100 Years Ago Today

[TarJak]

Nice touch Steve.

[TarJak]

11 September 1914

The AN&MEF, supported by men from Australian warships, landed at Kabakaul, German New Guinea, (New Britain), to seize the German wireless station there. HMA Ships AUSTRALIA, SYDNEY, ENCOUNTER, PARRAMATTA, YARRA, WARREGO, AE1 and AE2supported this landing, and stood by to repel any German warships. The brigade forced their way inland, encountering strong resistance from German native troops lead by German Army Reserve officers, as the RAN advanced to seize the German wireless station. Five RAN and RN naval personnel were killed or died of wounds; LCDR C. B. Elwell, RN; AB W. G. V. Williams; AB J. E. Walker; AB H. W. Street; Signalman R. D. Moffatt; Also killed was Captain B. C. A. Pockley of the Australian Army Medical Corps. AB Williams was the first to be killed, and thus had the dubious honour of being the first Australian to be killed in action during WWI. LEUT T. A. Bond, RANR, distinguished himself in the advance by single handedly capturing 30 native troops, and was later awarded the DSO, which, although not gazetted until 1916, was technically the first decoration awarded to an Australian during WWI


The Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force (ANMEF) began recruiting on 11 August, consisting of a battalion of 1,000 infantry and a small battalion of 500 naval reservists and time-expired RN seaman. The force left Sydney on 19 August aboard the transport HMAT Berrima, a liner requisitioned from P&O, after a period of training near Townsville. The force sailed for Port Moresby to await the arrival of supporting RAN vessels. On 7 September the force, now including Australia, the cruisers Sydney and HMAS Encounter, the destroyers Parramatta, Warrego and Yarra, and the submarines HMAS AE1 and HMAS AE2, sailed for Rabaul. Meanwhile, on 9 September Melbourne landed a party on Nauru to destroy the wireless station, whereupon the German administrator promptly surrendered. On 11 September a force consisting primarily of naval reserve personnel was put ashore at Kabakaul to seize the wireless station located inland at Bitapaka. The landing force experienced strong initial resistance, and was forced to make small group attacks through the thick jungle to outflank the enemy. The wireless station was captured and destroyed. This attack resulted in Australia’s first combat casualties of the war—four sailors of the landing force and an attached Army doctor—Able Seaman Walker (he served as Courtney but was re-buried under his real name by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission), Able Seaman Williams, Able Seaman Street, Able Seaman Moffatt, and Captain Pockley (Australian Army Medical Corps). The other fatal casualty suffered during the operation was Lieutenant Commander Elwell, Royal Navy.


German native troops under the command of the German army in New Guinea.

At 6:00 am, Australia escorted Berrima into Karavia Bay, where the former lowered her picket boats to sweep for sea mines. On completion Australia returned to sea to protect the approaches to the bay and cover the unfolding operation ashore.

The initial landings, in what would became Australia’s first joint force operation, took place at dawn on 11 September 1914 when 25 petty officers and men under the command of Lieutenant R.G. Bowen, RAN, were landed from the Australian destroyers at Kabakaul with instructions to seize the wireless station at Bitapaka. With Bowen were Midshipman R.L. Buller, RANR and Captain B.C.A. Pockley of the Australian Army Medical Corps. They were soon reinforced by Gunners S.T.P. Yeo and C.F. Bacon and ten men sent ashore from Warrego and Yarra who were put to immediate use maintaining communications between the advancing landing party and the beach.

Bowen’s party was soon striking inland through dense jungle to secure their objective when a scouting party, having deviated from the main road, found itself directly in the rear of the German first line of defence comprising three Germans and 20 native soldiers. The German in charge, Sergeant-Major Mauderer, was shot and wounded by Petty Officer G.R. Palmer, RANR, and after a short skirmish the enemy surrendered.
The wounded Mauderer was given first aid before being directed by Lieutenant Bowen to walk ahead of the main body of Australians and announce in German that 800 troops had landed and that his comrades should surrender. Bowen’s deception was rewarded, for word filtered back to the commander of the German defences, Captain von Klewitz, that a superior force had landed.

Believing himself outnumbered, Klewitz consequently ordered a withdrawal of his forces inland, resulting in the break down of the entire scheme of German coastal defence. This left only Bitapaka’s defenders offering active resistance. At this juncture Captain Pockley drew Bowen’s attention to the worsening condition of Mauderer who he subsequently treated in the field, resulting in the amputation of his badly wounded hand.
Following this initial skirmish Bowen reassessed his party’s position sending Midshipmen Buller back to Kabakaul with the prisoners and instructions to send up reinforcements. Fifty nine men were subsequently drawn from the two destroyers, 14 armed with rifles and the rest with cutlass and pistols under the command of Lieutenant G.A. Hill, RNR.

This force reached Bowen’s group at about 10:00 am to find them halted by a series of enemy trenches, under fire from snipers positioned in the trees and with two of their number lying mortally wounded.

The first to have fallen was Able Seaman W.G.V. Williams who formed part of the communications link between Bowen’s party and the beach. After observing natives in a coconut plantation beside the road Williams called up the man next to him, Stoker W Kember, to investigate. As Kember did so Williams covered him. The natives were found to be hoeing among the palms seemingly presenting no threat. Williams then went ahead and was shot in the stomach from a concealed position in the bush. Kember rushed to his aid, carrying him for nearly half-a-mile back along the road.
Captain Pockley had just finished treating Mauderer when he learned that Williams had been shot. Escorted by Officer’s Steward A.O. Annear, the two set off to find the injured sailor. On locating him he instructed Kember and another to evacuate the injured man to the rear, at the same time removing his red-cross brassard and tying it around Kember’s hat to afford him a measure of protection. Pockley and Annear then set about returning to the front but also came under fire. After taking cover Pockley tried to move forward again but was shot and seriously wounded. Some time later he was evacuated and transferred to the Berrima where both he and Williams died later that afternoon.

Meanwhile Bowen and Hill agreed on the next phase of the operation and set about outflanking the enemy. However, as the new advance began Bowen himself was seriously wounded by a sniper, leaving Hill to take command and renewing a call for reinforcements.

At Kabakaul, Hill’s request for support was received by Commander Beresford who ordered No: 3 Company (Lieutenant O.W. Gillam, RANR) and No: 6 Company (Lieutenant T.A. Bond, RANR) of the Naval Reserve as well as a machine gun section (Captain J.L. Harcus) to land. Beresford himself then relocated ashore and was accompanied by Captain R.J.A. Travers, an Army intelligence officer.
Lieutenant Commander C.B. Elwell, RN was also landed taking command of half of No: 3 Company and pushing ahead at best possible speed. Lieutenant Gillam followed with the other half in support. The conditions ashore were becoming increasingly difficult. The sun was high in the sky, the day windless, the heat stifling and the road dusty which made for hard going in the jungle terrain.

As Elwell’s party advanced Able Seaman J.E. Walker (who enlisted and was known at the time as Able Seaman Courtney) was shot dead near a sharp bend in the track becoming the first Australian to be killed in action during the Great War. Two of Gillam’s men, Signalman R.D. Moffatt and Able Seaman D.S. Skillen were also hit, Moffatt succumbing to his injuries the next day. It was around this time that Gillam’s men also discovered the presence of wires laid through the bush that was correctly assumed to lead to a land mine buried beneath the road on which they were advancing. The wires were subsequently cut and a serious threat to the advance removed.

At about 1:00 pm, Elwell’s party arrived at Hill’s position who was receiving enemy fire coming from a trench positioned ahead of him. There Elwell assumed command ordering Hill to take charge of a flanking movement on the left whilst he took charge of a similar movement on the right.

Elwell slowly led his men forward until they were less than eighty yards from the German positions. There they fixed bayonets and charged in the face of rapid enemy fire. Elwell, sword in hand, was shot and killed leading this charge, leaving Hill to continue the attack with Lieutenant Gillam, whose timely arrival with the remainder of 3 Company carried the day.

The now overwhelmed defenders reluctantly agreed to the unconditional surrender of both the German forces and the wireless station. This was negotiated by Lieutenant Commander Beresford who then called for Lieutenant Bond, with No: 6 Company to be brought up to advance with Captain Harcus and his machine gun section to secure the wireless station. Also in their company were Captain Travers, the intelligence officer, and two German prisoners, who preceded the party carrying a white flag of truce.

During their advance to the wireless station Bond’s party encountered a series of enemy trenches. They successfully used the German speaking captives to negotiate the surrender of two of these but met resistance at a third constructed at the top of a steep cutting at the side of the road. There, one of the German captives, Ritter, attempted to rally those who had already surrendered and a brisk exchange of fire followed during which two of Bond’s men, Able Seamen J.H. Tonks and T. Sullivan were wounded and Able Seaman H.W. Street killed. Ritter and several of the natives fighting for the Germans also died in this exchange.

Leaving Harcus and his machine gun section to cover his advanced Bond accompanied by Captain Travers, Corporal C.C. Eitel, an interpreter from the machine gun section, and the remaining German, Kempf, walked on towards the wireless station. On the way they captured a German cyclist carrying a message to the Bitapaka garrison and a horseman who was ordered to go ahead to the wireless station with news of the German surrender and a message that further resistance was futile.

At a police barracks 1000 yards from the wireless station a group of eight Germans and twenty native troops was encountered. The Germans were armed with magazine pistols and the latter with rifles. Through Kempf they were ordered to surrender but they refused to comply. At this point Lieutenant Bond warned Travers to stand by with his revolver before turning quickly towards the Germans and snatching their pistols from their holsters. So surprised were they by Bond’s sudden and daring action they were unable to defend themselves. The immediate surrender followed and the prisoners marched off toward the wireless station which was found to be abandoned.

For his courage and quick-thinking Bond became the first Australian decorated during World War I, receiving a Distinguished Service Order.

News of the successful capture of the wireless station did not reach Admiral Patey until 1:00 am on 12 September. At 3:00 pm on 13 September the British flag was hoisted at Rabaul. The ceremony was held in an open space overlooking the harbour where the Australian fleet could be seen riding at anchor.

Within a few weeks most of the German territories in the area, including Bougainville and the Admiralty Islands, had been occupied without further opposition, at a cost of six dead and four wounded.


Members of the Australian Navy and Military Expeditionary Force (AN&MEF) bringing Captain (Capt) Brian Colden Antill Pockley, the medical officer, on board HMAT Berrima, his face is covered by his pith helmet.

Capt Pockley was wounded after he set out to find Able Seaman (AB) W. G. V. Williams who had been wounded by enemy fire during an Australian advance. Capt Pockley found AB Williams with Leading Stoker W. Kember who had carried him for nearly half a mile. Capt Pockley removed his red cross brassard and tied it to Leading Stoker Kember's hat, sending him to the rear with the wounded man, as he was returning Capt Pockley was fired upon and wounded. He was later picked up by an ambulance cart and carried to HMAT Berrima, where he and AB Williams died during the afternoon. AB Williams was the first Australian shot in the First World War and Capt Pockley was the first medical officer of the Australian Forces killed in the course of his duty.

The SS ESTURIA was chartered as a destroyer depot ship. She transferred to the RN in 1917

[Jimbuna]

11th September

Western Front

Pursuit of the Germans from the Marne: the French recover Epernay, Chalons, etc.

Eastern Front

Galicia: Russians close in on Grodek.

Overseas Operations

Bismarck Archipelago: Australian expedition captures Herbertshohe.

Battle of Bita Paka, fought on the island of New Britain, ends in an Australian victory against German troops. Australia suffers 12 casualties; Germany suffers 42 casualties and 75 captured. This is Australia’s 1st major engagement in the war.

Political etc.

Marconi Wireless Company protests that the U.S. censorship of wireless communications is illegal.

British Government issue orders for the raising of the second New Army of six divisions.

At Zimmerwald in Switzerland, delegates to the First International Socialist Conference call for an immediate end to the First World War.

Ship Losses:

Dwarf, 1st-class gunboat, Bramble-class, 710t, 2-4in/4-12pdr, West Africa Station, taking part in operations against Duala, Cdr F Strong. Opened fire on German launch towing a lighter on the Duala River estuary, shelled by two field guns at Yoss Point, returned fire and gained hits, but badly hit on the bridge; one rating died of wounds.

Elsinore ( United Kingdom): The tanker was shelled and sunk in the Pacific Ocean 260 nautical miles (480 km) south west by west of Cabo Corrientes, Mexico by SMS Leipzig ( Kaiserliche Marine).

Lovat ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship was captured and scuttled in the Indian Ocean 260 nautical miles (480 km) east of Madras, India by SMS Emden ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew were taken as prisoners of war.

Kabinga ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship was captured and scuttled in the Indian Ocean by SMS Emden ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew were taken as prisoners of war.

[Sailor Steve]

September 11:

General Rennenkampf barely eludes an encirclement by General von Hindenburg, abandoning the Masurian Lakes region and retreating toward the Russian border.

New Zealand light cruisers and transports depart Samoa to join Admiral Patey's fleet at Rabaul, just three days before von Spee's two Armored Cruisers arrive.

En route from Mexico to the Galapagos Islands, SMS Leipzig encounters the 6,542-ton British freighter SS Elsinore. The Elsinore is scuttled after her crew are transfered to the chartered collier SS Marie.

The officers of SMS Emden oversee the division of the goods taken from SS Indus the previous day. According to Prince Franz Joseph, first mate von Mücke "Sat like a Pasha on his treasures, and allotted them to the various divisions." They discovered that many of the articles were of no use, and since they were fast running out of room much of the haul was thrown overboard. As the crew was finishing their lunch another ship was sighted. SS Lovat was a 6,012-ton British freighter equiped as a troop ship and bound for Bombay. The Emden now being loaded with supplies Captain von Müller took only newspapers from this fresh catch. As before the crew of the Lovat were allowed to pack their possessions for transfer to the Markomannia, and the ship was sunk in the same manner as the Indus had been. Like that ship, the Lovat took a very long time to sink. So long, in fact, that she had still not quite gone down when darkness fell and Emden left her behind.

From the captured newspapers the crew of the Emden discovered that the war was almost over, Germany was on the verge of collapse and all that remained was the mopping up. Of course they recognized it for the propaganda it was, since they had previously read about the destruction of their own ship! On the other hand, a conversation overheard on Markomannia between the officers of Indus and Lovat indicated that there were more empty troopships following behind the first two. Emden lay in wait, and sure enough at about 22:00 hours a ship was sighted heading their way, fully lit up as if there were no war.

It was SS Kabinga, 4,657 tons, bound for Bombay, Port Said and eventually New York. The cargo was mostly American, and sinking the ship would mean paying reparations for the lost goods. Also the captain of the Kabinga had his wife and children with him. These two factors convinced von Müller to take the ship as a prize rather than sink her. The growing fleet continued on its way.

[TarJak]

12 September 1914

Rabaul was occupied, unopposed, by troops from HMAS Berrima. The German administration fled inland to Toma, but faced with an advance by Australian troops from Herbertshohe, supported by gunfire from HMAS Encounter, they surrendered German New Guinea on 17 September. In coming months Australian vessels and troops were dispatched to search and occupy Germany's other territories including the New Guinea mainland, New Ireland, the Admiralty Islands, the Western Islands, Bougainville, and the German Solomons.

At nightfall on 12 September the main infantry battalion was landed at Rabaul to capture the town and the surrounding settlements. Rear Admiral George Edwin Patey, serving as commander-in-chief of the Australian fleet, sent a letter to his sister the following day writing: “We have now taken Rabaul and Herbertshöhe without opposition…” On that same day Private John Axtens wrote in his diary: “Proclamation read & flag hoisted at Rabaul.”

[TarJak]

BTW, I've got several sources saying Kabinga was captured on 12 Sept not the 11th.

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by TarJak

BTW, I've got several sources saying Kabinga was captured on 12 Sept not the 11th.

Several? I'd love to see them.

Prince Franz Joseph says they sighted Kabinga's lights at 22:00 the same night as the sinking of the Lovat. Yates says Emden left Lovat to sink "as darkness fell" and sighted Kabinga's lights "...four hours later...". Given Yates's scholarship (in his bibliography he cites 114 sources by my count, including the books on Emden and Ayesha written by First Officer Helmuth von Mücke) I tend to trust him. Of course depending upon how long it took to catch Kabinga the capture could easily have been made after midnight which would indeed make it the 12th.

[TarJak]

Most of them are just summary mentions and therefore are probably just copies of Wikipedia but there's a couple on sites I've found to be very reliable and carefully researched. I also found two news articles from 1914 which both mention the Kabinga being captured on the night of the 12th.

This is one such site: http://cinnamonandcoffeeblossoms.wor...the-sms-emden/

This one is also a good secondary source example being a newspaper article from the period: http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi...P19141030.2.23

Another news paper article from the period: http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/15539086

[Jimbuna]

12th September

Western Front

The Battle of the Marne ends with an Allied victory. Allies suffer 263,000 casualties while Germany suffers 256,000 casualties.

Battle of the Aisne begins:
From 12th September 1914 the German Army began to “dig in” on the high ground of the Chemin des Dames ridge on the north bank of the river Aisne. The Germans dug defensive trenches with the intention of securing the position and preventing any further possibility of withdrawal. This battlefield area witnessed the beginnings of entrenched positions and the change from a mobile war to a static deadlock between the opposing forces. From this date the entrenchments would gradually spread along the whole length of the Western Front, would become deeper and more impregnable and would characterize the siege warfare fighting of the Western Front for the following three and a half years.

During the First Battle of the Aisne (12th - 15th September 1914) the German right wing could not be dislodged by the Allied forces of the French Sixth Army, the British Expeditionary Force and the French Fifth Army. The consequence of the Germans establishing entrenched positions on the Chemin des Dames ridge was that the Allied armies were unsuccessful in making a frontal assault on it. They were, therefore, compelled to look for open ground on either flank of the German position. A French assault on the German First Army's exposed right flank (i.e. the northern flank) caused the Germans to move their Seventh Army from Alsace to protect this exposed right/northern flank.

Troyon: Germans compelled to raise siege.

Luneville rec-occupied by the French.

Belgian sortie from Antwerp threatens German communications.

Eastern Front

Galicia: End of Battle of Grodek and Rava Russka: total defeat of Austrians; Grodek captured.

Poland: Austrians try to cross the San under heavy fire.

Naval and Overseas Operations

East Africa: Germans defeated near Kisi.

Political etc.

A contest for world circumnavigation by airplane, with a prize pool of $1.2 million ($28.6 million today), is called off due to the war.

W. Churchill: “It is our life against Germany’s. Upon that there must be no compromise or truce. We must go forth unflinchingly to the end.”

Ship Losses:

Killin ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship was captured in the Indian Ocean 410 nautical miles (760 km) north east by north of Madras, India by SMS Emden ( Kaiserliche Marine). She was scuttled the next day. Her crew were taken as prisoners of war.

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by TarJak

This is one such site: http://cinnamonandcoffeeblossoms.wor...the-sms-emden/

That article also has Killin being sunk on the 14th while every other source says the 13th.

This one is also a good secondary source example being a newspaper article from the period: http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi...P19141030.2.23

It does mention the 12th for Kabinga, but in the balance is the account by Hohenzollern, who was there. On the other hand if Killin was captured on the morning of the 12th and not sunk until the morning of the 13th, that would mean they waited more than 24 hours between capture and sinking. While such a delay is certainly possible, Hohenzollern doesn't mention it. It's certainly possible he left out a date where nothing of import took place.

While I trust Yates' research over anybody's I've seen so far, contemporary accounts are always of value.

[edit] On the other hand, this site also agrees with your references to the 12th-13th:
http://www.naval-history.net/WW1Book...W1_Hurd.htm#IV

[Sailor Steve]

September 12:

Captain von Müller of Emden places guards on board Kabinga, intending to transfer prisoners during the day, and everyone finally gets to sleep. About three hours later, in the wee hours of the morning, the alarm is sounded again. This vessel is the English collier Killin, with 6000 tons of coal aboard. Since searching and sinking the ship would have to be done in daylight, Killin joined the fleet and everyone got to bed again.

Due to the discrepancies in the accounts, this incident may indeed have taken place on the night of the 12th and morning of the 13th. As I mentioned in the previous post that while Yates states that Kabinga was captured on the same night as Lovat was sunk, i.e. the 11th-12th, and that Killin was captured the same morning, even he puts off the sinking of the Killin until the 13th. I find this suspect, as he also makes it one continuous narrative - capture in the early morning, sinking by sunlight later the same day.

[TarJak]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

That article also has Killin being sunk on the 14th while every other source says the 13th.


It does mention the 12th for Kabinga, but in the balance is the account by Hohenzollern, who was there. On the other hand if Killin was captured on the morning of the 12th and not sunk until the morning of the 13th, that would mean they waited more than 24 hours between capture and sinking. While such a delay is certainly possible, Hohenzollern doesn't mention it. It's certainly possible he left out a date where nothing of import took place.

While I trust Yates' research over anybody's I've seen so far, contemporary accounts are always of value.

[edit] On the other hand, this site also agrees with your references to the 12th-13th:
http://www.naval-history.net/WW1Book...W1_Hurd.htm#IV

This is why history is so hard to get right. Particularly if you rely on the internet.

12 September

On this day the war reached the Falklands. Governor Allardyce received a message from Captain Milward, HM Consul in Punta Arenas, and what it contained made very uncomfortable reading. It reported that the German steamer Santa Isabel had loaded with livestock and large quantities of foodstuffs, and had left heading east along the Straits. Although the name Dresden had not been mentioned, it was clear to both Milward and Allardyce that this was the ship for which the supplies were intended. And if she was heading east it very likely meant that Dresden was hiding somewhere along the Atlantic coast south of the Plate and was thus within striking distance of the Falklands. The Volunteers were put on full-alert.

[TarJak]

13 September 1914

The Union flag was hoisted over Rabaul for the first time as Admiral Patey took the official surrender from the German administration in Rabaul:


At 3:00 pm on 13 September the British flag was hoisted at Rabaul. The ceremony was held in an open space overlooking the harbour where the Australian fleet could be seen riding at anchor.

The former South Australian gunboat, HMAS PROTECTOR, captured the German merchant ship MADANG, off Herbertshohe, New Britain.

Australian forces capture Bougainville unopposed.

British SS Diplomat (7,615 tonnes) sunk by HIMS Emden 480 miles NE from Madras.

Dreadnought Battle Fleet at Loch Ewe.

Four day's battle N of Brussels begun.

Battle of the Aisne opened.

Reims and Soissons recaptured by Allies.

French Sixth Army crossed Aisne; British at Venizel and between Venizel and Missy, at Vailly, Chavonne, Pont-Arcy and Bourg.

Nancy-Vosges sector cleared.

Germans checked on River Niemen, but reached Prusso-Russian frontier at Eydtkuhnen.

Japanese captured Kiaochow railway station.

"Hela", German cruiser, sunk by British submarine E-9

Stanley: Allardyce concluded that Dresden was mostly likely holed up at San José on the Argentine coast and, if an attack on the Falklands was contemplated, then it was imminent. He wrote: '... I reckoned that the Santa Isabel would take from two and a half to three days to reach San José, about half a day to transfer her provisions to the Dresden, and that the Dresden ...would take something under two and a half days to reach the Falkland Islands, so that we might expect her arrival on the 14th or 15th of this month.'

Dresden was at that time hiding amongst the islands around Cape Horn and coaling from the Baden which was accompanying her.

[Jimbuna]

13th September

Western Front

Allies recover Soissons and force the passage of the Aisne there.

Amiens recovered by the French.

Germans begin to drive the Belgians back into Antwerp; Battle along line Aerschot-Malines.

Eastern Front

East Prussia: Russians turn on their pursuers and defeat them at Sredniki near the Niemen.

Asiatic

Tsing-tau: Japanese capture the railway at Kiao-chau town.

Political, etc.

British Government issue orders raising third New Army of six divisions.

Irish nationalist seeks German support...Former British diplomat Sir Roger Casement secretly meets with Franz von Papen, the German military attaché, to seek Germany’s support in the effort to win independence from British rule for Ireland.

Germany: Herr von Bethmann-Hollweg's reply to Mr. Asquith's Guildhall speech of Sept. 4 published.

Germany announces that they currently have 218,410 Allied prisoners of war.

The new Mexican government under President Carranza requests the U.S. to end its occupation of Veracruz.

United States submits an informal inquiry to Germany on possible talks with the Allies to end the war.

Naval

North Sea - Submarine E.9 (Lt-Cdr Max Horton of WW2 Battle of the Atlantic fame) sank German old light cruiser Hela off Heligoland - the first British submarine success.

Ship Losses:

Diplomat ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship was captured and scuttled in the Indian Ocean 480 nautical miles (890 km) north east of Madras, India by SMS Emden ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew were taken as prisoners of war.
Hela ( Kaiserliche Marine): The Gazelle-class cruiser was torpedoed and sunk in the North Sea southwest of Heligoland by HMS E9 ( Royal Navy) with the loss of two of her 178 crew.

[Sailor Steve]

September 13:

All of the Emden's English captives, numbering well over 100 by now, are transferred from Markomannia to Kabinga, a laborious job requiring they be rowed in Emden's cutters in a fairly high sea. Meanwhile scuttling charges have been laid in Killin and the seacocks opened. At about 1000 hours Killin was sunk. Hohenzollern gives vivid descriptions of mast and ventilators breaking loose in other ships, rising into the air with loud cracking sounds and then falling back into the sea. In Killin's case it's the funnel which launches itself upward and then falls.

That same afternoon another ship is sighted, which turns out to be another English freighter, SS Diplomat, 7615 tons. Von Müller decides to sink her immediately, and First Torpedo Officer Robert Witthoeft was given the job.

As Diplomat was sinking yet another smoke plume was seen in the distance. This was found to be a neutral ship, the Italian steamer Loredano, bound for Calcutta. Captain von Müller tries to get the Italian Captain to take the English prisoners, now numbering 200 with the fresh captures, with him. Captain Giacopolo refuses to do so, even for money. Von Müller lets the ship go, and upon reaching Calcutta Giacopolo immediately alerts the British to Emden's presence.

At 2200 hours that night Emden runs into another steamer. When this also turns out to be Italian, SS Dandolo, von Müller wishes them well and sends them on their way.



[edit] I've gone back and edited all my posts starting with August 6, adding in the adventures of SMS Karlsruhe.