S/S Seydlitz Built in1902 7,942 gross tons Shipyard F. Schichau.

SOME SHIP HISTORY.

To meet the special requirements of the freight and steerage passenger traffic on the New York line the NDL aquired two types of steamers known as the Rhine class and the General class The "General" class comprised the steamships "Zieten", "Seydlitz", "Gneisenau", "Roon" and "Scharnhorst". The "Zieten" was launched at Schichau's yard, Dantzic on July 12 1902, the "Seydlitz" at the same yard on October 25, the "Roon" on November 1 at Joh. C. Tecklenborg's yard, Geestemünde the "Gneisenau" on at the "Vulcan" Company's yard, Stettin, and the "Scharnhorst" in 1904 at Joh. C. Tecklenborg's yard. The steamers of the "General" class were 137 meters long, 17 meters wide and 12 meters deep. They were first class passenger and cargo steamers. Their registered tonnage was about 8000 tons, and displacement 13,500 tons. They were designed for the service between Bremen and New York, and to act as auxiliary steamers in the Imperial lines to East Asia and Australia. They had accommodation for about 90 first, 70 second and 2000 steerage passengers. The appointments of these vessels were characterized by a light and distinguished style, special regard had been given to the conditions of a voyage in the tropics. Each ship had two quadruple expansion engines of an approximate total of 5,000 indicated horse power. For loading and discharging there were 6 steam winches and 4 steam cranes. The speed of the steamers was about 14 knots. The crew numbered about 150. The steamers were provided with all modern improvements, thus securing the greatest possible degree of safety. They were fitted throughout with electric light, and every provision was made for passengers comfort and welfare.

I first read about the story of the lost treasure of the Seidlitz in Byron’s book on lost treasure of Australia. He used as his source an article which appeared in the Sydney Sunday Herald 10th January 1938 under the head line.

Search for Buried Treasure Fails Again.

Another attempt to find treasure which is supposed to be buried on a beach near Ballina has ended in failure. Two men, both Germans, drove from Halls Creek in W.A. in a utility truck to Tweed Heads but they parted soon after their arrival..

Byron then supplies a little more detail to the story of the rumoured treasure, which went back to 1914:

In 1914 a German passenger and mail ship scheduled to sail at 2 p.m. on the 5th of August suddenly left Sydney Harbour on the 3rd of August, 36 hours before Britain declared war on Germany and World War two commenced. Instead of sailing, as she was programmed to do, to Melbourne then Adelaide and Perth she headed north. The next day Australian destroyer Parramatta, with twice the speed in the water, was sent to capture the Seidlitz and take her back to port (she was the last German ship to leave an Australian port before the end of the war).

Somewhere on the far north coast of N.S.W. the Captain of the Seidlitz, aware that he was being pursued and almost certain to be captured, sent a boat ashore which a copper sea chest containing around 3,000 gold sovereigns, jewels (reportedly diamonds)and important documents given to him by wealthy Germans living in Sydney. The chest was buried somewhere behind the beach with the plan that it would be retrieved when Germany won the war. Of course Germany did not win the war and, although the Seidlitz did manage to escape the Parramatta (no radar in those days) she did not make it back to Germany but became involved in the decisive “Battle of the Falkland Islands”.

As I mentioned, it’s a good yarn with a nice sized treasure attached, 3,000 gold sovereigns and a horde of diamonds would have to be worth millions of dollars in today’s money. Better still buried in a copper chest in sand; what a target for a metal detector! Even two meters down it would have to give decent signal on a good sized coil. But was the story true; that was the question? So many buried treasure stories are just so much bull dust but what I liked about this one was that there were a number of claims that could be easily checked by a bit of sleuthing in the archives.

As was wisely said, “A few hours wisely spent in research can save months of wasted time in the field.”

First stop the micro-film archive of the Sydney Morning Herald August 1914; and bingo on August the 4th the Herald carried the story of the Seidlitz leaving Sydney prematurely.

Quote: Sydney Morning Herald 3rd August 1914

Unexpected Departure

German Steamers Leaving

The German mail steamer Seidlitz cleared Sydney Harbour unexpectedly at one p.m. today, although not due to leave till Wednesday. As the vessel proceeded down the Harbour the ship’s band played the German National Anthem and there was great enthusiasm amongst the crew. Although the vessel’s destination is supposed to be Hamburg via Antwerp it is doubtful whether she has sufficient coal to take her that far.

The German steamer Elanas also received peremptory instructions from her owners to leave Sydney tomorrow.

However no more steamers were allowed to leave Australian ports, the big guns mounted on the Sydney Heads did the talking.

Two days later the same paper was reporting:

Another Capture

Sydney, Wednesday.

It was reported this afternoon that the German steamer Seidlitz, which left Sydney suddenly on Monday, had been captured by the destroyer Parramatta. The message states that the liner was secured north of Sydney although she left for Bremen via Melbourne.

This was interesting as Byron’s story said that the Seidlitz escaped but further research, in which I acquired copies of the Parramatta’s log books for August 1914 showed that she did not capture the Seidlitz although she was headed north and did pass Ballina on the 5th of August. Yet there was a connection, an inference that the Seidlitz had been seen in northern Australian waters. So far the story was holding up.

I decided to check the local Ballina papers and here I hit the jackpot. A 1938 article covered the story of the two Germans arriving from Halls Creek in much greater detail.

From the Northern Star:

Treasure Trove at Ballina

Search Fails.

Another attempt to find the supposed “treasure trove” relic of early World War days on the beach near Ballina, has ended in failure.

It has been reported that two men, both Germans, who drove from Halls Creek in W.A. to Tweed Heads in a utility truck with the intention of unearthing thousands of pounds worth of jewellery and cash from a hiding spot on the beach, parted soon after their arrival on the North Coast without having fulfilled their mission.

The history of the treasure has for some years past been the subject of gossip and has been referred to in newspaper articles. The story is, briefly, that several days before England declared war on Germany in 1914 the German Consul in Sydney and a number of wealthy German residents despatched in the German steamer Sedlitz (sic) a copper box containing 2,500 sovereigns and also a quantity of valuable jewellery and private documents.

The master of the Sedlitz, fearing capture, decided to send ashore on the North Coast, supposedly near Ballina, and bury the sovereigns and jewellery. They were meant to be retrieved after the war. The Sedlitz was not captured and reached Germany safely.

According to the latest reports a German, a member of the crew of the Sedlitz, was arrested in Germany by the secret police in connection with the affair about a year ago, but escaped.

Joining a ship at Antwerp, in Holland, he sailed to Australia. He landed at Fremantle and eventually reached Halls Creek, W.A. which is a small but rich mining centre in the north of that State. There he met a butcher from the Wyndham Meatworks, who, while the meatworks were in seasonal recess, was trying his luck on a “show” he owned at Halls Creek.

Joined Forces

The former crew member of the Sedlitz became friendly with the butcher, and told him of the Sedlitz affair and said he knew exactly where to find the buried treasure. He said that all the other members of the crew of the Sedlitz had since died, and that he alone knew the spot where the copper box had been buried.

The two men decided to motor across the continent. The butcher from Wyndham agreed to use his utility truck for the purpose, and scraping together all the money they had the two provisioned themselves for the 3000 mile trip.

On reaching Tweed Heads they pitched camp. The following morning when the butcher awoke he found that his companion had left. The other had shown a plan of the locality which he said he had carried with him since the treasure was buried. Later that day, however the man from Wyndham found the other on the road between Tweed Heads and Byron Bay and they joined forces again, after some quarrelling and mutual explanations.

For two days they searched near Byron Bay without success.

Then they decided the treasure must be closer to Ballina, and after a search in this direction had failed also, the owner of the plan – who had continually expressed a fear that he might be arrested- suggested searching near Evens Head. They stayed three weeks at Evans Head, searching between there and Ballina. Again their search was fruitless and, with tempers frayed, they had another quarrel.

Trying to Dump Me

According to the man from Wyndham the other man knew well where the treasure was, and he accused him of trying to get away from him. Eventually the owner of the plan left the camp and did not return. His companion, realising further searching was useless, gave up the attempt.

The owner of the utility truck said afterwards, in relating his experiences that his companion had referred on several occasions to two other Germans who had known of the treasure, and who, he said, had tried to find it. He was sure however that they had failed. These two Germans, he said, were responsible for the beaching of the boat at Ballina some years ago.

Now 3000 miles from his starting point , and none the richer for his long trip and the money he had put into the venture, the man from Wyndham has decided that if there is buried treasure on the coast of N.S.W. between Tweed Heads and Evans Head, he at least, has no chance of finding it.

It is implied in the above newspaper article that the reporter has actually interviewed the German butcher from Halls Creek, however the journalist in no longer alive and so his notes, the name of the German from Halls Creek and other details that might help track down what happened next are not available. However when I tested those facts that were able to be checked they all stood up. There was even a record from the lighthouse keeper at Cape Byron noting an unknown steamer with one red funnel heading north on the right day. The Seidlitz had a single red funnel. The next thing to do was have a search. I reasoned that the weather on that day would affect where the Captain of the Seidlitz could get a long boat onto the beach so I checked out the weather for that week. All week, seas were calm, swell small and winds light from the west. They could have landed on any beach no problem. Next I reasoned that they would only run a boat up on a beach that was a long way from any settlements. That did narrow things down a bit but not a lot. To cut a long story short I spent many, many pleasant days wandering around the sand hills of beaches between Ballina and Byron Bay. Obviously there is a lot of small rubbish; particularly aluminium cans, ring pulls and the usual junk behind the sand dunes, the results of beach parties, fishing camps and so on. To get past these I turned to my Gemini 2 twin box detector, I was looking for a big target, a copper box with gold in it, probably buried a meter or two deep. The Gemini would not pick up anything smaller than a drink can and, as the sand was clean without salt, mineralisation was not a problem. Eventually, after digging up a number of caches of neatly buried cans, parts of old cars and other metal muck that had accumulated over the 20th century I decided to narrow down the search area and have another serious think about where I should be looking.

In the end I decided that the most likely place to bury the treasure was Seven Mile Beach north of Lennox Heads. It was a long way from any settlements, no houses at all there and sheltered from view from the lighthouses at Cape Byron and Ballina. But the bad news was waiting for me there, when I arrived I discovered that most of the dunes had been sand mined back in the 1970’s, though the most sheltered, hidden section of the beach, up the north end had not been mined. I spent another 4 days searching there and was feeling pretty good about it. Everything felt right, it just looked like buried treasure country. I even dug a hole and buried the right sized sheet of aluminium at a meter and a half depth to test out how the Gemini would go on a target that deep. No Problems.

On the 5th day of searching Seven Mile I came across a disturbing feature, a 6 meter long trench dug in the sand about 150 meters in from the beach, in thick bush, a long way from the nearest track, then another one a few meters away from it. The trenches were about a meter and a half deep and three wide, with the over burden piled around them; probably they had been about 2 meters deep when they were dug. Palm trees about 20 meters high grew out of the centre of the trenches. They had been dug a long while back; the 1930’s? A sinking feeling grabbed me; the more I looked at those trenches the more they looked like what someone would dig if they were searching for something that they knew was buried about there but not exactly where. The more I looked the more I felt it. I searched a bit longer and the Gemini gave a mighty squeal, I scratched around and found a very old, rusty iron camp oven, about 30 meters from the trenches. Long ago someone had camped near the trenches and left, leaving their gear behind.

It’s the trouble with treasure, you just never know if someone has already found it. Had the German crewman from the Seidlitz, after giving the Halls Creek butcher the slip, returned to 7 Mile Beach and dug up the copper chest and used his wealth to slip quietly out of Australia just before WW2 started? Or had the German butcher, in a fit of rage after spending his savings and driving 3000 miles for no reward, killed the sailor and buried his body in the dense bush behind the beach at Evans Head? There were a lot of questions and no answers.

Searching for the Seydlitz treasure behind the dunes at Seven Mile Beach with a Fisher Gemini twin box metal detector A postcard of the Seydlitz in her glory days. This page on the good ship Seydlitz is still under construction A Brief Summary of the Origins and End of the Seydlitz

Seydlitz was built by the F. Schichau shipyards at Danzig, Germany for the North German Lloyd Lines (Norddeutscher Lloyd) and was launched on December 25, 1902. 7,942 gross tons.

On August 5, 1903 she started her maiden voyage from Bremen via the Suez Canal to the Far East. She was 450.1 feet long (143.15 metres), had a beam of 55.5 feet (16.88 metres), two propellers and triple expansion engines. And, as you can see above, she had one funnel and two masts. Her service speed was 14.5 knots, and she could carry 2,050 passengers - 101 in first class, 115 in second, 134 in third and 1,700 in steerage. Her crew was between 155 to190.

In the years before she was rebuilt - at Newcastle in 1906, Seydlitz completed many roundtrips from Bremen - 6 to the Far East ( to Shanghai to Yokohama in December 1906) and 18 to Australia, all via the Suez Canal. And between March 1906 and the summer of 1914, Seydlitz completed 7 trips to New York, one to South America, and just one trip to Philadelphia.

On August 3, 1914, with WW1 in progress, she fled Sydney, Australia for Valparaiso, Chile. She acted as a support vessel for the Graf Spee Squadron for the Battle of Coronel and the Battle of the Falklands. In late 1914 she took refuge at San Antonio Este, Argentina. There she was interned and in 1917 her crew is reported to have damaged the engines to prevent her seizure by Argentina and her charter to the Allies. Repaired, and perhaps still under German command, she sailed on July 24, 1917, from Bahia Blanca to Bremen via Montevideo and St. Vincent. After the Armistice, she resumed South America service in late 1921, and then switched to the Bremen-New York service through September 1927. In the next years she travelled via Halifax, Canada to New York or Galveston.

It is believed she was scrapped at Bremerhaven in 1933.

The History of The Seydlitz with a focus on the details of the High Points

The Volturno Disaster

The Flight from Sydney in 1914

The Battle of the Falklands

The Captains of the Seydlitz Friedrich Hagenmeyer (1864-1914) worked as Captain on different ships operated by Norddeutscher Lloyd. In 1907 he was given the command of the Seydlitz. Captain Hagmeyer remained in command of the Seydlitz until his death in 1914. . - (Ref- http://www.stradbrokeislandgalleon.com/Seidlitz.html).

CRUISE OF SEYDLITZ. Otago Daily Times , Issue 16369, 28 April 1915, Page 2 CRUISE OF SEYDLITZ. ESCAPE FROM GERMAN SUPPLY SHIP. Since the German mail steamer Seydlitz made her dramatic departure from Sydney on August 3, last year, the day before the war between Britain and Germany broke out,' little has been heard of her. A letter has just been received ih Sydney telling how the Seydlitz played her part as a storeship in the naval operations around South America. The writer of the letter gives a statement by Captain James Eagle, well known in Sydney, who was a prisoner on the Seydlitz for some time. The captain says: "My ship, the Drummuir, was captured by the. Leipzic off Stafcen Island early in December, and I was transferred to the Seydlitz with the rest of the crew. The Drummuir had a full cargo of Welsh coal consigned to a San Francisco firm, and it- proved too great a temptation for the Germans. They spent three days in transhipping the coal to the various warships of the fleet, and had it not been . for' that Admiral von Spee would have arrived at the Falklands before Admiral Sturdee. In that event the battle might-have had a different ending. My ship was stripped of her fittings by_ the Germans, after which a bomb finished her career. "I must say we received very fair treatment on the Seydlitz, which we found had been fitted out as a storeship. The officers told me of the flight from Sydney before the war, and of their long Tun to Valparaiso. The Seydlitz took no cargo from Australia, I understand, and her bunkers were not full. She cleared at the Sydney Customs for Valparaiso, sailed down the harbour without a pilot, and in a short time was out of sight of land, making east at full speed. The vessel Tan at'top pressure until she had left Australian waters well behind, when she took things easier. " The bunkers were getting low, . aiid it was only careful use "of the coal that enabled the ship to. finish her voyage. Wireless communication with Samoa was established, when Captain Lauss -heard definitely about the war. "The Seydlitz remained a.l Valparaiso 'for over a month, quietly taking in stores, when she sailed'with other vessels to Juan Fernandez Island, where the Germans had rendezvoused. After the battle of Valparaiso the German fleet sailed round to the Atlantic, and the Drummuir was captured." Captain Eagle goes on to say that he witnessed the defeat of the Germans from the bridge of the Seydlitz. After remaining on the outskirts of the operations till the sinking of two German cruisers had been witnessed, the Sevdlitz was headed for the south. A' British cruiser slipped away from the engagement and followed the Seydlitz, firing five shots at her. The range was too great, however, and the shots fell short in every case, while the mail steamer was able to outpace her pursuer. She continued south for some time, and stopped only when the ice fields were entered. An easterly course was shaped then, and the Seydlitz cruised about tratiL it was deemed safe to run to some South American port. At length San Antonio was visited By the steamer, and in this out-ofthe-way Patagonian port Captain Eagle and the remainder of the Drummuir's crew were lauded.. Later on the Seydlitz went to Bahia Blanca, the great wheat -port of Argentine, but it was weeks before thp stranded sailors could get a ship from San Antonio to Rio. . ' Back to issue contents This article has been automatically clipped from the Otago Daily Times, organised into a single column, then optimised for display on your computer screen. As a result, it may not look exactly as it did on the original page. The article can be seen in its original form in the page view - (Ref- http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&d=ODT19150428.2.10&cl=&srpos=0&e=-------10--1----0--&st=1).

The German mall steamer Seydlltz unex- pectedly left her berth at the N.D.L. wharf, Circular Quay, yesterday morning, and pro- ceeded to sea. Under ordinary circumstances the vessel would not have left until to- morrow.

The Seydlitz at first intended to clear for Bremen, via Melbourne, Adelaide, and Fre- mantle, but this was altered yesterday morn- ing, and the steamer cleared for Antwerp direct.

As she made her way down the harbour she was intercepted near Bradley's Head in con- nection with the examination service. Her papers were all correct, but, in order to make doubly sure, the Customs authorities were communicated with, and when it was learned that she had been granted clearance the steamer was allowed to proceed. Much doubt prevails as to her proposed movements. After leaving the port she stood off in a south-easterly direction, and it was stated that she would call at Melbourne. In view of the fact that she cleared for Antwerp direct, it is not likely that she will call at any Australian port. Another report in- dicated that the vessel would make for Chili, but, as she probably has not sufficient coal, this is doubtful. The belief generally entertaincd is that the Seydlltz will make for German New Guinea, where she will replenish bunkers and proceed to Java.

Mr. O. Plate, manager of Messrs. Lohmann and Co., general agents for the Norddeutscher Lloyd, declined to say anything regarding the company's steamers at the present time. It is understood, however, that the action of despatching the Seydlitz was taken after the receipt of a cablegram from Germany advising that the steamer should leave for another neutral port. The N.D.L. cargo steamer Elsass also de- sired to clear at the Customs-house yester- day, but as she was not leaving until this morning her clearance was not granted be- forehand. She wishes to clear for Antwerp, via Brisbane, and this will most likely be allowed.

Another of the company's cargo steamers, the Pommern, is due here from Brisbane, but under the circumstances she will not come in. An N.D.L. cargo steamer was re- ported off Port Stephens at 3 p.m. yesterday, proceeding in a northerly direction. - (Ref- The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954)(about) Previous issue Tuesday 4 August 1914).

SEYDLITZ 1902

The SEYDLITZ was built by F.Schichau, Danzig in 1903 for North German Lloyd of Bremen. She was a 7,942 gross ton ship, length 450.1ft x beam 55.5ft, one funnel, two masts, twin screw and a speed of 14 knots. There was accommodation for 101-1st, 105-2nd and 1,700-3rd class passengers. Launched on 25/10/1902, she sailed from Bremen on her maiden voyage to the Far East via Suez on 5/8/1903. She made six round voyages on this service and on 22/2/1905 started her first Bremen - Suez - Australia voyage, and made 18 round voyages on this route. Her first Bremen - New York crossing commenced on 31/3/1906 and on 15/3/1913 she started a single round voyage between Bremen and South America. On 3/10/1913 she commenced a single Bremen - Philadelphia voyage. She commenced her eighth and last N.Atlantic sailing on 25/4/1914 when she left Bremen for New York and on 3/6/1914 started her last Bremen - Australia sailing. She left Sydney on 3/8/1914 and took refuge at Bahia Blanca, Argentina for the duration of the Great War. After the Armistice, she was retained by NGL, refitted to carry cabin and 3rd class passengers and on 12/11/1921 resumed Bremen - S.America sailings. On 11/2/1922 she resumed Bremen - New York voyages and in May 1928 was altered to carry cabin, tourist third cabin, and 3rd class passengers. In March 1930 she made her last Bremen - Halifax - New York - Bremen voyage and on 27/6/1931 commenced her last crossing from Galveston to Bremen. She was scrapped at Bremerhaven in 1933. [North Atlantic Seaway by N.R.P.Bonsor, vol.2,p.567] - (Ref- http://www.histarmar.com.ar/MarinaMercanteExtr/UnitedFruit/ListadosFlotas/Ship%20Descriptions%20-%20Saa%20to%20Sk.htm).

Index to Vessels Arrived, 1837 - 1925

Year Month Day Ship Name Alternative Name Ship Type Page No Series

1914 Jan 9 SEYDLITZ STEAMER Page 570 1901_1926

1914 Jul 25 SEYDLITZ STEAMER Page 571 1901_1926 - (Ref- https://www.google.com.au/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rlz=1T4SKPT_enAU445AU446&q=passenger+ship+Seyditz+in+sydney#q=passenger+ship+Seydlitz+in+sydney&hl=en&rlz=1T4SKPT_enAU445AU446&ei=xegxUamfOYeaiQeFvIGICQ&start=110&sa=N&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.&fp=88f3486ea026b1a2&biw=1366&bih=591).

To Lund

To Yellowin - To HOME