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Show I WARSHtPS FIGHT I NHRJpUDA I Halifax. N S., Aug 13 -For half I ?n hour last Thursrlay night. H M Si S. Bristol, tbc smalls British war- ship In the North Atlantic, fought i I long rangr duel with the Karlsruhe. J tho largest and fastest of the German .f rriiisers which have been trying to J intercept Uritish shipping on the it North Atlantic 1 Fleeing from the British cruiser 3 Suffolk which Interrupted the Karls- I ruhe coaling at sea from the North m German Lloyd steamer Kronprinz "ft Wllhelm, the German cruiser was in- ' trrrepted by the Bristol, southwest of . .'a Bermuda, and for half an hour a long' M range running fight took place In the jl blackness of semi-tropical night. M Racing through the heavy swell at f a terrific clip, the ships exchanged! I broadsides without inflicting much damage, conditions being very' unfavorable unfav-orable for accurate gunnery. Although Al-though the Bristols consorts were at least one hundred miles astern, the German would not stand and fight ac ordlng to the British participants Altering her course, she gradually drew away from the Bristol, owing to superior speed, and after half an hour was out of range of the British ship's six-inch bow chaser Lost in the Darkness. The chase was continued but somewhere some-where In the darkness the German doubled and made off south to San Juan, where she put in for coal some days ago. Details of this action, the first single sin-gle ship fight in which a British man-of man-of war has engaged in these waters in a hundred years, were brought to Halifax today by H. M. S. Suffolk, the flagship of Rear Admiral Craddock cornmandiug the Fourth cruiser squadron. squa-dron. "We were steaming north on Thursday Thurs-day morning last and the crew had just been ordered to general station, when from the fore masthead came the hail Enemy on the port bow! " said the flag captain of the Suffolk in giving out an official statement of the chase of the Karlsruhe today "As' soon as we knew that war was de- lared the ship had been prepared for battle. Fittings, all woodwork I and everything else that mipht be at all Inflammable, we pitched overboard and the sea for miles round w.-ts strewn with debris. "Under these circumstances there was very little left to do when the order 'Clear ship for action' wa- giv-rn giv-rn The gun crewfl went to battle j stations and the stokers were double banked "Off the port hnw, about 11 or 12 miles away, we could see the Karlsruhe Karls-ruhe and the Kronprlnz Wilhelm The Karlsruhe had her boats out. coaling coal-ing from the North German Lloyd ship and as we hurried down toward her it was in the hope s-he had run so short in her bunkers that we co'ild catch her. Took to Their Heels. As soon as the Germans sighted us they took to their heels. The Karlsruhe did not even stop to pick up her boats Her men clambered aboard as best they could and she hustled away to the northward, while the Kronprlnz Wilhelm steered off to the east. N e knew, of course, trutt the Karlsruhe had the heels of us. Our only hope was that she was short of fuel and could not keep up her ! steam, but this hope was fruitless "Nineteen thousand yards was the j closest we got to our quarry The i Bristol was to the north of us and 1 the Berwick to the south. W e called ' both of them by wireless, and ordered j them to aid in the chase. The Ber- wick tried to cut off the Kronprinz I Wilhelm, while the Bristol took a po-i po-i sition to intercept the Karlsruhe. AM afternoon we raced after the fleeing German By 5 o'clock her smoke had disappeared and then all our hopes centered in the Bristol picking her up "Engaging the Enemy.'' "At 9 o clock that night that welcome wel-come news came through the air to us from the Bristol Enemy in sight, i A few minutes later came the mta sage 'We are engaging the enemy. "Although we must have been fully I a hundred miles astern of them, we raced on for all we were worth We had no fear of the result if the German Ger-man stood up to the Bristol, for we were all sure that our fellows could whip the Karlsruhe easily at closn quarters, but we wanted to be in at the finish ourselves "The Karlsruhe had the heels Of the Bristol, too They were in a tlon for just about half an hour For! a few minutes the German stood up and the ships fought broadside to broadside, the Bristol using her two six-inchers and the five four-inchers j on her broadside against the Karlsruhe's Karls-ruhe's five four noint ones Aftpr a! few minutes, however, the Karlsruhe I turned and run The Bristol chased I her, firing her forward six-inchers ' it was difficult to make anything like good practice It was pitch dark and the sea was heavy. Not one ot the German shells landed anywhere near the Bristol, but our chaps think they got some shots aboard the Karlsruhe. Karls-ruhe. However In long range fight ing under those conditions it is pretty 1 difficult to do much and the Karls-j Karls-j rube's speed saved her again. "The Suffolk, Berwick and Bristol cruised together for several days, but could get no trace of the Karlsruhe or her consort and finally we heard that she had put into Porto Rico for I coal. Got Prize; Crew Surprised. "We got a prize last Saturday morn. I ing off Bermuda the German oil j tanker Leda. which was coming up j i torn Baton Rouge for New York. She did not know war had been declared and was very much surprised when we ordered her to stop with a blank I shot across the bow. However, they ! took their capture with very good grace. We put a prize crew "aboard and convoyed her to Bermuda, where we turned her over to the examlna tion service and continued our voyage voy-age north." The information given out here on the arrival of the Suffolk was to the effect that in the past ten day8 the fourth cruiser squadron has made the North Atlantic absolutely safe for British shipping. Not a hostile ship is north of the West Indies now, and such aa are now In waters farther south, it was assumed, are encoun- l iring aiuicuiiy m keeping the sea I and procuring supplies, owing to the j absence of coaling stations. A big fleet of British cruisers Is row on the way to Halifax, to assist i in guarding the trade routes. The ; first of these ships, the Good Hope, j will be at Halifax tomorrow. Discloses Purpose. New York, Aug. 13 The story of the battle between the Bristol and I the Karlsruhe discloses for the first . time the apparent purpose of the North German Lloyd steamship Kroa-I Kroa-I prinz Wilhelm in making an unan- nounced dash from thb port undr , cover of darkness ten days ago bearing bear-ing 6000 tons of coal It was assumed I by many persons that she had gone out to supply fuel to the German cruisers on the Atlantic. |
