The
large wooden
figurehead of the WWI commerce
raider Seeadler – whose style is more functional
than
elegantly beautiful – depicts a black-haired Greek goddess,
wearing a toga and
headband. Was she originally a goddess of profits before being changed
from her
commercial origins to warmongering? The figurehead is made of three large
blocks of wood joined together, its finish comprising oil and very
heavy
varnish. The original bracket remains attached. How the
Seeadler’s
figurehead landed up at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra, the
federal capital of Australia, makes for interesting reading. When the
Seeadler
was wrecked on a reef off Mopelia Island in the Pacific Ocean in August
1917,
the ship was destroyed by HMAS Sydney. The following month, in
September, a party from the Royal Australian Navy light cruiser, HMAS
Encounter, went aboard to salvage the Seeadler’s guns and
other
valuable gear. Among the party were Ordinary Seaman Herbert Cooper and
Shipwright Albert Scott (ex-Royal Navy), who cut off the figurehead and
secretly stowed it on board their own ship. However, when the Encounter
returned to Sydney, the figurehead was found aboard and confiscated.
Later
(date unknown) the initials HL (belonging to one Horace Leadbetter)
were
scratched on the neck of the figurehead (but have been subsequently
filled in).
The figurehead’s eyes are fixed on the horizon when mounted.
Sightless, it now
searches no more. Some 150 kilometres inland from the nearest sea, her
roaming
days are over – while I am getting so much closer. This
wooden figure expresses
me as I gaze upon its own expression, talking to me about its past,
telling me
about my own and inviting me into its world, where it embraces me.
Before me, I
can see what the Seeadler's captain, Count Felix von Luckner, himself
saw during his wartime voyages and I am enthused
to realise that he rode on this goddess of the sea, adding to my
perception
that she survives and will outlive us all. I take photos from all
angles, my
eyes caressing, the camera expressing, capturing the figurehead in its
moment
but not me. Later, I am shown a piece of heavy cream canvas with
hand-painted
lettering in green paint stating, “HELP!! MopiHa SEPT
1917”. There is fraying
around the edges and on the reverse side written in pen “KEEP
AT ALL COSTS”.
The sign was made by marooned French seamen after their vessel, the
Lutec,
was captured by the crew of the Seeadler and the French prisoners put
ashore at Mopelia Island on 5 September 1917. The canvas measures 710
by 420 by
3.0 millimetres. The war museum also possesses a shell case from the
Seeadler.
Manufactured at Magdeburg in Germany in 1911, the case too was
souvenired by a
member from HMAS Encounter. Why this fascination with all matters von
Luckner? Firstly, history needs
all the help it can get. Secondly, history is our
figurehead. Whatever present follows in its wake becomes the past,
which is
ours to keep forever.
