Evening star., 1940-04-25
Skipper
Continued From First Page)

Skipper
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boxes, apparently containing ma
chine gun ammunition,
One German plane roared over
head as the troops landed.
Capt. McHale brought his shin
into New York Harbor this morning
after a perilous voyage through the
mine-infeSted North Sea. On leav-
ing Trondheim he was warned by
the German commander that he
sailed ION your own responsibility.
when the Germans came, I went
ashore and went up to the German
consulate, where I was allowed to
telephone the American consul at
Bergen" Capt. McHale said.
Il told them the situation and the
consul said he would call back"
Capt. McHale said he decided ii
was too dangerous to keep the ship
In the harbor because of its gold
cargo, taken on at Bergen.
so the next day." he continued,
I'VE went to another town about IL
miles away called Homellvik. We
thought the British might come on
there. but at no time did we see any
sign of British troops"
Kept Detailed Diary.
The captain kept detailed diary
while in Trondheim and other Eu-
ropean waters, which was released to
reporters on his arrival here.
Before he went abroad, Capt. Nc
Hale promised the school children of
Glen Rock, N. j., that he would keep
record of his adventure. That was
how he happened to write the story,
which follows, in part:
Trondheim, 5 am. April 9-Some-
body Knocked at my door and said
I'VE have boat and would like to
come alongside Of you. VIII it be all
right?" AS was half asleep,sI an
swered, yes, certainly" thinking
1t was some small Norwegian vessel
that wanted to lay alongside of me.
So I got up and looked around and
could see only destroyer, just OF
the entrance to the inner harbor
and nothing else moving, so I went
back to my room. About 10 min
utes later there was terrific racket,
and realized that an airplane was
circling around by ship.
Wondering what it wanted at that
time OF the morning, l again went
on deck. A three motor seaplane
was just making the last circle close
overhead. could not make out
what nationality, as it was lust
breaking day, but thought it very
strange that a plane should be cir
cling me at such an early hour.
So I took another look around
and saw some soldiers on the dock
and they looked sort of familiar. So,
calling out to the Norwegian watch
man who was then on the after
deck, asked him, Are they Ger
mans?' and he replied "Oh. no, they
are Norwegians."
Suspicious of Men.
I was still suspicious of them
just then I spotted large cruiser
with lot of soldiers on its deck.
1t was the Won Hipper. I then
realized that the port had been
taken by the Germans without q
shot.
called the chief officer and chief
engineer. I told them to be ready
to leave. About 6 am. we shifted
the ship up the dock, as I did not
want the Germans to come on my
ship and find out too much about
my cargo. A German ofdcer had
come aboard previously and asked
if they could come alongside and
told him I would prefer to move
my ship
He told me that there were about
1000 troops and that they had had
fight with a British destroyer just
outside the harbor which was
patrolling the mine fields (allied)
just laid, and that they had sunk
her in about 10 minutes and taken
so prisoners, including one officer.
I was also told that the destroyer
captain had put up a gallant fight,
firing several torpedoes and his guns
until the last shot, but that he had
had no chance to get the Won Hip
per and four destroyers.
I asked the officers if the war was
on in Norway. He said mo, we are
only here to protect Norway against
the English" and that they all had
orders not to bother neutral ships
especially American ships. He said
I could 60 and do anything ]
pleased.
Went to Agents Office.
decided to get in touch with our
consul at Bergen as soon as possible
A little later Capt. Staman came
aboard and we both went ashore tc
the agents Office. Troops were scat
tered around the town and there was
a small radio station rugged up on
the dock. When we got there (to the
ohice) we were stopped by soldier
and told to wait, as the Office was
under suspicion.
Nobody was allowed to enter (the
off1ce) until it had been searched
It was before Office hours, anyway
So I went to the German consulate
as the telephone system was ir
charge of the Germans.
All street corners had printed no.
tices in Norwegian, put there by thu
Germans, telling the people to be
calm and that the Germans had
! landed and taken ever the whole q!