Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/1/1 - October - December 1914 - Part 3

10
November 5.
[*Can find no 
trace of this 
in Admty records.
It may have 
been camouflaged*]
too, but I expect the sharks will get those.
+ I hear that up to 16 hours before leaving Albany
it had bn intended that we shd go via S. Africa.
Tonight about 9 the Osterley passed us on
her way home. The Minotaur afterwds signalled
to her captain. "I regret that you thought fit to
bring your ship so close to our convoy today.
You must take the whole responsibility for any result that
accrues thro' your action. If any photographs have been
taken you must take steps to deal with them as you
are aware that they are forbidden. You must see that
passengers letters contain no reference to this fleet
& all letters must be handed in detained sending a report made to
the naval authorities at Colombo. If you have
any Germans on board steps must be taken
to deal with them" – or words to that effect.
This last ws sent in consequence of a message
flashed to us not from the Osterley's regular
signal, but from the upper deck. Some passenger or
member of the crew must have wanted us to know
it. It ran: "We have on board the German
barber who ws dismissed from the Omrah."
This was repeated by us to the Minotaur.
I rather wonder that the Melbourne
allowed the Osterley to come so near - It so happed

11
November. 5  6
that at that moment we were just about crossing the regular mail
track.
It is rumoured that 2 of the N.Z. ships collided on
their voyage over. They were engaged in some
form of target practice today.
The Osterley was as bright as a floating hotel. If an
attack were made, however, it wd be just abt the
end of the middle watch - _^say 3 a.m. - when lights
wd be out. An indirect glow doesnt matter
much - more a direct light. The division
leaders have now no mast head lights - only one for the ship astern
to steer by. We have some screened lamps being fitted
to show in the water only; but these skippers are
very scared of this method.
The Southern over ran us today - but she
is now allowed to do this.

Nov 6^th. Am putting in an hour daily at the Roman novel.
Little Guillaux, the French Aviator; is a modest little man,
& talks a French which is extremely clear & fairly witty. But
the two French interpreters, especially Peticol, seem to me
to talk of nothing but women all day long. They appear to
be amusing themselves with double-entendres under the
impression that one cant see through them. I cant stand
this French filled habit & it makes them very difficult
to talk to. We
We had most of our lights veiled today - I suppose
we're getting nearer the danger point. The lights appear

12
November 6.7.
to be given only half their proper current. The fleet Cabin
windows had to be screened & so was one side of the
saloon. Schuyler & I sat up on the boat deck, afterwds,
lat in the moonlight, talking abt. ancient Rome. Bright
moon tonight. A good many bright lights can still be
seen from many of the ships & some of the masthead
lights are not at all well screened. They are plainly
visible ahead. The Minotaur's light 4 miles ahead
is glowing like a fixed star.
The General's horse is very sick with pneumonia
& will probably die. Sea still beautifully smooth with
a slight roll. The Chief Engineer let us go down
into the engine room & stokehold today – (Schuyler the general)
quite like old times. I almost feel at home down there.
These merchant ships certainly keep their engine rooms
in apple pie order. If a bearing goes so hot as to
melt the white metal somebody wd be fired for it.
They never turn a ship over to an entirely new
engine room staff.

Sat. Nov 7. Today at dinner, after the Kings toast (proposed by the General)
Capt Gordon Smith proposed Sweethearts & wives.
As we were sitting in the lounge after dinner
the lights in the whole ship went out. This was done in

13
November. 7.
ours & every other ship for ½ hour; in order to practice
steaming absolutely without lights the lights were cut
off in the engine room. The men immediately tumbled
up on deck to their stations & stood there. Even cigarettes
& pipes had to be put out, by order from the bridge. It was
quite difficult to make ones way along the deck. I
trod on several bare toes – & finally climbed up to the
smoking room roof. The fleet was in absolute darkness
except for an occasional signal light. I went to couldn't see
any light on our masthead for the Southern to steer by; &
our sidelights were out. So I went down to the stern
& there, hung over the rail, looking into the water & enclosed
in a sort of tin funnel, was the only light in the
ship. It was shining down upon the wake & by
that reflected light the Southern was supposed to be
steering. The wake at this speed (10½ km) is
not very bright white, so the light _^on it is not very
brilliant.
After abt half an hour the other ships
began to show up. The Euripedes asked us
how she looked - & then her lights too showed
up.
Today there arrived news of the Sea fight
of Valparaiso between the German Pacific

14
November.7.
Fleet & our cruisers (Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, Leipzig,
Nűrnberg, & Dresden - (where has she come from?) against
the Good Hope, Monmouth & Glasgow] in which the Monmouth
is said to have been sunk. Schuyler tells me that
just before we left he had heard the German fleet in the
Pacific was all collecting at a rendez-vous between
certain islands _^well off Chilé. So now we know where
they are – only the Emden, Koenigsberg & one
mysterious merchant cruiser left up this
way. Schuyler also tells we that we captured one
of their codes on the first merchant steamer we took.
For a time we cd understand their messages -
one copy went to the Admiralty & others
were circulated here. But after a time another
code was used.
Concert tonight amongst officers - a
surprising lot of talent. One of the ship's engineers
sang - "My little grey home in the west", which
had some memories of a dance at Correy's Gardens. The
night was warm but perfect - a beautiful
half moon, _^lining the light clouds, a lazy swell, & the lights of the
Euripedes about a mile across the water, fair
in the moon's track.
Our lights are only being given half their
usual current & are difficult to read by.

15
November. 8.
Sund. Nov 9^th At 5.20 this morning the Minotaur signalled
the fleet to go at 7 knots. She then turned from
her place at the head of the line & signalled to General
Bridges, & other officers in command:
"Am off on other service. I hope the Australians
& New Zealanders with yo will have good luck
in Germany & give the Germans a good shaking."
She turned over to the Melbourne which afterwards
came up & headed the line.
The Minotaur steamed away on our port beam
- a direction which would take her to Cape Town."
She had clearly received orders from the Admiralty
following on the cruiser action of Valparaiso. We
now hear that the Good Hope was sunk early
in the action by a serious explosion (½ an hour after
the scrap began). The Monmonth when last seen was
heavily on fire & is reported ashore. The Glasgow
got away. We suppose they put into Valparaiso
for water & the Germans waited for them outside.
We have now no cruiser astern us. Capt.
SILVER →Silva of the Melbourne, who is a very careful
& perhaps rather anxious officer (they say he hasn't
had a decent night's sleep since the war began)
thinks that tonight (when we pass the Cocos Is - on
our port side -) is _^the most likely for attack. A
cruiser of the enemy might guess we shd go this
way & wait for us here. Accordingly
the Melbourne is showing no light, & instructions
have been given to the ships to show none

16.
November. 8
either. So far, the result has not been very
successful. The difficulty is to convince people
like the smoking room steward in this ship or
the men (or even most of the officers) in any of them
that there is any need for precaution. I doubt
if anything short of keeping them standing on parade
would persuad prevent either a the man from striking
matches if they he wanted to light his pipe. The
Euripides looked like a floating hotel till her
lower deck lights went out at 9.30 - & she
told us (by means of a signal lamp high above
the bridge which could probably be seen for 10 miles
in any direction) that the light on our lower deck
was very bright. Capt. Smith told us that the
ships wd be steaming with their steaming lights out,
& we heard that they were only to show a screened
stern light shining onto the water. But when we
looked we found that our mast head light &
stern light (showing to the next astern) were
shining & the screened light though fixed was
turned off. The signal lights & some of the masthead
lights could be seen all down the fleet &
short of a searchlight nothing could have
been much more plain. We were told that
signalling by means of the buzzer & also
by light were to be stopped tonight.
11.30 The moon is up, Capt. de Bucy tells
me.

17.
November 8.
They have been debating whether the Southern
can be decently left behind. She was taken up in
Melbourne because the veterinary people said that
horses could not be carried on the decks in some
of the other ships which had been prepared for them.
There is some dispute as to this. But in any case
These decks are sd to have been used before by
merchants shipping horses & found suitable.
However, the Southern was taken & altered for
horses - because _^at a time when it was thought we must
start _^almost at once. Afterwards when it became
clear that there wd be plenty of time she
might very well have been scrapped. If ₤3000
had been paid for 1 months hire, & say another
₤2500 for alterations - ₤5500 - & the Southern
dismissed altogether & a quicker ship taken
up instead, we should have saved at least
a week on this journey. As the other ships must
cost ₤6000 (roughly - i.e., at 15/- per ton per
month) a day for hire we should have
saved that expense in 1 day besides
saving the cost of whatever number of horses
we lose in that last extra week.
However, the Southern was taken on.

18
November. 8.
Supposing the rest of the fleet can only go II knots
as agst her 10 this means 240 knots every
10 days - or a loss of 1 day in every ten.
Several alter However, it was decided
to bring her along & there is little doubt that
those who sent her meant us to leave her
behind if it were found that she couldn't
keep up, & we were hampered by her. But this
was not meationed to Capt. Kiddle (?) of
the Minotaur & he considered himself bound
to bring keep her with us.
The question now is - can she be
got rid of even now? Several alternatives were
put up to Capt. Kiddle (?) but his idea is
that only one is feasible. We must go to
Colombo (he thinks holds) & not to Aden (which apparently
we could _^reach without her); and his final
decision was: "The only way seems to be to
distribute the horses & men of the Southern
amongst the other ships when you get to
Colombo; and then allow her to return to
the obscurity from which she should never have
emerged" - or words to precisely that effect.)
There are plenty of vacant stalls on the

19
November 8.
ships for the Southerns horses – We lost about
10 a day up to two days ago. The rate total for
the last two days has been 15. Our horses have
been recovering in the smoother warmer weather.
The Generals charger (with pneumonia) has turned
the corner & at least 4 men will tell you separately
& individually that they are responsible for it -
& honestly believe it to be the case.
The crown of the Southern business is
that, except for 11 men with rifles, she
carries only Light Horse Ambulance. That is to
say, if these II men were not on board her with
their arms, she would be a ship protected
under the Geneva Convention & could sail
perfectly safely by herself - at any rate without
any fear for the lives of her men! And she is
prolonging this voyage, probably, by 10 days at
the least - a loss of say 100 horses & their keep
say £4,000) & about £60,000 charter _^money of ships,
& 10 valuable days.
During church his morning we
noticed the Euripedes fall out of line &
stop for a moment - then move back into
place. A man on board had died of pneumonia