DEPARTMENT OF STATE.

214 SUBMARINE WARFARE.
I do not know the agents' names.
The captain told me in off-hand conversation that the
agents furnished the pilot.
The pilot for Germany came on board the 21st, between
4-5 p. m.
The sea pilot went ashore then and the other pilot took
charge, I presume.
I do not know the pilot's name.
I had no conversation with the pilot until 11 o'clock
that night, when I called him and he instructed me to
cast the lead, and we found 17 fathoms and altered the
course to NE. |E.
I was on watch from 8 to 12 that night and from 8 to
11 the next morning, and during these periods had some
conversation with the pilot.
The pilot claimed to be a general pilot; he claimed to
be a North Sea pilot. He said he had run into the Weser
but said he had not been to Bremen or Bremerhaven
since the war started. He was talking about ships which
run from Rotterdam to the River Plate, and I assumed
he was either master or mate of a ship on that run.
He said he was not a government pilot, but a private
pilot.
He said nothing about holding a license either as master
or pilot.
I was informed by another pilot at the Hook that the
Dutch government pilots are not allowed to leave Dutch
waters, and could not make the trip to Germany.
He seemed to know how to handle the ship allright; he
knew his courses and he knew his distances. As he had
been sent on board by the agents, I supposed he was
qualified to take us in safely, but I believe now if he had
been a qualified man he Would have been better posted.
During my watches on the night before and the day
of the explosion the vessel was running at full speed.
This was, of course, on the pilot's orders. The pilot
never seemed anxious about mines.
We had double outlook on watch for floating mines.
We posted double lookouts after leaving Nab Lightship.
We saw our first mines on Saturday morning, the 20th,
by the North Hinder Lightship, west of there about 6 to
8 miles. We saw two groups of three mines each and
passed between them, three on each side, about a quarter
of a mile away from them. I saw the mines myself.
We met a Dutch ship shortly after seeing these mines
and she signaled that we were standing into danger and
to keep a sharp lookout.
After meeting this vessel we saw seven more mines
within an hour. In all we passed 13 mines within two
hours, between 8 and 10 a. m.
They were floating mines. They floated about a foot
out of water and were easily distinguishable at a mile.
They were new and freshly painted, without seagrowth.
They were equipped with balance bars or rods
on top and were marked with the letter "H" in white.
They were marked with three white letters and they may
have all been "H," but we could not distinguish the
other two.
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