Western news and the Libby times. [volume] (Libby, Mont.) 1920-1933, 1929-05-16
CHAPTER iii
Running the British Blockade

Sails bellied and motor humming, we
parted the waves and left path of
foam In our wake. On deck we de-
voted all our spare time to more dress
rehearsals.
My boys took d particular relish In
putting me through the third degree"
as you call It, One OF them played
the part of British search officer.
Now. Captain, what is the name
of your ship" he beloved.
"She Is the Trina. and as good full
rugged ship as ever crossed the North
sea-"
"Have you any brothers and sisters
Captainy'
oh yes, lot of them. There are
Olga, ingaborg. and Oscar who live In
Hatfjelddalen. Dagmar and Chris
tian are seamen like myself. Lars
runs salmon cannery In British
Columbia. Gustaf and Tor are lumber
men somewhere In America. And then
we have another brother, Eric, whom
we've lost track Of"
" hit u 3iHH III IuuhG Lie ldiAoV
channel of Norderaue we hit sand
bank. The ship creaked and the
masts tremhled. but somehow we
pushed across-furthpr proof that the
| Scots. of Glasgow still know how TO
turn out sturdy clipper ship.
AT ten o'clock we passed the Horns
reef and continued along the Danish
| coast. At eight bells we hoped to
reach the Skagerrak, and then turn
her west to give the enemy the impress.
sion that we had come from Scan
E dinavian port Shortly before day.
break, the wind shifted abruptly from
southwest to due north. Against such
stiff breeze, we could make little
Roadway. On our right were the low
rocky fjords and reefs along the coast
of Ringkiobing and Thisted. To the
left were British mine fields. We
didn't dare run into a Danish harbor
for fear Of being interned. So we
| must either turn back or take chance
| on slipping through the mine fields
/ 1t Is always possible to sail through
mine feld-provided you sail under q
lucky star with guardian angel at
the helm.
"Hard anortl Well risk 1t, boys"
With q full spread of sail, we turned
straight west.
Now, a tackine ship heels over. The
more sail you carry the more she lays
over, and the less wafer she draws.
That was our chance The mines were
nearly always planted several feet
under water Just out OF sight. Per.
haps we could slide right over them
Lifeboats were lowered. and every
man adjusted his llfebelt. Before the
mast. the sailors; aft, the captain.
| But we NIL kept to the f0reship. We
were lower aft than fore, and II a
mine went Off 1t probably would be
aft. But our luck held and we gol
through in safety.
Our course lay around the northern
end OF Scotland, along the usual ship
ping route from Norway to the At
lantic. To be sure, we could have
Rugged the Norwegian coast, but the
blockade was even tighter there. Thai
was the natural course for one OF our
raiding armored cruisers to take, So II
she were headed Off by Beatty, she
could turn quickly into neutral Nor.
wegian port and accept internment
rather than capture. We didn't even
keep to the middle of the North Sea.
but with the idea that our one path
OF safety lay right under John Bulls
nose, we followed the coast OF Eng
land and Scotland.
There were three lines Of the block.
AIDE. The first lay across the North
Sea from the Scottish to the Danish
coast. We must run this one first
The wind grew stronger. The bar.
ometer fell. Anyone on the North Sea
on the twenty-third OF December, 101O
will remember the hurricane that
came. 1t was one OF the worst storms
Of years. The wind was cyclonic In
force, and dashed the shallow North
Sea into a cauldron. Running before
1t we carried every foot Of sail we
dared. every stitch except the royals
and gallantsails and smaller staysails
We could take chances.
we sped right through the first line
OF the blockade without sighting u
ship and as though the whole North
Sea were ours. Instead OF going up
the barometer continued to fall. Loud
err roared the storm, and more and
more mountainous became the waves
we passed the second line OF the
blockade. Still not d ship In sight.
Midnight grew near, and still that
wild heaven-sent hurricane kept up
We ran before 1t like a. frightened
bird, fearing every minute that our
sails~a and masts would go overheard
We lny enzfhe yards and scanned the
horizon with our glasses. Half-pasi
eleven We were In the midst of the
blockade line. Where were the cruis
er8 and destroyers? All we could hear
was the whlstling OF the wind and the
rushing Of the water beneath ouI
bows. All we could see, the blackness
~ thn nipht Twelve o'clock and still