Captain John R. Wedgwood & the Prinz Eitel Friedrich

Captain John Robert Wedgwood of Whitby, his wife Eva Née Thompson aboard the SS Aislaby

John Robert Wedgwood, also known as Jack to the family, was born in 1875 lived in a number of different Whitby houses including the Grove on Bagdale.  He also had a house built for himself a at the far end of Mayfield Rd(4 Lane Ends) Whitby - He called it the Willerby after one of his ships.  The house is still there. He was always moving house acording to his niece Winifred (Wedgwood).   He died in 1943 of cancer at "Swainby on Ash Grove Whitby (I have been unable to find the house on Ash Grove). He is buried in Whitby cemetary. (I believe there is no headstone).

On the 20 Feb 1915,  My great great great uncle, Capt. John Robert Wedgwood  of Whitby, was master of the SS Willerby  off the coast of Brazil when his ship was approached by the Prinz Eitel Friedrich, a German auxillary cruiser which ordered the SS Willerby to stop. Capt Wedgwood ignored the order and tried to escape but eventually stopped when he realised the German ship was in a position to ram him. As the German passed astern of the  SS Willerby, Capt Wedgwood realised he had to chance to ram the German!, Ordering the engines reversed at full speed he shouted to the engineer, "Giver her hell", "Give her hell as hard as we can go it!" 

There is also a large article in the Whitby Gazette, 1st April 1915


To find out what happened next read the report from the New York Times:-

NEWPORT NEWS  MARCH NEARLY RAMMED BY HER OWN PRIZE.

AN INCIDENT IN THE EITEL FRIEDRICH'S CRUISE.*' (New York Times.) NEWPORT NEWS, Va., March 11 1915. 

The Odyssey of the Prinz Eitel Friedrich over two oceans, pursued by three of the largest navies in the world, will not be complete until tlie story is told how in the last few weeks of her voyage she was almost sunk by the last of her many prizes. Not once was a shell hurled at the raver by the pursuers sweeping the-seas for her. But the little tramp steamer Willerby, of only 2500 tons, without a gun on board, came near sending the adventurous German to the bottom, and by the tactics of ramming her, stern foremost. For the first six months of her cruise, lurking though she was on th« of the highways .of commerce and waiting for her prey; in constant danger of discovery and capture, the danger was rujver 'visible. To the officers and crew there was "always the straining sense of peril just out ■of sight,. but never once Hid a hostile funnel break the horizon. And only twice was danger audible. Off the coast of Chile, near where Admiral von Spee's squadron destroyed the ships of Admiral Sir Christopher Cradock, the Prinz Eitel Friedrich's wireless caught the warning of heavy ships, and because of her puny armament she turned away. Again, halving rounded Cape . Horn, the cruiser heard the wireless exchanges announcing the battle off the Falkland Islands.

But the little Willerby brought that danger home to the daring cruiser in the simplest possible way. On February 20, just three weeks ago, the Willerby was steaming, in light ballast, looking for a cargo, when the Prince Eitel Friedrich was seen making for her. "Within good eye-shot, the cruiser broke out the signal for the Willerby to stop, and from this point the Willerby's commander, Captain Wedgewood, a slim, dark Englishman, takes up the story. "The Eitel signalled, us to stop," said Captain Wedgewood. "'but I paid no attention to him. At first I thought she was just a merchantman like us, but even when I saw her guns I kept on my course, trying to get by and pass on her port beam. But when she got to a point where it was evident she could ram us amidships we did stop. By that time the two.; ships were so close together that, the Eitel had to pass right across our stern. FULL SPEED ASTERN. " Then I saw my chance. I didn't know all those women and children and citizen men were on board. I only knew she was a German and was trying to capture us. My ship was gone, I knew, and I thought I might just as well send the German down along with me, so I ordered our engines reversed at full speed, backing us straight toward the Eitel, slowing slipping past us. " ' Give her hell!' I shouted to my engineer. . ' Give her hell as hard as we can go it!' " The engineer did his best. The Willerby began to back in good form, and the commander of the Eitel saw the danger. The imprisoned passengers on the Eitel saw it, too, and a panic seized them. Poor chance they would have had if trouble came to the Eitel Friedrich. They were locked up below.at the approach of every strange ship, and there was no escape in sight for them. Their cries of fear as the panic took them first told me that I was not dealing with an ordinary ship of the navy.

" The Eitel's commander was talking to us with all the English he could command. His guns liad been uncovered and imslung as he approached us in the first place and they swung toward us as we backed toward the Eitel. But at that close range they could hardly have stopped us before we did our work. The commander of the Eitel probably knew that, too, for while he threatened to fire many times, he did not do so.

" ' Stop or we fire !'_ he shouted from his bridge, but my engineer merely nursed his engine. The imprisoned passengers on the Eitel were making a loud noise by this time, and it seemed that the end was near, but somehow we could not get -np headway and the Eitel at last slipped past our sterri, missing us by about 15ft. After that there was nothing we could do, and we surrendered.

" When I came over the side of the Eitel, her commander called out to me furiously : 'Do you want to kill these people?' But I told Tlim I didn't know people were there till it was all over."