The Nordmark government's presentation of evidence primarily concerns the attack on the royals, as Nordmark considers the matter of the unprovoked invasion of South Georgia as self-evident. The presentation is given simultaneously in Nordmark, to a gathering of all heads of diplomatic missions, and to the council of the League of Nations. The gathering of ambassadors will be given the opportunity to see some samples of physical evidence secured. The presentation does not go into detail regarding what will happen to certain persons responsible for security in Nordmark. I have chosen to not make a narrative out of this, but just summarise - otherwise you'd have had to wait a while longer.
The points mentioned in the presentation are as follows:
- The dates of the attack on South Georgia and on the Royals correspond.
- The attack on the cruisers KNM Sigtuna and KNM Kirkjubæjarklaustur were unprovoked, without forewarning, and initially targetted the ship aboard-which Prince Carl-Phillip was navigational officer.
- Various persons have been arrested in Nordmark while in possession of compromising evidence, as follows:
- One unnamed Argentine citizen, residing in Stockholm, in illegal possession of detailed layout and arrangement of the navy's newest destroyers, and of the Royal Yacht.
- One unnamed Argentine citizen, residing in Stockholm, in illegal posseession of a military large-calibre rifle calibrated for long-distance accurate shooting, as well as copies of activity-plans of the royal family and senior members of the cabinet
- One unnamed person of Nordmark citizenship and of partially Argentine descent, employed at Karlskrona Naval Yards, in possession of new crates used for explosives - no explosives were found, but there were other related components found, and a bomb was discovered in the double bottom of a collier docked there.
- Ms Maria Mercedés Bernadotte, in illegal possession of secret information, in possession of partially completed letters to her sister in law detailing such secret information, and in possession of a letter from same sister in law, encouraging her to uncover and report such information as would be useful and necessary for the succesful removal of the Nordmark leadership
Samples and copies of physical evidence are provided.
- Persons including the above specified have been witnessed transferring such evidence to Argentine representatives. Photographic evidence as well as eyewitness evidence exists to this claim. further samples of instructions to gather such information are found, among others in the form of letters in the personal handwriting of the wife to President Gomez.
- Moviereels from the Royal Yacht - several filmographers were on board, employing mechanically powered cameras, and the reels clearly show the explosion on the destroyer - notable is a strange surface-phenomenon on the sea, in the shape of apparently straight lines crossing the course of the vessels. Also evident is the nature of the explosion aboard the destroyer, which seemed to be two-stage, and nearly lifting the vessel out of the water, afterwhich the vessel is seen to plow into the sea and disappear within seconds.
The particular camera which captured this situation was mounted on a pedestal, and so was not knocked over by the blast from the explosion - therefore it also captures the demise of the second destroyer. It came right in the wake of the first, and as it passes - already slowing down and beignning to maneuver - over the spot where the first vessel sank, a circle of water, centered about midships, about a hundred feet across turns into white foam, as the centre of the ship is lifted visibly several feet, visibly bending, before falling down and bending the other way. The hull begins breaking, the ship slows rapidly while disappearing out of the frame of the camera.
- Evidence gathered in the process of arrest of the Charge d'Affairs at the Argentine embassy in Copenhagen. The diplomat was arrested near Christiansborg Palace following what Danish authorities described as suspicious behaviour, and refused to identify himself upon arrest. Upon arrest he was in possession of:
- two firearms, carried on his body
- classified information concerning the activities of the leading figures of Danish government, carried on his body
- explosive materials assembled into splinter-bombs, discovered in his residence
- secret information concerning the activities of the leading figures of the Nordmark government.
- map-sketches which seem to detail central areas of Stockholm and Copenhagen, with indications of danger-areas from bomb-blasts at various locations.
The diplomat is in Nordmark custody at the moment, but will be released and sent abroad - most likely to Germany or Poland - within the next four days.
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While not given as evidence in this presentation (it hasn't reached outside South Africa yet), a number of moviereels were recovered from the Nordmark cruiser KNM Sigtuna - as a brand new vessel taking a large number of cadets from the Naval War Academy in Karlskrona on a trainingcruise, accompanied by a similar cruiser with cadets from the other Naval War Academy in Bergen, KNM Sigtuna carried several cameras, and many reels were recorded. The same was the case aboard KNM Kirkjubæjarklaustur - more than anything, the intention for the cameras was that they would record competitive activites as documentation of which class would prove the better.
The surviving reels will make their way into newsreels across the world. Their main evidence concern the weather-conditions (moderate seas, little wind, random fog-banks often obscuring the ships from each other - as a result the ships maintained distance (and used foghorns, but the reels are silent film)), and the battle. Notable in the battle is that when the battle starts, the guns on the side facing the Argentine ships (later identified as the armoured cruisers General Belgrano and General San Martin) are still trained fore and aft, and the crew have only begun to scramble to the guns, as Argentine shells splash into the sea and slam into the ship. Also notable is the fact that KNM Kirkjubæjarklaustur is not visible from the ship, as a largish fogbank is to port.
The Argentine cruisers also both were to port, on a course parallell and opposite to that of KNM Sigtuna, at the beginning of the engagement, but out of the fogbank. The films from the battle are choppy - understandable, since topside is an unhealthy place for a cameraman while in battle - but it is partially evident from them that the KNM Kirkjubæjarklaustur came out of the fog-bank ready for combat, and that she greatly surprised the Argentine vessels, considerably harming one of them in the process.
Witness-records indicate that KNM Kirkjubæjarklaustur was much closer to the Argentine vessels than KNM Sigtuna, enabling her to score four torpedohits on the armoured cruiser General San Martin, which sank rapidly. Unfortunately, KNM Kirkjubæjarklaustur's artillery had also concentrated on General San Martin, leaving the more powerfully and uniformly armed General Belgrano with the opportunity to retaliate with some impunity - KNM Kirkjubæjarklaustur had already been damaged, as General San Martin hardly cold avoid scoring hits at a range of less than 4000 metres. In close range, the General Belgrano's unimpinged starboard broadside soon gained an advantage over KNM Kirkjubæjarklaustur's already damaged main battery, with a hit in the light cruisers machinery-space proving disastrous, as it left her dead in the water and with no pumps.
The arrival of KNM Kirkjubæjarklaustur had nevertheless taken a lot of pressure off KNM Sigtuna, which managed to maneuver to good effect, gaining a lucky hit with a single torpedo - thus sealing General Belgrano's fate. Results from the fight will have some influence on the Nordmark future cruiser-development.
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