The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1915-04-12
ANOTHER GERMAN
SEA RAIDER IS At
NEWPORT NEWS
Kronprinz Wilhelm After Eight
Months at Sea Seeks Harhor
SHE WILL PROBAPlYBE INTERNFD
Passed British and French Warshps
With German Flag Flying-Many
on Board Are III.

| New port News, Va, April II Tie
German converted cruiser Kronprinz
| Wilhelm, the elusive raider of com
merce in the south Atlantic. slipped
| into port here yesterday and asked
! for fuel and provisions Many times
reported destroyed, the former North
! German Lloyd liner had evaded hos
tile warships for eight months while
| she sent II merchantmen to the bot
tom Her officers said she was fore
ed to steal her way past four allied
cruisers off the Virginia capes TO
| reach refuge.
I'VE 20 in without being seen by
! the enemy and We can get out the
| same way, declared her commander
| Lieut. Capt Paul Thierfelder, formerly
navigating officer of the German crui-
| ser Karlsruhe, in statement last
| night When she dropped anchor the
| kronprinz Wilhelm had less than %
| tons of coal and scanty provisions for
| the crew of 800 men and 6l prisoners
from British merchant ships sunk in
the south Atlantic. OF the IA ships
sunk by the 15,000-ton cruiser, nine
were British four French and one
Norwegian. The value OF these ships
and their cargoes, officers Of the VIII
helm last night estimated at $7000,
600.
When the Kronprinz Wilhelm arriv-
ed off Thimble shoals, after passing
in the Virginia capes early yester-
day the United States submarines the
G-1 and d. met her The appear
ance OF the submarines caused ccIl-
siderable surprise among the crew,
but there was no demonstration as
the little vessels conveyed the Ger
man raider to quarantine. where DR..
MacCafferty. United States quaran-
tine officers. boarded her comdr.
Thierfelder reported 66 of the crew
and prisoners were i'll with beri-bcri
and requested that they be taken to
hospital.
The Kronprinz Wilhelm followed in
the wake of the interned Prinz Eitel
Friedrich, which arrived in Newport
News a month ago Saturday, after
thrilling and effective operations for
the German navy. In her raid of the
seas since she slipped out of New
York harbor, August last, a Ger
man merchant and passenger steamer
the Kronprinz Wilhelm never touched
land and took $50 prisoners from var
ious vessels destroyed.
Most of these prisoners were sent
to South American ports at different
times on German ships which met the
raider in response to wireless calls
The 61 now on board, who will he
landed in Newport News today. are
British sailors from the steamships
lamar, destroyed March 25. and the
Coieby, destroyed March q last
The raider brought as thrilling a
story as did the Eitel Friedrich. Her
record of destruction, however, was
accomplished with only four guns,
two taken from the German Cruiser
Karlsruhe and two captured from the
British merchant steamer La Corren-
tina sunk October Z, 1914. The most
connected story OF the long voyage
from New York-255 days i'll all
was told last night by Over-Lieut Nib
Warneke. the first officer who left
New York harbor with the ship.
We left August and put out into
the great big ocean, said Lieut.
Warneke. I'VE were not warship
then, but three days out, off the Bcr-
mudas. we met the German cruiser
Karlsruhe. We took from her two
three-inch guns which we mounted
on the bow of the ship, and took Lieut.
Capt Thierfelder, her navigating Off
Ger, to command our ship, We also
took II of the Karlsruhe's junior Off
GERS and men, took on more coal and
provisions and put to sea. We made
for the sonth Atlantic and the first
ship we encountered was the British
ship Indian Prince, which we sank
September 4, 1914. From that time |
on we remained on the ocean, des-
troying the enemy where we might |
find her
Several weeks ago, the officer said, |
the PrinZ Wilhelm was getting short
of coal and supplies and some of her
crew and prisoners were afflicted with !
beri-beri, caused by lack of vegetable |
food The Germans had hoped to get |
supplies from the German ship Mace |
DON'T which was reported to have es-
capped from Las Palmas several |
weeks ago. This vessel. they learn |
ed, however, had been captured by |
British vessels. This hope gone, they |
steamed north through the middle of |
the Atlantic and were in touch with |
events transpiring regarding the |
Prinz Eitel Friedrich.
Collector of Customs Norman r. |
Hamilton reached Newport News
from Norfolk early in the day after
the Prinz Wilhelm had anchored in |
the James river in almost the same
place taken by the Prinz Eitel when |
she reached Newport News March TO-
The collector went aboard, instructing