Pacific?

Raider In

Where is German Pocket- Battleship?

A VARIETY of signs especially the unexpected and unexplained depar ture of German freighters and tankers from various African and South Ameri can ports—suggested to the British Ad miralty at the end of October that the German pocket-battleship “Admiral von Scheer” had left the South Atlantic. It was suspected that she had rounded Cape Horn and probably was prowling some where in the Pacific with a view to at tacking British and French merchant shipping.

So far as is known, all the evidence that the German battleship is in the Pacific is circumstantial; but, neverthe less, due precautions are being taken.

If the “Admiral von Scheer” is loose in the Pacific, she will take some round ing-up, as only a first-class British or French battleship could deal with her.

It would appear that there was a flurry of naval operations in the North Sea about the end of September—British and German squadrons being more or less in contact —and under the cover of the prevailing mist and fogs two Ger man pocket-battleships, the “Admiral von Scheer” and the “Deutschland”, slipped away north along the Norwegian coast and thus escaped into the Atlantic.

The British naval view of the German raiders at the end of October was that “they were doing very little harm to British shipping, considering the length of time they had been at large”.