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[Page 14]
The following is a letter from one of the crew of the "Scharnhorst, which appeared in the "Kieler Neueste Nachrichten" of Jan.10th. 1915. It gave the following information as to the movements of the German Pacific Squadron from August to October. 1914.
"Pacific Ocean in October
"We have been cruising since. the 26th. June (1) & have been continuously under way since 12th July. The days at Ponape must also be considered as days at sea, because we kept sea watches the while. There we mobilised our ships "Scharnhorst", "Gneisnau" [Gneisenau], & "Nurnberg"(2) which was immediately recalled from America ....... As we learnt through our newspaper service the tension between Austria & Servia increased steadily. All preparations were made by us. On 6th August we left Ponape with the Titania, our auxiliary cruiser. Nobody knew where we were going or when & where we might meet the enemy. In the afternoon Graf Von Spee made a pithy speech to our crew, which ended in 3 hearty cheers for the Emperor & the Empire. The feeling on board was excellent. Our course was N.E. & on 11th August we reached an island (3) where, in the course of this & the following day, our colliers & provision steamers arrived. Everything worked as we had anticipated. We were pleased to have fresh potatoes on board again at last for ours had been used up long ago. We had only dried potatoes left. We had also to regulate our provisions, as it was impossible to foresee when we should receive new supplies. After all ships had been supplied with sufficient coal & provisions, we left again on 13th August. The "Emden" had already brought to Tsingtau several merchant steamers, amongst them a Russian auxiliary cruiser, which she had seized quite near Vladivostok. On 19th August we reached the Marshall Islands. After 3 days coaling we went to sea again. Owing to being at war, we had to cease coaling at dark & lie continuously under steam ready to proceed. Our repairs had to be carried out during watchkeeping. Then came the clear-ship-for-action exercises. You may believe that all this tired us somewhat at first. Also we did not get such good food as usual. It consisted mostly of spunyarn[?] (preserved meat) and dried potatoes. On Sundays, however, it was somewhat better. At first, all on board lost weight, for the demands made of us were always greater than in peace time. I lost 16lbs. but when last weighed I had gone up 4 lbs. again. One gets used to anything. The main point is that we win the war & return home safe & sound. It is for our German Fatherland. As I said before, the "Emden" left us with special orders, also on 22nd. August the "Nurnberg" (4). On 27th August we reached the island ....... (5) After coaling & provisioning we left again on 29th August. On 6th Sept. we met (6) the "Nurnberg" again. She brought us English & American newspapers from Honilulu. Thus we got some sort of an idea of the state of affairs at home. We were in the happiest frame of mind. What, however, are we doing here? The ocean is too great to meet the enemy here. For this reason we proceed for the most part only with the "Gneisnau", so that we can capture all