The Wheeling intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1903-1961, 1919-02-19

There can be no doubt TINT tho signal
fo- the revolution caue from the Ger
man navy, and It is equally certain that
tho decisive mutiny in the fleet was not
g. sudden outbreak, but that 1t was the
eliminating point Of a long series or
troubles among the crews Of the German
vacships. These earliest Incidents were
almost entirety concealed not only from
Other countries but also from the Ger
-r1s,, people. The one exception WAS the
rn,,ti1y TO which reference was made in
fbs Reachstag in 1917. tn connection
VIII the Independent Socialist LEADERS,,
puttmann and Base, who were accused
Of treasona6le acts
Al early as the spring and summer OF
Isis there were a succession OF MINOR
r1,ztttutes on different German warshlp@
Yarsors documents retating to them
f<xSe been found In the archives OF the
Imperial Naval Department On sept
2 iS16. tho kaiser addressed to the OF
1cers Of the tmperiI navy a specA
order marked -StrenngEeheam' SfHceU
secretly, exhorttng them not to De TOO So
yere in maintaining discipline but 10
ADOPT towards their men a oeneVoieR
attitude calculated to keep the Crews IN
a s1fe frame OF mind
Rut discomfort IN the German navy
increased
In March. 1915, there vas q mutfny
m ono battlestrip, and a few weeks later
thrre was a more formidable affair.
which ended In tho condemnation %
deaSh Of more thrn thirty OF the men
who were regarded as the rnGleaders
Of the movement
IN the spring Of 1871 q serious mudny
occurred among the sailors OF the hlsh
sex, fleet. The captain Of oatteShlp
Ees thrown overheard and drowned. and
other officers were woundeo oy the
rebels The outbreak was soon auelleo.
and 100 men were executed after beans
found guilty Of war treason
The Ftna1 Revolt
All these different mutinies had pre-
n,red the ground for tho final upris-
tnc. In the early hours Of the morning
Of Thursday, Oct 81. the admiral com
handing the German high sea fleet SG-
nailed the order "Secklar" (be ready to
nut to seal, and it was suspected from
end to end of Che fleet that this meant
at last a desperate attempt to 1lSht inc
British navy Tho captain or the oat-
tleship Thurngea committed the lndis-
erection Of turning this suspicion INTO
rPrtalntS. NSSeIlpllIiS SltO "AASh~
nf his vessel he addressed to them .
highly patriotic speech WHICH,
thus:
I'VE viii fire our last shot and then
We will perish like heroes with our
flag flying.
I>ut the crew Of the Thurnsen had no
desire to perish heroically; on the con
,rarv they we're determined not to al
low themselves to be dragged into this
mad adventure.
First they sent a deputatton to tnc1r
captain to demonstrate: while tns was
taking place all fires were cSonEuiSneo
and the engine holds were hooocn WIN
water and communication WIS eStao-
lished with the crew OF the oottiesiiD
Eeligoland. next in line.
Soon after sunrise on October 81 the
whole of the crews of the Inurnsen
and the EIeligoland were in open mu1inS'
The rear admiral commanding lne
frst SQUADRON of oattleshfps, Tying MS
flag on the OstfHeSland- sent. ooa1s
alongside the two rebel ships 10 Cdhe
or the officers, who were allowed 10 oe-
,,art ,rnrnolested. The admiral then sig
liza 70 tho ThurnSen and Helgoland
that both would be torpedoed unless
tbe,- surrendered Immediately. The other
no+tIeshios were withdrawn to dfs-
lance and two large torpedo boats b-97
and Biz, appeared on the scene ready
TO discharge their torpedoes on recelV-
ing the expected signal from the nag
ship OsNrteSiand-
The crews OF the two torpedo ooatS
whatever they may have 1eft- showed no
Sims OF refusal to obey the oroer u
Mo- nm their comrades on the two
battleships. numbering more than 1.5oo
A. tbis critical moment the ThurnEen
signalled her surrender. and the F[eigo-
land Immediately followed suit All the
noutIneers were transferred to trans
norts and conveyed without delay to
WiIhesmshxven to await their trial
Naval Bases Seized
On the same day. October 81 there
we're srneiler troubles on other ships OF