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Show mm - imise ism SEIZURE OF 21 NAZIS ON BIG NIPPON LINER BRINGS PROTEST NOTE Tokyo Spokesman Brands Naval Action as 'Very Disagreeable' as Press Demands Stern Measures in Retaliation TOKYO, Jan. 22 (UP) Japan announced today that it regarded re-garded the British seizure of 21 German teamen from a Japanese Jap-anese ship ai "a very disagreeable action." It was Indicated that the Incident might precipitate a Japanese-Brittsl Japanese-Brittsl dispute similar to that which had arisen as the result of censorship of mails from the United States by Britain. Official sources foreshadowed that Japan would hold that soma of the men seized could be classed neither as active seamen of military mili-tary status nor as reservista and . that therefore their seizure was Illegal. - Japan Files Pretest ' A Japanese protest against the1 British action was handed to 8rlt-' Ish Ambassador Sir Robert Craigle ' today by Masayukl Tant, vice min-' later for foreign affairs. - - The protest was made while the press chorused a demand for strong : . . action by the government. The Japanese reset ed the right to demand return of the German seamen, demanded "full and prompt explanation" and warned against repetition of the action. The 1 (.795-ton Japanese passenger passen-ger liner Asama Maru -was Hearing Hear-ing Yokohama yesterday when a British warship. Its name painted out but reported to be of light . cruiser class, began circling It The British warship fired, two blank shots. Tried to Aveld Bleekaae The Asamu Maru had left San Francisco January and Honolulu January 11 with 51 German seamen sea-men aboard, all former members of the crews of Standard Oil tankers. . They were on their way home : via Russia in an effort to avoid the British blockade. , (San Francisco reported that about 50 more homeward bound German seamen were aboard the Japaneee ship Glnyo Maru which left San Francisco January 15. The crew of the scuttled liner Columbus Co-lumbus Is waiting there for transportation trans-portation home.) As those aboard the Asama Maru watched the British warship, the ' Japanese vessel halted, 35 miles off Cape Nojima. A launch put out from the British Brit-ish warship and a British officer and nine armed seamen boarded the Asama Maru. Refuses to Give Name Captain Yoshisada Watanabe, master of the Asama, received the deputation. He asked the purpose of the visit and on being told, asked the British warship's name. "No name," the British officer replied. The Asama Maru's purser waa CaatlniM4 - Pago Twe NIPPON PROTEST HANDEDBRIT1SH (Oontlnuad from Pas Onal called with the passenger list. The 51 Germans were Instructed to assemble as-semble In a saloon. Forty-nine did. Two tried to hide, one In a ventilator, ven-tilator, the other In a pantry. The purser reported that the British officer was very courteous In questioning the Germans. As the questioning proceeded one of the Germans struck a member of the British armed party., Captain Cap-tain H. H. Gross, ranking member of the German party, quickly stepped In and stopped a fight. The questioning ended, the British Brit-ish officer selected 21 men who, he held, were subject under International Inter-national law to seizure. They were told that they might get their belongings. be-longings. The remiander were left to proceed home as not subject to seizure. The British embassy here, announcing an-nouncing the seizures, said: "The action was fully In accordance accord-ance with International law. During Dur-ing the present war the right of seizure has not been questioned by any neutral government and theGermaa government 1 1 ready has acted In this manner. |