100 Years Ago Today

[Sailor Steve]

March 12:

Sheerness, England: The monitors depart the Medway. HMS Humber is in the lead, towed by the tugs Blackcock and Danube II. Next is HMS Severn, towed by Sarah Joliffe and Southhampton. Last is HMS Mersey, towed by T.A. Joliffe and Revenger. The group is escorted by a squadron of destroyers.



English Channel: Otto Weddigen in U-29 has a field day when he sinks three British merchants: Andalusian, 2,349 tons, bound from Liverpool to Patras with a general cargo, Headlands, 2,988 tons, carrying ore and fruit from Marseilles to Bristol, and Indian City, 4,645 tons, coming from Galveston to Le Havre with a load of cotton and spelter (a term used for a variety of alloys).



Pacific Ocean: HMS Kent moves from Santa Maria Island to Coronel, begins coaling from lighters.

HMS Glasgow encounters HMS Orama.



Yemen: Hellmuth von Mücke's suspicions are confirmed when a British gunboat shows up at Isa bay. Isa Bay has no harbor facilities, not even a fishing village, and this is the first time an Allied warship of any kind has been seen there since the war began.

[Jimbuna]

13th March 1915

Western Front

Battle of Neuve Chapelle comes to an end with the capture of the commune by British troops.

French General Michael Joseph Maunoury and General de Villaret are wounded by bullets while examining the trenches.

German attacks fail, and French gain ground, in counter-attacks in Champagne.

Belgians gain ground on the Yser.

Germans bombard Ypres.

Eastern Front

German offensive checked near the Augustovo Woods and Przasnysz.

Austrian attacks fail in the Carpathians and East Galicia.

Naval

First neutral sinking, possibly by mistake, Swedish steamer Hanna carrying coal from Tyne to Las Palmas torpedoed without warning and sunk in North Sea off Scarborough.

North Channel

G.M.V., Admiralty drifter, 94/1907, Lowestoft-reg LT.1062, hired 2/15 as net drifter, 1-3pdr, Admiralty No.1109, Skipper William Woodgate RNR. In collision with minesweeping trawler Hungarian (186grt) off Mull of Kintyre/Larne, Co Antrim in North Channel (wi - blt 1909, Inverness-reg, Skipper G McLeod, lost in 54.53N, 05.33W); no lives lost.

Since the start of the war, Britain has lost 92 merchant ships and 47 fishing vessels to enemy action.

Political etc.

Out of Oxford’s 2300 students on roll, 1800 have enlisted; at Cambridge, 2,200 out of 3,300 students have enlisted.

Britain adds several more items, including wool and cottonseed oil, to the list of products that neutral nations cannot export to Germany.

Count Sergei Witte, highly influential Russian statesman and first Prime Minister of the country, has passed away.


Laura Spelman Rockefeller, abolitionist, philanthropist, and wife to John D. Rockefeller, has passed away.


Ship Losses:

HMT G.M.V. ( Royal Navy): The naval trawler collided with another vessel 0.5 nautical miles (930 m) off Larne, County Antrim and sank.
Hanna ( Sweden): The cargo ship was reported to have been torpedoed (or possibly hit a mine) and sunk in the North Sea off Flamborough Head, Yorkshire, United Kingdom with the loss of six of her twenty crew.
Hartdale ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship was torpedoed and sunk off the South Rock (54°25′N 5°08′W) by SM U-27 ( Kaiserliche Marine) with the loss of two of her crew.
Helene ( Denmark): The cargo ship ran aground at Landskrona, Skåne County Sweden.[31] She was refloated on 16 March.
Invergyle ( United Kingdom): The collier was sunk in the North Sea 12 nautical miles (22 km) north north east of the mouth of the River Tyne by SM U-23 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived.

Bengal Lancers returning with Souvenirs from "Port Arthur" after the Battle of Neuve Chapelle

[Sailor Steve]

March 13:

Sheerness, England: With the convoy on its way, the crews of the three monitors are moved by train from Sheerness to Plymouth.



Pacific Ocean: HMS Kent finishes coaling at 0200 hours. At 0816 she is underway and at 1100 exits the harbor at Coronel, bound for Juan Fernadez Island.

At 1630 HMS Glasgow and Orama stop at the rendezvous point where SMS Dresden was to meet the collier SS Gotha.

[Jimbuna]

14th March 1915

Western Front

Battle of St Eloi continues; British regain the village.

French make new progress in Champagne and the Argonne.

Eastern Front

Russian counter offensive along both banks of the Orzec (northern Poland).

Austrian centre broken by Russian counter offensive near Smolnik (Carpathians).

Naval and Overseas Operations

Dardanelles Campaign
Amethyst, old light cruiser, Gem-class, 3,000t, 12-4in/8-3pdr/2-18in tt, supporting minesweepers in final attempt to clear the Kephez mines at night. Trawlers headed for positions above the mines to be swept, heavy fire disabled all the working crews of two trawlers with damage to gear and winches in the rest so great, only two vessels could get out their sweeps, leaving four trawlers and one picket boat out of action. Amethyst was near Kephez Point at this time trying to draw fire from the sweepers. Night of 14th/15th - Two shells exploded in stoker’s bathroom, starboard side forward and on messdeck; 21 killed and 28 severely wounded, of whom 4 DOW in Amethyst. Around 5 killed and 15 wounded in the other vessels (dk – only three others killed on the 14th, one in battleship Ocean and two on trawler Fentonian.
Fentonian, Admiralty trawler, 221/1913, Grimsby-reg GY804, hired 3/15 as minesweeper, 1-6pdr, Admiralty No.448; 2 crew killed.

NW & W Scotland
ORLANDO, Admiralty trawler, 276/1907, Dolphin Steam Fishing, Grimsby-reg GY248, hired 8/14 as minesweeper (wi – armed patrol trawler), armed, Admiralty No.365, Skipper Frederick Mercer RNR. Ran ashore on Sgeir More (possibly Mhor) rock, Tarskavaig Point, southern Isle of Skye in bad weather and wrecked (H/D - near Stornaway, Hebrides; wi - in 58.12N, 06.22W); no lives lost.
Digby, Admiralty armed merchant cruiser, 3,966/1913, hired 22/11/14 (later French Artois), 10th CS. (bi - 15th) - Held up in the Clyde because of attacks on Ambrose and Bayano, now heading for patrol area. Cleared North Channel, chased by U-boat off Skerryvore, took refuge in Tobermory Harbour, following day escorted out by destroyer and headed for patrol line.
Caribbean, 5,824/1890 and Colombella, 8,292/1902, armed merchant cruisers hired c19/11/14, 10th CS Northern Patrol. Dates not known - Attacked by U-boat(s) around the time of the attacks on Ambrose and Digby, escaped.

Light cruiser "Dresden", the last German cruiser left at sea, sunk by British warships in Chilean waters off Juan Fernandez.
After escaping from the Battle of the Falkland Islands, SMS Dresden and several auxiliaries retreated into the Pacific Ocean in an attempt to commence raiding operations against Allied shipping. These operations did little to stop shipping in the area, but still proved troublesome to the British, who had to expend resources to counter the cruiser. On 8 March, his ship low on supplies and in need of repairs, the captain of the Dresden decided to hide his vessel and attempt to coal in Cumberland Bay near the neutral island of Más a Tierra. By coaling in a neutral port rather than at sea, Dresden '​s Captain Lüdecke gained the advantage of being able to intern the ship if it was discovered by enemy vessels.
British naval forces had been actively searching for the German cruiser and had intercepted coded wireless messages between German ships. Although they possessed copies of captured German code books, these also required a "key" which was changed from time to time. However, Charles Stewart, the signals officer, managed to decode a message from Dresden for a collier to meet her at Juan Fernandez on 9 March. A squadron made up of the cruisers HMS Kent and Glasgow along with the auxiliary cruiser Orama cornered the Dresden in the bay on 14 March, challenging it to battle.
Glasgow opened fire on Dresden, damaging the vessel and setting it afire. After returning fire for a short period of time, the captain of Dresden decided the situation was hopeless as his vessel was vastly outgunned and outnumbered, while stranded in the bay with empty coal bunkers and worn out engines. Captain Lüdecke gave the order to abandon and scuttle his vessel. The German crew fled the cruiser in open boats to reach the safety of the island, which was neutral territory. The British cruisers kept up their fire on Dresden and the fleeing boats until the light cruiser eventually exploded, but it is unclear whether the explosion was caused by the firing from the British ships or from scuttling charges set off by the Germans. After the ship exploded, the British commander ordered his ships to capture any survivors from Dresden. Three Germans were killed in action and 15 wounded. The British suffered no casualties.
With the sinking of Dresden, the last remnant of the German East Asian Squadron was destroyed, as all the other ships of the squadron had been sunk or interned. The only German presence left in the Pacific Ocean was a few isolated commerce raiders, such as SMS Seeadler and Wolf. Because the island of Más a Tierra was a possession of Chile, a neutral country, the German Consulate in Chile protested that the British had broken international law by attacking an enemy combatant in neutral waters. The wounded German sailors were taken to Valparaíso, Chile for treatment, where one later died of wounds received during the action. The 315 of Dresden '​s crew who remained were interned by Chile until the end of the war, when those who did not wish to remain in Chile were repatriated to Germany. One of the crew—Lieutenant Wilhelm Canaris, the future admiral and head of Abwehr — escaped internment in August 1915 and made it back to Germany, where he returned to active duty in the Imperial Navy.

The German light cruiser SMS Dresden at Juan Fernandez Island, 14 March 1915. The white flag of surrender is flying from the foremast.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_...3%A1s_a_Tierra

Political, etc.

British reply to the German Submarine Blockade issued.

Germany compensates the United States for the sinking of the "W. P. Frye".

John E. Redmond, leader of the Irish Nationalist party, states there are 250,000 Irishmen fighting in the British Army.

Mushir ed Dowleh succeeds Mustaufi ul Mainalek as Persian Prime Minister.

Ship Losses:

SMS Dresden ( Kaiserliche Marine): Battle of Más a Tierra: The Dresden-class cruiser was scuttled off Más a Tierra, Chile.
HMT Orlando ( Royal Navy): The naval trawler was lost on this date.

[Sailor Steve]

March 14:

Plymouth, England: At 1000 hours the crews of the three monitors are gathered at the Devonport dockyard, and at 1230 they board the chartered liner Trent. The convoy departs Devonport at 2230.



English Channel: Otto Weddigen and U-29 stop and board the small steamer SS Atlanta, 519 tons, 12 miles WSW of Inishturk Island while en route from Galway to Glasgow. The crew are allowed to abandon ship and the vessel is set on fire. After U-29 departs the ship is reboarded and the fires put out. Atlanta is then towed to safety.



Pacific Ocean: At 0755 hours HMS Glasgow and Orama come in sight of Robinson Crusoe Island (also known as Más a Tierra, or Closer To Land), the largest of the Juan Fernandez group, from the northeast.

At 0800 they spot smoke in the distance, which turns out to be HMS Kent moving in from the southeast. Orama's log gives 0840. According to Kent's log she doesn't spot her fellows until 0915.

At 0841 lookouts aboard Glasgow sight SMS Dresden anchored in Cumberland Bay. Orama spots her at 0850. Kent says her first sighting is at 0930, and that at 0950 the range to Dresden is 5,000 yards.

At 0846 Captain Luce starts maneuvering so any shots passing over his enemy cannot hit the shore.

At the same time Captain Lüdecke signals that his ship is out of fuel and is not a combatant. None of the British logs mention this.

At 0910 Glasgow opens fire. According to her log she ceases fire again one minute later, and Dresden starts to return fire. At 1912 Glasgow opens fire again. Orama's log says she opens fire at 0915, at a range of 10,100 yards. According to Kent, Glasgow opens fire at 0951, followed by Kent a minute later. Orama isn't mentioned. The two ships cease fire at 0954. What all logs agree on is that the firing lasts less than four minutes total.

At 0914 Captain Lüdecke lowers his national ensign and raises a white flag. Dresden's crew abandon ship and at 1030 the forward magazine is detonated. Dresden sinks at 1137. Orama agrees on the time of the explosion and makes the sinking one minute later. Kent gives the times as 1100 for the magazine explosion and 1215 for the sinking.

There is a Chilean vessel present, and the Germans are allowed to seek internment there. The German government protests that the British attacked in neutral waters, and Chile accuses both sides of violating her neutrality.



Yemen: At 1700 hours, while the English gunboat is patrolling Isa Bay to the south of Al Hudaydah, Hellmuth von Mücke and his men depart from Yabana, several miles to the north. The sick are in the second zambuk, commanded by leutnant Gerdts. They will have to run an English blockade consisting of an auxiliary cruiser and two gunboats. The two sailboats separate, reducing the chance of both being caught as they attempt to run the blockade in the dark.

[Jimbuna]

15th March 1915

Aviation

Start of German aircraft attacks on shipping in North Sea, 10 vessels bombed in March and April near North Hinder and Galloper LV's
First merchant ship (S.S. "Blonde") attacked by aircraft.
Blonde, 613grt, Mr A Milne, Cowes for Tyne in ballast, 3 miles E of North Foreland. Second mate on bridge noticed an aircraft flying from the east, five bombs dropped but just missed, ship went to full speed, zigzagged and sounded her whistle, armed trawler came up, fired one shot and the plane disappeared.

Naval

British Squadron blockading Smyrna withdrawn.

Dardanelles Campaign
Dartmouth, light cruiser, Weymouth-class, 5,800t, believed within Dardanelles. Boiler explosion (1 of 12 Yarrow-manufactured) totally wrecking a boiler room, moved and anchored astern of battleship Agamemnon off Tenedos at 1100; 4 killed, seven died of injuries. Back in action within Dardanelles by 17th/18th.

Political etc.

British Red Cross prepares to receive 30,000 wounded soldiers from the front; War Department issues call for 3000 physicians.

China considers appealing to Great Britain, Japan’s ally, to prevent Japan from using troops to enforce the 21 Demands.

Lincoln J. Beachey, American aviator who pioneered aerobatics, is killed in San Francisco while performing a stunt.
Lincoln Beachey climbing into his monoplane on March 14, 1915 at the Panama-Pacific International Exhibition just before taking off for the last time.

http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive...659C946496D6CF

Ship Losses:

Fingal ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship was torpedoed and sunk in the North Sea 6 nautical miles (11 km) east by south of Coquet Island, Northumberland by SM U-23 ( Kaiserliche Marine) with the loss of six crew.
William J. Quillin ( United States): The schooner collided with Laly ( Norway) in the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina and sank.

[Sailor Steve]

March 15:

At 1050 hours, Hans Schultheß, commanding U-23, torpedoes SS Fingal, 1,562 tons, bound from London to Leith.

Crew of Fingal lost:
John Harfer Smith, First Mate, age 54.
Walter Reibelt, Fireman, age 28.
Nellie McPherson, Stewardess, age 26.
John Laurenson, Able Seaman, age 48.
Walter Lumsden Hogg, Able Seaman, age 31.
Thomas Gray, Ordinary Seaman, age 19.

Waldemar Kophamel, in U-35, torpedoes SS Hyndford, en route from Bahia, Brazil to London with a load of wheat and oats. The crippled freighter's master, John Horne, stops his crew from abandoning ship and has them check the damage. The forward section is flooding, but Number 2 hold is intact. Horne tests his engines and checks that the bulkheads will hold, then takes his ship into The Downs, arriving shortly after midnight on the 16th.



Red Sea: The sun comes up on Hellmuth von Mücke's zambuk, and he realizes they are right in the middle of the English blockade line. Then the wind dies, leaving them becalmed with no way to escape should an enemy ship come over the horizon. No ship appears, though, and in the afternoon a breeze picks up, allowing them to continue their journey northward.

[Jimbuna]

16th March 1915

Western Front

French gain an important crest and repulse strong counter-attacks north of Mesnil.

Naval

The USS Pennsylvania, lead ship of its battleship class, is launched.



Political etc.

U.S. government estimates that the country will lose about $100,000 ($2.3 million today) a day due to Britain’s blockade of Germany.

Japanese ambassador to the U.S. calls upon Secretary of State Bryan to ask Germany to improve the treatment of interned Japanese.

[Sailor Steve]

March 16:

German East Africa: The morning brings multiple rain showers, but by mid-afternoon the sky is clear enough for more flight tests, and HMS Kinfauns Castle once again hoists out S920. The plane is still not able to climb high enough to observe SMS Konigsberg safely.



Red Sea: On their second day at sea von Mücke meets up with Gerdts in the second zambuk. From this point on they are protected by the Farsan Bank, a group of coral reefs far enough from shore to protect them from English guns. The reefs were described by Charles Darwin in 1842. With a pilot, an interpreter and several Arab sailors the zambuks carry thirty-five men each, plus provisions, machine guns and ammunition. Each boat also has a small tin-shrouded fireplace for cooking. The men rig a roof made of blankets to protect them from the desert sun.

Every hour brings a change in the weather. After encountering a storm they might suddenly find themselves becalmed. The worst part comes at night, when the men are under constant attack by cockroaches, lice, and bedbugs. Still, they maintained a sense of humor about it. "All articles of clothing that were not in use had to be made fast to something for fear they might run away. In the morning, as soon as the sun was up, Every man of us pulled off his shirt and the general 'early louse hunt' began. The record number for one shirt was seventy-four."

[Jimbuna]

17th March 1915

Eastern Front

Austrians, reinforced, try to cross the river Pruth in Bukovina.

Naval

North Sea
Nemesis and Nymphe, destroyers, H-class, 970t, 2nd DF, taking part in Grand Fleet movements in northern and central North Sea since 16th, weather now too bad and Flotilla sent back to Scapa. Two ships collided, both needed docking for repairs.

Aviation

The Imperial German Army attempts its first airship raid against the United Kingdom with the Zeppelin Z XII. Unable to find targets through cloud cover, Z XII drops no bombs, but over Calais, France, on the way home makes the first use of a manned observation car lowered by winch.

Political etc.

British and Russian ambassadors in Tokyo warn Japan not to force the 21 Demands onto China.

Ship Losses:

Leeuwarden ( United Kingdom): The coaster was captured, shelled and sunk in the North Sea 4 nautical miles (7.4 km) west by north of the Maas Lightship ( Netherlands) by SM U-28 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived.

A French SPAD S.XVI two-seat biplane reconnaissance aircraft, flying over Compeign Sector, France.

[Sailor Steve]

March 17:

English Channel: Freiherr Georg-Günther von Forstner, commanding U-28, stops the 990-ton British steamer SS Leeuwarden, travelling in ballast from London to Harlingen. The crew are allowed to abandon ship and the freighter is sunk by gunfire.



Red Sea: Hellmuth von Mücke informs his men that he intends to anchor somewhere for the night. At 1800 hours his Arab pilot is guiding the boat to Marka Island when the rough seas cause them to hit bottom. Three times the zambuk drags on the coral reefs and then they are in deeper water. Von Mücke drops anchor and signals the second boat to hold off and stay to the outside of the reef. Unfortunately the other zambuk is already in the middle of the reefs and runs hard aground, leaving a large hole in her bottom. Von Mücke ups anchor and tries to maneuver his boat to that of Leutnant Gerdts, but they can get no closer that four hundred meters.

The only "boats" carried by the zambuks is one dugout canoe each, capable of carrying no more than two men. In the heavy swells he sends his to see what can be done for the stricken boat. By now it is growing dark and the blowing spray makes it impossible to light a fire to guide the canoe. Then voices come out of the dark. The men aboard the stricken zambuk are attempting to reach that of von Mücke, and are swimming right past it. The men aboard the boat start shouting and blowing the boatswain's pipe to guide the swimmers aboard.

Von Mücke's main concern is for the sick men aboard the foundering zambuk. With no way of knowing their status, in desperation he orders his men to pile all the spare wood on the deck and dowse it with petroleum. He then lights it on fire, ignoring the danger to the boat itself. The fire is hot enough to dry out the torches, and they are lit. There are also some distress rockets from Emden they have kept this whole time, and they are set off as well.

The two dugouts show up, each rowed by one man with one of the sick lying in the bottom. The dugouts return to the other zambuk, repeating this process until all the sick are aboard. On subsequent trips a second sick man is towed behind the canoe, lying on a board. The swimmers are all arriving at von Mücke's boat now, with healthy men who cannot swim wearing life preservers. The zambuk now holds fifty men, and is riding dangerously low in the water. Von Mücke orders all provisions thrown overboard, except food and water for three days. Soon all seventy men are crowded aboard one 45-foot sailboat.

[Jimbuna]

18th March 1915

Western Front

Violent indecisive fighting between Four-de-Paris and Bolante.

Eastern Front

Russians occupy Memel (East Prussia).

Continued Austrian attacks repulsed in the Carpathians and Bukovina.

Aviation

Imperial Russian Air Service Stabskapitän Alexander Kazakov uses a grapnel to hook his aircraft to a German Albatros two-seater aircraft in mid-air, hoping to destroy the Albatros by detonating a small bomb fixed to the grapnel.

Naval

Dardanelles: Attack on the Narrows; two forts destroyed.

18 Allied battleships, with supporting destroyers and cruisers, launch a major attack on the Dardanelles forts.


H.M.S. "Ocean", H.M.S. "Irresistible", and French warship "Bouvet" sunk; French warship "Gaulois" damaged.
The loss of Bouvet, Irresistible, Ocean and near-fatal damage to Inflexible were all due to a line of just 20 mines laid in Eren Keui Bay parallel to the Asiatic shore by 365t auxiliary minelayer Nousret or Nusret. The final Allied attempt to break through to Constantinople by naval power alone was over in just one day, with three capital ships sunk and three out of action out of the 16 taking part.

French battleship Bouvet hits a mine in the Dardanelles and sinks; 660 men are killed.


Political, etc.

German General Staff warns Russia that for each East Prussian town burned, they will retaliate by destroying three Polish towns.

Kaiser Wilhelm and the Kings of Saxony and Wuertemberg meet in Lille for a council of war.

Romania calls up seven classes (1909-1915).

Ship Losses:

Bouvet ( French Navy): Naval operations in the Dardanelles Campaign: The pre-dreadnought battleship struck a mine in the Dardanelles and sank with the loss of 660 of her 710 crew.
Clara ( United Kingdom): The ketch got into difficulties in the Teifi Estuary. Her two crew were rescued by Elizabeth Austin (RNLI FLAG.png Royal National Lifeboat Institution).
Glenartney ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship was torpedoed and sunk in the English Channel 4 nautical miles (7.4 km) south of the Owers Lightship ( United Kingdom) (50°36′N 0°25′E) by SM U-34 ( Kaiserliche Marine) with the loss of one of her 40 crew.
Gaulois ( French Navy): The Charlemagne-class battleship struck a mine and was damaged in the Dardanelles. She was beached but was refloated on 22 March. Subsequently repaired and returned to service.
HMS Irresistible ( Royal Navy): Naval operations in the Dardanelles Campaign: The Formidable-class battleship struck a mine in the Dardanelles and sank with the loss of about 150 of her 780 crew. Survivors were rescued by HMS Wear ( Royal Navy).
Mary Nish ( United Kingdom): The schooner capsized and sank in the North Sea off the mouth of the River Tyne with the loss of four lives.
HMS Ocean ( Royal Navy): Naval operations in the Dardanelles Campaign: The Canopus-class battleship struck a mine in the Dardanelles and sank.
SM U-29 ( Kaiserliche Marine): The Type U 27 submarine was rammed and sunk in the Pentland Firth (58°20′N 0°57′E) by HMS Dreadnought ( Royal Navy) with the loss of all 32 crew.

[Sailor Steve]

March 18:

English Channel: Georg-Günther von Forstner, commanding U-28, takes two prizes: SS Zaanstrom, 1,657 tons, bound from Amsterdam to London, and SS Batavier V, heading from London to Rotterdam. Zaanstrom is awarded to U-28, but a prize court later releases Batavier V to her original owners.

U-34, under Claus Rücker, torpedoes and damages SS Blue Jacket, but the stricken ship makes port at Plymouth. Later U-34 torpedoes and sinks SS Glenartney, 5201 tons, travelling from Bangkok to London.



North Sea: U-29, commanded by Otto Weddigen, is cruising the area between Scotland and the Orkney Islands when she encounters the Grand Fleet's 1st, 2nd and 4th Battle Squadrons. At 1315 Weddigen fires one torpedo at the 1st's HMS Neptune, which misses. At 1328 The periscope is sighted by Lt. Cmdr. Basil Hamilton Piercy , Officer of the Watch aboard HMS Dreadnought of the 4th BS. Captain William John Standly Alderson immediately orders Navigation Officer Cmdr. H.W.C. Hughes to ram the submarine. Hughes guides the big ship skillfully and the u-boat is run down. The bow rises in the air and the men aboard Dreadnought can read the number painted there: 'U-29'.

HMS Dreadnought, the first all-big-gun battleship and the first major warship to be powered by steam turbine engines, is also the only battleship ever to sink a submarine. U-29 is the only submarine ever sunk by a battleship. Otto Weddigen, the man who made history when he sank the armoured cruisers Aboukir, Cressy and Hogue, is now himself a casualty of war.



Atlantic Ocean: The three monitors and their tugs pass Cape Finisterre on the northwest coast of Spain. The six tugs are starting to run short of coal. When a stop is requested the Admiralty orders that the monitors are not to be taken into Gibraltar.



Red Sea: The men of the Emden are approached by a native zambuk. When the locals descover that the travellers are Europeans, the Arabs refuse to help. Von Mücke tries to buy or rent the boat, but the native captain says he wouldn't sell his boat to a Christian for 100,000 pounds. Von Mücke considers just taking the boat, since his men are well armed. As the sun comes up so does a stiff breeze, and he decides to set sail with his one overloaded boat. The lost zambuk is in shallow water, so the men manage to dive in and rescue their two machine guns and several pistols. The provisions, clothes and all the medicines are lost.

The wind is so favorable that they manage to make the 100-plus miles to Al Qunfudhah in one day. There they are greeted warmly and make friends with a Turkish official and his wife, who treat them to a very fine meal.

[Jimbuna]

19th March 1915

Western Front

Germans attack heavily in the Vosges.

Eastern Front

Austrian sortie from Przemsyl fails.

Naval

Dardanelles: Bad weather stops operations.

Due to heavy losses in the Dardanelles, Admiral de Robeck orders a “general recall” and retreats.

Political, etc.

Thirty-four Trade Unions agree to expedite munitions output.

Indian Viceroy’s council discusses measures to give military authorities special powers in case of a revolt in the colony.

Thousands in Shanghai take to the streets to demand a war against Japan over the 21 Demands.

U.S. State Department announces that it has secured an agreement with Britain, Germany, and Austria to inspect their POW camps.

Ship Losses:

Gravesend ( United Kingdom): The schooner was abandoned in The Downs 0.5 nautical miles (930 m) north west of the Gull Lightship ( United Kingdom). Her crew were rescued by Alert ( United Kingdom).

[Sailor Steve]

March 19:

German East Africa: SS Kinfauns Castle hoists out S920 yet again. The flight lasts six minutes, from 1631 to 1637.



Saudi Arabia: At Al Qunfudhah (von Mücke calls it "Coonfidah") the Germans manage to procure a zambuk large enough to comfortably hold their entire party. As they are provisioning the boat the Turkish Official who befriended them offers to travel with them as an interpreter.