The Germans showed us the “Second Christmas Annual of the Wolf.”  It was very well got up, with well-drawn and clever illustrations of their exploits, and caricatures of some of their officers and prisoners.  One picture illustrated the Wolf running the blockade on her outward voyage.  If the picture represented anything like the truth, she must have got through by the very skin of her teeth!  The covers of both “Annuals” were very striking and very cleverly done.

The weather on Boxing Day was only a little more favourable than that on Christmas Day, but the Germans decided to wait no longer to coal the Wolf.  They had previously conveyed water to our ship from the Wolf in boats.  The same method of transferring coal was discussed, but that idea was abandoned.  At 5 p.m. she tied up alongside us.  She bumped into us with considerable force when she came up, and not many of us on board the Igotz Mendi will ever forget that night of terror.  Both ships were rolling heavily, and repeatedly bumping into each other, each ship quivering from end to end, and the funnel of the Igotz Mendi was visibly shaking at every fresh collision.  Sleep was impossible for any one on our boat; in fact, many feared to turn in at all, as they thought some of the plates of the boats might be stove in.  We wandered about from cabin to deck, and from deck to cabin, trying in vain to get to sleep.  The Spanish Chief Engineer came to us on the deck about 4 a.m. and did his best in his broken English to assure us everything was all right.  “Go sleep tranquil,” he said:  “I see this ship built—­very strong.”  But the whole performance was a horrid nightmare.

The next day was no better, but rather worse.  About 6 p.m. there was a great crash, which alarmed all; it was due to the Wolf crashing into and completely smashing part of the bridge of our ship.  This was enough for the Germans.  They decided to suspend operations, and at 7 p.m. the Wolf sheered off, only just narrowly escaping cutting off the poop of the Igotz Mendi in the process.  She had coaled six hundred tons in twenty-five hours, her decks, torpedo tubes, and guns being buried under great mounds of coal, as all hands were busy in the transference of coal from her prize to the Wolf.  Shifting the coal to her bunkers had to be done after the ships had separated.  If by good luck an Allied cruiser had appeared at this time, the Wolf would have been an easy prey.  The coaling process had severely damaged the Wolf, many of whose plates were badly dented.  We had lost eighteen large fenders between the ships, and the Wolf was leaking to the extent of twelve tons an hour.  The Igotz Mendi had come off better.  None of her plates were dented, she was making no water, and the only visible signs of damage to her were many twisted and bent stanchions on the port side that met the Wolf.