Todd war diary, 3 August 1914-29 February 1916 / Arthur Todd - Page 287
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[Page 287]
CHAPTER 7.
The South Atlantic
Of the Karlsruhe we had heard nothing for some time. She had last been reported authentically in mid-December while we were lying snugly against the mole at Gib, but her ghost had been seen many times since. We heard all sorts of statements and rumours that the Karlsruhe had been seen at a certain place on a given date, and most often on searching the log it was found that the ship must have been ourselves or the Melbourne. This was really the only evidence the Sydney had that the Melbourne did sometimes go to sea. The latest rumour was that wreckage of the Karlsruhe had been sighted off the Barbadoes [Barbados], and that one of her boats was ashore in Venezuela. This proved to be true; but the wreckage, consisting of a lifebelt or two, some clothing and a few odd spars, was not sufficient to allow us to presume her loss. At most it did not necessarily mean more than the loss of a boat's crew and some damage caused by a heavy sea. The best guide we had was that there were no ships reported missing. We had lost nothing in the Middle and South Atlantic for nearly two months, and if the Karlsruhe was still