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Post Info TOPIC: German Cargo Ships Impounded in WA in WW1


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German Cargo Ships Impounded in WA in WW1
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German cargo steamer Greifswald:

 

Fremantle on August 6, 1914.

 

WA archives hold key to history

Malcolm Quekett

December 12, 2014

 

Senior Archivist Gerard Foley at the State Records Office.

One can only imagine what passed through the mind of Albert Meyer, master of the German cargo steamer Greifswald, as it pulled into Fremantle on August 6, 1914.

It was two days after the outbreak of World War I against Germany and West Australians were responding with patriotic fervour.

But Greifswald did not have a wireless, so Meyer and his crew were "oblivious of the fact that war had been declared", _The West Australian _ reported the next day.

"When daylight arrived the vessel was brought to a berth at the quay by the pilot," it reported.

"The officers and crew had been engaged in rigging gear ready for discharging cargo.

"Even when they drew alongside the wharf and some patriotic youths in a motor boat commenced singing 'Rule Britannia' those onboard were not aware that anything untoward had happened."

It was not until the agent boarded that the master learnt the news.

"Captain Meyer, who is very popular in the Australian trade, was visibly affected at the unexpected tidings," the newspaper reported.

And so began the long legal process by which Greifswald and two other German merchant vessels, Neumunster and Thuringen, were detained and handed to the Crown.

Now, more than a century later, a remnant of those events has come to light in State Records Office archives in a key off Thuringen, believed to be from its safe.

The key was found by senior archivist Gerard Foley as part of the SRO's continuing search of archives to mark the WWI centenary.

Mr Foley said that on declaration of war in 1914, enemy vessels and cargo captured in port or at sea were processed through the courts of the captor country.

A Prize Court was set up to decide whether the capture was lawful, the ownership of the vessel, whether the cargo was "neutral" or "enemy" and what should be done with it, Mr Foley said.

The archives have Prize Court documents and seized ships' records such as log books, sailing and arrival codes, port clearance papers and manifests.

Mr Foley said Neumunster was captured off Fremantle on August 16, 1914, and Thuringen off Rottnest on August 27 and all three ships became Crown property in June 1915.

Mr Foley said the crews were interned on Rottnest until late 1915 when they were transferred to Holsworthy Internment Camp in NSW.

Thuringen was renamed Moorina and leased to the Indian government to carry its troops.

It was torpedoed by a German submarine in the Mediterranean in November 1915.

Neumunster was renamed Cooee and remained in service in Australia until 1926 when it was sold to a Finnish shipping company.

Greifswald was renamed Carina and used by the navy to transport cargo to and from Europe during the war.

Published: The West Australian:

https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/wa/a/25753952/wa-archives-hold-key-to-history/

 



-- Edited by Weevil on Friday 12th of December 2014 08:53:21 PM

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