and others jumped overboard. While this incident was taking place, and also at all other times that vessels were being fired on, we prisoners were kept below. The order was always given beforehand that we were to be battened down. At other times, when there was nothing doing, so to speak, we were allowed on deck. When they got the Japanese ship rendered harmless they put a prize crew on board her and took her into the Maldive Islands, about 200 miles off Cape Comorin, to the south of India. They then took a big quantity of cargo out of her, including copper and tin, rubber, dried hides, etc., and also quantities of Eastern produce. After taking what they wanted the Germans left the Jap steamer at Maldive Islands in charge of a Lieutenant and 30 of a prize crew.

5 T h e W o lf S h e t l a n d s W a r P a g e 5 Sufficient of her crew were also left to act as firemen, and many of the passengers were allowed to remain. Some of the older prisoners, the women, and the invalids on the Wolf were also put on the Hitachi Maru. A WIRELESS WARNING. The Wolf then went back into the Indian Ocean in search of a collier. We saw a big vessel which reported by wireless that she had passed a suspicious looking vessel. After reading this message the Wolf immediately returned to the Maldive Islands. The seaplane was sent ahead with orders to the Lieut. in charge of the Japanese steamer to get up steam and proceed with all speed to Chagos Island. The Wolf went on to Chagos, too, and anchored off the island. The commander then changed his mind and took all the passengers and crew from the Hitachi Maru, and took her outside and sank her. The raider s next move was to lie in the track between Delgoa Bay and Colombo. Here he stopped a Spanish collier i with 6000 tons of coal bound for Colombo. The collier was taken back to Chagos where her bunkers were emptied into the Wolf. The women and children and older and sick prisoners on the raider were then transferred to the Spaniard, along with a German prize crew. The Wolf again put to sea, and both ships were to meet at Trinidad Island, in the South Atlantic. In the intervals between securing cargoes of coal, provisions, etc., the Wolf sank three or four other steamers. Their crews and any passengers they had on board were, of course, taken on to the Wolf, so that the prisoners were rapidly mounting up. THE VOYAGE THROUGH THE ATLANTIC. The Wolf was approaching the island at daybreak one morning, and about 8 o clock the same evening wireless messages were intercepted. From these messages it appeared that two warships were in the vicinity of Trinidad Island wirelessing to each other. The raider once about ship and steamed back 80 or a 100 miles the way she had come. Meeting the Spaniard again all the coal was taken out of the latter at

6 T h e W o lf S h e t l a n d s W a r P a g e 6 sea, and the two ships again parted company. The collier went on ahead, and at a distance of about 100 miles kept a sort of look-out for the Wolf, a wireless installation having previously been set up in the Spanish ship by the Germans. The two vessels thus went right through the South Atlantic and the North Atlantic, cutting across all the big trade routes. It was blowing gales all the time, accompanied by snow, and luck favoured the enemy right through. This was in February, We passed about 240 miles west of Shetland and went up round the west side of Iceland, and here we overtook the Spanish ship which had been going on ahead of us. An attempt to go round the north of Iceland was unsuccessful, owing to the large amount of heavy ice that was driving about. The German commander therefore took both his ships round the south of Iceland, and dashing right across made the Norwegian coast about 100 miles north of Bergen. We hugged the Norwegian coast closely right down to the Naze, turned up the Skaggerack, always keeping close to the shore, went through the Sound into the Great Belt, and finally reached Kiel. The last few days were very exciting, as much so for us as for the Germans. If British warships had been encountered there is no doubt we would all have been wiped out. WOLF S GREAT RECEPTION AT KIEL. We lay off Kiel for three or four days. Scurvy was pretty bad among the prisoners on board for want of vegetables and fresh food. Some of the men had turned almost black and their teeth were falling out. There were in all 70 bad cases of scurvy, but everyone of us had a touch of it. The Germans sent some bags of potatoes on board, and these we literally devoured. We just broke the up and ate them raw. During this interval the German authorities were preparing a great reception for the Wolf on the successful conclusion of her 15 months cruise. Eventually the Wolf steamed into Kiel between two lines formed by the High Sea Fleet. The crews of the battleships, cruisers, etc., were drawn up on the sterns and all cheered lustily as the raider steamed slowly past. Motor launches and pinnaces were flying hither and thither, and altogether the Wolf got a great reception. At Kiel we lay alongside the other German raider Moewe, and met quite a number of her prisoners.

7 T h e W o lf S h e t l a n d s W a r P a g e 7 The following day Prince Henry of Prussia came on board to congratulate the German commander and his men. All the worst cases of scurvy were then taken ashore to hospital. The Wolf had a crew of 400 officers and men all told, but 25 of them were killed in a gun accident. They were firing a shell in order to stop a ship when the breach of the gun blew out. During her 15 months cruise she had sunk 14 ships, and the crews of these numbered about 500. There was only one other Shetlander on board the raider, John Moncrieff ii of Trondra, who was mate of the ship the Germans were stopping when the gun accident occurred. THE FATE OF THE SPANISH COLLIER. I should have stated that in running the gauntlet to the Baltic, the Spanish ship which was accompanying us went ashore on the Danish coast. The German prize crew were interned, and the seamen prisoners, the women and children, older men and invalids who were on her were sent back to England via Lerwick. The vessel which took them across, I believe, lay for a day outside the Knab. The day following the removal of the scurvy patients to hospital all the officers prisoners were sent to Karlsruhe, in Baden. At the big distribution camp here we were sorted out and sent to different places in Germany. I was taken to the camp at Brandenburg, near Berlin, and was three or four months. It was a very bad camp in every respect. They then sent me to Schweidnitz, iii in Silesia, where there was a great improvement in our conditions. It was an officers camp, and the British Government paid so much for our keep, so that we managed very well. Capt. Blaikie, an Aberdonian, the master of the Caledonia, who was to be shot by the Germans for trying to ram a submarine, was at this camp, but a message came from Mr Lloyd George saying that if Blaikie was shot the British would shoot Capt. Mueller. The Germans did not shoot Blaikie. I remained at the Silesian camp until the 23rd December last, when all the prisoners there were released, and on the 27th reached Warnemunde, on the Baltic coast, and crossed to Denmark in a ferry. We got a splendid reception in Denmark and were very kindly treated by the people. After staying in a hotel outside Copenhagen until the 30th we were eventually put on board

8 T h e W o lf S h e t l a n d s W a r P a g e 8 a transport and arrived at Leith on 2nd January I took the first boat north and reached old Lerwick on 5th January. TREATMENT OF PRISONERS AT SEA. Questioned as to the sort of food they got while at sea on the Wolf, Mr Isbister said it consisted chiefly of rice and beans, together with a sort of bully beef pie and a miserable sort of coffee. The Germans got a lot of condensed milk from one ship, he said, and we frequently got milk soup. The biscuits given us were uneatable. They could go round the table themselves! We kicked up a row about this, so the Germans smashed them up and boiled them in the condensed milk, and this stuff was served to us as soup. We were allowed only two pints of water per day for drinking, cleaning and washing our clothes, and it did not go very far. Everything considered, however, I must say that they were very good to us. They gave us what they could, and it was only natural that any fresh meat or vegetables they got from vessels sunk was retained for themselves. All the potatoes they captured were nothing, among 800 or 900 men. Whenever a ship was being captured or fired at, and also while returning through the Atlantic and steaming back to Germany, we were provided with life-belts in case of emergency. I WILL NEVER FORGIVE OR FORGET. Mr Isbister added that he kept a very complete diary during the Wolf s cruise, but the Germans destroyed it on their arrival at Kiel, and also took their sextants and other instruments. He considered that the treatment of prisoners in Germany very bad, and said that a great many would have died but for the work of the British Red Cross. The Germans in reality had no food worth speaking of to give their prisoners. I will never forgive or forget the brutes, he said, although I was treated better than many. In reply to a few final questions, Mr Isbister said the name of the commander of the

9 T h e W o lf S h e t l a n d s W a r P a g e 9 Wolf was Captain Nerger, iv a naval officer. He added that although Nerger had a lot of luck he was undoubtedly a very smart man. Describing some of the other officers, he said that many of them had formerly been on British ships and were hard cases. One of them said to Mr Isbister that he hoped he would never reach Germany, because he would be put on a submarine. The prisoners called one of the officers Davy. The latter also said he did not want to return to Germany. I can get food on this ship, he would say, but I will get little or nothing in Germany. GERMAN OFFICERS FUTILE PLAN TO INTERN THE WOLF. Mr Isbister told of a remarkable incident which occurred about the time the return voyage to Germany was planned. The officers wanted to intern the ship rather than go back, and a meeting was held to arrange the internment. Capt. Nerger, however, would not hear of interning. He was an ambitious man, and he considered that the honour of getting back to Kiel was worth the risk of running the gauntlet of the Atlantic and North Sea. His was the deciding voice, and so the return voyage proceeded and was successful. Mr Isbister is now waiting instructions when to join a new cargo ship belonging to the Union Coy. He expects to leave Lerwick in a few days and join his new ship en route for his home in New Zealand. We are sure that the numerous friends of this very popular young officer, who has had such a unique and extraordinary war experience, having been about nine months a prisoner in German hands on the sea and ten months on land, will join in wishing him a safe voyage back to New Zealand and health and prosperity in the future. i This vessel was the Igotz Mendi. ii Captain John James Moncrieff, Taing, Trondra ( ). iii Now Świdnica, Poland. iv Karl August Nerger ( ).