Aug 18, 1200 Hours,
SS Princess Sophia, Ketchikan Harbour, Alaska
STOP AND PREPARE TO BE BOARDED flashed the Revenue Cutter. The American swung to port to overtake them, its Stars and Stripes snapping in the breeze. The three ships were by now all steaming at 12 knots down the narrow forest-lined channel, the American continuing to slowly overtake until it was side by side with
Princess Sophia.
“German Vessel!” yelled an American officer through a bullhorn from the bridge wing of the
Snohomish. “You are in violation of Article 21 of the Hague Thirteen Conventions. As agents of the United States Government, we are empowered and required to enforce American neutrality, and order you to release the prize vessel and return it to its crew. Stop immediately and prepare to be boarded.”
“Wir sprechen kein Englisch Liebling!” shouted Kruger back through his bullhorn.
There was a moment’s pause as the American bridge crew spoke between themselves.
“That cheap ruse will not work!” yelled another American officer in German. “Stop immediately and prepare to be boarded.”
“
Scheisse,” said Krüger to himself. But he ignored the order. He watched the deck gun crew on the
Snohomish receive instructions. They loaded their gun, and fired a shot across the
Princess Sophia’s bow. He ignored that too. The
Sophia was still accelerating, and it seemed like she was starting to nose ahead of the
Snohomish. Up ahead,
Galiano looked like she was pulling away. He checked that the engine room telegraph was at full, and spoke into the voice pipe. “Give me every revolution you have!”
Down the channel, fish boats and other craft were pulling over to the sides, to allow the racing ships to pass.
Snohomish turned inward and brought her rail against Sophia’s flanks with a grinding crash. Krüger ordered the helmsman to flick the wheel back in the direction of the Revenue Cutter, resulting in more crashing and grinding.
“Sorry! Excuse me!” Krüger yelled across through the bullhorn. “Excuse me! Sorry!”
It became clear that
Princess Sophia was faster than the American, and the
Snohomish slowly fell astern. She seemed content now to chase the Germans, like a dog chasing an automobile, although Krüger noted that the smoke coming out of the
Snohomish’s stack had not slackened.
Sophia and
Galiano had now worked their way up to their full speeds of just over 14 knots. The ships turned into Nicholas Passage, heading back towards the international border. After half an hour at this pace the Germans were well into the Passage, and
Snohimish was a full nautical mile astern, still pouring smoke . After an hour, the Sophia and Galiano were looking off their port quarter at New Metlakatla, and they had doubled their lead on the Revenue Cutter. At 1600 hours the Galiano and Princess Sophia crossed over the international boundary and were riding on the swells of Dixon Entrance in Canadian waters on a stunningly beautiful sunny afternoon. The American Revenue Cutter was just a smudge of smoke 7 miles astern.
https://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/hague13.asp
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fd/Princess_Sophia_(steamship)_(ca_1912).jpg
