and did his best in his broken English to assure us everything was all
right. "Go sleep tranquil," he said: "I see this ship built--very
strong." But the whole performance was a horrid nightmare.

The next day was no better, but rather worse. About 6 p.m. there was a
great crash, which alarmed all; it was due to the _Wolf_ crashing into
and completely smashing part of the bridge of our ship. This was enough
for the Germans. They decided to suspend operations, and at 7 p.m. the
_Wolf_ sheered off, only just narrowly escaping cutting off the poop of
the _Igotz Mendi_ in the process. She had coaled six hundred tons in
twenty-five hours, her decks, torpedo tubes, and guns being buried under
great mounds of coal, as all hands were busy in the transference of coal
from her prize to the _Wolf_. Shifting the coal to her bunkers had to be
done after the ships had separated. If by good luck an Allied cruiser
had appeared at this time, the _Wolf_ would have been an easy prey. The
coaling process had severely damaged the _Wolf_, many of whose plates
were badly dented. We had lost eighteen large fenders between the ships,
and the _Wolf_ was leaking to the extent of twelve tons an hour. The
_Igotz Mendi_ had come off better. None of her plates were dented, she
was making no water, and the only visible signs of damage to her were
many twisted and bent stanchions on the port side that met the _Wolf_.

We had been allowed to send letters for Christmas--censored, of course,
by the Germans--to our _Hitachi_ friends on the _Wolf_, and when the two
ships were alongside we were allowed to speak to them, though
conversation under such conditions was very difficult, as one minute our
friends would be several feet above us and the next below us with the
rolling of the ships; and the noise of the coaling, shouting of orders,
and roaring of the water between the ships was deafening. There did not
seem much point in censoring letters, as the prisoners on the _Igotz