Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-06-23

the decks of which soon became
crowded with men and bundles:
German officer, who came aboard,
wore a sword and seemed to wish to
make an impressive ceremony by
handing it over to an officer who had
been in command of a division Of in
termed destroyers.
we are not bolshevikf." he said
peace was signed today. We had our
orders and have carried them out.
Planned in Advance.
The Germans were not aware that
the armistice had been extended until
Monday. and there was an almost
continuous heel-clicking and saluting
as the officers of various ships greet
ed each other on coming aboard. That
the Germans were ready Tor the
event was apparent from the amount
and variety of the gear they had with
them, some seamen staggering under
the weight of bundles bigger than
themselves, the salvage representing
everything from banjos to pet dogs.
Both the officers and men seemed very
anxious that none of their ships
should be saved.
one officer. who wore the iron cross.
pointed to the sinking ships and said
See how the German navy goes down
with its flags flying
Such, however, was not the case, as
British sailors had boarded most OF
the German ships and had hauled
down the flags before the vessels
went under.
Hopeful of Salvaging.
The prospect of salvaging few
ships is fairly hopeful. the Mail says.
None has gone down in really deep
water The Bleaching of the sinking
ships proved a difficulty and at times
a dangerous matter. one destroyer
sank as il was being towed ashore,
British sailors on board having
scarcely time to jump clear before
the craft went down. About twenty
destroyers out of the fifty that were
informed were beached during the aft
ernoon. The German crews which
We're taken to the Victorious were
later transferred to other warships.
What was a crowded anchorage
this morning, wired Mail cor
respondent late on Saturday. is
desolate expanse of water tonight,
with here and there the masts of
sunken German ship marking the
final resting place of once proud
and mighty high seas feet
Sinking of Fleet Described.
One of the Mails correspondents,
who watched the sinking ships from
the air station at Houton. which over
looks the anchorage, writes:
The battleships. as a rule, grad
ually submerged until their decks
were almost awash- Then they turned
turtle and went quickly out OF sight.
there being a slight boiling of the
sea at intervals for several hours and
a blush scum on the water caused
by the release of oil. These were all
that marked the spot where the ships
had gone down. The light cruisers
settled by the stern or bows. and
sometimes 100 feet of the hull of one
of these ships projected into the air
like huge whales leaping from the
water.
when the last sinking battleship
disappeared, a drifter and a trawler
were at work alongside and a de-
stroyer was standing by, evidently
making an attempt to tow the battle
ship into shallow water. A long
splash between the destroyer and the
ship showed that the tow line had
parted The battleship canted vio-
1ently. the drifter moved Off and be-
fore a photographer beside the writer
was a bile to change a plate in his CAM
era not a single vestige of the bat
tleship remained.
"A number of German sailors came
to the pier at Houton this afternoon,
out were not permitted TO lana, DelnS
directed to the flagship. Strong pa
trolls were landed from the fleet and
took positions along the beach, pre-
sumably to deal with any German
swimmers who come ashore.
Red Flag the Signal.
A Thurso dispatch to the Mail says
that at the moment the German flag
ship ran up the red flag. twenty or
thirty British destroyers and traw-
lers were patrolling in and out Of the
German lines. A rush of Germans to
the boats followed the signal. but the
capacity of the boats was limited, as
their number was cut down some
time ago. All the Germans wore life
belts and those unable to enter the
boats leaped into the sea without
hesitation.
In the meantime guard ships and
several destroyers opened fire on the
boats and the Germans leaped over
board. Then the destroyers. patrol
boats and pinnaces dashed in all d.
rections picking up the Germans from
the water.
TT is common knowledge here" the
dispatch says. that the behavior of
the crews of the German ships has
been growing progressively worse.
The first few weeks after the armi-
stice men from the German ships were
allowed to land on the island, but
very soon farmers complained of the
loss OF sheep. Leave for the Germans
was thereupon stopped, only one boat