An item dated London, England 27th reported that the allied naval commission for the German waters lead by sir Montague Browning consisted of the most suitable men from the five allied countries. In the meantime were results achieved which earlier according to the Germans were not possible. When the Hercules anchored at Wilhelmshaven, Germany anchored came the German admiral Goette aan board.(1) He was the last senior officer who remained after the disappearance of men like Scheer (2), Hipper (3) and Ludendorff.(4) Goette was accompanied by captain Von Muller (5), earlier commanding the SMS Emden. The general lacking of discipline and safety on board of all German ships was especially visible at the visit by the commission of the first ship. Around 20 sailors wandered around the docks, something was forbidden in the armistice regulations and even threatened to harass the commission in her investigation. The chief of the sub commission immediately acted to prevent a repeat while visiting the other ships. Several sub commissions made trips in Northern Germany and reported that nowhere was a sign of starvation and that people living in the industry areas of for instance Hamburg and Bremen were just as well dressed and fed as in England and France. The discipline and order was much better at the airship and float plane bases. The float plane base at Norderney, Germany was well comparable with the ones in France or England. The airship base at Nordholz was the best of the world. The airship station at Tondern was during the summer of 1918 with success bombed, completely destroying 2 sheds and 2 airships. One of the most interesting places visited by the commission was the large test station at Warnemunde where all new inventions were tested. The German protested against the visiting of this complex and the revealing of the secret developments there. The submarine commission lead by lieutenant Bower investigated securely the yards at Hamburg and Bremen discovering some tens of submarines nearly completed but kept secret by the Germans. Despite all protest by admiral Goette was decided that the boats were to be delivered in British harbours as soon as possible these could be towed.
Notes
1. Rear admiral See Ernst Goette (1869-1945), second in command of the High Seas Fleet between 15 November 1917-18 August 1918. And then 19 August-16 December 1918 commanding the 4th battle squadron in the rank of rear admiral (since 27 January 1918).
2. Reinhard Scheer (30 September 1863 Obenkirchen, Hesse, Germany-26 November 1928 Marktredwitz, Germany), served in the Imperial German navy between 1879-1918 and dismissed in the rank of admiral. Commander in chief of the High Seas Fleet on 18 January 1916. On 11 August 1918 promoted to Chief of Naval Staff.
3. Franz Ritter von Hipper (13 September 1863 Oberbayern, Bavaria, Germany-25 May 1932 Othmarschen, Germany), since 11 August 1918 chief in commander of the High Seas Fleet. Served in the German Imperial navy between 1881-13 December 1918 and dismissed in the rank of admiral.
4. Erich Friedrich Wilhelm Ludendorff (9 April 1885 Keuszewnia, Posen, Germany-20 December 1937, Tutzing, Germany), served in the German Imperial army between 1883-1918 and dismissed in the rank of general.
5. Karl Friedrich Max von Müller (16 June 1873 Hanover, Prussia, Germany-11 March 1923 Brunswick, Germany), served in the German Imperial navy between 1891-1919 dismissed in the rank of captain with seriously health problems.
