TheAnnie Larsen affair was agun-running plot in the United States duringWorld War I.[1] The plot, involving India'sGhadar Party, theIrish Republican Brotherhood, and the German Foreign office, was a part of the larger so-called "Hindu–German Conspiracy",[2] and it was the prime offence cited in the 1917Hindu–German Conspiracy Trial, described at the time as the longest and most expensive trial in American legal history.[3]
By 1914, plans for a pan-Indian revolution had been hatched. As World War I broke out, Germany decided to actively support the Ghadar plan. For this, links established between Indian and Irish residents in Germany (includingRoger Casement) and theGerman Foreign office were used to tap into the Indo-Irish network in the United States. In September 1914, the German ChancellorTheobald von Bethmann Hollweg authorised German activity againstBritish India. The German effort was headed byMax von Oppenheim, archaeologist and the head of the newly formed Intelligence bureau for the east. Upon Oppenheim fell the task of arranging the Indian student groups into a cohesive group. Oppenheim also convinced Indian revolutionaryHar Dayal of the feasibility of the project and was able to establish contact with the Ghadar Party in the United States. In an October meeting of theImperial Naval Office, the consulate in San Francisco was tasked to make contact with Ghadar leaders inCalifornia. German military attache to the German consulateWilhelm von Brincken was able to establish contact, throughTarak Nath Das and an intermediary named Charles Lattendorf, withRam Chandra.
With the approval of San Francisco German vice-consul E.H. von Schack, arrangements for funds and armaments were secured. Ram Chandra was to receive a monthly payment of $1,000. At the same time $200,000 worth of small arms and ammunition was acquired by the German military attaché CaptainFranz von Papen through aKrupp agent by the name ofHans Tauscher. In the meantime, Papen arranged forJoseph McGarrity to make the necessary arrangements for shipping the arms purchase fromNew York toGalveston via the Mallory Steamship Company, an Irish-American shipping firm. From Galveston the guns were sent by train toSan Diego, where they were to be shipped to India viaBurma. However, Charles Martinez, a customs official who had arranged the shipment to San Diego, was not told of the true destination, and hired theschoonerAnnie Larsen.[2][4] For this purpose, an elaborate deception was hatched to convey the idea that the arms were meant for thewarring factions in Mexico. J. Clyde Hizar, aColorado attorney in charge of placing the arms on board theAnnie Larsen, posed as a representative for theCarranza Faction. This ruse was convincing enough to elicit an offer of $15,000 from the rivalVilla faction to divert the shipment to a Villa-controlled port.[4]
However, theAnnie Larsen was not suitable for a trans-Pacific voyage. Frederick Jebsen, a German reserve naval officer with close connections to the German embassy, arranged for another ship, theSS Maverick, to be purchased under the illusion that it was to be used by the "American-Asiatic Oil Company", a fake oil-trading company, and was to deploy between China andBorneo. The plan was for theMaverick to leave empty fromSan Pedro around the same time as theAnnie Larsen leavesSan Diego fully loaded. The two would rendezvous offSocorro Island near Mexico. TheAnnie Larsen would transfer its shipment to theMaverick which would then proceed towardsSoutheast Asia.[5][6] For this purpose, Jebsen established a fake company to hide the true ownership of the ship, taking his attorney Ray Howard as partner.[6][7] TheMaverick received a crew composed of sailors from two German ships interned at San Francisco. An American by the name of John B. Starr-Hunt served assupercargo on theMaverick, and was under orders to scuttle the ship if challenged by Allied warships.[6] The impression at the docks was that the ship was to relieve congestion in the East Indian Coconut industry, inJava and Borneo.
TheAnnie Larsen sailed forTopolobampo on 8 March 1915 under Captain Paul Schlueter for rendezvous with the SSMaverick. Also placed on board was a person by the name of Walter Page as supercargo. Page's real identity was L. Othmer, the captain of the GermanbarkAtlas, which had earlier been interned by the U.S. government in San Francisco. Page was given complete authority over the ship's movement and he set sail forSocorro Island, offBaja California.[1][8]
However, at this stage the plan started falling apart. TheMaverick, which was indrydock at the time, could not sail for another month. Even during this time, rumours abounded that it was to be used to smuggle arms into Southeast Asia. The ship was searched a number of times by customs and security agents, who only found the ship's empty hold. Immediately before it left, it received an additional crew of five Indian Ghadar activists carrying fakePersian passports. They carried with themselves large amounts of Ghadarite literature, and were tasked by Ram Chandra to establish contacts with Indian revolutionaries and arrange for the arms to be transported inland.[6][8] However, awaiting theMaverick for nearly a month, theAnnie Larsen ran out of fresh water and, without a condenser on board, was forced to head for the mainland of Mexico. Arriving at the rendezvous point, theMaverick was informed of theAnnie Larsen's departure by a two-man crew left behind by Page. TheMaverick waited for twenty-nine days for the Schooner's return. During this time, it was visited byHMSKent. The Ghadar agents were forced to burn the revolutionary literature in the boiler room while theKent's crew searched the ship. A subsequent visit by an American warship also revealed nothing save the ship's empty hold.[6][8]
TheAnnie Larsen sailed toAcapulco to replenish its supplies. However, it faced trouble as three of the crew members refused to sail the ship, claiming it was not seaworthy. Captain Sheultzer was able to successfully appeal for help from theUSS Yorktown which was in the area. Its contraband cargo was not discovered by theYorktown's boarding party. Allowed to use theYorktown's wireless, the German crew were able to notify the German Consulate of their position and of the failed rendezvous.[9] Sailing from Acapulco, theAnnie Larsen made for Socorro Island again. However, in adverse weather, this attempt failed as well, and after twenty-two days Scheultzer gave up, choosing to make for the northern port ofHoquiam, Washington.[1][9]
Returning to San Diego after failing to meet theAnnie Larsen, theMaverick was directed by Fred Jebsen to proceed toHilo, Hawaii, where it was redirected toJohnston Island by the German consulate for a second effort to rendezvous with theAnnie Larsen. However, this failed too and it was subsequently directed toAnjer,Java.[8][9] At Anjer, a German operative named Theodore Helfrichs was instructed to dispose of the ship. However, it was seized by Dutch authorities. Starr-Hunt and four of the Ghadarites attempted to flee in a ship, but were captured by the British cruiserHMS Newcastle. Taken toSingapore, Starr-Hunt confessed his role in the plot.[9]
In the United States, the conspiracy was successfully infiltrated by British intelligence through both the Irish, as well as Indian channels. The activities of Ghadar on the Pacific coast were noted by W. C Hopkinson, who had grown up in India and spoke fluent Hindi.[10] In the meantime, throughintelligence sources arising from British, Irish, European, and Mexican sources, theJustice Department had a clear picture of the conspiracy and the true purposes of theMaverick and theAnnie Larsen.[8] The Home department of the British Indian government had begun the task of actively tracking Indian seditionists on theEast Coast as early as 1910. Francis Cunliffe Owen, the officer heading the Home Office agency in New York, had become thoroughly acquainted with George Freeman and Myron Phelps posing as members of the Clan-na-Gael. Owens' efforts were successful in thwarting the SSMoraitis plan.[11] The Ghadar Party was incidentally established after Irish Republicans, sensing infiltration, encouraged an exclusively Indian society.[12] Following this, a number of approaches were adopted, including instituting a "Native" Indian intelligence officer to infiltrate the movement, as well as the use of the famous AmericanPinkerton's detective agency.[12]
An Irish double agent by the name of Charles Lamb is said to have passed on the majority of the information that compromised the conspiracy and ultimately helped the construction of the prosecution. An Indian operative, codenamed "C" and described most likely to have beenChandra Kanta Chakraverty (later the chief prosecution witness in the trial), also passed on the details of the conspiracy to British and American intelligence.On 29 June 1915, theAnnie Larsen was raided at Hoquiam and its contraband cargo seized.[1][8] However, Page was able to escape and later made for Germany. TheAnnie Larsen's cargo was sold at an auction despite the German Ambassador CountJohann von Bernstoff's attempts to take possession insisting they were meant forGerman East Africa.[9] Additionally, some of the plans involving the IndianBerlin Committee leaked out throughCzech revolutionaries and spy networks who were in touch with their counterparts in the United States.[13][14][15] The American network of the Czech organisation, headed byE. V. Voska, was a counter-espionage network spying onGerman andAustrian diplomats. Voska, being pro-American, pro-British and anti-German, on learning of the plot from the Czech European network, spoke of it toTomáš Masaryk, who then passed the information to the American authorities. The Americans informed British intelligence.
TheHindu–German Conspiracy Trial commenced in theDistrict Court inSan Francisco on November 12, 1917, following the uncovering of theAnnie Larsen's cargo. One hundred and five people, including the former Consul-General and vice consul, members of theGhadar Party, and members of the German consulate inSan Francisco were tried. The trial lasted from November 20, 1917, to April 24, 1918. The trial was also sensationally notable for the assassination of the chief conspirator Ram Chandra. Chandra was assassinated on the last day of the trial in a packed courtroom by one of his fellow accused, Ram Singh. Singh himself was also immediately shot dead by aUnited States Marshal. In May 1917, eightIndian nationalists of the Ghadar Party were indicted by a federal grand jury on a charge of conspiracy to form a military enterprise against Britain. The trial in later years has been criticised for being largely ashow trial to appease the British government.[16] In addition, the jury during the trial was carefully selected to exclude Irish persons with republican views or associations.[17] The British authorities hoped that the conviction of the Indians would result in their deportation from the United States back to India. However, in the face of strong public support in favor of the Indians, officials of the U.S. Department of Justice chose not to do so.
By 1916, the majority of the resources of the American department of the British Foreign office were related to the Indian seditionist movement. Before the outbreak of the war,Sir Cecil Spring Rice, the Ambassador to United States at the time of the war, is known to have urged theBritish Foreign office not to make this a diplomatic issue. Spring Rice's dispatches cite concerns with regards to American tolerance of theAnarchist movements in American soil, the American government's inactions despite concrete knowledge (in Spring Rice's opinion) of the conspiracies, as well as concerns regarding the image of Britain in American public opinion if Britain were seen to persecute oppressed people. Further, Spring Rice was particularly wary of the political commitments of AmericanPresident Wilson's government,[18] especially given that theSecretary of StateWilliam Jennings Bryan had eight years previously written the highly critical pamphletBritish Rule in India. This pamphlet had been classified as seditionist by the Indian and Imperial governments.
Following Bryan's departure, the British secretary of state,Robert Crewe-Milnes, attempted to persuade Spring Rice to raise the issue in front of the United States government. American authorities in the Philippines were also more cooperative at this time, and assured Britain they would have foreknowledge of any plans against Hong Kong. Following the conclusion of theLahore Conspiracy Case trial, and as more evidence of German complicity came to light, Foreign SecretaryEdward Grey was forced to override Spring Rice's hesitation; in February 1916, the British government officially presented its concerns regarding the conspiracy and German complicity to the American government. Although the new secretary of stateRobert Lansing was initially as uncooperative as Bryan, the first investigations of the conspiracy opened with the raid of the Wall Street office ofWolf von Igel. The papers seized were later presented as evidence in theHindu–German Conspiracy trial. Much to the chagrin of the British government, however, it was not pursued further at the time.
The issue did precipitate a more general Anglo-American neutrality dispute. This was aggravated by belligerent preventive measures taken by the British far-eastern fleet that threatened the sovereignty of American vessels. In particular, HMSLaurentic seized German and Turkish passengers on the American vesselChina at the mouth of theYangtze, the British government accusing them of planning to foment an armed uprising in India. This incident provoked outrage from the American government, and was followed by a number of incidents including the SSHenry S incident.[clarification needed] TheUS Atlantic Fleet dispatcheddestroyers to the Philippines. The relations were strained until May 1916, when the British government decided to relax its aggressive policy and seek cooperation with the US. TheChina prisoners were released that month, but relations did not improve before November that year, with a number of exchanges[clarification needed] through the rest of 1916.
The issue was ultimately addressed byWilliam Wiseman, head of British intelligence in the US, who bypassed diplomatic channels to give details of a bomb plot directly to the New York police. This led to the arrest of Chandra Kanta Chuckrevarty. As links became apparent, within the Chuckrevarty papers and the Igel papers, the investigations by federal authorities ultimately expanded to cover the entire conspiracy. The US agreed to pass on evidence so long as Britain did not seek admission of liability for Breaches of Neutrality. At a time that Diplomatic relations with Germany were deteriorating, the Foreign Office directed the Embassy to cooperate with the investigations. These ultimately resolved the Anglo-American diplomatic disputes just as America entered the war.[19]
annie larsen.Includes a detailed account of theAnnie Larsen affair by participant J.B. Starr-Hunt
| Background |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Ghadar | ||
| Berlin Committee | ||
| Indian figures | ||
| German figures | ||
| Conspiracy | ||
| Counter-intelligence | ||
| Related topics | ||