June 20, 1918 
Land & Water 
The Turkish Conspiracy — VI 
Arrival of '*Goeben" and " Breslau " at the Golden Horn 
Narrated by Mr. Morgenthau, late American Ambassador in Constantinople 
/ doubt if any two ships have exercised a greater 
influence upon history than these two German cruisers. 
These are Mr. Morgenthaii's own ivords, they are none 
too strong in the light of subsequent events. The flight 
of the "Goeben" and the "Breslau'' to the Golden 
Horn was yet (mother glaring instance of Gerntajiy's 
utter disregard of internatianal rights and treaties. This 
fact has probably never been fully realised, but this 
chapter of Mr. Morgenthau s narrative establishes the 
truth of it. The whole episode is German all 
I 
ON August loth, 
I went out on 
a little launch 
to meet the 
Sicilia, a small 
Italian ship which had just 
arrived from Venice. I 
was especially interested 
in this Tessel because she 
was bringing to Constan- 
tinople my daughter and 
son-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. 
Maurice VVertheim, and 
their three little daughters. 
The greeting proved even more interesting than I had 
expected. I found the passengers considerably excited, for 
they had witnessed, the day before, a naval engagement in 
the Ionian Sea. 
"We were lunching yesterday afternoon on deck," 
my daughter told me, "when I saw two strange-looking 
vessels just above the horizon. I ran for the glasses, and 
made out two large battleships : the first one with two queer 
exotic-looking towers, and the other one quite an ordinary 
looking battleship. We watched, and saw another ship 
coming up behind them and going very fast. She came 
nearer and nearer, and then we heard guns booming. Pillars 
of water sprang up in the air ; there were many little puffs of 
white smoke ; it took me some time to realise what it was all 
about, and then it burst upon me that we were actually 
witnessing an engagement. The ships continually shifted 
their- position, but went on and on. The two big ones turned 
and rushed furiously for the little one ; then apparently 
changed their minds and turned back. Then the little one 
turned around, and calmly steamed in our direction. At 
first I was somewhat alarmed at this, but nothing happened. 
She circled around us with her tars excited and grinning, 
and somewhat grimy. 
They signalled to our 
captain many questions, 
and then turned and 
finally disappeared. The 
captain told us that the 
two big ships were 
Germans which had been 
caught in the Mediter 
ramean, and which were 
trying to escape from the 
• British fleet. He says 
that the British ships are 
chasing them all over the 
Mediterranean, and that 
the German ships are 
trying to get into Con- 
stantinople. Have you 
seen anything of them ? 
Where do you suppose the 
British fleet is ? " 
A few hours ' afterward 
I happened to meet Wan- 
genheim. When I told 
him what Mrs. Wertheim 
had seen, he displayed an 
agitated interest. Imme- 
diately after lunch he called 
with Pallavicini, the Aus- 
trian Ambassador, and 
asked for an interview 
with my daughter. The 
two Ambassadors solemnly 
planted themselves in 
chairs before Mrs. Wer- 
theim, and subjected her 
to a most minute, though 
very polite, cross-exam- 
ination. 
" I never felt so im- 
portant in my life," she 
afterwards told me. 
over. 
Admiral Souchon and Naval Officers 
AH the men except at the extreme right and left are Germans, 
uniforms — Jbut nothing else — are Turkish 
They would not permit 
her to leave out a single 
detail of her story ; they 
wished to know how many 
shots had been fired, what 
direction the German 
ships had taken, what 
everybody on . board had 
said — and so on. The visit 
seemed to give these allied 
Ambassadors immense 
relief and satisfaction ; 
, they left the house in 
an almost jubilant mood, 
behaving as though a great weight had been taken off their 
minds. And certainly they had good reason for their elation. 
My daughter had been the means of giving them the news 
which they had desired to hear above everything else — that 
the Goeben and the Breslau had escaped the British fleet, and 
were then steaming rapidly to the Dardanelles. 
The next day official business called me to the German 
Embassy. But Wangenheim's animated manner soon dis- 
closed that he had no interest in routine matters. Never had 
I seen him so nervous and so excited. He could not rest in 
his , chair more than a few minutes at a time ; he was con- 
stantly, jumping up, rushing to the window, and looking 
anxiously out toward the Bosphorus, where his private 
wireless station, the Corcovado, lay about three-quarters of a 
mile away. Wangenheim's face was flushed ; his eyes were 
shining, he would stride up and down the room, speaking 
now of a recent German victory, now giving me a little 
forecast of Germany's plans— and then stalk to the window 
again for another look at the Corcovado. ' ' ' 
"Something is seriously distracting you," I said, rising. 
"I will go and come again some other time." 
" No, no ! " the Ambassador almost shouted. " I want you 
to stay right where you 
are. . This will be a great 
day for Germany ! If 
you will only remain for 
a few minutes .you will 
hear a great piece t of 
news- -something that has 
the utmost bearing upon 
Turkey's relation to the 
war." 
Then he rushed out on 
the portico, and leaned 
over the balustrade. At 
the same moment I saw 
a little launch put out 
from the Corcovado toward 
the Ambassador's dock. 
Wangenheim hurrieddown, 
seized an envelope from 
one of the sailors, and a 
moment afterward burst 
into the room. 
"We've got them !" he 
shouted to me. 
"Got what ?" I asked. 
"The Goeben and the 
Breslau have pasged 
through the Dardanelles ! " 
He was waving the 
wireless message with all 
the enthusiasm of a college 
boy whose football team 
has won a victory. 
Then, momentarily 
checking his enthusiasm, 
•he came up to me, 
solemnly, humorously 
shook his forefinger, lifted 
his eyebrows, and said : 
"Of course, you under- 
stand that we have sold 
those^ ships to Turkey !" 
The 
