The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1919-06-27
STAGGERING SIGHT AS
SHIPS WENT TO BOTTOM.

LONDON, JulS Lo."I1ltilooSA IL
ports have stated that six Germans
were killed and ten wounded when
the boats of the German fleet at
Scapa Flow were fired upon subse-
quent to the scuttling of the Ger
man fleet, The Daily Mail says that
others may have been drowned and
some may possibly have reached the
Orkney Islands and have not as yet
been reported.
The main force of the British fleet
was absent exercising at sea when
the German ships were sunk, only
some drifters, small warships and
patrolling aircraft being on guard
over the interned enemy squadron.
Admiral Won Reuter-, commander
of the interned German fleet, says he
issued an order to sink the ships,
The Daily Mail adds, and did so
because at the beginning Of the war
the German emperor directed that no
German warship should fall into the
enemies hands. He says that ne
believed, from newspaper reports,
that the armistice had been ended.
Admiral yon Reuter- visited Ger
many some weeks ago, it being un-
derstood at the time that the reason
for his trip there was that he was
ill, but he soon returned, and it is
believed that at that time be cir
culated the order to sink the Ger
man ships by evading the censorship
or making signals to the various YES
sells, an act which the close proximity
of the German ships made quite
easy. The Mail quotes the admiralty
as denying that the German crews
were periodically changed and say
ing that the original crews remained
on board the vessels. There were
from $50 to 200 men on the big ships
and from ten to twenty on board the
destroyers. Therefore, nearly 5000
men were in the water or in the ships
boats when the fleet was sunk. Four
teen were landed by the British on
Sunday at Nigg Russhire, on the
northern shore Of Cromarty Firth.
They were placed in hutments and
are being held under military guard
Sea Valves Were Opened.
From the behavior of the ships,
according to The Mail, it was evi-
dent the sea valves had been opened
and in surprisingly short time the
vessels, big and small, began to set
tie down. Every effort was made
by the British naval craft to beach
the sinking ships and in the case OF
destroyers considerable success was
achieved. BY one o'clock in the aft
ernoon, however, what an hour be-
fore had been a stately fleet riding
calmly at anchor, was an array OF
reeling, rocking battleships, the
doom of which was written in their
movements.
Here destroyer would disappear
amid cloud of steam, and there a
battleship would take her last plunge
and disappear in cloud OF spray
One would settle down by the stern
and another would heel over until
only the keel showed above the wa
ter. The Durfflinger, Hindenburg,
Won der Tam, Moltke and Seydlitz
settled down beside each other, the
last named turning turtle as she fill
ed with water. Her keel is still
showing where she 'capsized. The
Waters of Scapa Flow were dotted
with small boats full of men who
had, with dramatic suddenness, set
tied the question of the disposition
Of the interned ships.
& The first boat load was towed
alongside of H. M. S. Victorious by
a drifter, a German officer IN the
boat ordering his men to cheer. They
responded with three vigorous
sehoch." Craft of every description
followed fast to the side Of the war
ship, each towing boatloads of Ger
mans, who we're taken on board the
Victorious, the decks of which soon
became crowded with men and
bundles.
A German officer, who came
aboard, wore sword and seemed to
wish to make an impressive cere-
mony by handing it over to an OF.
fcer who had been in command OF
a division of the interned destroyers
Carried Out Orders.
eve are not Bolsheviki," he said
'Peace was signed today. We hao
our orders and have carried them