Evening star., 1915-02-15
|DEC[ARESBR|T|SH
CRUISER WAS SUNK
German Writer Describes the
Two-Hour Naval Combat
of January "a.
DECLARES THE BLUECHER
WAS THE CENTER OF FIRE
Says Enemy Quit When Fighting
Power Was Broken and Not on Ac-
count of Mines or Submarines.

Correspondence Of the Associat ted Press.
BERLIN. February 5.-The German
newspapers have commenced the publi-
cation of a series of eyewitness ar
ticles on naval affairs, written by Otto
Won Gottberg, well known author. Of
the battle of January "a, in which the
German cruiser Bluecher was sunk, Won
Gottberg, writing from interviews with
participants, mostly officers, says the
German squadron was made up OF the
first class cruisers Bluecher, Seydlitz,
Derff1inger and Moltke; the smaller
cruisers Kolberg. Stralsund. Graudenz
and Rostock, of which the last two were
not engaged In the actual fighting, and
torpedo craft.
The Kolberg was the first to sight the
enemy, small British cruiser, accom-
panied by destroyers. The remainder of
the British fleet was still below the
horizon. The Kolberg Immediately
opened fire.
Artillery Duel Begins.
After several minutes the British ship
opened with one of her forward guns
and then began an artillery duel between
the two small cruisers.
The Kolberg noted that several OF
her shells made good hits. The hol-
berg received two British shots. one
from a 15-centimeter (6-inch) gun and
the other from a 1O.2-centimeter four-
inch). Neither shot did much mate
rial damage, but three men were killed
and two were wounded.
The Kolberg steamed ahead, and was
planning to close with the enemy
However, her sister cruiser. the stral-
sund, steaming farther to the right and
a long distance ahead of the squadron
had sighted the main body of the Brit
cio
admiral, on board the Seydlitz. Eight
large hostile ships sighted on starboard
bow"
The British ships again dropped out
some time later, when the pilot of the
Moltke called attention to hVe DIG
ships on the starboard quarter, that Is.
to the westward, on the opposite SIDE
from those seen before.
Big Shell Unmasks Enemy.
"The commander and the pilot
writes Won Gottberg. were still study
ing through their glasses the five
scarcely visible shadows on the gray
waves when a big shell struck the wa
ter 500 yards away. throwing up high
pillar of water. The enemy had un-
masked himself. Either five hitherto
unreported big ships had been lurking
undiscovered behind our ships, or else
five of the eight previously sighted had
made wide circuits completely around our
squadron.
"The German ships Immediately an
swered the fire of the enemy. In or
der to bring more guns into action.
first the enemy. then the German
squadron took the familiar echelon
formation, like a flight of steps, and
steamed along twenty-five kiiometers
(thirteen miles) apart, each snip try
ing by constant turning to bring as
many guns as possible to bear. Inc
British concentrated their fire on our
rearmost ship, the Bluecher, and short
ly landed a. severe hit over the engine
room. THIS forced the Bluecher to
drop back slowly even before she
hoisted her last signal after second
shot reached the engine room: All en-
gines useless
from forebridge to stern. the pillar OF
fire above her towering to the sky.
"Forty-fve minutes later the quar-
terdeck of the S:eydlitz also began to
blaze The Seydlitz. of all the ships
which returned. was the only one on
which the two-hour bombardment in
fiicted any real injury.
THE damage to the whole squadron.
in fact, was so slight that the admiral
did not need to dock a single ship.
They are all at this moment ready to
run out against the enemy. The patch
ing of the Seydlitz's turret is being
done rapidly, and will take at the most
only a few days.