New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1916-02-03
Ponga Thought To Be
with ArmOred
WarSllip.
APPAM TO FREE
CAPTIVES TO-DAY
The Ps ssengers, Penniless,
Must Appeal to British
Embassy for Aid.
.By Telegraph to ID, 'cfl5gn.. J

TWO herman commerce raiders, roS>
sibly more. accompanied by two or
three powerful submarines, are on
the high seas, lying in wait for more
rich prizes Of the Appam type. Ons
Of the two Is almost unquestionaoly
the big armored cruiser Room, carry
ins a heavy armament and capshls
OF doing untold damage to cori-
merce. The other is the Ponga,
whose armament is less dangerous
but still capable Of overewing any
merchantmen carrying the regils-
ton s-inch gun.
How the two sea rovers broke
through the supposedly impregnaols
Gordon OF British battleships, sub
marines an< cruisers tha. hereto
fore have kept the German navy
bottled up in the Kiel Canal is .
mystery that is puzzling British
naval authorities on both sides Of
the Atlantic. That they are at large.
however. and probably some place
off the coast of Spain is the state
ment Of several credible witne~se.
Just released from the seventh p.lzs
Of the raiders. the Appam.
These facts we're among the sur
prising revelations made by civilians
and British seamen who were 'e-
leased from the Appam this evening.
Operations Still a Secret.
How the Room has been working
is still a mystery. Il is said, how
ever. that up TO the present ii has
been the practice of her commander
TO stand off on the horizon. guard
ing against attack by an armed
enemy. while a disguised cruiser -
the Ponga in the instance Of the
Appam-does the actual work of
taking the practically unarred
prizes. The apparent object Of this
is TO reduce the risk of capture oe
either craft considerably.
Should a surprise attack from an
enemy Of superior force compel the
Room to fee, it would be able 70 do so
by abandoning the smaller and less
valuable raider. while an attack by
ar enemy of equal or less armament
would find it present 10 defend its
ally.
The presence Of the several pow
erful submarines that are mentioned
by the Appam's former crew is much
more disquieting TO the commanders
of British ships There is nothing
to prevent the powerful cruiser
from conveying the underwater
boats TO the vicinity Of the Ameri-
can coast and permitting them to
prey on shipping at their leisure on
this side of the Atlantic.
Speed Aids the Room.
The Room is capable of such speed
and armament as 10 make II possible
to engage an enemy Of considerable
size. and. in the event OF chase, get
away, with every opportunity 81
euding pursuit. 1t is believed that
the boat is in constant communica-
ton with agents some place on
American territory. and probably Is
kept well acquainted with The
passage Of ships. and thus is given
an opportunity to select the choice
prizes.
II is evident that the captors OF
the Appam knew Of It's whereabouts
and waited for two days for II 70
reach a point near the Canary ISL
ands where they might pick 1t up
with impunity.
The Room is an armored cruiser,
has displacement of $3.50 tons, and
j. 4O3L feet long. She was built at
k,el in 1903 and completed IN l9oo.
Her speed is 2l.l7 knots and she cost
fs75.O00.
The Room is armed with four S.x-
inch and ten 5.9-inch guns and her
crew numbers 63s men. She has four
torpedo tubes.
The Appam lies oil Fortress Mon