Part 2 (1/2)

The _Hitachi_ was now in a sad condition; her glory was indeed departed and her end very near. We had our last meal in her stripped saloon that day at noon, and at one o'clock moved over on to the _Wolf_, the German sailors, aided by some neutrals, carrying our light cabin luggage for us. The Commander of the _Wolf_ himself superintended our crossing from one s.h.i.+p to the other, and he had had a gangway specially made for us.

We felt more like prisoners than ever! The crew and their belongings, the j.a.panese 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 s.h.i.+ps 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 s.h.i.+ps 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 s.h.i.+ps before the German Captain and bombing officer left the _Hitachi_. Three bombs had been placed for her destruction, one forward outside the s.h.i.+p on the starboard side, one amids.h.i.+ps inside, and one aft on the port side outside the s.h.i.+p. 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 s.h.i.+ps 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 avert the final tragedy. The many witnesses who would have helped the victim were powerless; we could but stand and watch with impotent fury and great sorrow and pity the inevitable fate to which the _Hitachi_ was doomed, and of which the captors and captives on the _Wolf_ were the only witnesses. But one man among us refused to look on--the j.a.panese Captain refused to be a spectator of the wilful destruction of his s.h.i.+p, which had so long been his home. Her sinking meant for him the utter destruction of his hopes and an absolute end to his career. The struggle was a long one--it was pathetic beyond words to watch it, and there was a choky feeling in many a throat on the _Wolf_--for some time it even seemed as if the _Hitachi_ were going to s.n.a.t.c.h one more victory from the sea; she seemed to be defying the efforts of the waves to devour her, as, gently rolling, she shook herself free from the gradually encroaching water; but she was slowly getting lower in the water, and just before two o'clock there were signs that she was settling fast. Her well deck forward was awash; we could see the waves breaking on it; exactly at two o'clock her bows went under, and soon her funnel was surrounded with swirling water; it disappeared, and with her propellers high in the air she dived slowly and slantingly down to her great grave, and at one minute past two the sea closed over her. Twenty-five minutes had elapsed since the explosion of the last bomb. The Germans said she and her cargo were worth a million sterling when she went down.

[Ill.u.s.tration: NIPPON YUSEN KAISHA S.S. _HITACHI MARU_.]

There was great turmoil on the sea for some time after the s.h.i.+p disappeared; the ammunition house on the p.o.o.p floated away, a fair amount of wreckage also came away, an oar shot up high into the air from one of the hatches, the sodium lights attached to one of the lifebuoys ignited and ran along the water, and then the _Wolf_, exactly like a murderer making sure that the struggles of his victim had finally ceased, moved away from the scene of her latest crime. Never shall we forget the tragedy of that last half-hour in the life of the _Hitachi Maru_.

Thus came to an end the second of the Nippon Yushen Kaisha fleet bearing the name of _Hitachi Maru_. The original s.h.i.+p of that name had been sunk by the Russians in the Russo-j.a.panese War. Our ill-fated vessel had taken her place. It will savour of tempting Providence if another s.h.i.+p ever bears her unfortunate name, and no sailor could be blamed for refusing to sail in her.

CHAPTER V

LIFE ON THE ”WOLF”

Life on the _Wolf_ was very different from life on the _Hitachi_. To begin with, all the single men of military age from the _Hitachi_ were accommodated on the 'tween decks, and slept in hammocks which they had to sling themselves. The elder men among them slept in bunks taken from the _Hitachi_, but the quarters of all in the 'tween decks were very restricted; there was no privacy, no convenience, and only a screen divided the European and j.a.panese quarters. The condition of our fellow-countrymen from the _Hitachi_ was now the reverse of enviable, though it was a great deal better than that of the crews of the captured s.h.i.+ps, who were ”accommodated” under the p.o.o.p--where the Captains and officers captured had quarters to themselves--and exercised on the p.o.o.p and well deck, the port side of which was reserved for the j.a.panese. The Germans did not forbid us to enter the quarters where our fellow-pa.s.sengers were confined, but it was obvious that they did not like our doing so, after the lies they had told us concerning the wonderful alterations made in these quarters for their prisoners'

”comfort.” One day I managed to sneak un.o.bserved into the prisoners'

quarters under the p.o.o.p in the 'tween decks, where hundreds of men were confined, but I had the misfortune to run up against the Lieutenant in charge and was promptly ordered out before I could have a good look round. But I had seen enough! Both the men under the p.o.o.p and our fellow-pa.s.sengers had armed guards over them--those guarding the latter were good fellows and quite friendly and helpful to their charges.

There were now more than four hundred prisoners on board, mostly British, some of whom had been captured in the February previous, as the _Wolf_ had left Germany in November 1916, the _Hitachi_ being the tenth prize taken. The condition in which these prisoners lived cannot be too strongly condemned. The heat in the tropics was insufferable, the overcrowding abominable, and on the p.o.o.p there was hardly room to move.

While anch.o.r.ed near Sunday Island in the Pacific some months earlier, two of the British prisoners taken from the first prize captured managed to escape. Their absence was not noticed by the Germans till a fortnight later, as up to then there had been no daily roll-call, an omission which was at once rectified directly these two men were noted missing. As a punishment, the prisoners aft were no longer allowed to exercise on the p.o.o.p, but were kept below. The heat and stifling atmosphere were inconceivable and cruel. The iron deck below presented the appearance of having been hosed--in reality it was merely the perspiration streaming off these poor persecuted captives that drenched the deck. The attention of the s.h.i.+p's doctor was one day called to this, and he at once forbade this inhuman confinement in future. From then onwards, batches of the prisoners were allowed on the p.o.o.p at a time, so that every man could obtain at least a little fresh air a day--surely the smallest concession that could possibly be made to men living under such wretched conditions.

But notwithstanding these hards.h.i.+ps the men seemed to be merry and bright, and showed smiling faces to their captors. They had all evidently made up their minds to keep their end up to the last, and were not to be downed by any bad news or bad treatment the Germans might give them.

The _Wolf_, of course, picked up wireless news every day, printed it, and circulated it throughout the s.h.i.+p in German and English. We did not, however, hear all the news that was picked up, but felt that what we did hear kept us at least a little in touch with the outside world, and we have since been able to verify that, and also to discover that we missed a great deal too. The weekly returns of submarine sinkings were regularly published, and these were followed with great interest both by the Germans and ourselves. We heard, too, some of the speeches of Mr.

Lloyd George and the German Chancellors, debates in the Reichstag, and general war news, especially what was favourable to the Germans.

The accommodation provided for the married couples on the _Wolf_ was situated on the port side upper deck, which corresponded in position to the promenade deck of a liner. Some ”cabins” had been improvised when the first women and civilian prisoners had been captured, some had been vacated by the officers, and others had been carved out as the number of these prisoners increased. The cabins were, of course, very small--there was very little room to spare on the _Wolf_--and, at the best, makes.h.i.+ft contrivances, but it must be admitted that our German captors did all they could to make us as comfortable as possible under the conditions prevailing. The cabin occupied by my wife and myself was built on one of the hatches. The bunks were at different levels, and were at right angles to each other, half of one being in a dark corner.

There was not much room in it even for light baggage, and not standing room for two people. The walls and ceiling were made of white painted canvas, and an electric light and fan were installed over the door. The married couples, the Australian military officers, and a few elderly civilians messed together in the officers' ward-room (presided over by a war photograph of the All Highest), quite a tiny saloon, which was placed at our disposal after the officers had finished their meals. We had breakfast at 9.15, dinner at 1.15, and supper at 7.15. The Commander of the _Wolf_ was a very lonely man--he messed alone in his quarters near the bridge, and we saw very little of him, as he very rarely left his quarters and came below among his men and the prisoners.

The food on the _Wolf_ was better cooked than it had been on the _Hitachi_, but there was of course no fresh food of any kind. Two or three horses had been taken from the S.S. _Matunga_--these had been shot and eaten long before. Even the potatoes we had were dried, and had to be soaked many hours before they were cooked, and even then they did not much resemble the original article; the same remark applies to the other vegetables we had. Occasionally our meals satisfied us as far as quant.i.ty went, but in the main we left the table feeling we could with ease dispose of a great deal more. This was especially the case after breakfast, which consisted of bread and jam only; and once at tiffin all we had to eat was boiled rice with cinnamon and sugar. Each cabin had a German orderly to look after and wait on its occupants, two German stewards waited on us at meals, and a j.a.panese steward had two or three cabins to look after and clean. The water allowance, both for drinking and was.h.i.+ng, was very small. We had only one bottle of the former and one can of the latter between two of us; so it was impossible to wash any of our clothes.

The deck--we were only allowed the port side--was only about six feet wide, and part of this was occupied by spare spars. There were no awnings, and the sun and rain streamed right across the narrow s.p.a.ce.

Sailors and officers, and prisoners to fetch their food, were pa.s.sing along this deck incessantly all day, so it can be easily imagined there was not much room for sitting about on deck chairs. On this deck, too, was the prisoners' cell, usually called the ”calaboose,” very rarely without an occupant, with an armed sentry on guard outside. It was not a cheerful abode, being very small and dark; and the prisoner, if his sentence were a long one, served it in instalments of a few days at a time.

We were allowed to go down to the well deck to see our friends and sit on the hatch with them during the daytime. They had their meals in the 'tween decks at different times from us, but the food provided was usually just the same. The evenings were the deadliest times of all on the _Wolf_. At dusk the order ”Schiff Abblenden” resounded all through the s.h.i.+p, sailors came round to put tin plates over all the portholes, and from thence onward throughout the night complete darkness prevailed on deck, not a glint of light showing anywhere on the s.h.i.+p. It was very nasty and uncanny.

When the _Wolf_ considered herself in dangerous waters, and when laying mines, even smoking was forbidden on deck. All the cabins had a device by which directly the door was open the light went out, only to be relit directly the door closed. So it was impossible for any one to leave his cabin with the door open and the light on. There was nothing to do in the evenings after the last meal, which was over before eight o'clock.

We groped our way in darkness along the deck when we left the little wardroom, and there was then nowhere to sit except on the dark deck or in the dark cabins; it was so hot that the cabin doors had to be kept open, and the evenings spent on the _Wolf_ were certainly very dreary.

Most of us agreed with Dr. Johnson that ”the man in gaol has more room, better food, and commonly better company than the man in the s.h.i.+p, and is in safety,” and felt we would rather be in gaol on sh.o.r.e, for then we should be in no risk of being killed at any moment by our own people, our cells would have been larger than our cabins, and our food possibly not much worse, and our gaol would at least have been stationary and not rolling about, though it must be confessed the _Wolf_ was a good sea boat.

She had been one of the Hansa line before the war, called the _Wachfels_, was about 6,000 tons, single screw, with a speed of about ten knots at the outside. She had been thoroughly adapted for her work as a raider, had four torpedo tubes and six guns (said to be 4.7), with concrete emplacements, not to mention machine and smaller guns--to be used against the prisoners if they should attempt escape, etc.--none of which could be seen by a pa.s.sing s.h.i.+p, to which the _Wolf_ looked, as she was intended to look, exactly like an innocent neutral tramp painted black. This was in itself a camouflage--she needed no other. When in action her bulwarks dropped, giving free play to her guns and torpedoes.