Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1940-12-07
81 the Associated Press.

NEW YORK, Dec. IA masque-
rading German sea raider prowling
Southern waters, laying hundreds Of
mines and capturing and sinking
enemy merchantmen is huge re-
built passenger liner-os large that
she has been equipped for three
year voyage of plumber.
This was told to the Associated
Press yesterday by Capt. Cornelius
Arundel British skipper. who was
imprisoned on the vessel for "a days
after the raider sank his ship, the
5,2o7-ton Haxby, near Bermuda.
The German marauder leads
chameleon-lik existence, carrying
elaborate stage props to change
her appearance from day to day,
She is even equipped with tele-
scopic funnel to further change her
superstructure.
Name Would Surprise.
Capt. Arundel, 40, who came here
from England to command an Amer
lean freighter recently purchased
by Britain, was bound by Admiralty
secrecy not to identify the raider,
her size, and other data, but he did
give this picture:
She was a decent size man-of-
war, much more than 10000 tons. II
you knew her name you would be
surprised. Her skipper is frigate
captain German rank equivalent
to commander in the American
Navy about AZ years old.
She carries six guns, four OF
them broadside and other arms in
Guiding a huge supply of mines.
while I was aboard she changed
her disguise from a Greek ship to
a Brazilian and then Dutchman.
Through special rebuilding and light
steel plates she could change her
entire superstructure in short
time. A telescope funnel helped
do this. ...
Crew Is Huge.
"Her superstructure was con-
stantly being repainted-in the
morning it would be white and before
night it would be buff. This gives
you an idea of the huge crew she
carried.
Capt. Arundel lodged questions
on the exact size of the crew, but
acknowledged that it comprised
more than 300 men,
"She slipped out of Hamburg
April while the British Navy was
rushing to Norway to fight the Ger
man invasion there. My ship was
her first victim.
En- route from Greenock to Corpus
Christi, Tex, last April, the Haxby
sighted what appeared to be Greek
ship. A moment later the vessel
crossed her bows and began firing
without warning.
They killed Is of my men.
smashed the lifeboat and set the
ship on fire before we abandoned
her" the bronzed veteran OF Scapa
Flow in the last war said.
The "a survivors among the Hax-
by's crew were taken aboard the
raider which then laid mines off
West Africa, met the Nazi tanker
Winnetou at sea for refueling, and
then proceeded to New Zealand
where 230 mines were dropped.
On June 10 the Britons were put
aboard captured Norwegian
freighter. the Tropic Sea.
The Tropic Sea was scuttled 10
days later by her German prize
crew when a British submarine &C
costed her of Bordeaux. The Brit
ons were rescued by the submarine
and taken to Gibraltar.
The subn1arine-the Truant-was
unable to accommodate the 80 Nor
wegian and 30 Germans aboad the
Tropic Sea and left them in lifeboats
with orders to remain where they
were until flying boats arrived.
widow" Received Pension.
Fearing capture, the Germans fed
and managed to reach Spain in life
boats. The Norwegians were rescued
the next day.
Back in England, Capt. Arundel
long unheard from-was officially
listed as dead and his widow" had
been receiving pension payments
from the government for three
months, although she had refused
to give up hope, or to sign death
certificate.
"She told me later that she used
to sit and look at my picture and it
would say to her, Chin up, I'm all
right" Capt. Arundel said. He re-