100 Years Ago Today

[Sailor Steve]

January 25, 1916:

Air War:
German ace Hans-Joachim Buddecke, flying a Fokker E.III for the Turkish Air Force, shoots down a Farman two-seater for kill number 6.

French pilot Mathieu Marie Joseph Antoine de la Tour and a "Capitaine Francois", flying Nieuport 11s, shoot down a German observation balloon. This seems to be the first recorded victory for the "Bébé".

[Jimbuna]

26th January 1916

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

Sir Percy Lake joins the Kut relief force.

Political etc.

House of Commons debate on the blockade.

United States Government make informal protest to British Government regarding their " Black List " policy.

Austro-German protest to Romania on sale of wheat to Great Britain.

Ship Losses:

HMT Chance ( Royal Navy): The naval trawler was lost on this date.
HM Torpedo Boat 13 ( Royal Navy): The torpedo boat collided with another vessel and sank in the North Sea.

[Sailor Steve]

January 26, 1916:

Air War:
German ace Hans-Joachim Buddecke, flying a Fokker E.III in Turkey, claims a Farman, but it goes unconfirmed.

North Sea:
His Majesty's Torpedo Boat 13, 255 tons, is sunk in a collision.

[Jimbuna]

27th January 1916

Western Front

German attacks repulsed at Neuville and north-east of Loos.

Southern Front

Austrians repulsed on Upper Isonzo.

Kaiser meets King Ferdinand (Bulgaria) at Nish.

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

Part of Turkish positions at Kut flooded; Turks fall back 2,000 yards.

Naval and Overseas Operations

British monitors bombard Westeinde.

German camp at Nkan captured (German East Africa).

Ship Losses:

Crystal ( United Kingdom): The fishing smack was scuttled in the North Sea 25 nautical miles (46 km) south east of Southwold, Suffolk by SM UB-6 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived.

Political etc.

UK: Conscription introduced by the Military Service Act; applied to unmarried men aged 18–41 from 2 March and to married men in the same age bracket from April/May; it does not extend to Ireland.

[Sailor Steve]

January 27, 1916:

Air War:
Hans-Joachim Buddecke, flying a Fokker E.III in Turkey, shoots down a Farman two-seater for kill number 7.

North Sea:
Ernst Voigt, commanding UB-6, scuttles fishing smack Crystal, 57 tons, 25 miles south-east of Southwold.

Norwegian freighter SS Vaagen, 201 tons, carrying a load of coal from Leith to Dunkerque, is wrecked at the Longstone Islands.

United States:
American freighter SS Aberdeen, 499 tons, runs aground outside San Francisco Bay.

Schooner Evadne, 361 tons (registry unknown), is abandoned 60 miles off Alligator Reef lighthouse, near the Florida Keys. The ship is later beached on the Florida coast and written off.

[Jimbuna]

28th January 1916

Western Front

Germans take Frise (Somme) and trenches near Givenchy; repulsed at Carnoy (Mametz).

Southern Front

Serbians move south in Albania.

Austrians occupy Alessio and San Giovanni di Medua (Albania).

Allies occupy Kara Burun (Salonika): Greek protest.

Political etc.

David Lloyd George: “I think that for us the war is only beginning.”

Prime Minister Asquith announces that Britain has suffered 549,467 casualties since the war’s start with 128,138 killed.

Sir Herbert L. Samuel, UK Secretary for Home Affairs, urges Britons to save money due to the high cost of war.

British men aged 27 to 35 who registered under the Derby scheme are summoned to report for duty.

Anti-German mobs riot in Lausanne, Switzerland and attack the German consulate. The Swiss government apologizes to Germany.

American protest against British search of parcel mails and British reply published.

[Sailor Steve]

January 28, 1916:

North Sea:
Norwegian freighter SS Perth, 3,522 tons, bound from Fremantle to Fredriksstad with a load of whale oil, hits a mine laid by Egon von Werner in UC-1. The ship is only damaged and reaches port safely.

[Jimbuna]

29th January 1916

Western Front

German troops take the village of Frise in the Somme, capturing 1,000 prisoners and 22 artillery guns.

German offensive at Dompierre (south of the Somme).

Zeppelin raid on Paris.

Eastern Front

Renewed fighting on the Strypa and in Bukovina; Austrians claim success.

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

Russians bombard ridge protecting Erzerum.

Political etc.

Lord Rosebery, former UK Prime Minister: “We must bring the Prussian bloodthirsty tyrants to their knees.”

Protest against closing of London museums.

Labour Conference decides to allow its members to remain in the Cabinet.

U.S. drafts rules for submarine warfare, in which submarines would not attack merchant ships and merchant vessels would not be armed.

Ship Losses:

Aberdeen ( United States): The cargo ship was driven ashore at San Francisco, California and was a wrecked with the loss of all hands.
Marian ( United States): The tug was run into and sunk at Baltimore, Maryland by Vedamore ( United Kingdom).

[Sailor Steve]

January 29, 1916:

North Sea:
Dutch freighter SS Thuban, 3,260 tons, bound from New York to Rotterdam, runs on a mine laid by an unknown ship. The damaged freighter is beached at Mucking Flats in the Thames estuary and saved.

English Channel:
British destroyer HMS Viking is damaged by a mine while patrolling off Boulogne.

Irish Sea:
British sailing ship SV Ben-Lee, 2,341 tons, travelling from Liverpool to Sydney, is sunk off Holyhead in a collision with American freighter SS St. Paul. The ship is towed to Holyhead where she sinks in 5 fathoms (30 feet, 9 meters) of water. After the war the Ben-Lee was raised and towed to Liverpool.

[Jimbuna]

30th January 1916

Western Front

Germans repulsed by French at Dompierre.

Germany is able to hold its recent advance south of the River Somme despite strong French counterattacks.

Naval

Italian monitor Faà di Bruno, a barge with a 15 inch gun, is launched.


Political etc.

Russian Foreign Minister Sazonov states Russia has ignored recent offers from Germany for a separate peace.

Colonel House, who is President Wilson’s personal representative, arrives in Berlin and meets with Zimmermann and Gerard.

Ship Losses:

Maasdijk ( Netherlands): The cargo ship struck a naval mine laid by UC 1 (Egon von Werner) and sank in the English Channel off the Kentish Knock Lightship ( United Kingdom) (51°29′N 1°38′E).

[Sailor Steve]

January 30, 1916:

North Sea:
Dutch freighter SS Maasdijk, 3,557 tons, travelling in ballast from Rotterdam to Portland, Maine, hits a mine laid by Egon von Werner and UC-1. The ship is safely beached but is later written off as a total loss. Von Werner's score is now 14 ships and 14,588 tons.



Atlantic Ocean:
British collier SS Corbridge was captured by SMS Möwe on January 11th, and has been used since then to carry fuel for the German raider. Her coal supply exhausted, the ship is sunk today, 280 miles north-northwest of Fernando Noronha Island, off the coast of Brazil. Möwe's score is now 12 ships and 50,224 tons.



Canada:
Canadian schooner SV H.R. Silver, 199 tons, bound from Sydney, Nova Scotia to Newfoundland with a load of coal, is abandoned at sea.



Australia:
Australian schooner SV Volador, 214 tons, carrying a load of timber from Port Arthur to Melbourne, sinks off Mussellroe Bay with the loss of one of her eight crew.

[Jimbuna]

31st January 1916

Aviation

Six Zeppelins raid East Anglia and Midlands; 70 killed and 113 injured.







Political etc.

War Savings Committees inaugurated.

Baron Wimborne, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, states 86,277 Irish men have been sent to the war.

Germany defends its air raid on Paris by stating it was reprisal for the French raid on Freiberg.

Prince Erik of Denmark arrives in New York City incognito on his way to Canada to study agriculture.

Ship Losses:

Arthur William ( United Kingdom): The fishing smack was scuttled in the North Sea south east of Lowestoft, Suffolk by SM UB-17 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived.
Hilda ( United Kingdom): The fishing smack was scuttled in the North Sea 14 nautical miles (26 km) east by south of Aldeburgh, Suffolk by SM UB-17 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived.
HMML 19 ( Royal Navy): The motor launch was lost on this date.
Marguerite ( Belgium): The fishing vessel was sunk in the North Sea off Lowestoft by SM UB-17 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived.
Radium ( United Kingdom): The fishing vessel was scuttled in the North Sea 25 nautical miles (46 km) south east by south of Lowestoft by SM UB-17 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived.

MERCHANT SHIPPING
British, Allied and Neutral ships lost to enemy submarines, mines and cruisers etc in the month - 41 ships of 92,000 tons gross. (Lloyd's War Losses).

[Sailor Steve]

January 31, 1916:

North Sea:
Ralph Wenninger, commanding UB-17, captures and scuttles British fishing smacks Arthur William, 56 tons; Hilda, 44 tons; and Radium, 59 tons; and Belgian smack Marguerite, 32 tons. Wenninger's score is now 11 vessels and 730 tons.



Canada:
French schooner SV Bretonne, carrying a general cargo from La Rochelle, France to St. Pierre and Miquelon, Newfoundland, is wrecked at Dog Island, at the north end of Newfoundland.



Korea:
Japanese freighter Chikyu Maru, 3,142 tons, bound from Seishin, Korea to Osaka, Japan with a general cargo, is wrecked at Joshin, near the Korea-China boarder.

[Jimbuna]

1st February 1916

Eastern Front

Violent cannonade south-east of Riga.

Southern Front

Zeppelin raid on Salonika.

Serbians repulse Austrians near River Ishmi (northern Albania).

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

Russian progress in Armenia.

Russians drive back Turks in Karmanshah district.

Naval and Overseas Operations

General Sir Horace Smith-Dorrien announces the expulsion of German troops from the coasts of Serengeti and Kamerun.

"Appam" brought to Norfolk, Va., by a German prize crew.

Sailings from the east coast of the U.S. are canceled due to reports of U-boat activity. Officials state they are unfounded rumours.

Political etc.

French President Poincare states that the Allies “do not intend to become the prey of German rapacity.”

M. Goremykin, Russian Premier, resigns: M. Stuermer appointed.

Prince Yussuf-Izz-ed-Din, Turkish heir-apparent, commits suicide.

Ship Losses:

Belle of France ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship was torpedoed and sunk in the Mediterranean Sea 126 nautical miles (233 km) north west by west of Alexandria, Egypt (32°30′N 27°45′E) by SM U-21 ( Kaiserliche Marine) with the loss of nineteen crew.
Franz Fischer ( United Kingdom): The coaster was torpedoed and sunk in the North Sea 2 nautical miles (3.7 km) south of the Kentish Knock Lightship ( United Kingdom) by SM UB-17 ( Kaiserliche Marine) with the loss of thirteen crew. Survivors were rescued by Paul ( United Kingdom).
Prinses Juliana ( Netherlands): The passenger ship struck a mine in the North Sea off the Sunk Lightship ( United Kingdom). She was beached at Felixstowe, Suffolk but was declared a total loss.
Takata Maru ( Japan): The passenger ship collided with Silver Shell ( United States) in the Atlantic Ocean 200 nautical miles (370 km) south east of Cape Race, Newfoundland and sank. Her 72 crew were rescued by Silver Shell.
Zeearend ( Netherlands): The coaster was scuttled in the North Sea 19 nautical miles (35 km) west north west of the Maas Lightship ( Netherlands) by SM UB-17 ( Kaiserliche Marine).

[Sailor Steve]

January/February: Fokker begins testing prototype M 17 (w/n 433) and M 18 (w/n 434).






These are Fokker's first answer to the need for a biplane fighter to counter the Nieuport 11 and the new DH.2.


1916 January/February: Four DH.2s sent to France for evaluation. They are distributed among Nunbers 5, 11 and 18 Squadrons.

The exact dates are not mentioned in the surviving records of either event.



February 1, 1916:

Air War:
1515 Belgian pilot Andre Emile Alfons de Meulemeester, flying a Nieuport 11, makes his first claim against a Rumpler two-seater. It is listed as Unconfirmed.

German Pilot Wilhelm Frankl, in a Fokker E.III, shoots down a Voisin for kill number 4.

German pilot Joseph Jacobs, flying Fokker E.I 63/15, claims a Caudron but it is unconfirmed.



English Channel:
British paddle steamer PSS Empress Queen, 1,995 tons, runs aground in the fog near the Isle of Wight. Total loss.



North Sea:
Ralph Wenninger finishes his fourth war patrol in UB-17 with the torpedoeing of British freighter SS Franz Fischer, 957 tons, bound from Hartlepool to Cowes with a load of coal. According to www.uboat.net, British sources say the ship was sunk by a Zeppelin, but the time and location match the claim in UB-17's KBT.

Dutch passenger ship SS Prinses Juliana, 2,885 tons, travelling from Vlissingen to Tilbury, runs on a mine laid by UC-5 and her new captain, Ulrich Mohrbutter.



Bay of Biscay:
French fishing boat Chemin-de-fer goes missing along with her crew of seven. Believed sunk by a mine.



Mediterranean Sea:
Otto Hersing begins his fifth war patrol in U-21 with the sinking of British freighter SS Belle Of France, 3,876 tons, carrying a load of grain from Karach to Algiers. His score is now 10 ships and 46,303 tons.



Canada:
Japanese freighter Takata Maru, 6,718 tons, carrying a load of chalk from London to New York, sinks off Cape Race, Newfoundland after colliding with American tanker SS Silver Shell.



New Zealand:
New Zealand coaster SS Squall, 369 tons, travelling from Te Araroa, North Island to Port Awanui, runs onto a rock near Horoera Point.