30th May 1915
Western Front
Germans attack at Hooge.
French success near Souchez.
Heavy fighting occurs on the Yser Canal, resulting in slight Allied gains. French forces advance a quarter of a mile.
Eastern Front
Austro-Germans attack forts of Przemsyl.
Russian success on the San.
Southern Front
Dardanelles: British repulsed at Quinn's Post.
New Zealand troops are forced to retreat from No.3 Post in Gallipoli after a series of Ottoman counterattacks.
Italians make progress in Trentino.
Italian air raid on Pola.
Naval and Overseas Operations
Aegean Sea
MERION, Admiralty-owned dummy capital ship No 14, battlecruiser “Tiger”, ex-transatlantic liner, 11,621/1902, International Navigation, Liverpool-reg, conversion ordered 21/10/14, hired 1/12/14, converted at Harland & Wolff, Belfast with wood & canvas superstructure and guns, heavily ballasted to approximate proportions of a battlecruiser, armed with 1-3pdr, ready early 1915, based in Aegean from February 1915, heading for Mudros. (un – 29th) - Torpedoed by
UB.8 (Ernst von Voight), sank off Mudros, island of Lemnos (D/dx - off Strati Is, S of Lemnos); 2 RNR officers and 2 MMR ratings killed. Note - C/D list her as purchased 30/5/15, the date of her loss; md - Lt von Voight reported attacking a large three funnelled ship at dusk, hit her with one torpedo abreast the forward funnel, but did not see her sink, nor did he identify her as a possible “battlecruiser”. Presumably torpedoed on the 29th, sank on the 30th.
Severe fighting in Cameroons.
British take Sphinxhaven (on Lake Nyassa, German East Africa).
Ship Losses:
Søborg ( Denmark): The cargo ship was torpedoed and sunk in the North Sea 40 nautical miles (74 km) north east of the mouth of the River Tyne (55°49′N 0°22′E) by
SM U-16 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived.
Les Annales cover showcases a drawing of the new Italian soldiers.
