REFUELING WARSHIPS AT SEA. 165 



man liner Kronprinz Wilhelm are said to have taken coal from captured col- 

 liers. Other German cruisers are said to have received coal from ships sent out 

 from New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Havana and Manila. We hear 

 that the wireless was brought into play between shore stations and the German 

 cruisers, also between the colliers and the cruisers. 



Several of these German cruisers are reported to have coaled alongside in the 

 sheltered waters of islands. The British Admiralty issued a statement early in 

 October, prompted by the destructive work of the German cruisers Emden and 

 Karlsruhe, as follows : — 



"The vast expanses of seas and oceans and many thousands of islands offer 

 almost infinite choice of movement to the enemy's ships. In spite of every effort 

 to cut off their coal supply it has hitherto been maintained by one means or another. 

 In the face of increasing difficulty the discovery and destruction of these two enemy 

 cruisers, therefore, is largely a matter of time, patience and good luck." 



The Emden was caught destroying a wireless station and sunk November 9; the 

 Karlsruhe is still at large (January i, 1915). 



COALING FROM CAPTURED COLLIERS. 



The British steamer Indian Prince was captured by the converted German liner 

 Kronprinz Wilhelm off the Brazilian coast on September 4. The commander of 

 the Kronprinz Wilhelm made the Indian Prince steam for five days, when sea con- 

 ditions permitted the German cruiser to come alongside. They made fast, put 

 aboard a gangplank and transferred about 130 tons of coal, stores and provisions. 

 Coaling began on the afternoon of September 8. The crew worked all night until 

 10 o'clock on September 9, when she cast loose and sank the British ship. 



The British steamer Holmwood was captured by the German cruiser Dresden. 

 The rescued sailors say: "The commander of the Dresden first ordered the crew of 

 the Holmwood aboard the cruiser, then took coal from the steamship and sank her 

 by firing twenty shells." 



The Emden was coaled from the German steamer Markomannia in the smooth 

 waters off Sumatra Island, and from the captured British ship Exford, which was 

 finally sunk. As the Emden's field of operations was in the Indian Ocean, south 

 of which hundreds of islands exist, doubtless she never coaled otherwise than 

 broadside in smooth waters. 



The German cruiser Karlsruhe was discovered taking coal from the Kronprinz 

 Wilhelm in midocean. The coal was being passed in small boats from ship to ship. 

 When the British cruiser appeared both ships steamed away, leaving their small 

 boats in the sea. The Karlsruhe claimed to have captured 15 ships since August 31, 

 from which they have replenished their coal bunkers and kept their larder well 

 stocked. 



