The Sea Devil of Sail

Surprisingly, the last wooden sailing ship purposely outfitted to engage in WWI by the German Imperial Navy had a past connection to Captain Richard Lee of Harbourville, Nova Scotia.

Joining the league of seafaring captains in the late 1800s, Lee commanded several large ships and, notably, the Pass of Balhama. Built in Scotland in 1888 and known for her astounding speed, this beautifully-designed, three-master barque was kept in the best of condition at a time when wooden sailing ships were being replaced by iron steamships.

Lee’s wife and daughter often accompanied the captain on long voyages aboard this fine windjammer.

There are several versions of why Captain Lee retired from his position but, regardless, shortly before the outbreak of World War I, the Pass of Balhama was sold to an American firm. In 1916, she was on her way to Archangel, Russia with a cargo of cotton, and, even though the Americans were still neutral in 1916, a British inspection ship intervened the trading vessel and replaced her with a British “prize crew.” Having changed the American flag to the Union Jack and heading to Scapa Flow, the ship was captured by a German submarine that surfaced the very next morning and it was sailed to the base at Cuxhaven.

Sailing ships and steamships from the Atlantic and Pacific coasts accommodated the British war effort with supplies, and focus on intervention was the mandate of the German Imperial Navy. However, lacking their own fuelling stations abroad, the German submarines of WWI, with their low fuel capacity, were extremely limited in travelling any distance and the British Royal Navy has tied up the German surface warships in “bottleneck” fashion.

The Germans came up with an ingenious plan to disguise the Pass of Balhama, renamed the Seeadler, and her crew as a Norwegian fishing and trading vessel. With auxiliary engines, hidden guns and specially selected crew, the beautiful three-master proved a dangerous raider on the high seas. Taking out 14 Allied ships, scuttling $25 million in shipping and causing considerable damage all around, as ships feared to venture out of port, Captain Count Felix von Luckner earned the name “Sea Devil.” It must be noted Luckner was a gentleman an, throughout these raids, only one life was lost, accidental at that, and the officer of the captured Horngarth was buried at sea with full honours. Outfitted below deck with proper bunks and toilets, a variety of books, magazines and games, the prisoners were free to roam above deck unless an enemy ship was spotted. Well-fed and treated as guests, the captives posed no problems for the German crew.

After about seven months of raiding, the Seeadler broke up while anchored in Mopelia, but all lives were spared. After a series of events, the German crew gave themselves up to the British. The last captain of sail in naval duty, admired for his gallantry by the Allies, Captain von Luckner spent the remainder of the war exiled in New Zealand and went on to live a full and interesting life to the age of 85.