The New York herald., 1921-01-30
the Strait Of Messina and four destroyers

the Strait OF Messina and four destroyers
were sent to patrol the Malta channel
On Monday. August 3. Admiral Milne
received further instructions from the
Admiralty.
These instructions" he writes. were
of the greatest moment. The signifi-
cant clause was But the Goeben is your
objective That order clearly indicated
that the two immediate objects were to
be pursued simultaneously; the watch
upon Austria and Italy in the Adriatic
and the watch upon the Goeben. and
that Of the two the watch upon the Goe-
ben was the most important.
."At z A. NJ. the Chatham reported that
neither the Goeben nor the Breslau w ,re
in the Strait of Messina. At the same
time I received information that. the
Goeben and Breslau had been sighted
early on the previous Sunday morn
ing off Cape Trion. the southwest horn
of the Gulf of laramie. heading south
west. 1t therefore appeared that the
two German ships had escaped from the
Adriatic.
Where were the Goeben and the Bres-
lau?' the Admiral asks. mo one knew.
At 7 A. NJ. on Monday the Chatham had
reported they were not In the Strait OF
Messina. 1t was now Tuesday. The fact
the night of Sunday. August 2. and Mon
day. August 8. l received information
to that effect at A. NJ. on the morning
of Wednesday, August 5.
AT 8 80 A NJ. l received informa-
tion that Bona had been bombarded by
the German ships.
Sighted on Algerian Coast.
"At :S2 A. NJ. Indomitable and Inde-
fatigable off Bona on the Algerian coast
sighted the Goeben and Breslau, which
we're steering to the eastward.
THE Goeben was seen at once to al
ter course to port, and Captain Francis
w. Kennedy. In command of the lnde-
fatigable. altered TO starboard in order
to close, but the Goeben promptly turned
away and In a few minutes the two ships
were passing each other on opposite
courses at 5000 yards. Guns were kept
trained fore and aft, but neither side
saluted. and after passing. Capt Ken
nedy led around in wide circle and
proceeded to shadow the Goeben with
his two ships on either quarter. Breslau
made off to the northward and disap-
peared and early in the afternoon could
be heard calling up the Caglfari wire
less stations. Had a state of war ex.
isted then, 1t is probable there would
have been very different end to that
meeting.
At P. M. on August 4, about the
timo when the two battle cruisers lost
sight of the Goeben. i received authority
from the Admiralty to engage the Ger
man vessels should they attack the
French transports. The occasion did no.
arise and the order was cancelled in the
subsequent telegram received two hours
later informing me that the British ulti-
matum presented to Germany would ex.
pire at midnight and that no acts of war
should be committed before that time.
THE superiority in speed of the enemy
necessarily governed all my dispositions.
In dispensing my forces to prevent the
Goeben and Breslau going westward II
was therefore necessary to arrange not
to chase but to intercept the enemy. To
the westward there were three courses
open to them. They might pass north
of Corsica or through the Strait of Boni-
facio between Corsica and Sardinia, or
south of Sardinia between Sardinia and
the African coast. / considered that the
German ships would avoid both of the
first two courses named for fear of the
French fleet. In all probability there
fore they would try to pass south of Sar-
dinia and thence to Majorca, where a
German collier was awaiting them nj
Palma.