Five Months on a German Raider - Being the Adventures of an Englishman Captured by the 'Wolf' by Frederic George Trayes
page 38 of 125 (30%)
page 38 of 125 (30%)
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We felt more like prisoners than ever! The crew and their belongings,
the Japanese stewards and theirs, moved over to the _Wolf_ in the afternoon, and at 5 p.m. on November 6th the _Wolf_ sheered off, leaving the _Hitachi_ deserted, but for the German Captain and officers, and the bombing party who were to send her to the bottom next day. Both ships remained where they were for the night, abreast of and about four hundred yards distant from each other. At 9 a.m. on November 7th they moved off and manoeuvred. The Germans did not intend to sink the _Hitachi_ where she was, but in deep water. To do this they had to sail some distance from the Nazareth Bank. The _Hitachi_ hoisted the German Imperial Navy flag, and performed a kind of naval goose-step for the delectation of the _Wolf_. At 1 p.m. the flag was hauled down, both ships stopped, and the _Hitachi_ blew off steam for the last time. There were still a few people on her, and the _Wolf's_ motor launch made three trips between the two ships before the German Captain and bombing officer left the _Hitachi_. Three bombs had been placed for her destruction, one forward outside the ship on the starboard side, one amidships inside, and one aft on the port side outside the ship. At 1.33 p.m. the Captain arrived alongside the _Wolf_, at 1.34 the first bomb exploded with a dull subdued roar, sending up a high column of water; the explosion of the other bombs followed at intervals of a minute, so that by 1.36 the last bomb had exploded. All on the _Wolf_ now stood watching the _Hitachi's_ last struggle with the waves, a struggle which, thanks to her murderers, could have but one end; and the German officers stood on the _Wolf's_ deck taking photos at different stages of the tragedy. There the two ships now rested, the murderer and the victim, alone on the ocean, with no help for the one and no avenging justice for the other. The _Wolf_ was secure from all interference--nothing could |
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