Seeadler Cannon

Either side of the monument to Louis-Antoine de Bougainville (French navigator 1729-1811) are two naval cannons. On the left is a 10.5cm/40 SK L/40 gun from the WW1 German sailing ship raider 'Seeadler' (Sea Eagle). The former British clipper sailing ship Pass 0f Balmaha was captured in July 1915 by U36. In early 1916 it was considered for use as an auxiliary cruiser and was equipped with 2 hidden 105 mm guns and 2 x 7.92mm machine guns. Under Kapitanleutnant Felix von Luckner she sailed from Germany in Dec 1916 and captured 15 merchantmen. On the 2 Aug 1917 she ran aground on the island of Mopelia (Tahiti). The captain and 5 crew escaped in a 32ft launch to Fiji and were captured and interred in New Zealand. On 13 Dec 1917 he stole the prison commanders boat but was re-captured on Dec1917.The remaining 58 crew captured the French schooner and sailed to Easter Island and eventually to Chile where they were interned until August 1919.

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