Todd war diary, 3 August 1914-29 February 1916 / Arthur Todd - Page 305
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[Page 305]
hatch. Towards the close of the action, when the ship was nearly finished, the stokers asked permission to go on deck and save themselves. The Engineer Commander refused and was stuffed into the flames by his men. The Commander of the Gneisenau came upon the quarterdeck of the Carnarvon and spat to show his contempt of the English; and according to one story, for the truth of which I cannot vouch, he was quietly pushed over the side. Another tried to come up over the side with a revolver and had to be knocked on the head. One German officer from the Gneisenau came aboard the Carnarvon and asked if there were a Stoddart aboard. He was told "yes", that that was the Admiral's name. And he turned out to be a cousin of the Admiral's, one of whose relations had married into a German family. What a reunion!
After three days at the Abrolhos the Sydney and her squadron put to sea again, stuffed full with coal and prepared for a long cruise. We had now three armed merchantmen with us, and with those and the colliers were able to cover a wide expanse of ocean. So the sweep now began in real earnest. We steamed north at first at eight knots, which was about all that the colliers could manage, and zigzagged to port and starboard in the hope of finding the Kronprinz Wilhelm, the sole remaining Hun in those waters. But our quarry was strangely silent; we heard nothing of her, and there was no toll of shipping lost. Although we did not know it, this ship was at the end of her tether. After a few days at sea, we heard by wireless of the despatch of the Gloucester and Liverpool which were to sweep from the north. So we