Evening star., 1941-04-04
German Sea Raider
Reported RefueIed
Off Chilean Coast
Yacht, Formerly Owned
By American, Linked
To Submarine Aid
BY ALLEN HADEN,

/ BUENOS AIRES, March. 26 by
| Clipper A German sea raider,
possibly a submarine, is being regu-
larly refueled off the south Chile
coast, according to reports reaching
here from Chilean naval officers.
That the raider could secretly
patrol Pacific waters from a hidden
base on one of the islands between
Puerto Montt and the Magellan
Straits is we'll known to these off,
GERS. They are checking local police
reports that 40-foot power yacht,
the San Toy, is the refueling tender.
The other night the San Toy
took on oil from three trucks at the
fishing port of Dichato, near Con-
cepcion, slipped out to sea and re-
turned a few hours later with its
tanks empty. Police investigators
upon boarding the San Toy found
powerful radio transmitter and sig
mailing lights, scarcely standard
equipment for small pleasure craft.
United States observers, mindful
of the need for keeping these waters
clear should the Panama Canal ever
become closed to commerce, were
annoyed that the yacht San Toy
used to belong to Carlos Orrego
Renard, agent for an American
firm in Santiago, Chile. Senor
Orrego asserts that he sold his boat
before it took up this new activity.
Seamen Spirited Away.
An even better established pursuit
Of the Gestapo agents in Chile has
been the spiriting of fugitive Ger
man seamen across the Andes from
Argentina. By taking advantage of
the concentration of 100000 unas-
simulated Germans in the district
between Temuco and Puerto Montt,
these agents have been able to
smuggle many crewmen interned
after the scuttling of the Graf Spec
across Perez Rosales Pass to the
fishing village of Monteros. There
it is easy to bribe Chilean fishermen
to sail them out to waiting japanese
freighters and the next step on their
journey home via the Trans Siberian
Railway.
Argentine officials, though publicly
decrying these escapes privately wink
at them. The expense of maintain
ing interned seamen represents one
more drain on the nations sadly de-
pleted finances.
The use of this underground rail-
way" for the repatriation of seamen
is only test, however, for the day
when it might be needed for the
evacuation of German nationals in
these two countries, or for the move
ment of spies in the event of war.
Undoubtedly these Gestapo activ-
tiles were among the topics discussed
at the recent meeting to which Frei-
herr Won Thermann, German AM
bassador to Argentina, summoned
the Ambassadors of Bolivia, Chile
and Peru In the Hotel Carrera at
Santiago, Chile, the four Hitler
diplomatic bigwigs met to hear the
latest instructions from Berlin.
Hints of German Planes.
Won Tbermann had just returned
from trip home via italian air line,
Lati-the last bridge across the Brit
ish blockade for the South Amer
ican Nazis. A hint at the pattern |
for German action, in the event Ger
many defeats Britain, was the
speech he made upon his arrival at
Buenos Aires.
He said Germany, after the war,
would be the worlds greatest pur-
chaser of foodstuffs. The implied
threat was: BE good now or We'll |
buy elsewhere later"
United States observers, having |
viewed with some alarm the extern
sive travels of Gen. Niedenfuhr, head
of all South American Nazis, and
Dr.. Reith, Hitlers personal repre-
sentative for this continent, took
heart from the following incident:
The inevitable Nazi-propaganda !
film, "Blitzkrieg in the West" was |
to be shown to the Chilean Army. |
For 20 years Chilean officers have
been trained by German military
experts. But the Chilean War Min
lister forbade them to attend the
show "as officers" and refused to
go himself.
Copyright, 1941, Chicago Daily News, Inc.) !