Footnote: Future top British ace Edward Corringham "Mick" Mannock was working as a telephone engineer/inspector in Constantinople. He tried to book passage home but was arrested by the Turks before he could do so. After an aborted escape attempt Mannock became seriously ill and was finally repatriated.
August 7
Charles Prestwich Scott, Liberal anti-war editor of the Manchester Guardian, announces that he will not attend the latest protest meeting. "I am strongly of the opinion that the war ought not to have taken place and that we ought not to have become parties to it, but once in it, the whole future of our nation is at stake and we have no choice but to do the utmost we can to secure success."
The Goeben Affair, part 4
All through that night Rear-Admiral Troubridge raced south with his four armoured cruisers, accompanied by the light cruiser
Dublin, commanded by Captain John Kelly, Howard's older brother. At 02:54 on 7 August, Troubridge sent a signal giving his course and speed, and included the message "Am endeavouring to cross
Goeben's bows at 6:00 A.M.". Some time later Troubridge was approached by Fawcett Wray, captain of Troubridge's flagship,
Defence. Wray asked the Admiral "Are you going to fight, sir? Because if so the squadron ought to know". Later, Wray again talked to Troubridge, explaining that he believed that an attack on
Goeben would be suicide, even with four heavy cruisers. Troubridge replied "I cannot turn away now; think of my pride". Wray answered "Has your pride got anything to do with this, sir? It is your country's welfare that is at stake." Troubridge asked his navigator if there was any chance at all of getting close enough to even hit the German ship. The navigator said there was no chance whatsoever. When Troubridge called off the chase, Wray told him "Admiral, that is the bravest thing you have ever done in your life".
At 04:49 Troubridge telegraphed Milne that he had turned back. Milne replied "Why did you not continue to cut off
Goeben? She was only going 17 knots, and so important to bring her to action".
At 08:30 Troubridge sent this reply: "With visibility at the time I could have been sighted from 20 to 25 miles away and could never have got nearer unless
Goeben wished to bring me to action which she could have done under cicumstances most advantageous to her. I could never have brought her to action. I had hoped to have engaged her at 3:30 in the morning in dim light but had gone north first with the object of engaging her in the entrance of the Adriatic. I was too late to intercept her when she altered course to the southward. In view of the immense importance of victory or defeat at such early stage of a war I would consider it a great imprudence to place my squadron in such a position as to be picked off at leisure and sunk while unable to effectively reply. The decision is not the easiest of the two to make I am well aware".
Milne ordered Troubridge to take his force back to the Adriatic to watch the Austrians, and himself took up station again south of Sicily, still thinking Souchon would try to escape to the Atlantic.
At 17:00 hours on 10 August,
Goeben and
Breslau anchored off Cape Helles. Souchon asked for a pilot to guide him through the Turkish minefields, and then sailed up the Dardanelles to Constantinople. The Turks were overjoyed to have the German ships, as the two battleships they had under construction in England had just been siezed by the British, to become HMS
Agincourt and
Erin.
When informed of the escape of the German ships, First Sea Lord Prince Louis of Battenberg said "Not one of the excuses which Admiral Troubridge gives can be accepted for one moment. The escape of the
Goeben must ever remain a shameful episode in the war". Admiral Lord John 'Jackie' Fisher (who had been First Sea Lord and would be again) called Milne "...a serpent of the lowest order", and said in a letter "Personally I would have shot Sir Berkely Milne", and added "...he had no excuse whatever for not surrounding Messina with all his entire force right round the harbour mouth-close up! As if international law mattered a d--n!! And the Italians would have loved him forever!"
The Admiralty decided to support Milne's actions, but he never held a command of any kind again.
http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/c...berkeley-milne
In Troubridge's case a court of inquiry decided that his actions were "deporable and contrary to the tradition of the British Navy...he had a very fair chance of at least delaying
Goeben by materially damaging her". The Inquiry board recommended a court martial, and this was scheduled for November.
The court decided that the Admiralty had not proved its case, and he was aquitted of all charges. He also was never given another sea command, but he did go on to serve the RN in Serbia and then commanded the French squadron on the Danube river.
Howard Kelly later commanded the 8th Light Cruiser Squadron, then the British Adriatic Force, finally retiring as an Admiral after a distinguished career.
John Kelly went on to become Admiral Of The Fleet, and had a WW2 flotilla leader named after him.