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Show nes tb3t Ween the British Fleet Sank kes . Hun Cruiser and Patrol Ships 0?,wfil as Ini?l BASE 0P BRITISH GRAND FLEET, 'ranciBCMI jov gf (Correspondence of the Asso- .f the'j! elated Press.) Tho recent naval ac- 00 PRP2a tion in the Cattegat, where the British jpK sank a German cruiser and ten anned JPJjjgjf patrol ships, is an example of the -Si ; careful planning .which lies behind m ; every move on the naval chart, A flra' comparatively insignificant force of "bUi'S' British destroyers and cruisers were J 3 the actual stage performers in tho rIItEtl little Skagerak drama, hone 3?4 The actual fight in the Cattegat be- ITlESfe ; pan about 7 o'clock in the morning 3rain. f'nd was ovor tnre? hours later. The f TradM ' German fleet behind Its fortifications inin3 $jj received the calls for help but dared not take a chance probably well ; knowing that any attempt to send out """'""aw'" 'ep wou'd e confronted with enemies twi? v lisins out of the sea from all direc- The Cattegat is a deep bay lying between be-tween Denmark and Sweden and leading lead-ing through the Skagerak into the North sea near the scone of the famous fa-mous Jutland battle. A fog lay over tho entire Cattegat throughout the action ac-tion and the British destroyers picked off their victims one by ono and sank thorn. The German auxiliary cruiser Mario, which was leading the fleet of patrol beats, was a ship of 3,000 tons. Her captain, Horr Lauterbach, was wounded but reached tho Danish shore safely. His ship, which bad four guns and a crew of ninety, was "suddenly attacked," he said in an interview with a Danish newspaperman afterward, "by a fleet of British destroyers and the shells fired by them descended with such rapidity that the men on I the Mario were almost, unable to use I the guns. Only a few shots were fired before ihe ship was a mass of flames." Captain Unpopular Officer. British and American naval men who have-heen on the China station in years past will remember Captain Lauterbach. He was known from Shanghai to Vladivostok as "Baron Munchausen," and is said to havo been tho most unpopular German naval officer offi-cer in the Far East. His unpopularity extended even to his own men and in tho Cattegat battle the first ramark made by a German bluejacket rescued from the sea was a fervently expressed hope tha- tho British had not made tho mistake of rescuing his captain. Lauterbach's naval reputation probably prob-ably will suffer somewhat from the Cattegat bottle. His report that he Tired his guns as long as possible is douled by his own men, who declared ( Continued on Pago 4 ) When the British Fleet Sank Em Cruiser and Patrol (Continued from page one.) that Lauterbach "was seized with funk as soon as the enemy appeared and that not a single shot was fired from the Marie's guns. r resumably the Marie was making her way towards the trade route between be-tween Norway and Scotland in hopes of repealing the successful German attack at-tack on the British merchant shipping convoy on October 17. The British centered their fire first of all on the Marie and then detached their fastest vessels to round up the escorting patrol pa-trol vessels. This was thoroughly done after a hunt lasting nearly three hours. This action, it should be remembered, re-membered, occurred in waters which the Germans regard as practically one of their "inland seas." The Cattogat is the gateway to the Baltic. The scene of the fight is 500 miles from tho nearest British coat, but less than 200 miles from Kiel. Clean Victory for Destroyers. An interesting comparison might be made between this clean victory by the British destroyers and the tip-and-run raid by the German light cruisers on a British convoy on October 17. The Germans sent out two of their fastest cruisers in the darkness, struck their blow in the earliest hours of the morning, not even pausing to rescuo a single life of hundreds of combatants and non-combatants, and then ran away northward to spend the remaining hours of daylight in! hiding and when night fell dashed down the Norwegian coast and thus returned home without being Intercepted. Battle at Germany's Doorstep. On this occasion the British victory occurrnod not in the North sea, but on Germany s doorstep; not at night but in daylight; not hurriedly, for sixty-four sixty-four prisoners were taken and drowning drown-ing men rescued from the water thus providing another vivid contrast botween bo-tween German and British methods of warfare. Moreover, no cpmbatant "v" ere ,lost or endangered In the British action, whereas the Germans ruthlessly and unnecessarily sacrl-flcr-d scores of innocent neutrals. nn |