An item reported that the French cruiser Kersaint (1) visited the Dutch East Indies harbour Surabaya between 3-4 November 1915 and Macassar between 10-11 April 1916.(2)
Notes
1. Aviso 1st class, laid down at the Arsenal at Rochefort, France in 1896, launched on 28 August 1897, completed in October 1898 and lost on a reef in the Bay of Opunohu, Tahiti.
2. The Dutch newspaper Het nieuws van den dag voor Nederlandsch-Indië dated 4 November 1915 reported her arrival in the roads of Surabaya on the 3rd and her departure the next morning. Described as an aviso. The Dutch newspaper Bataviaasch nieuwsblad dated 12 April 1916 reported her arrival in the morning of the 10tb coming from Saigon, departing the next morning after bunkering fresh water and victuals. The Dutch newspaper Het nieuws van den dag voor Nederlandsch-Indië dated 22 November 1915 explained more or less the visit of the French and Australian warships in the waters of Dutch East Indies in November 1915. The Kersaint is called a gunboat. In Saturday night [20th} was south of Bali, Dutch East Indies the American 12.000 tons cargo ship Choncho hold and bought to Singapore. She was loaded with arms and ammunition with an estimated of 5 million pound sterling. Suspected was that the arms were needed for an attack from the south on the Suez Canal. Another Dutch newspaper De Sumatra Post dated 22 November corrects her tonnage, in stead of 12.000 tons was she 7.000 tons. She had a Turkish crew although onboard were the 2nd, 3rd and 4th officer and 3 crewmembers of the German steamship Offenbach on board.
Source
Jaarboek van de Koninklijke Nederlandsche Zeemacht 1916-1917.
