100 Years Ago Today [Archive] - Page 3 - SUBSIM Radio Room Forums

Jimbuna

01-06-15, 09:47 AM

6th January 1915

Western Front

French occupy woods north of Altkirch (Alsace).

Eastern Front

Russians occupy Kimpolung (Bukovina) and reach Hungarian frontier.

Naval

North Sea
BANYERS or The Banyers, Admiralty trawler, 448/1914, South Western Steam Fishing, Grimsby-reg GY128, hired 12/14 as minesweeper, Admiralty No.450, Lt Hubert Boothby RNR, sweeping. Mined in Scarborough field laid by German cruiser Kolberg between Fiely and Scarborough, sank “very quickly” off Cayton Bay, S of Scarborough (wi - in 54.15.07N, 00.15.24W); 2 ratings lost (He/wi - 6 crew), Skipper escaped through wheel-house window, 11 survivors rescued by other ships. Lt Boothby lost HMS Orianda less than a month before, was awarded the DSC and later wrote about his experiences in “Spunyarn”, published 1935.
http://i.imgur.com/QhbL8MQ.jpg

Battleship HMAS AUSTRALIA sinks German steamer ELEONORE WOERMANN near Falkland Islands.
As the threat of a German naval attack had been removed by the destruction of the East Asia Squadron, Australia was free for deployment elsewhere. Initially, the battlecruiser was to serve as flagship of the West Indies Squadron, with the task of pursuing and destroying any German vessels that evaded North Sea blockades. Australia was ordered to sail to Jamaica via the Panama Canal, but as it was closed to heavy shipping, she was forced to sail down the coast of South America and pass through the Strait of Magellan during 31 December 1914 and 1 January 1915—Australia is the only ship of the RAN to cross from the Pacific to the Atlantic by sailing under South America. During the crossing, one of the warship's propellers was damaged, and she had to limp to the Falkland Islands at half speed. Temporary repairs were made, and Australia departed on 5 January. A vessel well clear of the usual shipping routes was spotted on the afternoon of the next day, and the battlecruiser attempted to pursue, but was hampered by the damaged propeller. Unable to close the gap before sunset, a warning shot was fired from 'A' turret, which caused the ship—the former German passenger liner, now naval auxiliary Eleonora Woermann—to stop and be captured. As Australia could not spare enough personnel to crew the merchant ship, and Eleonora Woermann was too slow to keep pace with the battlecruiser, the crew was taken aboard and the ship was sunk.
http://i.imgur.com/rEnFodk.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/WIfKndI.jpg

Political, etc.

Lord Kitchener reviews the military situation in the House of Lords.

Meeting is held at the home of U.S. Secretary of War Garrison by Congressmen to discuss strengthening the Army and Navy.

Ship Losses:

HMT The Banyers ( Royal Navy): The naval trawler struck a mine and sank in the North Sea off Scarborough, Yorkshire with the loss of six of her crew.

Sailor Steve

01-06-15, 03:06 PM

Your doing it again...I'll have a pint of whatever it is your drinking, surely not Dr Pepper :)
When you only get three or four hours of sleep on any given night, it starts to tell.

And so are you. It's "you're", not "your".

Sailor Steve

01-06-15, 03:49 PM

January 6:

The Admiralty, London: First Sea Lord Fisher replies to Admiral Sturdee: "The last paragraph of your signal is improper and such observations must not be repeated. Their Lordships await your written report and dispatches before coming to any conclusion."

Cape Horn: HMS Bristol and Glasgow backtrack and return to the Atlantic.

Atlantic Ocean: HMS Invincible departs St. Vincent for Gibraltar.

Jimbuna

01-07-15, 11:00 AM

7th January 1915

Western Front

French occupy Burnhaupt-le-Haut (Alsace).

Eastern Front

Heavy German attacks on lower Ravka repulsed.

Political, etc.

British Note with "preliminary observations" in reply to American Note of 29 December 1914 on interference with neutral trade.

Germany issues a general order forbidding its troops from fraternizing with the enemy to prevent another Christmas truce.

French cabinet approves measure to prohibit the sale of absinthe and other similar liquors.

French Ministry of Foreign Affairs publishes a report documenting 300 war crimes committed by German troops.

Romania asks the U.S. to handle diplomatic issues in Berlin if ties are cut between Germany and Romania, suggesting it will join the Allies.

Ship Losses:

Elfrida ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship struck a mine and sank in the North Sea 2 nautical miles (3.7 km) east north east of Scarborough, Yorkshire.

Arizona paper prints photo of two Royal Navy subs that the paper claims will protect England from German Naval Raiders. However it doesn't realize that the two subs it put on their front page have already been sunk by the German Navy:
http://thisdayinwwi.tumblr.com/post/107406220682/bisbee-daily-review-makes-surprising-mistake-on

For months the Kaiser has blocked Zeppelin raids on London because he didn't want to hurt his cousins in the British Royal Family. On This Day the Kaiser has finally approved London Zeppelin Bombing raids.

Sailor Steve

01-07-15, 01:31 PM

January 7:

Petrograd, Russia: A Bolshevik group puts out pamphlets calling upon average Russians to not pay their monthly rent. In Constantinople Alexander Helphand tells the German ambassador to Turkey that Russian revolutionaries have the same interests as the German government.

Cape Horn: HMS Bristol and Glasgow sail around the Horn to Port Tamar, on the western end of the Strait of Magellan.

Atlantic Ocean: Two days behind her sister, HMS Inflexible arrives at St. Vincent.

Indian Ocean: Three weeks and one day after the sinking of the schooner Ayesha, SS Choising arrives at the Strait of Bab el Mandeb, the southern entrance to the Red Sea. Kptlt von Mücke has spent the time carefully avoiding any ships sighted by his crew. They arrive off the Island of Perim during the day and put back out to see upon sighting an unknown ship. This later turns out to be a French mail packet. After dark Choising again enters the straits of Perim. Since the steamer is helpless against even the smallest warship, von Mücke plans to run the ship aground and take to the boats should an enemy come near. Against this possibility he has the steamer's three largest boats swung out and provisioned for eight weeks at sea. With these precautions taken Choising enters the Red Sea.

Jimbuna

01-08-15, 08:58 AM

8th January 1915

Western Front

French carry Hill 132, north of Soissons, and capture Perthes (Champagne).

Germans retake Burnhaupt-le-Haut.

Political etc.

Count Berchtold, Foreign Minister of Austria-Hungary, protests to Italy for occupying Avlona, Albania.

Sec. of State Bryan states the U.S. will not pursue charges that Germany used illegal expanding bullets, as it would violate neutrality.

Abbas II, deposed leader of Egypt, predicts that Egyptians will revolt against British rule.
http://i.imgur.com/zp2RFHJ.jpg

Sailor Steve

01-08-15, 10:04 AM

January 8:

Cape Horn: HMS Bristol spends the day at Port Tamar, making minor repairs and repainting the ship's hull, while Glasgow patrols the area around Punta Arenas.

Atlantic Ocean: HMS Inflexible spends the day coaling, then departs for Gibraltar, still two days behind Invincible.

Red Sea: SS Choising makes her way slowly through the Strait of Bab el Mandeb, hugging the African (western) shoreline. At one point the lighthouse at Perim illuminates the small freighter. They can see two British warships off the Perim shore talking to each other with blinker lights, but apparently the enemy ships don't see them. Von Mücke keeps his ship off the usual trade lanes and manages to reach the large seaport city of Al Hudaydah, Yemen, shortly after dark. They are relieved to see that the dock is well lit, then are surprised to see the lights grow closer together as they get nearer to it. Von Mücke orders Choising's captain to reverse course and put some distance between the ship and the unknown activity ashore.

Once several miles out at sea von Mücke orders the ship's boats lowered and his crew aboard them. He tells Choising's captain to take his ship further down the coast and return to the drop-off point again after dark. He is to do this for two days, then proceed to Massowa. With this done von Mücke and his men set the boats' sails and head back towards Al Hudaydah.

Jimbuna

01-09-15, 09:29 AM

9th January 1915

Western Front

German counter-attacks near Soissons and at Perthes repulsed.

Naval and Overseas Operations

North Atlantic
Charybdis, old light cruiser, Astraea-class, 4,360t, 12th CS, operating in South Western Approaches in 1914. Damaged in collision presumably in Atlantic. Laid up at Bermuda, commissioned for harbour service in 1917, converted to cargo carrier March 1918 for mercantile operation.

Capture of the last rebels in the Transvaal announced.

Political, etc.

British answer to U.S. Note of 29 December 1914 published.

Mahatma Gandhi returns to India after spending several years in South Africa.

President Wilson: “There may come a time when the American people will have to judge whether I know what I am talking about or not.”

http://i.imgur.com/xezwwxF.jpg

Sailor Steve

01-09-15, 04:55 PM

January 9:

Cape Horn: HMS Bristol explores the western channels of the Strait of Magellan. Glasgow is patrolling the eastern side, off the Argentina coast. Newcastle is sailing southward along the Chilean coast. Carnarvon meanwhile puts into Port William in the Falklands.

Red Sea: Hellmuth von Mücke and his men sail and row their boats to the harbor at Al Hudaydah, where they find that their mysterious moving lights belong to the French armored cruiser Desaix and the Italian freighter Juliana. The boats are rowed down the coast where they are anchored and the masts and rigging taken down. Von Mücke determines to spend the time ashore finding out who has control of the area. While heading toward the shore they encounter an Arab fishing boat. Unfortunately the sole occupant speaks no German, so they continue toward the beach. About 800 meters out they run aground in the shallow surf. Unwilling to risk their heavy equipment getting ruined in the waves, von Mücke has rafts made out of the boats' masts plus some extra boards and life jackets. The machine guns are taken ashore first.

Once safely on shore the Germans are approached by two different locals, neither of whom speaks other than their own language. Finally they are confronted by a man wearing a uniform and riding a camel. This man dismounts and von Mücke approaches him. When about 200 meters away he is confronted by a raised rifle. Von Mücke stops and tries to look friendly. The man lowers the rifle and von Mücke moves closer. after a few paces the man raises his rifle again. This game is repeated until von Mücke is within about 50 meters, at which point the man keeps his rifle pointing at him. The man makes a sign indicating that the Germans should not move from that spot, mounts his camel and rides off toward the city. Once he is out of sight the crew bring the rest of their equipment ashore and prepare to move off into the desert.

While von Mücke is explaining to his men that their best course now will be to hide in the desert until dark and then return to Choising, they are approached by a large body of Bedouins, eighty to one hundred, all armed. These spread out into a skirmish line and disappear behind some sand dunes. Von Mücke breaks his men into a similar formation and waits. Soon they are confronted by a group of twelve men. When they show that they are unarmed the Kapitanleutnant removes his pistol and sword and approaches them. When is attempts to speak to them in German, English, French and Malay all fail he shows them his ship's war flag. When this also doesn't work he tries the merchant flag. Still the men do not understand. Von Mücke then takes out a German coin and points to the picture of the Kaiser. The Arabs then start saying "Aleman!" He points to his men and himself and says "Aleman! Aleman!" Suddenly the rest of the group runs over the dunes toward them, shouting and yelling. They stack their arms and begin picking up the Germans' equipment and luggage and dragging the machine guns behind them in the direction of Al Hudaydah. One of the men speaks a little English, and tells von Mücke that the city is controlled by the Turks.

After some time another large group of locals come out and start shooting at them. The group surrounding them manage to convince the new party that they are friends. An hour later this incident is repeated. By the time they are within sight of the city they are escorted by a singing, dancing party of almost eight hundred armed men. As they approach the city gates they are met by a large party of regular Turkish soldiers escorting a handful of city officials. Once inside the Germans find themselves at the center of a parade made up of most of the citizens of Al Hudaydah. A building is turned into a barracks for the men and the officers are quartered in a very nice house. From the upstairs windows they can see the French cruiser anchored in the bay.

At 1700 hours the German officers attend a meeting with their Turkish counterparts to discuss their options. They are told they can obtain nautical charts in the city if they choose to proceed by sea, but the whole area is crawling with British and French gunboats and, as they have already seen, the occasional cruiser. Overland might be the better option, but there is no railroad in the region so any journey that way will have to be by camel. Whatever decision they make will have to be taken quickly, as the Turks are certain there are spies in the city and it is only a matter of hours before the Allies know the Germans are there.

It will take close to two weeks to prepare for a land journey, but von Mücke sees no other choice but to make the preparations and hope they remain undiscovered. Using fireballs he sends a pre-arranged signal to Choising: "Caution! Hostile ships! Proceed at once to Massowa." They then settle into their new home to prepare for the second stage of their great journey.

Jimbuna

01-10-15, 09:14 AM

10th January 1915

Western Front

French make further progress at Hill 132 and north of Perthes.

16 German aeroplanes attempt to cross Channel, but, foiled by the weather, bomb Dunkirk.

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

Turks reported advancing on Suez Canal.

British defence of Muscat (Eastern Arabia).

Naval

The Turkish gunboat HIZIR REIS hits a mine near the third barrage while returning from patrol. The boat is seriously damaged forward and is towed to Istinye for docking and inspection. Repairs prove difficult and the boat is not returned to service until the middle of the year.

Political etc.

Deputy of the Romanian Parliament declares that the country’s entry in the war will quickly end it.

Great Britain publishes a preliminary reply to the U.S. complaint that Britain is interfering with U.S. shipping.

Governor Blease of South Carolina pardons 1500 prisoners, all of whom had been convicted of various crimes.

Ship Losses:

Potaro ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship was captured and scuttled in the Atlantic Ocean 560 nautical miles (1,040 km) east by north of Pernambucp, Brazil by SMS Kronprinz Wilhelm ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her 47 crew were taken as prisoners of war.

Soldiers of the 11th Australian infantry battalion on the great pyramid of Giza, January 10th 1915.
http://i.imgur.com/oii81d7.png

Sailor Steve

01-10-15, 12:29 PM

January 10:

English Channel: HMS Mersey and Severn leave Dunkirk, where they have been stationed since December 15th, for Dover. Another heavy storm keeps forcing Mersey off course. Her crew rig a sail out of the canvas bridge fences. This works quite well, and in the future monitors will be provided with sails for just this purpose.

Jimbuna

01-11-15, 08:05 AM

11th January 1915

Western Front

German counter-attacks repulsed and fresh progress made by French north of Soissons.

Fierce fighting at Beausejour Farm (Champagne).

Belgians in Marcinelle riot due to the shortage of food; German occupiers order the distribution of bread to appease the populace.

Diplomatic etc.

Rumanian Government negotiate loan of £5,000,000 in Great Britain.

http://i.imgur.com/r8kiDL6.jpg

Sailor Steve

01-11-15, 11:03 AM

January 11:

English Channel: HMS Humber, Mersey and Severn anchor in the Medway River. All three need repair work, Severn being the worst with dozens of sprung rivets, all of them leaking severely.

Atlantic Ocean: HMS Invincible arrives at Gibraltar. Admiral Sturdee composes an official report on the Falklands action, explaining the reasons for his actions in great detail.

Jimbuna

01-12-15, 02:17 PM

12th January 1915

Western Front

Germans recapture eastern slopes of Hill 132 (Soissons).

Eastern Front

Russians capture several villages near Rosog (East Prussia).

Naval and Overseas Operations

German East Africa Campaign - Mafia Is, S of Zanzibar and off Rufuji River captured by troops of King's African Rifles. Old light cruiser Fox, armed merchant cruiser Kinfauns Castle took part. supported to seaward by light cruiser Weymouth, gunboat Duplex and ex-German tug Adjutant.

Union forces occupy Raman's Drift (Orange River).

Political, etc.

German use of poison shells reported from Paris.

Ottoman Empire agrees to apologize to Italy over the Hodeidah Incident, where police stormed the Italian embassy to arrest a British consul.

French President Poincare visits the frontlines to present the colors for the bluejackets stationed at Nieuwpoort.

Arisaka Nariakira, Japanese soldier and inventor of the Arisaka rifle, has died.
http://i.imgur.com/lq7eOpx.jpg

Ship Losses:

Nile ( United Kingdom): The passenger ship struck the Howaro Rock and consequently foundered in the Inland Sea of Japan. All on board were rescued by Fukuku Maru ( Japan).

Sailor Steve

01-12-15, 03:02 PM

Ottoman Empire agrees to apologize to Italy over the Hodeidah Incident, where police stormed the Italian embassy to arrest a British consul.
Articles I've been reading are interesting. The Turkish police attacked the British Consulate, but the Consul escaped to the Italian Consul. The Turks then surrounded the Italian Consulate with soldiers and cannon, breaking down the door and opening fire. One servant was wounded and both Consuls taken prisoner. The date was January 7th. The Italian government protested and gave the Turks until the 10th to release the prisoners. The Turks delayed but finally complied on the 12th.

What interests me is that Hodeidah is the same word used by von Mücke, the same city I have used the native Arabic name for: Al Hudaydah. Von Mücke and his men arrived in the city two days after the incident and were there when it was resolved, yet he does not mention it at all.

Nothing of import happened on the sea and air fronts on January 12, 1915

Jimbuna

01-13-15, 10:42 AM

13th January 1915

Western Front

Germans recover all Hill 132, and take the heights of Vregny.

Eastern Front

Russians advance on Lower Vistula and occupy Serpets north of Plotsk.

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

Battle of Kara Urgan (Armenia), which has lasted several days, continues desperately.

Turks occupy Tabriz (Persia).

Naval and Overseas Operations

Orkneys
ROEDEAN, ex-Roebuck, auxiliary screw minesweeper, railway packet, 1,094/1897, Great Western Railway Co, Milford Haven-reg, hired 2/10/14, armed with 1 or 2-12pdr, Pennant No.M.35, renamed Roedean 12/14, Cdr Stephen Pidgeon RNR. Sank at entrance to Longhope Sound, SE Hoy island (wi - in 58.48.36N, 03.09.48W), cause originally not recorded; no lives lost. “Wreck Index” notes that one source describes her as mined, but with Hepper, goes on to confirm that she actually dragged her anchor in bad weather, collided with the bow of harbour repair hulk Fisgard, ex-Imperieuse, was holed, and foundered as she passed down the starboard side of Fisgard. Cdr Pidgeon was reprimanded for only having one anchor out.

Atlantic off N Ireland
VIKNOR, ex-Viking or The Viking, Admiralty armed merchant cruiser, ex-cruise ship, 5,386/1888, Viking Cruise Co, 15kts, hired 19/11/14, Pennant No.M.82, 10th CS Grand Fleet, Cdr Ernest Ballantyne, most northerly ship on Northern Patrol line B north of the Shetlands. On the 11th, at around 62N, 02.24W, intercepted Norwegian SS Bergensfiord carrying an important German secret service agent and other nationals from New York, Viknor ordered to put prize crew on board, escort the Norwegian ship towards Lerwick, then continue on to Liverpool with a total of eight German prisoners. Last message from Viknor on 13th (He – off Malin Head; ss - at 1600 in 56.18N, 09W, course S21ºW), nothing more was heard of her. Probably 13th - Believed sunk off Northern Ireland by one of Berlin's mines broken free by heavy gales off Tory Island (Rn - foundered in heavy weather; C - Wrecked on north coast of Ireland), wreckage and bodies washed ashore at Portrush; 294 lives lost - 22 officers, 196 ratings, 74 MN and 1 canteen staff plus prisoners, no survivors.

Germans attack Jasin (German East Africa).

Political, etc.

British War Council resolve that the Admiralty should prepare for a naval expedition in February against the Dardanelles.

Resignation of Count Berchtold, Austro-Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs. He is succeeded by Baron Stephen Burian.
http://i.imgur.com/MPAzDwh.jpg

Ship Losses:

Amalia Scotto ( Italy): The cargo ship was driven against the quayside in a gale at Naples and sank.
HMS Roedean ( Royal Navy): The auxiliary minesweeper was driven onto HMS Imperieuse ( Royal Navy) and sank off Hoy, Orkney Islands. The wreck was cleared 1953–56.
HMS Viknor ( Royal Navy): The auxiliary cruiser struck a mine in the Atlantic Ocean off Tory Island, County Donegal and sank with the loss of all 295 crew.
SM U-31 ( Kaiserliche Marine): The Type U 31 submarine struck a mine and sank in the North Sea off the east coast of the United Kingdom with the loss of all 31 crew.

Sailor Steve

01-13-15, 12:08 PM

January 13:

"The more one sees of the Germans, and these are far below the average in type, the more one begins to feel that there is a long, long road ahead for the Allies before these determined people are broken."
-Stanley Washburn, correspondent to The Times with the Russian army, after interviewing German prisoners outside Warsaw

London: British high command decides to launch a naval attack against Turkey. The aim is to open the Dardanelles to shipping between Britain and Russia. Envoys in France are ordered to seek French help in the campaign.

Cape Horn: HMS Bristol reports " Lost overboard by accident brushes paint Patt 4 one in No." In the navy, the most minor incident is recorded in the ship's log.

Falkland Islands: HMS Carnarvon meets with Otranto and Celtic.

Atlantic Ocean: HMS Inflexible arrives at Gibraltar.

Jimbuna

01-14-15, 09:12 AM

14th January 1915

Western Front

German advance near Soissons checked.

Eastern Front

German guns bombard Russian lines only 25 miles west of Warsaw; Russia advances into East Prussia but progress is slow.

Caucasus Front

Swakopmund (German South-West Africa) occupied by South African forces.

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

Russians take 4,000 prisoners near Kara Urgan.

Naval

USS Washington is ordered to Haiti with 146 marines due to continued disturbances in the country.
http://i.imgur.com/kTyhywb.jpg

Political etc.

Britain issues a general call for English reservists in the U.S. and Canada to return home and fight.

Ship Losses:

Highland Brae ( United Kingdom): The cargo liner was captured and scuttled in the Atlantic Ocean 630 nautical miles (1,170 km) north east by east of Pernambuco, Brazil by SMS Kronprinz Wilhelm ( Kaiserliche Marine): Her passengers and crew were taken as prisoners of war.
Wilfred M. ( Canada): The schooner was captured and scuttled in the Atlantic Ocean 625 nautical miles (1,158 km) north east by east of Pernambuco by SMS Kronprinz Wilhelm ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew were taken as prisoners of war.

Sailor Steve

01-14-15, 10:59 AM

January 14:

Cape Horn: HMS Bristol departs Port Tamar for Possession Bay.

Atlantic Ocean: HMS Canopus departs Abrolhos for St Vincent. HMS Carnarvon has departed the Falklands to return to the search around Cape Horn.

Jimbuna

01-15-15, 11:14 AM

15th January 1915

Western Front

German advance near Soissons checked.

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

Russians take 4,000 prisoners near Kara Urgan.

Naval

French submarine Saphir is sunk by the Ottomans when it attempted to enter the Dardanelles.
http://i.imgur.com/h7x9Eo6.jpg

Political etc.

France and Britain have so far seized 38 U.S. ships on suspicions that they were carrying war material to Germany and Austria.

Existence of secret agreement for mutual support between Italy and Rumania announced by respective Governments.

Ship Losses:

Saphir ( French Navy): Gallipoli Campaign: The Émeraude-class submarine was sunk in the Dardanelles with the loss of fourteen of her 27 crew.

Sailor Steve

01-15-15, 01:03 PM

January 15:

Cape Horn: HMS Bristol, Glasgow and Carnarvon meet together at Possession Bay.

Jimbuna

01-16-15, 09:38 AM

16th January 1915

Western Front

French artillery drives Germans from trenches near Nieuport.

French successes in engagements at Blangy, near Arras, and in Champagne.

Eastern Front

Russians continue to advance on Lower Vistula, repulse heavy attacks near Bolimov (on Ravka), and occupy the Kirlibaba Pass (Bukovina).

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

Russian victory at Kara Urgan, Turkish corps routed.

Naval

Dover Straits
CHAR, Admiralty screw tug, 149/1899, North Eastern Railway Co, West Hartlepool-reg, hired 17/11/14 as ABS, patrol and inspection tug in The Downs, Lt John Whale RNR, failed to answer radio signals from 16th, went missing. Run down at 0100 “in very rough conditions” by SS Erivan, sank between Deal and Goodwin Sands (wi - near North Goodwin buoy in 51.17.15N, 01.29.45E), wreck found with masts above water; 3 officers, 8 ratings and 7 MMR lost, no survivors.

Political etc.

The Marconi wireless station in Massachusetts is allowed to reopen after it agreed to adhere to U.S. censorship and neutrality laws.

Kaiser Wilhelm decrees that there should be no festivities to celebrate his birthday this year as it would hamper the war effort.

Britain announces it will seize any mail destined to neutral countries unless it is in an unsealed envelope.

Ship Losses:

HMS Char ( Royal Navy): The naval tug collided with Erivan ( Belgium) in the English Channel off Deal, Kent and sank with the loss of all fourteen crew.
Motor ( United Kingdom): The coaster foundered in the North Sea off the mouth of the River Tees with the loss of all hands.

Sailor Steve

01-16-15, 11:15 AM

January 16:

London: First Lord of The Admiralty Winston Churchill receives Admiral Sturdee's report on the Falklands action. First Sea Lord Jacky Fisher has been pushing for Sturdee to be reduced to Captain of an armoured cruiser and kept in the South Atlantic until SMS Dresden is captured or destroyed. Recognizing that such an assignment would be an insult to the man responsible for Britain's only major naval victory thus far in the war, Churchill offers Sturdee command of the Fourth Battle Squadron, which included seven modern battleships.

As soon as Sturdee received this offer he gratefully accepted.

Britain: SS Persia departs Tilbury on the river Thames for Bombay. Part of her cargo are the men and planes of RNAS Expeditionary Squadron 4. Commanded by Flt. Lt. John T. Cull, the squadron had another pilot, Harold E. Watkins, with two Sopwith floatplanes and eighteen men. Their ultimate destination is Mafia Island and the Rufiji river.

Jimbuna

01-17-15, 08:32 AM

17th January 1915

Western Front

German attacks near Autreches, north-west of Soissons, repulsed.

German works in the Bois-le-Pretre (near Pont-a-Mousson) captured.

Caucasus Front

The initial Turkish offensive into Russia is thwarted as the Turkish 3rd Army suffers a defeat by the Russian Army of the Caucasus near Kars. The Russians then begin a multi-pronged invasion of the Ottoman Empire from the Caucasus.

Naval

North Sea
Archer, destroyer, I-class, c990t, 1st DF, taking part in Harwich Force sweep by three light cruisers and 32 destroyers in to Heligoland Bight, returning in the afternoon. Rammed by trawler and damaged, escorted to Sheerness by sister-ship Ferret.

Aviation

Nine British, French, and Belgian airplanes drop bombs on German barracks in Ostend.

Political etc.

Committee on Naval Affairs in the U.S. Houses proposes a bill that would build 17 submarines.

Socialist delegates from neutral nations meet in Copenhagen, Denmark to push for peace.

Ship Losses:

George Royle ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship foundered in the North Sea off Sheringham, Norfolk with the loss of thirteen of her eighteen crew. Survivors were rescued by HMS Glenprosen ( Royal Navy).
Georgios (flag unknown): The cargo ship was torpedoed and sunk at Sinope, Turkey by Royal Navy torpedo boats.
Penarth ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship foundered in the North Sea off Sheringham with the loss of 22 of her 27 crew. Survivors were rescued by HMS Glenprosen|( Royal Navy).

Sailor Steve

01-17-15, 08:46 AM

January 17:

Nothing to report.

Jimbuna

01-18-15, 08:23 AM

18th January 1915

Western Front

Further French progress in the Bois-de-Pretre.

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

Turks driven back west of Chorok river (Armenia).

East Africa

German attack on Jasin begins.

Naval

North Sea
Duke of Cornwall, Admiralty armed boarding vessel, 1,528/1898, hired 31/10/14. Collided with and sank trawler Earl Marischal 206grt, 30 miles NE by N of Buchan Ness, one of the trawler crew was lost (D/gr)

E.10, submarine, E-class, c667/807t, 1913, 1-12pdr/5-18in tt with 10 torpedoes, 15/9kts, c30 crew, Pennant No.I.90, Harwich-based 8th Flotilla, Lt-Cdr William Fraser, sailed from Harwich on 18th in company with E.5 and E.15 for Heligoland patrol, E.10 to the NNW of the island, never seen or heard from again, “overdue, presumed lost”. On or after 18th (ke - possibly 18th) - Lost, cause unknown, possibly mined off Heligoland in unknown field laid by Germans on 22 December; 3 officers and 28 ratings lost, no survivors. Wreck discovered in 130ft of water near Heligoland in 2003, damage to starboard ballast tanks and open hatches suggest a mine explosion while running on the surface, presumably at night.

Political etc.

New reports reveals that Germany and Austria-Hungary now hold 800,000 Allied prisoners of war.

Austria-Hungary calls on its older reserves who were trained between the years 1875 and 1881.

“The Daily Chronicle” prints news of the loss of the battleship HMS Audacious in protest of British censorship.

Ship Losses:

HMS E10 ( Royal Navy): The E-class submarine sank in the North Sea.
British E-class submarine
http://i.imgur.com/muno2x4.png

Sailor Steve

01-18-15, 10:47 AM

January 18:

Cape Horn: HMS Bristol and Celtic depart Possession Bay for Punta Arenas. HMS Glasgow is again patrolling the Atlantic off the coast of Argentina. HMS Newcastle is fighting a heavy storm of the Pacific coast of Chile. HMS Carnarvon departs Possession Bay to help patrol the Atlantic.

Jimbuna

01-19-15, 03:00 PM

19th January 1915

Western Front

French forces make advances in the forest of Le Prêtre and are now within 10 miles of Metz’s outer forts.

Street lights in Paris are darkened tonight to prevent enemy aircraft from conducting night bombings.

Aviation

During World War I, Britain suffers its first casualties from an air attack when two German zeppelins drop bombs on Great Yarmouth and King's Lynn on the eastern coast of England.
The zeppelin, a motor-driven rigid airship, was developed by German inventor Ferdinand Graf von Zeppelin in 1900. Although a French inventor had built a power-driven airship several decades before, the zeppelin's rigid dirigible, with its steel framework, was by far the largest airship ever constructed. However, in the case of the zeppelin, size was exchanged for safety, as the heavy steel-framed airships were vulnerable to explosion because they had to be lifted by highly flammable hydrogen gas instead of non-flammable helium gas.

In January 1915, Germany employed three zeppelins, the L.3, the L.4, and the L.6, in a two-day bombing mission against Britain. The L.6 turned back after encountering mechanical problems, but the other two zeppelins succeeded in dropping their bombs on English coastal towns.
http://i.imgur.com/e0I7ac7.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/FB13I8A.jpg

Naval and Overseas Operations

North Sea
BLAKEDOWN, Admiralty trawler, 207/1900, Grimsby-reg GY1162, hired 1/15, Admiralty No.1044. (Other sources – 19 February) - Stranded and total wreck at Crudensgeir or Cruden Skares, near Peterhead, Aberdeenshire (wi - Bay of Cruden, near Newburgh, in 57.24.30N, 01.51.15W); no lives lost.

Surrender of British force at Jasin (except 40 Kaasmiris - ammunition finished).

Political etc.

Since the start of the war, over 1000 German newspapers have been forced to shut down.

Hermann Homburg, Attorney General of South Australia, resigns because of his Germanic name.

Sailor Steve

01-19-15, 03:27 PM

January 19:

Cape Horn: HMS Bristol puts into Port Tamar for the day, the proceeds back to patrol. HMS Newcastle is patrolling off the coast of southern Chile.

SS Sierra Cordoba finds her way to SMS Dresden. The merchant has supplies for the cruiser, but no coal.

Gibraltar: HMS Inflexible is underway to Algeria.

Jimbuna

01-20-15, 08:41 AM

20th January 1915

Western Front

French progress in the Bois-le-Pretre.

Fierce fighting at the Hartmannsweilerkopf (Alsace).

Eastern Front

Russians take Skempe (north-west Poland), advance in the Bukovina, and repulse Austrian attack on the Kirlibaba Pass.

Aviation

German aircraft from yesterday’s raid return safely; London newspapers decry the act as “savagery.”

Political etc.

Kaiser Wilhelm: “It is today my task to defend the worthiness of the nation against a world of enemies…”

The capital of Australia is temporarily moved from Melbourne to Sydney.

http://i.imgur.com/QGu1lPO.jpg

Sailor Steve

01-20-15, 02:47 PM

January 20:

"We are still in our old positions, and keep annoying the English and French. The weather is miserable and we often spend days on end knee-deep in water and, what is more, under heavy fire. We are greatly looking forward to a brief respite. Let's hope that soon afterwards the whole front will start moving forward. Things can't go on like this for ever."
- Adolf Hitler, letter to his landlord, January 20, 1915

Cape Horn: HMS Bristol moves from Port Tamar to Sholl Bay.

HMS Glasgow is in the Atlantic again, and reports several items lost overboard: "Lost overboard. 1 sinker 24 lbs. 1 Brass tube 1 stray line. 1 swivel 100 fms S.M. wire."

HMS Carnarvon moves westward from Possession Bay to Punta Arenas.

HMS Newcastle is at San Quintin Bay on the Pacific coast of Chile.

SMS Dresden is still at Weinachts Bay, not 50 miles from Punta Arenas.

Jimbuna

01-21-15, 09:14 AM

21st January 1915

Western Front

French take woods near the farm of Beausejour, but lose ground in the Bois-le-Pretre.

Eastern Front

Further Austrian attack at the Kirlibaba Pass repulsed.

Naval and Overseas Operations

British S.S. "Durward" sunk by submarine near Maas lightship.

Aviation
From yesterday...a French two-man Voisin plane managed to destroy a German kite balloon in Alsace by dropping a bomb and 250 darts on it.
http://today-in-wwi.tumblr.com/post/108653008728/french-shoot-down-german-observation-balloon

Political, etc.

H.M. Ambassador at Washington announces that S.S. "Dacia", if captured, will be placed in a Prize Court.

British government seizes the steamship Dacia, stating that its transfer of ownership from Germany to the U.S. was invalid.

Around 7000 Jewish refugees from Ottoman Syria have arrived in Alexandria due to the rise in ethnic tensions.

Lieut.-General von Falkenhayn [Appointed in 1906.] succeeded as German Minister for War by Lieut.-General Wild von Hohenborn (see October 30th, 1916). General von Falkenhayn remains Chief of the General Staff.

Ship Losses:

Durward ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship was scuttled in the North Sea 22 nautical miles (41 km) north west of the Maas Lightship ( Netherlands) by SM U-19 ( Kaiserliche Marine). All 22 crew survived.
SM U-7 ( Kaiserliche Marine): The Type U5 submarine was torpedoed and sunk in the North Sea off the coast of the Netherlands (53°43′N 6°02′E) by SM U-22 ( Kaiserliche Marine with the loss of 24 of her 25 crew.
Yeo ( United Kingdom): The ketch departed Lydney, Gloucestershire for Barnstaple, Devon. No further trace, presumed foundered with the loss of all hands.

SMS U-7
http://i.imgur.com/5F8aTgm.jpg

Sailor Steve

01-21-15, 10:14 AM

January 21:

North Sea: U-19, under the command of Konstantin Kolbe, stops SS Durward, bound from Leith to Rotterdam with a general cargo. The crew is allowed to abandon ship and the freighter is sunk with scuttling charges. In a case of impartial reporting The Times says "A more effective method of destruction than gunfire."

Bruno Hoppe, commanding U-22, sees another submarine cruising on the surface. He has not been informed of another U-boat operating in his area. He signals the mystery boat anyway, and when he receives no reply he goes to periscope depth. A single torpedo destroys the other boat. When Hoppe surfaces and picks up the sole survivor he is devastated to find that the boat he sank is actually U-7, commanded by Georg Koenig. Hoppe and Koenig were best friends, described by a fellow captain as inseparable. "They ate together, drank together, and what belonged to one belonged also to the other."
Lowell Thomas, Raiders of the Deep, Heinemann, 1929 via Edwyn Gray, The U-Boat War: 1914-1918, Seeley, Service & Company, 1972

Cape Horn: HMS Bristol joins HMS Carnarvon at Sholl Bay. HMS Glasgow is in the Atlantic, heading north along the Argentina coastline.

Al Hudaydah, Yemen: The sailors from Emden/Ayesha/Choising are starting to suffer from dysentery and malaria. KaptLt von Mücke makes the decision to move inland, to the mountains. Preparations for this will still take more than another week.

Jimbuna

01-22-15, 01:25 PM

22nd January 1915

Western Front

Heavy fighting at Fontaine Madame and St. Hubert (Argonne) and at the Hartmannsweilerkopf.

In the face of the German counterattack, French forces are forced to retreat from recent gains made in La Pretre forest.

Aeroplane raid by the Germans on Dunkirk, and by the British on Zeebrugge.

Eastern Front

Austrians, having been strongly reinforced, recapture Kirlibaba.

Left wing of the Russian army in Poland is advancing along the Vistula and is 20 miles from East Prussia.

Political etc.

Ministers of Finance from Britain, France, and Russia meet in Paris to discuss raising a joint $3 billion loan ($70 billion today).

Industrialist Henry Ford states he could employ convicts from Sing Sing prison and “make a man of him.”

James M. Spangler, man who invented the portable electric vacuum cleaner, has passed. The patent was sold to the Hoover Company.

Prince Engalitcheff, the new Russian Governor General of Poland, promises $50 million ($1.17 billion today) in aid for the country.

Ship Losses:

Golden Oriole ( United Kingdom): The trawler struck a mine and sank in the North Sea 37 nautical miles (69 km) east by north of Lowestoft, Suffolk
Hetty ( United Kingdom): The schooner was driven ashore at Goodwick, Pembrokeshire. Her crew were rescued.[21] She was refloated on 28 January.
Hydro ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship foundered in the Atlantic Ocean off Rathlin Island, County Donegal with the loss of fourteen of her twenty crew. Four of the survivors were rescued by Mynegen ( United Kingdom). The others reached land in a lifeboat.
Vauxhall ( United Kingdom): The collier struck a submerged wreck and sank in the North Sea off Sheringham, Norfolk. All thirteen crew were rescued by a Royal Navy patrol vessel.
Windsor ( United Kingdom): The trawler struck a mine and sank in the North Sea 55 nautical miles (102 km) east of Spurn Point, Yorkshire.

Jimbuna

01-23-15, 08:26 AM

23rd January 1915

Western Front

Continued heavy fighting in the Argonne and Alsace.

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

Two Turkish divisions defeated at Khorsan (Armenia).

Aviation

Royal Navy aircraft attack German submarines in Zeebrugge, Belgium; German aircraft bomb Dunkirk.

Political etc.

German newspaper “Hamburger Nachrichten” offers a prize to the first German soldier who lands in Britain as a combatant.

Ship Losses:

Ben Cruachan ( United Kingdom): The collier was scuttled in the Irish sea by SM U-21 ( Kaiserliche Marine).
Kilcuan ( United Kingdom): The ship was sunk in the Irish Sea by SM U-21 ( Kaiserliche Marine).
Linda Blanche ( United Kingdom): The ship was sunk in the Irish Sea by SM U-21 ( Kaiserliche Marine).

Artists impression of the sinking of the Linda Blanche
http://i.imgur.com/ctvOb0X.jpg

Sailor Steve

01-23-15, 11:48 AM

I'm not sure what happened to my post yesterday. I had reported, among other things, that HMS Glasgow put into Montevideo to give the crew a day's shore leave.

January 23:

London: At 1115 Room 40 intercepts a message from the Germans. Around noon Sir Arthur "Old 'ard 'eart" Wilson reports to Churchill: "First Lord, those fellows are coming out again."
Churchill asks "When?"
"Tonight. We have just got time to get Beatty there."

At 1745 SMS Seydlitz, Moltke, Derfflinger, and the brand-new but smaller Armored Cruiser Blücher depart the Jade at Wilhelmshaven, supported by four light cruisers and eighteen destroyers. This is not another raid but a reconnaissance mission, just to test the British response. Hipper's force is missing Von der Tann, which is undergoing repairs suffered in a collision on Christmas Day.

At 1800 hours, just fifteen minutes after Hipper, Admiral Beatty gets underway with Lion, Tiger, Princess Royal, New Zealand and Indomitable, plus four light cruisers under the command of William Goodenough, and a plan to meet Sir Reginald Tyrwhitt's Harwich force of three more light cruisers and thirty-five destroyers at 0700. Six pre-dreadnought battleships and three armored cruisers sailed at the same time, with orders to position themselves to the north in case the Germans should run that way.

At 2100 Admiral John Jellicoe set sail from Scapa Flow with three battleship squadrons.

Cape Horn: HMS Carnarvon and Bristol make a brief excursion from Sholl Bay out into the Pacific and back.

HMS Glasgow departs Montevideo to resume her Atlantic patrol, while Newcastle is again travelling north along Chile's Pacific coastline.

Jimbuna

01-24-15, 09:05 AM

24th January 1915

Eastern Front

2nd Brigade of the Polish Legion of the Austro-Hungarian Army defeats a night raid by the Russians in the Carpathians.
http://i.imgur.com/slWOa0l.jpg

Aviation

German airship "P.L.-19" brought down near Libau due to artillery damage made emergency sea-landing and crew taken as Russian prisoners of war.

An airship plays a role in a naval battle for the first time, when the German Navy Zeppelin L 5, flying a routine patrol, arrives over the ongoing Battle of the Dogger Bank between British and German battlecruisers in the North Sea. Operating cautiously after taking fire from British light cruisers, L-5 finds it difficult to track the action through cloud cover and plays a minimal role in the engagement, passing limited information to the commanding German admiral, Franz von Hipper, in the late stages of the battle.

Naval and Overseas Operations

Battle of the Dogger Bank. Britain loses 15 men, Germany suffers 954 killed, 189 captured. SMS Blücher capsizes and sinks after sustaining heavy damage; 792 sailors are killed.
http://i.imgur.com/hAwSo9E.jpg
British squadron led by Admiral Beatty engages the German squadron led by Admiral Hipper near the Dogger Bank.
http://i.imgur.com/wb5FAgA.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/HdAPa7b.jpg
German naval forces under Admiral Franz von Hipper, encouraged by the success of a surprise attack on the British coastal towns of Hartlepool and Scarborough the previous month, set off toward Britain once again, only to be intercepted by a squadron of British cruisers led by Vice-Admiral Sir David Beatty on the morning of January 24, 1915, near the Dogger Bank in the North Sea.

Knowing his Scouting Squadron would be overpowered by the British, Hipper turned his boats around, figuring his ships would be able to outrun the British boats in pursuit. Beatty's cruisers were faster than von Spee anticipated, however, and caught up to the Germans within an hour. At about 9 a.m., the British flagship, HMS Lion, opened fire on the Germans from a distance of more than 20,000 yards. The lead German ship, Seydlitz, was soon ablaze; 192 of its crew members died but the ship itself was saved despite the damage. Of the four German ships in Hipper's squadron, only the oldest and biggest, the Blucher, was sunk, killing 782 men. The demise of the Blucher was captured on moving film; an engraving of a still in the film, of its sailors sliding off the sinking ship into the sea, was later used to adorn silver cigarette cases sold as souvenirs in Britain.

The Lion herself took a beating, but only 15 British sailors were killed in the battle, which ended later that same day when Beatty, fearful of running into German mines and believing the enemy was setting up for a submarine attack, turned his ships around and let the rest of Hipper's squadron escape.

Political, etc.

Lieut.-General Sir A. J. Murray resigns as Chief of the General Staff, British Expeditionary Force, France.

Lieut.-General Sir W. Robertson resigns as Quartermaster-General, British Expeditionary Force, France.

Publication of letter by Mr. Bryan refuting charge that U.S.A. Government had shown partiality to the Entente.

German millionaire Emil Nerlich is arrested by the Canadian police in Toronto and charged with treason.

British Government offer Greek Government concessions in Asia Minor in return for help to Serbia.

Ship Losses:

SMS Blücher ( Kaiserliche Marine): Battle of the Dogger Bank: The armoured cruiser was shelled and sunk in the North Sea by HMS Indomitable, HMS Lion, New Zealand, HMS Princess Royal and HMS Tiger (all Royal Navy) with the loss of at least 747 of her 1,200-plus crew.

http://i.imgur.com/eSJfbBe.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/yrIN9Yz.jpg

Sailor Steve

01-24-15, 02:11 PM

I forgot about the previous day's actions leading to Dogger Bank. My last post has been amended.

January 24:

North Sea:

0700: Beatty and Goodenough meet with Tyrwhitt as planned, and the combined force start looking for Hipper's battlecruisers. Goodenough later described the weather: "The day was so clear that only the shape of the earth prevented one from seeing everything on it".

0714: The German light cruiser Kolberg and the British Aurora sight each other and immediately open fire, each scoring hits on the other. Aurora reports "Am in action with High Seas Fleet."

Hipper's auxiliaries are turning to join in when Stralsund reports smoke on the horizon. Sighting the superior British force, Hipper orders a quick retreat. At 0735 the German force turns to the southeast and begins to build up speed.

Admiral Reginald Drax, then a member of Beatty's staff, later reported "Climbing to the bridge I found that they were running for home, while we were working up to speed as quickly as possible. On the horizon ahead could be seen indistinctly a number of smaller vessels and beside them 4 dark patches with a mass of smoke overhead. These 4 patches, each containing more than 1,000 men, were our long-destined prey, but alas they were on such a bearing that to cut off their retreat was quite impossible."

Beatty orders ever faster speeds from his ships, finally demanding 29 knots, which must have been merely for effect as everyone knew that the fastest of them could only make 27 knots, and poor old Indomitable had barely made 26 on trials. The German ships could all make 27 knots except Blucher, which was limited to 23. Hipper chooses to keep his ships together, so they are only traveling at 23 knots, while Beatty's force begins to stretch out as the faster ships pull away.

For a long time the British cannot see their prey, the German ships being obscured by their funnel smoke, which coal-fired ships made a lot of. At 0840 they finally have a view of the enemy. At 0852 the leading British ship, Lion, was close enough that Beatty orders ranging shots fired, at a range of about 20,000 yards. Only a year earlier Beatty had ordered his ships to practice fire at 16,000 yards, a range thought impossible at that time. At 0900 Tiger joined in, then Princess Royal at 0907. At 0909 Blücher is hit for the first time, and at 0911 the German ships begin to return fire. The hit on Blücher was the first ever at a range of over 15,000 yards.

At 0930 Beatty signals his squadron "Engage the corresponding ships in the enemy's line". Unfortunately they are in a stern chase, and none of the British captains are sure at first which enemy ship is 'corresponding'. Also, the signal did not take into account the fact that there were five British ships and only four German. Henry Pelly, captain of the Tiger, takes this to mean that his ship was also to engage the leading German ship, leaving the remaining three to engage their opposite numbers one-on-one. This left Moltke unopposed, and she will soon make good use of the respite.

The Germans at first are having trouble sighting due to their own funnel smoke, but as the British spread out to better their own aim this problem begins to abate. By 0943 Blücher has been hit once, while Seydlitz, Derfflinger and Lion have each been hit twice.

The hit on Seydlitz at 0943 is catastrophic. The shell penetrates the quarterdeck and the 9-inch armor of the last barbette, and sets off the powder charges waiting to be fed to the turret. The fire quickly spreads to the ammunition room, and the entire crews of both 'Caesar' and 'Dora' turrets are killed, some 160 men. The ship is only saved by the action of one man, Obermaat Wilhelm Heidkamp, who stays at his station in the shell room and floods both magazines, suffering gas poisoning and severe burns to his hands in the process.

0952: Beatty orders his lead ships to slow to 24 knots to allow the others to catch up. At 1010 he increased speed again. During this time Seydlitz receives one more hit, which only does minor damage.

Lion takes four hits in return, the worst coming at 1018. She receives two simultaneous hits, one of which gets through the main armor plate and floods the port condenser feed tank. Alexander Bell Filson Young, a war correspondent and author of the very first book on the Titanic disaster (published just thirty-seven days after the event), was serving with the Royal Navy and was in Lion's foretop that day. "The Lion received a blow so violent that we thought we had been torpedoed. The ship seemed to stop, and the mast, to which the fore-top was secured, rocked and waved like a tree in a storm, and the ship seemed to be shaking herself to bits. We looked at one another and prepared to alight from our small cage into whatever part of the sea destiny might send us; but nothing happened, and the old Lion seemed to pick herself up and go on again."

1030: Blücher is hit twice by Princess Royal, suffering an ammunition fire and a boiler hit, which reduces her speed to 17 knots.

Then the tide turns in favor of the Germans. Between 1035 and 1050 Lion is hit ten times. She begins to lose way and starts to list. Drax reports "The whole ship seemed to lift and shake violently as the projectiles struck us. From these reports, of armor belt pierced on the waterline in several places, switchboard room flooded, port engine reducing speed and shortly to stop 'A' turret magazine on fire, ship making water heavily along port side, all lights gone out, it was clear that we could not long continue in action, while it was more than possible that within a few minutes we should be projected heavenwards by the magazine exploding."

1054: A lookout reports seeing a periscope. Beatty orders an immediate turn away, and foils a German destroyer torpedo attack Hipper had just ordered. Hipper cannot understand the British turn-away, but he takes advantage of it, cancelling the destroyer attack and picking up speed, leaving poor Blücher behind. The armored cruiser is now down to 17 knots, and nothing can be done for her. Beatty's turn away cannot be faulted, as it was standard Royal Navy policy. On the other hand, there were no German submarines in the area, the British suffering the all-too-common ailment of the period, "periscopeitis".

1106: Beatty orders a turn back to pursue the enemy, and as Lion is no longer in a position to give chase, he signals Rear-Admiral Archibald Moore in New Zealand "Attack the rear of the enemy bearing NE". As the crippled Blücher was the only German ship to the northeast, all four battlecruisers now open fire on the hapless German ship. Blücher is so damaged that the British could have left her to the slower Indomitable and chased down the rest of Hipper's squadron, but a poorly sent signal and a misunderstanding on the part of the second-in-command let the Germans escape.

1213: Blücher capsizes and sinks after taking roughly fifty heavy shell hits and two torpedoes from the cruiser Arethusa. In return she has put hits on Tiger and Indomitable and had put the destroyer Meteor out of action. 234 men are saved, but nearly 800 go down with their ship. Even more would have been saved, but at 1230 hours a German seaplane attacked the rescue boats, killing many German sailors in the water, and causing the boats to withdraw, leaving still more to die in the freezing water.

Lion had to be towed home by Indomitable, and Beatty transferred his flag to Princess Royal. Fisher was highly critical of Pelly, insisting that he should have used his own initiative to chase down Hipper, but Beatty came to his defense and he did not suffer any official blame for his actions. Moore, on the other hand, suffered the full brunt of Beatty's wrath. "Moore had a chance which most fellows would have given eyes in the head for, and did nothing. It is inconceivable that anybody should have thought it necessary for 4 BCs, 3 of them untouched, to have turned on the Blücher which was obviously a defeated ship and couldn't steam while 3 others also badly hammered should have been allowed to escape." Moore was put in charge of a light cruiser squadron at the Canary Islands and missed the rest of the war.

The British had won the day, but Beatty considered it a defeat due to his ships concentrating on Blücher rather than chase down the rest of Hipper's squadron: "The disappointment of that day is more than I can bear to think of. Everybody thinks it was a great success, when in reality it was a terrible failure."

On the German side, Hipper was praised as a tactical genius, and Admiral Ingenohl was blamed for not sending out the High Seas Fleet in support of the dashing hero. Ingenohl was replaced as Commander-In-Chief by Admiral Hugo von Pohl on February 2.

Wilhelm Heidkamp was promoted for his bravery, and also had a World War II destroyer, Z21, named for him.

It was later calculated that the British ships fired 1150 shells (excluding those fired at Blucher at short range), and only scored 6 hits, for an average of 0.5 percent. The Germans fired 976 rounds and scored 22 hits, or 2.1 percent. Both sides were hampered by smoke and spray, in spite of the perfectly clear weather. Tiger shot worst of all, in spite of the fact that she was the only ship on either side equipped with a gun director.

The British suffered 15 killed and 32 wounded, the Germans lost 954 killed, 80 wounded and 189 prisoners.

Beatty thought that he had damaged Derfflinger as well as Seydlitz, and Hipper claimed that he had sunk Tiger.

As a result of the battle, German High Command started an investigation into the shell penetration on Seydlitz, which led to increased armor for German capital ships, plus the installation of 'anti-flash doors', designed to prevent turret fires from reaching the magazines. Beatty's battlecruiser crews, on the other hand, felt that the Germans fired faster that they did, and proceeded to start locking their anti-flash doors (which they had had all along) in the open position - a practice which would cost them dearly a year-and-a-half later at Jutland.

Cape Horn: HMS Bristol and Carnarvon move back to Punta Arenas.

Jimbuna

01-25-15, 08:32 AM

25th January 1915

Western Front

German attacks repulsed by French near Ypres and by British west of La Bassee.

Ground lost by French near Craonne.

Eastern Front

Zeppelin brought down by Libau forts.

Russian advance in Pillkallen district (East Prussia).

Hard fighting in Carpathians.

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

British raid on Alexandretta; telegraph wires cut.

Naval and Overseas Operations

German light cruiser "Gazelle" torpedoed by Russian submarine off Rugen, but towed to harbour.
http://i.imgur.com/qpiLPhB.jpg

Political, etc.

Lieut.-General Sir W. Robertson appointed Chief of the General Staff, British Expeditionary Force, France.

German Government issues decree seizing all stocks of grain and flour as from 1 February.

Japan and China begin high level diplomatic negotiations over the 21 Demands.

American consular agent in Dunkirk is injured when the Consulate is damaged by a German bomb.

Switzerland maintains its mobilization and continues to build fortifications in order to maintain its neutrality.

Ship Losses:

SMS Gazelle ( Kaiserliche Marine): The Gazelle-class cruiser struck a mine and was damaged in the Baltic Sea off Cape Arkona, Rügen, Pomerania. She was not repaired and served as a hulk for the remainder of the war.

Sailor Steve

01-25-15, 12:33 PM

January 25:

"After yesterday's action, it will not be easy for the loud-mouthed boasters of Berlin to keep up the pretence that the British Fleet is hiding in terror."
- Pall Mall Gazette

The German Navy suffers their first airship loss of the war. PL-19 bombs Libau (Liepāja), in Latvia, and is hit by artillery fire in the process. One engine is put out of action. The Zeppelin would have made it home, but the freezing weather causes icing, which increases both weight and drag, and unable to maintain altitude she slowly sinks to the Baltic Sea. Two Russian minesweepers capture the crew and burn the airship.

Cape Horn: HMS Bristol and Carnarvon return to Sholl Bay. HMS Glasgow continues her Atlantic patrol off the coast of Argentina. HMS Newcastle is doing the same in the Pacific, off the coast of Chile.

Jimbuna

01-26-15, 08:03 AM

26th January 1915

Western Front

Continued fighting near Craonne; successful French counter-attacks.

Eastern Front

Russian success near the Dukla Pass.

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

Turks renew their attacks in Armenia. Ottoman troops begin raiding actions against British troops protecting the Suez Canal.

Patrol engagement near El Kantara (Suez Canal).
http://i.imgur.com/Xe9J3ZK.jpg

Naval and Overseas Operations

Loss of H.M.S. "Viknor", auxiliary cruiser, announced.

North Sea
Britannia, battleship, King Edward VII-class, c17,290t, 3rd BS Grand Fleet. Ran aground on Inchkeith island, Firth of Forth in fog, ashore for 36hr and considerably damaged, refloated, needed dockyard repairs.

Political etc.

Baron Okubo Haruno, Japanese General who fought in the Sino-Japanese War and the Russo-Japanese War, has died.
http://i.imgur.com/7scbBsd.jpg

Alexander Graham Bell demonstrates the first transcontinental telephone line from NYC to San Francisco. He repeated his famous line, “Dr. Watson, come here. I want you.” Watson replied, “It will take me 5 days to get there now!”

Swiss government forbids the exportation of chocolate, vinegar, manufactured rubber, and electric cables.

Ship Losses:

Elizabeth Palmer ( United States): The schooner collided with Washingtonian ( United States) and sank in the Atlantic Ocean off Fenwick Island, Delaware. Her crew were rescued by Washingtonian, which also subsequently foundered. All 52 people then aboard Washingtonian were rescued by Hamilton ( United States).

Sailor Steve

01-26-15, 11:48 AM

January 26:

"Here we shall hang on until Hindenburg has softened Russia up."
- Adolf Hitler, letter to his landlord from the Western Front, January 26, 1915

Cape Horn: HMS Bristol explores the area of Magill Island, south of the Straits in the Beagle Channel. There she meets HMS Carnarvon, which has taken a different route to the same destination.

HMS Glasgow is working her way back down the coast of Argentina toward the Falkland Islands.

Atlantic Ocean: SMS Prinz Eitel Friedrich captures barque Isabel Browne, 1,326 tons, bound from Taital, Argentina to England under the command of captain Axmar Eriksson. Listed as Russian, but the last owner was Troberg August of Mariehamn, Finland. The ship will be scuttled the following day.

Jimbuna

01-27-15, 07:58 AM

27th January 1915

Western Front

Germans repulsed in the Argonne.

French progress in the Vosges, especially near Senones.

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

Russians take Gorness (Armenia), capturing staff of a Turkish division.

Political, etc.

Britain arranges a loan of 5 millions to Romania.

German occupation government in Belgium orders the arrest of all Englishmen in the country.

Lieut.-General Sir R. C. Maxwell appointed Quartermaster-General, British Expeditionary Force, France.

Ship Losses:

Velingheli ( United Kingdom): The schooner collided with Laertes ( United Kingdom) at Liverpool, Lancashire and sank. Her four crew were rescued.
William P. Frye ( United States): The cargo ship was captured in the Atlantic Ocean by SMS Prinz Eitel Friedrich ( Kaiserliche Marine). She was scuttled the next day. Her crew were taken on board Prinz Eitel Friedrich and released when she arrived at Newport News, Virginia, United States on 11 March.

http://i.imgur.com/Pggp6xt.jpg

Sailor Steve

01-27-15, 11:48 AM

January 27:

In honour of "Bill II's birthday" the British artillery in one sector fire twenty-one rounds at the Germans' trenches shortly after daybreak. "Some of the artillery commanders on our side seem to have a certain sense of humour. So have the Germans. They started signaling the 'miss' with a flag from their trenches after every shell, but finally a shell landed fairly on top of the flag and the signaller went out of business."
- 2nd Lt Preston White, letter to his parents

Cape Horn: HMS Bristol and Carnarvon explore the area around Enderby Island, in the myriad channels south of the Strait of Magellan.

Falkland Islands: HMS Glasgow puts into Port Stanley for provisioning.

Atlantic Ocean: SMS Prinz Eitel Friedrich stops French three-masted barque Pierre Loti, 2,196 tons. The crew are taken aboard the big auxiliary cruiser and the barque scuttled with a mine.

Later the same day the German raider stops the American four-masted barque William P. Frye, 3,374 tons. Captain Max Thierichens orders the crew to jettison their cargo. This operation takes the rest of that day and into the next.

Yemen: After a week of planning and gathering supplies Hellmuth von Mücke is ready to move his men away from the coast and into the mountains. He decides the Kaiser's birthday would be the perfect time. All the remaining free crew of SMS Emden are gathered in the Al Hudaydah town square, along with the entire Turkish garrison and most of the city's population. Von Mücke has managed to gather fresh clothes for his men, and with their new uniforms they pass in review. Von Mücke makes a speech in German honoring the Kaiser, ending with three cheers. The Turkish commander then orders three cheers for the Sultan. The combined troops perform a parade drill and then march off to a feast in their honor, consisting of mutton and rice. A second banquet is waiting for them at the mayor's palace.

At 1700 hours the Germans march out of Al Hudaydah and into the desert. The heat requires that they travel by night and rest during the day. The entire company travel by donkey, horse and mule. A camel caravan carries their gear. Though the march is grueling there are several humorous incidents deriving from the fact that many of the men have never traveled on the back of an animal before. Fallen riders and escaping beasts are commonplace that first night.

Jimbuna

01-28-15, 07:21 AM

28th January 1915

Western Front

Today's French official communication starts with, “The day was a good one for us.” Germany has suffered high casualties in recent attacks.

German aeroplane raid by night on Dunkirk.

Eastern Front

Russians driven back near Beskid Pass.

Naval and Overseas Operations

British Government definitely decide to make naval attack on the Dardanelles.

United States S.V. "William P. Frye" sunk by German armed merchant cruiser "Prinz Eitel Friedrich".

Russian torpedo-boat bombards Trebizond and Rize.

Political etc.

Germany celebrates the 56th birthday of Kaiser Wilhelm; many neutral nations, including the U.S., sends letters of congratulations.

Former U.S. ambassador to Russia Curtis Guild states trade with Russia is important as leather for baseballs comes from Siberian ponies.

http://i.imgur.com/XiVPKge.jpg

Sailor Steve

01-28-15, 02:35 PM

January 28:

Cape Horn: HMS Bristol and Carnarvon search the area from Port Owen to Fox Bay.

Atlantic Ocean: Captain Thierichens decides the crew of SV William P. Frye are taking to long to jettison their cargo of 5,034 tons of wheat. He has Captain H.H. Kiehne, his wife and two children and the crew of 31 brought aboard Prinz Eitel Friedrich and the Frye sunk with scuttling charges.

William P. Frye is the first American ship sunk by the Germans during the war.

Later in the day Prinz Eitel Friedrich encounters and sinks the French barque Jacobsen.

Gibraltar: Admiral Frederic Doveton Sturdee and his staff leave HMS Invincible to travel home aboard the new light cruiser HMS Cordelia.

Yemen: Hellmuth von Mücke and his men spend the day resting, and proceed on their journey at sundown. Sometime during the night they are approached by around a dozen men on camels. The Turkish soldiers escorting the Germans say that the new arrivals are bandits and start preparing for a fight. As soon as the newcomers see the size of the German caravan they turn around and disappear into the night.

Jimbuna

01-29-15, 09:56 AM

29th January 1915

Western Front

British repulse German attack at Cuinchy (south-west of La Bassee).

Failure of German attempts to cross the Aisne near Soissons.

Eastern Front

Continued heavy fighting between Dukla and Wyszkov Passes; Russians losing ground.

Russians advance towards Tilsit.

Naval and Overseas Operations

German torpedo-boat sunk by Russian submarine off Cape Moen, Denmark.

Walney Island battery (Barrow-in-Furness) shelled by German submarine U.21 (first operation of German submarines in the Irish Sea).

French take Bertua (Cameroons).

Political etc.

In an interview, Crown Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Germany states Russia and France are only “doing the dirty work for England.”

Russia informs Persia of its regret that fighting with the Ottoman Empire spilled into the country.

British government takes control of all of Australia’s wool supplies to prevent it from being traded with enemy nations.

French Chamber of Deputies adopts a bill authorizing the government to refuse naturalization of aliens from enemy nations.

http://i.imgur.com/QGb9Ckd.jpg

Sailor Steve

01-29-15, 01:37 PM

January 29:

London: British Chancellor of the Exchequer David Lloyd George suggests sending British and French troops to Salonika, Greece, the purpose being to persuade Balkan countries to declare war on Austria-Hungary. The plan ends when Greece rejects the proposal.

Argonne Forest, Belgium: Leutnant Erwin Rommel and his platoon capture four French blockhouses. Rommel crawls through the French barbed wire and signals his men to follow him. None of them move. Rommel shouts at them some more. Still no one moves. Rommel crawls back to his platoon and tells his second-in-command "Obey my orders instantly or I shoot you." The whole company then follows him through the wire. They capture the blockhouses and fight off a French counter-attack but then are forced to retreat by a French flanking movement. Rommel is awarded the Iron Cross, First Class for his leadership and bravery. It later becomes a common saying his regiment, "Where Rommel is, there is the front."

Cape Horn: HMS Bristol and Carnarvon move from Fox Bay to Sholl Bay. HMS Glasgow is coaling and provisioning at Port Stanley.

Yemen: On the night of the 29th/30th - their third night's journey - the men of Emden reach the foot of the Al-Surat mountains. From here they witness a return of the vegetation. They have to cross some fairly rugged terrain, but the air is cooler and they can again travel comfortably during the day.

Jimbuna

01-30-15, 08:21 AM

30th January 1915

Western Front

French lose ground and 700 prisoners in Western Argonne.

Eastern Front

German offensive near Lipno (north-west Poland) driven back.

Russian forces pushes forward in both East Prussia in the north and Hungary in the south; fighting covers 1500 miles.

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

Russians defeat Turks at Sufian, and drive them from Tabriz.

Naval and Overseas Operations

British Admiralty warn British merchant vessels to fly neutral or no ensigns in vicinity of British Isles.

Three British steamships torpedoed by U.20 in English Channel, the first merchant ships sunk without warning, apparently as a deliberate policy.

Political etc.

Price of food soars in Great Britain; Union of South Africa stops the export of grains.

Emperor Wilhelm returns to Berlin for a short stay after a tour of the Western front.

Ship Losses:

Ikaria ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship was sunk in the English Channel 25 nautical miles (46 km) north west of Le Havre, Seine-Maritime, France by SM U-20 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived.
Oriole ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship was torpedoed and sunk in the English Channel 20 nautical miles (37 km) north west of Cap d'Antifer, Seine Maritime by SM U-20 ( Kaiserliche Marine) with the loss of all 21 crew.
Tokomaru ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship was torpedoed and sunk in the English Channel 7 nautical miles (13 km) north west of the Le Havre Lightship ( France) by SM U-20 ( Kaiserliche Marine). All 58 crew were rescued by the trawler Semper ( France) and six French Navy torpedo boats.
Perth ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship sprang a leak in the North Sea and was beached on the Hert Sands off Tynemouth, Northumberland.

Sailor Steve

01-30-15, 01:07 PM

January 30:

Liverpool Bay: Otto Hersing in U-21 had made the first U-boat kill in history when he sank the cruiser HMS Pathfinder back in September. Now he adds to his score when he stops and scuttles three British merchants - SS Ben Cruachan, 3,092 tons, bound from Scapa Flow to Liverpool was boarded and scuttled, followed by the little 456-ton coal carrier Kilcoan and finally the tiny freighter Linda Blanche, only 369 tons. Hersing's score now stands at 6,857 tons.*

English Channel: Walther Schwieger in U-20 takes the opposite course, torpedoing three merchants without warning. First is SS Ikaria, 4,335 tons, heading from Buenos Aires to Le Havre with a general cargo. Next is Oriole, 1,489 tons, from London to Le Havre, also with a mixed cargo, and finally Tokomaru, 6,084 tons, bound from New Zealand to Le Havre and then London, with a cargo of refrigerated meat and dairy products. This is the first known instance of unrestricted submarine warfare against merchant shipping.

Cape Horn: HMS Bristol proceeds alone from Sholl Bay up the Chilean coastline and back, poking into all the bays and inlets for several miles, returning to Sholl Bay before nightfall. HMS Carnarvon remains in Sholl Bay.

Falkland Islands: HMS Glasgow departs Port Stanley to resume her patrols.

Yemen: Hellmuth von Mücke and his men begin their perilous climb into the mountains. They cross dry riverbeds and very stony ground, finally reaching a level where lush vegetation is growing. As they go von Mücke notes that most of the dwelling places are castles of one sort or another, mostly built on the tops of mountain peaks or at the very edge of high cliffs. He expresses the feeling of having been transported back to the middle ages. At their next resting place they are greeted warmly by the locals and are invited to spend the night at a caravansary - sort of a medieval "truck stop".

* At least one source claims these sinkings took place on the 23rd. Edwyn Gray, U-Boat.net and Wrecksite.eu all agree on the 30th.

Jimbuna

01-31-15, 09:46 AM

31st January 1915

Eastern Front

Determined German attacks in region of Bolimov gain a little ground. German forces attempts the first large-scale use of poison gas by firing 18,000 xlyl bromide shells. However, cold weather renders the chemicals ineffective and Russian troops suffer few casualties. The battle ends inconclusively.

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

Russian troops continue their advance against the Ottomans and captures the commanding general and staff of the 30th Division.

Political etc.

Kaiser Wilhelm: “We will stay on hostile territory until the enemy is vanquished or has collapsed.”

Czar reveals he proposed arbitration at The Hague three days before Germany declared war.
http://i.imgur.com/zzhiPT7.jpg

MERCHANT SHIPPING
British, Allied and Neutral ships lost to enemy submarines, mines and cruisers etc in the month - 24 ships of 49,000 tons gross (Lloyd's War Losses)

http://i.imgur.com/6ZIOITc.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/vEbNh0h.jpg

Sailor Steve

01-31-15, 02:56 PM

January 31:

Cape Horn: Under pressure from Berlin to return to Germany Fritz Lüdecke informs his superiors that SMS Dresden will try to break out into the Pacific on February 3rd. "Intend to carry on commerce warfare in East Indies if sufficient coal is procurable."

HMS Bristol departs Sholl Bay for Punta Arenas.

HMS Carnarvon departs Sholl Bay for the Atlantic. On the way she meets HMS Glasgow, which is heading westward through the Strait of Magellan.

HMS Newcastle is still patrolling the coast of Chile.

Yemen: Hellmuth von Mücke and his group reach the village of Manakah, at 2,300 meters or 7,500 feet above sea level the highest point of their trip. There they are greeted by the entire Turkish army contingent and several hundred civilians. They are well accommodated and stay for two nights.

Jimbuna

02-01-15, 10:08 AM

January 31:
Cape Horn: Under pressure from Berlin to return to Germany Fritz Lüdecke informs his superiors that SMS Emden will try to break out into the Pacific on February 3rd. "Intend to carry on commerce warfare in East Indies if sufficient coal is procurable."

SMS Emden....oh really? :hmmm::)

Jimbuna

02-01-15, 10:26 AM

1st February 1915

Western Front

German attack west of La Bassee repulsed by French and British.

French progress near Perthes.

Eastern Front

Continued fighting near Bolimov, Russians regaining ground.

Russian advance in Carpathians from Dukla Pass to the Upper San.

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

Turks (estimated at 12,000) advance towards Suez Canal.

Naval and Overseas Operations

North Sea
E.11, submarine, E-class, 667/807t, Harwich-based 8th Flotilla. February - Ran ashore on Scroby Sands, Great Yarmouth, got off.

North Atlantic
Two armed merchant cruisers of 10th CS on Northern Patrol damaged in the winter gales, dates not known, possibly February.

Caribbean, 5,824/1890, hired 19/11/14, 8-4.7in/2-6pdr, normally on line B, north of Shetlands, proving unsuitable, old and slow. Rolled in heavy weather up to 50º with gunwhale submerged, reported dynamo disabled and funnel shifted.

Teutonic, 9,984/1889, hired 5/9/14, on patrol in heavy seas possibly N of Shetlands. Six-inch shell unshipped from ready-use rack, exploded against bulwarks; no one injured, damage repaired by crew.

Political, etc.

Bread and flour rations introduced in Germany.

British Admiralty issue orders forbidding neutral fishing vessels to use British ports.

Finance Ministers from Britain, Russia, and France meet in Paris to consider a joint loan of $3 billion ($70 billion today).

Major General Sir Luke O’Connor, the first soldier to ever receive the Victoria Cross, has passed away.
http://i.imgur.com/JtPk3zB.jpg

Photographs required in British passports for the first time.

Ship Losses:

Ethel V. Boynton ( United States): The barque was abandoned in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of New York.

Sailor Steve

02-01-15, 11:06 AM

SMS Emden....oh really? :hmmm::)
I'm old. Sue me.

Fixed, thanks. :sunny:

Sailor Steve

02-01-15, 12:09 PM

February 1:

"Another little merchant ship has just been sunk by the Germans, just at the mouth of the Mersey, which gives us all a horrid feeling. The Germans are so angry at not getting ahead that they leave nothing undone."
- John Gardner Coolidge, American diplomat in Paris, Diary, February 1 1915

Berlin: German Chancellor Theobald Theodor Friedrich Alfred von Bethmann-Hollweg agrees to a request by the leaders of the Imperial Navy allowing U-boats to attack merchant ships without warning. This includes neutral ships in British territorial waters.

Airwar: Sometime in February Captain Louis Strange will be posted to No. 6 Squadron. His greatest regret is that he no longer has his Avro 504 with the machine gun mounted for his observer. He is again flying the BE.2c, and while ultimately other enterprising aviators will make it work, Strange has no success with putting a gun on that plane. While at No. 6 Strange becomes friends with Lanoe Hawker. Strange comes up with ideas and Hawker builds them. These will include the 30-degree gun mount Hawker used to get his first kills and the overwing Lewis mount Strange will conceive for the Martinsyde Scout.

Cape Horn: HMS Bristol puts into Port Bower (Punta Arenas), paid the monthly port fees for the squadron, and departs into the Atlantic bound for the Falklands. HMS Glasgow also puts into Punta Arenas, arriving from the east, and stays the night. HMS Carnarvon is also underway for the Falklands.

Yemen: Hellmuth von Mücke spends the day in Manakah visiting a variety of Turkish dignitaries and officials.

Jimbuna

02-02-15, 01:55 PM

2nd February 1915

Western Front

Germany launches a heavy artillery barrage across the entire Western Front, with the heaviest bombardment in Belgium.

Eastern Front

German forces begin another attack towards Warsaw to draw away Russian attacks in East Prussia.

Russians storm Skempe (north-west of Poland).

Continued desperate fighting on Ravka near Bolimov.

Southern Front

Austrians repulsed by Montenegrins in Herzegovina.

Naval

The only Imperial Russian Navy seaplane carrier to see service in the Baltic Sea during World War I, Orlitza, is commissioned.
http://i.imgur.com/FxmN3Ag.jpg

Political, etc.

“The Syren and Shipping Gazette” offers a £500 (£34,960 today) prize for the first British merchantman to destroy a U-boat.

Kaiser Wilhelm: “So shall we not refrain from torpedoing English merchant ships simply because the lives of a few are thereby endangered.”

12,000 special constables are appointed in Berlin to guard bakeries as the government takes control of all grain supplies.

German agent Werner Horn bombs the Vanceboro international bridge, which lies on the border between Maine and New Brunswick. The bomb causes minor damage, and Werner Horn surrenders to U.S. authorities.
http://i.imgur.com/RpMIQi8.jpg

Ship Losses:

Laura ( United Kingdom}): The schooner ran aground at Battery Point, Stornoway, Isle of Lewis and was wrecked. Her crew were rescued by rocket apparatus.

Sailor Steve

02-02-15, 02:20 PM

February 2:

Airwar: FB.5 no. 1621 is the first Vickers Gunbus to arrive in France.

Pacific Ocean: HMS Newcastle puts into Callao, Peru.

Cape Horn: HMS Glasgow puts into Sholl bay.

Atlantic Ocean: HMS Carnarvon arrives at Port William, Falkland Islands.

Yemen: On the morning of the sixth day of their journey Hellmuth von Mücke and company depart Manakah for Sana'a. This portion of the trip involves a descent onto a wide open valley, following an improved highway "that compared favorably with any in Europe." Among the sights are large groups of baboons, which the Germans try to shoot but never quite get close enough. Von Mücke also notes that his men are becoming adept in their horsemanship and are now able to maintain a decent formation while riding at a trot.

Jimbuna

02-03-15, 09:18 AM

3rd February 1915

Western Front

German attacks in Champagne repulsed.

Eastern Front

Russians recover Gumin, near Bolimov, and other ground in the sector. They withdraw from the Tucholka and Beskid Passes, but advance near the Uzsok Pass.

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

Turkish attempts to cross Suez Canal at Tussum, Serapeum, and El Kantara, repulsed by Indian troops and Egyptian artillery, 600 prisoners.

Naval and Overseas Operations

Suez Canal - Turkish attack on Suez Canal repulsed with the support of British and French warships, battleships Swiftsure, Ocean, old light cruisers, Minerva, Proserpine, sloop Clio, armed merchant cruiser Himalaya, torpedo boat No.043, Royal Indian Marine armed troopships Dufferin, Hardinge took part; Royal Navy Battle Honour - SUEZ CANAL 1915, to 4th.

Kemp and 500 rebels surrender at Upington.

America Secretly Sends Aid To Japanese Warship - Japanese cruiser Asama.
http://100yearsagotoday.wordpress.com/2015/02/03/america-secretly-sends-aid-to-japanese-warship/
http://i.imgur.com/sEHjygV.jpg

Political etc.

Three Men Executed For The Assassination Of Archduke Ferdinand Of Austria.

German Government announce that submarine blockade of Great Britain will begin on 18th February.

Switzerland warns Italy that the country will fight if Italy prevents the passage of food.

First conference between Japan and China over the 21 Demands fails with each side walking out.

Agreement concluded between Great Britain and Belgium concerning delimitation of Uganda-Congo boundary.

Bulgarian Government negotiate loan of £3,000,000 in Germany.

Ship Losses:

HMS Clan McNaughton ( Royal Navy): The armed merchant cruiser foundered in the Atlantic Ocean north of Ireland with the loss of all 281 crew.
Ferdinando Viareggio ( Italy): The brigantine came ashore on Pointe Chiappa, near Portovecchio and was wrecked with the loss of two of her seven crew.

Sailor Steve

02-03-15, 12:16 PM

February 3:

Pacific Ocean: HMS Newcastle departs Callao, and travels to Cocos Island (not the one in the Indian Ocean, but an island of the same name near Peru).

Cape Horn: Despite Fritz Lüdecke's message to Berlin three days earlier SMS Dresden remains anchored at Weinachts Bay.

HMS Glasgow transfers from Sholl Bay to Port Famine (Puerto del Hambre).

Atlantic Ocean: HMS Bristol arrives at Port Stanley, Falkland Islands.

Yemen: Hellmuth von Mücke and his men come within sight of Sana'a. As they near the many villages surrounding the capital of Yemen they are joined by that city's Turkish officers. Late in the day, as they near the city gates, they are greeted by a band playing 'Deutschland Über Alles'. The Germans reply by singing 'Die Wacht Am Rhein'. The people of Sana'a go out of their way to make the men of the Emden feel welcome.

Jimbuna

02-04-15, 09:57 AM

4th February 1915

Western Front

British casualties on Western Front to this date approximately 104,000.

Eastern Front

Continued heavy fighting on Bzura-Ravka front; Russians cross Bzura and take positions near Dachova.

Russians falling back in Bukovina.

The Winter Battle in Masuria (East Prussia) begins.

Naval and Overseas Operations

U-boat Warfare - Denied a swift victory on land, Germany decided to start unrestricted submarine warfare without warning against merchant shipping from the 18th. Admiralty hired drifter Tarlair equipped with first anti-submarine hydrophone.

German attack on Kakamas (north-west Cape Colony) repulsed.

Aviation

After a training accident, Lieutenant W. F. Sharpe becomes the first Canadian military airman killed.
http://www.veterans.gc.ca/eng/remembrance/memorials/canadian-virtual-war-memorial/detail/4041148
http://i.imgur.com/K8KY86b.jpg

Political, etc.

Romania places orders in Italy for a large quantity ammunition as the country continues to prepare for war.

Ship Losses:

Fleetly ( Barbados): The schooner was abandoned in the Atlantic Ocean (42°46′N 51°53′W). All seven crew were rescued by Mechanicien ( United States).
I'll Away ( United Kingdom): The schooner was abandoned in the Bristol Channel of Swansea, Glamorgan. Her crew were rescued by the Mumbles Lifeboat. I 'll Away was later salvaged.
Margaret K. Schwartz ( United Kingdom): The schooner was driven ashore at St. Mary's, Newfoundland and was wrecked.

Sailor Steve

02-04-15, 10:46 AM

February 4:

The Admiralty, London: First Sea Lord Jacky Fisher continues his tirades against the victor of the Falklands, telling his Chief-Of-Staff "If the Dresden gets into the Bay of Bengal by means of colliers arranged with Berlin, we shall owe a lot to Sturdee."

Sturdee himself arrives in Britain aboard SS India.

Berlin: Germany publically announces their decision to begin unrestricted submarine warfare by declaring an Area Of War to exist around Great Britain and Ireland. "Even though the German naval forces have instructions to avoid violence to neutral ships in so far as they are recognizable, in view of the contingencies of naval warfare the torpedoing of neutral ships cannot always be avoided."

Germany claims that this is in retaliation for the British "hunger blockade" as typified by the mining of the North Sea. They also blame the United States for having "generally acquiesced" to the actions taken by Britain.

Cape Horn: HMS Glasgow departs Port Famine and returns to Sholl Bay.

Jimbuna

02-05-15, 03:11 PM

5th February 1915

Eastern Front

Russian successes on Bzura and Ravka.

Continuous fighting in the Carpathians; enemy attacks repulsed.

Naval and Overseas Operations

German attack on Edea (Cameroons) repulsed by French garrison.

Political, etc.

The number of men serving in the British army, exclusive of those serving in India, passes 3 million.

Army Estimates provide for three million men.

“The Daily Chronicle” states that a German blockade of Britain will lead to U.S. ships being sunk and would bring the country to war.

Ship Losses:

London Trader ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship foundered in the Atlantic Ocean off Penzance, Cornwall with the loss of nine of her fourteen crew. Survivors were rescued by Poland and Toward (both United Kingdom).

Sailor Steve

02-05-15, 03:54 PM

February 5:

Air War: Adolphe Celestin Pègoud, the first man to jump from an aeroplane with a parachute and the second to perform a loop, goes hunting in a two-seat Morane 'L' parasol (some sources say a Maurice Farman). His observer is identified by one source as "Le Rendu", but no other source gives a name. Between Pègoud's flying and his observer's shooting they are credited with bringing down three German aircraft in one day - a single-seat Taube and two Aviatik 'B'-type two-seat biplanes.

Cape Horn: HMS Glasgow drops a target and holds gunnery practice, later anchors in Possession Bay.

Atlantic Ocean: HMS Bristol departs Port Stanley for Montevideo.

Jimbuna

02-06-15, 11:17 AM

6th February 1915

Western Front

British capture brickfield east of Cuinchy.

Eastern Front

Austrians recapture Kimpolung.

Naval and Overseas Operations

The "Lusitania" arrives at Liverpool under the American flag.

Political, etc.

Mr. Lloyd George returns from a conference at Paris with the French and Russian finance ministers.

Ship Losses:

HMS Adjutant ( Royal Navy): The naval tug was lost on this date.
Alfonso XIII ( Spain): The ocean liner sank at Santander. Her crew survived.
Asama ( Imperial Japanese Navy): The Asama-class cruiser ran aground off the coast of Mexico.
HMS Erne ( Royal Navy): The E-class destroyer was wrecked at Rattray Head, Aberdeenshire. Her crew survived.

Sailor Steve

02-06-15, 01:14 PM

February 6:

London: Admiral Frederick Doveton Sturdee reports to the Admiralty. First Sea Lord Jacky Fisher keeps him waiting for three hours. When Sturdee is finally asked inside the Falklands battle is not mentioned. Fisher once again chides Sturdee for letting Dresden escape. The interview is over in five minutes.

While the Admiralty is unofficially shunning Sturdee, the public and press are hailing him as Britain's greatest hero thus far in the war. He is the man who saved England from disgrace after the humiliating defeat at Coronel, the man who single-handedly eliminated the greatest threat to British merchant shipping. He is even invited to a private audience with the King and Queen, to be held two days hence.

Falkland Islands: HMS Carnarvon departs Port Stanley to resume her patrol off the Argentine coast.

Jimbuna

02-07-15, 10:59 AM

7th February 1915

Western Front

Heavy German attack at Bagatelle (Argonne).

Eastern Front

Germans take offensive on southern wing of East Prussian front, and advance 40 kilometres towards Johannisburg.

Very heavy fighting at Kosziowa, north-east of Tucholka Pass: enemy finally checked.

Austrians reach Upper Suczava valley, Bukovina.

Both Kaiser Wilhelm and Tsar Nicholas visit and observe the fighting ongoing along the Bzura River.

Political, etc.

British Foreign Office issues statement justifying use of neutral flag "for the purpose of evading capture at sea".

Allied financial resources to be united.

French police seize foreign newspapers that eulogize Germany, its army, and Emperor Wilhelm.

Ship Losses:

Michael A. Andritsakis ( Greece): The cargo ship was driven onto the Bondicar Rocks, in the North Sea off Amble, Northumberland, United Kingdom. Her crew were rescued by rocket apparatus.

http://i.imgur.com/z4ISLGd.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/RpN2dD4.jpg

Sailor Steve

02-07-15, 02:44 PM

February 7:

London: In an attempt to keep him from meeting with the King and Queen, Fisher orders Sturdee to join his new squadron at Scapa Flow immediately. Sturdee refuses to go until after the reception.

Yemen: Hellmuth von Mücke finds that the higher mountain atmosphere is making is men worse rather than better. He records that within a few days of his arrival in Sana'a eighty percent of his men are sick with stomach cramps and colds.

Catfish

02-07-15, 02:55 PM

Am i the only one to consider those propaganda posters as disgusting, at times ? :shifty:

Sailor Steve

02-07-15, 04:32 PM

They're supposed to be. You need to hate your enemy, and consider him subhuman.

The main thing now is their historical value. :sunny:

Jimbuna

02-08-15, 09:41 AM

8th February 1915

Western Front

Continued fighting at Bagatelle; no change of front.

Eastern Front

Germans take Johannisburg.

Austrians continue to advance in Bukovina.

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

Turks officially stated to be in full retreat east of Suez Canal.

Naval and Overseas Operations

"Breslau" bombards Yalta (Crimea), and Russian cruisers bombard Trebizond.

Political etc.

British Foreign Office declares Germany’s unrestricted submarine warfare as “an act of piracy on the high seas.”

Port of Danzig, Germany is put under lockdown, and all telegraphic communication are banned.

Ernest Shackleton sends a message stating he does not expect to return from the Trans-Antarctic expedition before 1916 due to delays.

Ship Losses:

Frigga ( Norway): The cargo ship struck submerged wreckage and foundered in the North Sea.

Sailor Steve

02-08-15, 10:34 AM

February 8:

London: Frederick Doveton Sturdee has his audience with the King and Queen.

Cape Horn: HMS Glasgow intercepts and examines Argentine freighter SS Argentino, later puts into Possession Bay.

Bombay, India: SS Persia arrives at Bombay with her cargo of two Sopwith seaplanes and the crew of the 4th Expeditionary Squadron. They are met there by Lt. Gallehawk and SS Kinfauns Castle, which will take them to the Rufiji River in German East Africa.

Jimbuna

02-09-15, 02:52 PM

9th February 1915

Western Front

1st Canadian Division crosses from England to France.

Eastern Front

Germans take Biala and turn Russian right flank near Pillkallen. Russians withdraw beyond the Suczava.

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

Ottoman forces along the Suez Canal are now in full retreat after they failed to cross the canal.

Heavy dust storms interfere with pursuit of Turks.

Naval and Overseas Operations

S.S. "Wilhelmina" arrives at Falmouth.

Political etc.

German government bans the transmission of private messages over its wireless system.

Lord Charles Beresford demands Premier Asquith that German raiders should be hanged as pirates.

http://i.imgur.com/PAa12Wu.png

http://i.imgur.com/hcegONn.png

Sailor Steve

02-09-15, 03:26 PM

February 9:

London: Admiral Sturdee departs for Scapa Flow to assume his new command of the 4th Battle Squadron.

Cape Horn: HMS Glasgow has a fire in the capstan room, which is soon extinguished. She then puts into Punta Arenas, visits Chilean destroyer Condell.

Atlantic Ocean: HMS Bristol stops and investigates SS Meshona.

Bombay, India: The two Curtiss seaplanes of the RNAS Expeditionary Squadron No. 4 are assembled and tested prior to being shipped to Africa.

Jimbuna

02-10-15, 10:41 AM

10th February 1915

Western Front

German attacks at Marie Therese work (Argonne) and at the Ban-de-Sapt (Alsace).

Eastern Front

German line reaches line Pillkallen-Vladislavov, and, advancing, captures Eydtkuhnen and Wirballen.

Germans repulsed at Kosziowa.

Political, etc.

House of Commons without division passes a finance bill to fund Britain’s 3 million man army.

British Note in reply to U.S.A. Note of 29 December 1914 on interference with neutral shipping.

U.S., Holland, and the Scandinavian countries enter talks to issue a joint protest against unrestricted submarine warfare by Germany.

Sailor Steve

02-10-15, 01:47 PM

February 10:

North Sea: SS Laertes, 4,541 tons, is ordered to stop by a u-boat. Her captain, W.H. Propert, instead accelerates to maximum speed. The submarine chases and opens fire with her deck gun. The freighter starts zig-zagging and during a chase lasting an hour does not receive a single direct hit. She does, however, take some damage from near misses. The u-boat fires a torpedo as well, but finally Laertes escapes. Captain Propert will be awarded the Distinguished Service Cross by King George. Unfortunately none of the sources seem to have the number of the boat or the name of the captain who made the attack. One source says it was U-2, but that boat is listed as serving in a training flotilla the entire war.

Cape Horn: Kapitän zur See Fritz Lüdecke receives more disheartening news from Berlin: "Further coal supplies for Pacific or Indian Oceans impossible." SMS Dresden is almost out of coal and has no hope of reaching Germany unless some is found somewhere.

HMS Glasgow moves from Punta Arenas to Port Edgar.

Atlantic Ocean: HMS Carnarvon examines Egg Harbor and briefly stops at Port Elena, Argentina.

Jimbuna

02-11-15, 09:37 AM

11th February 1915

Western Front

Further repulse of Germans at Marie Therese work.

Eastern Front

Germans take Serpets (north-west Poland), but are repulsed at Kosziowa.

Russian forces in East Prussia begins to retreat back to the border due to German reinforcements in the region.

Naval and Overseas Operations

Cargo of S.S. "Wilhelmina" seized and placed in Prize Court.

S.S. "Dacia" sails from United States for Bremen (Germany) with cargo of cotton.

10 German submarines are forced to take shelter in Norwegian ports for 20 hours due to heavy storms.

Last rebels in the Transvaal captured.

Political, etc.

Prime Minister Asquith states that roughly 60% of British war wounded recover and become fit for service.

U.S.A. Notes to the United Kingdom on the use of neutral flag and to Germany on the conditions of the submarine "blockade".

Ship Losses:

Imatata ( Norway): The cargo ship was reported derelict in the Atlantic Ocean (41°15′N 36°10′W).

Sailor Steve

02-11-15, 11:07 AM

February 11:

Cape Horn: HMS Glasgow arrives at Port Edgar, recoals.

Atlantic Ocean: HMS Carnarvon puts into Puerto Madryn, Argentina; exchanges 21-gun salute with Argentine cruiser Buenos Aires.

HMS Bristol puts into Montevideo.

Indian Ocean: SS Kinfauns Castle departs Bombay for Niororo, Africa.

Jimbuna

02-12-15, 07:20 AM

12th February 1915

Eastern Front

Germans occupy Mariampool, Kalvaria, etc., in Poland; their centre makes progress towards Lyck (East Prussia).

Austrians having forced forced the Jablonitsa Pass, advance rapidly in East Galicia.

Naval and Overseas Operations

Raid by 34 British Naval aeroplanes on Ostend, Zeebrugge, and other points in Belgium. The attacks, led by British Wing Commander C.R. Samson, targeted the railway stations in Ostend and Blankenberghe as well as railway lines across the coast that were being used by the occupying military forces from Germany. The town of Zeebrugge, which was being used by the Germans as a base of operations for their deadly submarine warfare and from which they planned a blockade of the Belgian coast, was also a major target of the attack.

The unprecedented raid was extraordinarily successful, causing massive damage to the occupying military force. Despite coming under heavy ground fire from German anti-aircraft guns, not a single Allied plane was shot down and no Allied lives were lost.

Mafia Island (German East Africa) seized by a British force.

Political, etc.

Welsh Guards Battalion formed.

Sweden, Norway, and Denmark also lodge a protest against Germany for declaring British waters a war zone.

Thomas Edison predicts that the Allies will win, but Germany will become a Republic and dominate Europe economically in 50 years.

U.S. sends an official warning to Germany, stating it will hold Germany to strict accountability for any sunk American ships.

British government agrees to publish bi-weekly reports from Sir John French due to public demand for more war news.

Ship Losses:

Invercoe ( United Kingdom): The sailing vessel was scuttled in the Atlantic Ocean 890 nautical miles (1,650 km) east by south of Cape Frio, Brazil by SMS Prinz Eitel Friedrich ( Kaiserliche Marine).
Jack Snipe ( United States): The dredger was destroyed by fire at San Francisco, California.
Morion ( United Kingdom): The coaster was rammed and sunk at Queen's Dock, Glasgow, Renfrewshire by Jarnac ( United Kingdom).

In Washington, D.C., the first stone of the Lincoln Memorial is put into place.
http://i.imgur.com/JM16KNi.png

Sailor Steve

02-12-15, 08:13 AM

February 12:

Air War: Ten days ago, February 2, FB.5 number 1621 was the first Vickers Gunbus to arrive in France. Today, February 12, 1621 becomes the first Gunbus lost in the war when pilot 2nd Lt. M.R. Chidson and gunner 2nd Lt. D.C.W. Sanders make a forced landing behind German lines and are captured.

Some sources give February 5 as the date of arrival in France.

Pacific Ocean: HMS Newcastle arrives at Salina Cruz, Mexico, after her visit to Cocos Island.

Cape Horn: HMS Glasgow departs Port Edgar to search the Strait of Magellan one more time.

Atlantic Ocean: SMS Prinz Eitel Friedrich captures British barque Invercoe, 1,421 tons. The crew are taken aboard the auxiliary cruiser and the sailing ship sunk with scuttling charges.

HMS Carnarvon travels from Puerto Madryn to Rosas Bay, where she recoals from SS Withernsea.

HMS Bristol travels from Montevideo to an anchorage in the Rio de la Plata.

Jimbuna

02-13-15, 09:15 AM

13th February 1915

Western Front

French take, but fail to hold, a wood near Souain (Champagne).

Germans take Xon signal station and village of Norroy, near Pont-a-Mousson.

German attack in Lauch valley (Alsace).

Eastern Front

Germans take Russian positions before Lyck.

Fierce fluctuating struggle in Carpathians.

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

British surprise Turks at Tor (Gulf of Suez), killing 60; 102 prisoners.

Naval

Atlantic off N Ireland
BEDOUIN, Admiralty trawler, 188/1902, GN80, T L Devlin, Granton-reg hired 8/14 as minesweeper, Admiralty No.353, Skipper George Hollins RNR (wi - W Forbes up to 1914). Sailed from Sheephaven, northern Ireland to clear mines in the Berlin's Tory Island field with other trawlers, recovering her gear around 1555 and at least one mine seen to be snagged, orders given to veer away, but one exploded blowing away her starboard quarter, sank stern first off Tory Is, off Co Donegal; no lives lost.

Russian armoured cruiser RURIK badly damaged by grounding in the Baltic, she was later refloated and repaired.
http://i.imgur.com/XzmvJfS.jpg

Political etc.

Germany again warns neutral nations that shipping around British waters will be targeted, ignoring the diplomatic protests.

Plans for the U.S. Atlantic Fleet to go through the Panama Canal for the San Francisco Expo is canceled due to the war.

Ship Losses:

Hull Trader ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship foundered in the English Channel off the South Goodwin Lightship ( United Kingdom) with the loss of four of her seven crew. The survivors were rescued by a Royal Navy destroyer.
Morinier ( Belgium): The cargo ship foundered in the Bay of Biscay (47°01′N 7°48′W) with the loss of seventeen of the 22 people on board. Survivors were rescued by Vasco da Gama ( Portugal).
SMS V25 ( Kaiserliche Marine): The V25-class destroyer struck a mine and sank in the North Sea with the loss of 79 of her crew.

An enemy weapon which fires a shell weighing over 1000lb: the great 12-inch siege-howitzer of the Austrian army.
http://i.imgur.com/gAHWHeJ.jpg

Sailor Steve

02-13-15, 11:50 AM

February 13:

Pacific Ocean: HMS Newcastle departs Salina Cruz for Acapulco.

Strait of Magellan: HMS Glasgow puts into Punta Arenas.

Atlantic Ocean: HMS Bristol leaves Montevideo to return to Port Stanley.

Jimbuna

02-14-15, 10:19 AM

14th February 1915

Western Front

Germans take British trenches near St. Eloi; French regain some ground near Norroy.

Germans take Sengern and Remsbach, in Lauch valley.

Eastern Front

Germans take Lyck; whole of East Prussia clear of Russians.

Russians hold their ground in western Carpathians, but Austrians take Nadworna (East Galicia).

Political etc.

Ex-Chief of Staff von Moltke states Germany did not want war and that the U.S. “cares little about anything except their commerce.”

An American soldier is arrested and court-martialed for making sketches of the Panama Canal locks.

The American-Holland liner Nieuw Amsterdam is modified to brightly display its name on the side to prevent it from being targeted.

Millions of Poles are starving, as fighting between Russia and Germany/Austria-Hungary continues unabated in the region.

Danish ship owners paint their ships with Danish flags to prevent them from being targeted by German submarines.

China refuses to accept the 21 Demands; Japanese troops in Shandong, China begins building barracks along railway stations.

Ship Losses:

Abeokuta ( United Kingdom): SS Abeokuta was a 1817 grt cargo steamship, owned by Elder Dempster. She was built in 1901 by Robert Duncan & Co, Port Glasgow and was powered by a steam triple expansion engines giving 199nhp. On 14 February 1915 she foundered in the Bay of Biscay, about 70 miles South West of Ushant (Ouessant), in a full hurricane, whilst on a passage from Liverpool to West Africa with a general cargo.

http://i.imgur.com/k9bTu8q.jpg

New Zealand: The first contingent of 500 Māori soldiers sails for Egypt aboard SS Wairrimoo. Earlier policy had been against 'native peoples' fighting in a European war.
http://i.imgur.com/WDOhY2R.jpg

Sailor Steve

02-14-15, 01:07 PM

February 14:

"U-Boats not to attack ships flying a neutral flag unless recognized with certainty to be enemies."
- Addendum to the rules for submarine warfare

The original February 18th date for the start of Unrestricted Submarine Attacks is postponed until further word from on high. This has come about in answer to American protests against the original proclamation. Chief of the Imperial Naval Cabinet Admiral Georg Alexander von Müller has convinced his good friend Kaiser Wilhelm that this is the best course. Commander of the High Seas Fleet Hugo von Pohl, whose idea it was in the first place, is incensed at having his plans changed. When von Pohl objects von Müller demands that he explain "...how far you can guarantee that within six weeks of the campaign against commerce opening, Great Britain will be forced to lift the blockade."

This is the beginning of a power struggle between the two admirals.

Pacific Ocean: HMS Newcastle arrives at Acapulco.

Cape Horn: After more than two months in Weinachts Bay, FKpt Fritz Lüdecke makes his decision. In the midst of a blinding snowstorm SMS Dresden and SS Sierra Cordoba depart their hiding place and head into the Pacific Ocean. They travel north, staying two hundred miles off the coast of Chile.

HMS Glasgow stops in at Puerto Condell, in Union Sound.

Atlantic Ocean: HMS Carnarvon stops and inspects SS Withernsea.

Jimbuna

02-15-15, 09:47 AM

15th February 1915

Western Front

British recapture trenches near St. Eloi.

King Albert of Belgium rides a reconnaissance flight over German trenches, where he reportedly came under fire, but landed safely.

Three French aeroplanes successfully drive away a German zeppelin in the skies above Muelhausen.

Eastern Front

Germans occupy Plotsk.

Southern Front

Advance of Albanians into Serbia reported.

Aviation

Russian Sikorsky Ilya Muromets bombers attack the Vistula-Dobrzhani area of Poland, the first bombing raid by the Ilya Muromets.
http://i.imgur.com/nzCNSlN.jpg

Naval

Dover Straits
Undaunted, light cruiser, Arethusa-class, 3rd DF leader, Harwich Force and eight destroyers, probably division of 3rd DF on passage from Harwich to Irish Sea because of increased U-boat activity there. Unsuccessful U-boat torpedo attack off Dungeness, possibly by U.16

Overseas

Some 800 soldiers in the Indian army's 5th Light Infantry Brigade broke out of their barracks on the afternoon of February 15 and killed several British officers before moving on to other areas of the city. By the time the revolt was quashed, several days later, by British, French and Russian troops, the mutineers had killed 39 Europeans—both soldiers and civilians. British soldiers executed 37 of the mutiny's ringleaders by gunfire.

The Singapore Mutiny was intended by its organizers to be part of a general uprising being engineered by Sikh militants in neighboring India against British colonial rule. The Sikhs—whose religion combined elements of Hinduism and Islam—had earned favorable treatment from the British after their refusal to take part in an earlier mutiny in India in 1857, but some still chafed against the constraints of the empire. The Indian rebellion in 1915 enjoyed encouragement from the Germans, whose ship, the Bayern, had recently been intercepted by the Italians with a cargo of 500,000 revolvers, 100,000 rifles and 200,000 cases of ammunition intended to aid the militants. The rebels in India were betrayed in March 1915 by a police spy, and the leaders were arrested before they could signal the start of the revolt. Eighteen were hanged.

Despite such insurrections, many Indians from across the country continued to volunteer to serve the British empire in World War I. The first Indian Victoria Cross for bravery had been awarded on the Western Front in January 1915. Mahatma Gandhi, champion of passive resistance and leader of the struggle for Indian home rule, played an active role in the recruitment of Indian soldiers during World War I, writing later that If we would improve our status through the help and cooperation of the British, it was our duty to win their help by standing by them in their hour of need.
http://i.imgur.com/mxWsoev.jpg

Political, etc.

Government answer to German blockade.

Britain uses x-rays to screen shipments heading to Germany; rubber is found in bales of cotton on an Italian ship en route to Germany.

Hafiz Hakki Pasha, General in the Ottoman Army and commander of the Caucasus armies, dies in Erzerum due to typhus.
http://i.imgur.com/HZ6d1X3.png

Japanese authorities expel one Englishman and four Germans for disturbing the peace; stricter surveillance of Germans is urged by police.

Lights of Ottawa, Canada are turned off due to reports that three unidentified airplanes were heading towards the city.

Existence of secret agreement for mutual support between Italy and Rumania announced by respective Governments.

Entente Governments suggest to Greek Government that Greece should intervene in support of Serbia, and promise military support at Salonika.

Ship Losses:

HMT Bedouin ( Royal Navy): The naval trawler was lost on this date.
Dulwich ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship was torpedoed and sunk in the English Channel 16 nautical miles (30 km) north of Cap d'Antifer, Seine-Maritime, France by SM U-16 ( Kaiserliche Marine) with the loss of two crew.

Fubar2Niner

02-15-15, 10:00 AM

Ever more informative and illustrative Jim, nice one mate :up:

Best regards.

Fubar2Niner

Sailor Steve

02-15-15, 10:28 AM

:agree: :yep: :sunny:

Sailor Steve

02-15-15, 11:13 AM

February 15:

Berlin: Admiral von Müller's demand from his colleague von Pohl receives a reply from State Secretary for the Imperial German Navy Großadmiral Alfred von Tirpitz and Chief of the Admiralty Staff Admiral Gustav Bachmann, saying "We are convinced that Great Britain will end the blockade six weeks after the new commercial war begins, if it is found possible to employ every kind of warlike resource available for this campaign." It is decided that the new all-out campaign against British commerce will commence on February 22.

English Channel: U-16, commanded by Claus Hansen, sinks British steamer SS Dulwich, 3,289 tons, carrying a load of coal from Hull to Rouen. Later in the day U-16 sinks the French steamer SS Ville de Lille, 997 tons, carrying a cargo of stone from Cherbourg to Dunkerque. These are Hansen's first sinkings, giving him a score of 4,286 tons.

Further notes on Ville de Lille: Hansen was planning to use a torpedo to sink the freighter when he spotted women and children through his periscope. A fox-terrier from the ship was taken aboard U-16 and became the submarine's mascot.

Pacific Ocean: HMS Newcastle departs Acapulco for Manzanillo.

Jimbuna

02-16-15, 02:07 PM

16th February 1915

Western Front

Sharp infantry action in Champagne and the Argonne.

French counter-attack at Norroy repulsed.

Eastern Front

Continued fighting on East Prussian front, Russians falling back on the Nieman.

Further German reverse at Kosziowa.

Austrians take Kolomea (Bukovina).

Southern Front

Albanians driven over Serbian frontier.

Naval and Overseas Operations

Winston Churchill reveals that 6,200 sailors in the Royal Navy have been killed since the start of the war.

Renewed Franco-British air-raid on Ostend, Zeebrugge, and other points in Belgium.

DARDANELLES/GALLIPOLI
British Government decide to send a division (the 29th) to the Dardanelles.

WEST AFRICA

Oyem (Cameroons) occupied by French forces.

Political, etc.

German reply to U.S.A. Note about submarine "blockade".

King George holds a Privy Council to discuss the German submarine campaign and possible retaliatory measures.

U.S.A. Note to United Kingdom about seizure of cargo of "Wilhelmina".

Lord Bryce, former ambassador to the U.S., hopes this war will be the end of wars, as “if this will not cure us, nothing will.”

Italy sends a courier to London to open secret negotiations for Italy’s entry into the war.

Belgian General Sellier de Morainville Visits France
http://i.imgur.com/KMqTp2W.jpg

Sailor Steve

02-16-15, 02:36 PM

February 16:

Air War: Austrian pilot Raoul Stojsavljevic is flying his 49th mission over Russia when he and observer are forced down by a snowstorm and captured. Six days later they escape and spend three months hiding from the Russian patrols. They are finally repatriated on June 22 when Austro-Hungarian forces capture Lemburg, where they are hiding.

Pacific Ocean: HMS Newcastle departs Manzanillo for Guaymas.

Cape Horn: HMS Glasgow sends a steam launch to explore the Kirke Narrows.

Falkland Islands: HMS Bristol arrives at Port Stanley.

Jimbuna

02-17-15, 07:37 AM

17th February 1915

Western Front

Small French advances near Roclincourt (north of Arras), near Perthes, and north-west of Verdun.

German airship "L.-3" stranded and destroyed off Fano, and "L.-4" destroyed near Blaavands Huk (Denmark).
After encountering a severe snowstorm on the evening of February 17, 1915, the German zeppelin L-4 crash-lands in the North Sea near the Danish coastal town of Varde.

The zeppelin, a motor-driven rigid airship, was developed by German inventor Ferdinand Graf von Zeppelin in 1900. Although a French inventor had built a power-driven airship several decades before, Zeppelin's rigid dirigible, with its steel framework, was by far the largest airship ever constructed.

The L-4's captain, Count Platen-Hallermund, and a crew of 14 men had completed a routine scouting mission off the Norwegian coast in search of Allied merchant vessels and were returning to their base in Hamburg, Germany, when the snowstorm flared up, bombarding the airship with gale-force winds.

Unable to control the zeppelin in the face of such strong winds, the crew steered toward the Danish coast for an emergency landing, but was unable to reach the shore before crashing into the North Sea. The Danish coast guard rescued 11 members of the crew who had abandoned ship and jumped into the sea prior to the crash; they were brought to Odense as prisoners to be interrogated. Four members of the crew were believed drowned and their bodies were never recovered.

One month earlier, the L-4 had taken part in the first-ever air raid on Britain in January 1915, when it and two other zeppelins dropped bombs on the towns of Great Yarmouth and King's Lynn on the eastern coast of England. Four civilians were killed in the raid, two in each town. Zeppelins would continue to wreak destruction on Germany's enemies throughout the next several years of war--by May 1916, 550 British civilians had been killed by aerial bombs.
http://i.imgur.com/S0VbEgb.jpg

First mine exploded.
http://i.imgur.com/0UN8qBH.jpg

Eastern Front

Russians defeated on line Plotsk-Ratsionj (north-west Poland).

Great battle near Nadworna and Kolomea.

Austrians take Czernowitz.

Naval

British and French warships blockade the Bulgarian port of Dedeagac to prevent the importation of foodstuff destined for Austria & Germany.

Political etc.

Kaiser Wilhelm agrees to apologize to the U.S. ambassador after a theater-goer publicly criticized the ambassador for U.S. actions.

Ship Losses:

Kate ( United Kingdom): The schooner collided with Magnetic ( United Kingdom) in the Crosby Channel and sank with the loss of three of her four crew.
Proba ( United Kingdom): The three-masted schooner was wrecked in the North Sea on the Brake Sands. Her crew were rescued by the North Deal Lifeboat.
Reaper ( United Kingdom): The schooner was driven ashore at Holyhead, Anglesey and was wrecked. All five crew survived, three of them were rescued by the Holyhead Lifeboat.
St. Clair ( United Kingdom): The schooner was driven ashore and wrecked at Challaborough, Devon.

Sailor Steve

02-17-15, 01:24 PM

February 17:

Pacific Ocean: The Armoured Cruiser HMS Carnarvon has been operating in and around Vallenar, Chile. Today she departs for Coronel.

Cape Horn: HMS Glasgow continues patrolling the area around Union Sound.

Falkland Islands: HMS Bristol departs for the Strait of Magellan.

Jimbuna

02-18-15, 10:01 AM

18th February 1915

Western Front

Sharp fighting near Arras, in Champagne, near Verdun, and in Alsace.

French recover the Xon signal station and Norroy.

Eastern Front

Germans take Tauroggen (north-east of Tilsit).

Austrians offensive on the Dunajec near Tarnow.

Naval and Overseas Operations

First German unrestricted submarine campaign came into effect. All waters around British Isles including the English Channel declared a War Zone where all merchant ships could be destroyed without ensuring the safety of passengers and crew; neutral ships would be at risk from attack. Britain extended the defensive arming of merchant ships to protect themselves against surfaced U-boats leading to later German claims that armed vessels should be treated as warships. US protests led to U-boats being ordered not to attack ships flying neutral flags, hospital ships (unless obviously engaged in trooping) and Belgian Relief ships. The sinking shortly of the liner Lusitania started to swing American opinion strongly against Germany, leading up to entry into the war two years later. In 1915, only some 20 percent of ships were sunk without warning (some sources list start date as the 28th)
http://i.imgur.com/nWquAMO.png

Orkneys
GOLDFINCH, destroyer, H-class, 970t, 1910, 2-4in/2-12pdr/2-21in tt, 27kts, 72 crew, Pennant No.H.44, 2nd DF Grand Fleet, Lt-Cdr Reginald Stone. Night of 18th/19th - Ran aground in dense fog on Start Point, Sanday Is (wi - in 59.17N, 02.25W), abandoned as a wreck; no lives lost. Sold for BU 4/19, possibly to Metal Industries.
Sparrowhawk, destroyer, K-class, c1,300t, 4th DF Grand Fleet. Probably sometime in February after Goldfinch was lost - Went ashore, got off, but "considerably damaged."

German attack on Jasin (East Africa) begins.

Political etc.

Britain defends its right to blockade Germany of food, as “the distinction between the civil population & the armed forces” has disappeared.

China shares the 21 Demands imposed on them by Japan to the U.S., Britain, France, and Russia.

Ship Losses:

HMS Goldfinch ( Royal Navy): The Acorn-class destroyer ran aground at Start Point, Sanday, Orkney Islands and was a total loss.
John D. Colwell ( United States): The schooner ran aground off Santa Isabel, Puerto Rico and was a total loss.
Mary Ada Short ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship was scuttled in the Atlantic Ocean 400 nautical miles (740 km) east by north of Pernambuco, Brazil by SMS Prinz Friedrich Eitel ( Kaiserliche Marine).
Membland ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship struck a mine and sank in the North Sea with the loss of twenty of her crew.

http://i.imgur.com/iRxXUFB.jpg

Sailor Steve

02-18-15, 11:05 AM

February 18:

The incipient U-Boat campaign is formally announced. A set of rules is issued to all U-Boat forces:

1. The U-boat campaign against commerce is to be prosecuted with all possible vigor.

2. Hostile merchant ships are to be destroyed.

3. Neutral ships are to be spared. A neutral flag or funnel marks of neutral steamship lines are not to be regarded, however, as sufficient guarantee in themselves of neutral nationality. Nor does the possession of further distinguishing neutral marks furnish absolute certainty. The commander must take into account all accompanying circumstances that may enable him to recognize the nationality of the ship; e.g. structure, place of registration, course, and general behavior.

4. Merchant ships with a neutral flag travelling in convoy are thereby proved neutral.

5. Hospital ships are to be spared. They may only be attacked when they are obviously being used for the transport of troops from England to France.

6. Ships belonging to the Belgian Relief Commission are likewise to be spared.

7. If in spite of the exercise of great care mistakes should be made the commander will not be held responsible.

Bay of Biscay: U-16, commanded by Claus Hansen, torpedoes French freighter Dinora, 4,208 tons, travelling from Havre to Dunkerque. The damaged ship continues on its way, arriving safely at its destination.

Atlantic Ocean: SMS Prinz Eitel Friedrich stops the British steamer Mary Ada Short, 3,605 tons, carrying a cargo of wheat from Rosario, Argentina, to St. Vincent and thence the UK. The crew, all the food onboard, and two pigs, are taken off and scuttling charges placed. Mary Ada Short refuses to sink and the Germans are forced to fire several shells into her before she finally goes down.

Yemen: Hellmuth von Mücke is not clear on the dates involved at this point, but sometime around the 18th he is informed that travelling northward is far too dangerous. He then decides to return to Al Hudaydah. Even this journey will have to be delayed due to the sickness of his men.

Jimbuna

02-19-15, 02:35 PM

19th February 1915

Western Front

French make a little progress at Les Eparges (east of Verdun).

Heavy fighting in the Vosges; Germans take the Reichsackerkopf and occupy Metzeral and Sondernach.

Eastern Front

Russian counter-offensive on East Prussian frontier.

Sorties at Przemsyl repulsed.

Austrian offensive on Dunajec checked after slight advance.

Russian retreat near Nadworna.

Southern Front

Bombardment of forts at entrance to Dardanelles by five British and three French battleships and battle-cruisers.

Naval and Overseas Operations

Norwegian S.S. "Belridge" torpedoed in Channel, but not sunk ( the first victim of German blockade).

Naval operations of the Dardanelles Campaign begins, as two British battleships and two destroyers bombard the Dardanelles forts.
British and French battleships launch a massive attack on Turkish positions at Cape Helles and Kum Kaleh at the entrance to the Dardanelles, the narrow strait separating Europe from Asia in northwestern Turkey and the only waterway linking the Mediterranean Sea to the Black Sea.
The bombardments made little initial impact, however, as the Turks were not caught unawares: they had long known an attack on the Dardanelles was a strong possibility and had been well fortified by their German allies.
http://i.imgur.com/kp3Wvtz.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/PR944uF.gif
http://i.imgur.com/DATfiZB.gif

Vengeance, battleship, Canopus-class, 14,300t, 4-12in/12-6in/12-12pdr/4-18in tt, 8th BS Channel Fleet 8/14, later to Mediterranean. The bombardment of the defences around Cape Helles on the European side and Kum Kale/Orkanie on the Asiatic was initially carried out by battlecruiser Inflexible (flag, Adm Carden, C-in-C), battleships Albion, Cornwallis, Triumph, the French Suffren (French flag) and Bouvet, supported by French Suffren and light cruiser Amethyst. Vengeance (division flag, Adm de Robeck) observed for her division, and the force was later joined by dreadnought Queen Elizabeth and battleship Agamemnon. Vengeance fired at and was fired on by Orkanie batteries on Asiatic side, not hit but spars and rigging damaged by four near misses, Cornwallis was slightly less damaged.

Political, etc.

British Foreign Office issues statement that permits British ships to use foreign flags to prevent them from being targeted by submarines.

British government announces that any food heading to Germany will now be considered as contraband.

Memoranda published by British Government in reply to U.S.A. Notes about the neutral flag and S.S. "Wilhelmina".

France activates its remaining reserves, and will consider them to be part of the active army.

Ship Losses:

HMT Blakedown ( Royal Navy): The naval trawler was lost on this date.
SMS S14 ( Kaiserliche Marine}): The S13-class destroyer suffered an internal explosion and sank in the Jade Bight.

http://i.imgur.com/Qe64ZPY.jpg
HMS Cornwallis (1901) firing at Dardanelles 19 February 1915.

Sailor Steve

02-19-15, 04:07 PM

February 19:

English Channel: U-16, under the command of Claus Hansen, torpedoes Norwegian tanker Belridge, 7,020 tons, carrying a load of petroleum from New Orleans to Amsterdam. The tanker is only damaged, and puts safely into Thames Haven.

Pacific Ocean: Fritz Lüdecke orders SS Sierra Cordoba to Valparaiso in an attempt to purchase some coal. SMS Dresden continues to steam slowly toward the Juan Fernandez Islands.

HMS Newcastle arrives at Guymas, Mexico.

Cape Horn: HMS Bristol arrives at Isthmus Bay.

While anchored at Puerto Condell, HMS Glasgow dispatches a steam launch to investigate the theft of a whaleboat by local natives.

Atlantic Ocean: SMS Prinz Eitel Friedrich captures French liner SS Floride, 6,620 tons. The crew are taken off and the ship scuttled.

Jimbuna

02-20-15, 07:23 AM

20th February 1915

Western Front

Germans gain a little ground near Ypres.

French take wood north of Perthes, and progress near Les Eparges.

German advance south-east of Sulzern (Alsace).

Eastern Front

German attacks at Kosziowa repulsed.

Naval and Overses Operations

Bombardment of Dardanelles forts continued. Second planned bombardment to complete the destruction of the outer forts cancelled because of gale-force conditions, accurate gunlaying not possible and spotting aircraft could not fly. The bad weather continued until the 25th.
http://i.imgur.com/2zZcyAO.jpg

North Sea
CORCYRA, Admiralty trawler, 225/1914, Grimsby-reg GY63, hired 8/14 as minesweeper, Admiralty No.278, Skipper Leonard Shenton RNR. Stranded (H - wrecked) near Bacton, Norfolk; no lives lost. Later salved, but not taken back into Naval service, in Fishery Reserve, listed until 1919, served again in WW2.

Orders issued for employment at the Dardanelles of the Australian and New Zealand troops in Egypt.

The last of the Singapore mutineers are killed or captured; 47 British soldiers and civilians were killed during the mutiny.

Ship Losses:

Bjaerke ( Norway): The cargo ship struc two mines in Nakskov Fjord and sank. Her crew survived.
Cambank ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship was torpedoed and sunk by SM U-30 in the Irish Sea 10 nautical miles (19 km) off Point Lynas, Anglesey (53°25′N 4°00′W) by SM U-30 ( Kaiserliche Marine) with the loss of four of her 25 crew.
HMT Corcyra ( Royal Navy): The naval trawler was lost on this date.
Downshire ( United Kingdom): The coaster was scuttled in the Irish Sea off Point Lynas (54°03′N 5°15′W) by SM U-30 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived.
Maggie Barratt ( United Kingdom): The schooner departed Greenock, Renfrewshire for the River Duddon. She subsequently foundered in the Irish Sea with the loss of all hands. Wreckage from the ship washed up at Maughold Head, Isle of Man.
Willerby ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship was scuttled in the Atlantic Ocean 490 nautical miles (910 km) north east by north of Pernambuco, Brazil by SMS Prinz Friedrich Eitel ( Kaiserliche Marine).

Sailor Steve

02-20-15, 02:17 PM

February 20:

London: The Australian and New Zealand troops who made up the First ANZAC convoy back in November - the same convoy that was escorted by HMAS Sydney, which had been dispatched to sink SMS Emden - are designated to be a major part of the planned Dardanelles invasion. They have been training in Egypt since their arrival there on December 3rd.

Irish Sea: U-30, commanded by Erich von Rosenberg-Grusczyski, torpedoes SS Cambank, 3,112 tons, master T.R. Prescott, travelling from Huelvas to Garston with a load of copper ore. Later in the day U-30 captures and scuttles the tiny 337-ton steamer Downshire, proceeding from Dundrum to Manchester with a load of empty cement bags.

Pacific Ocean: HMS Kent arrives at Santa Maria, Coronel, and takes on coal from SS Braunton.

HMS Newcastle departs Guymas for San Bartolome.

Cape Horn: HMS Bristol and Glasgow are once again working together, patrolling the area around Puerto Condell, deep in the fjords north of the Strait of Magellan.

Atlantic Ocean: SMS Prinz Eitel Friedrich encounters British freighter SS Willerby, 3,630 tons, travelling in ballast from Marseilles to Buenos Aires. Korvettenkapitän Max Therichens orders the freighter to stop, but Captain J.R. Wedgewood decides to make a run for it. Forty-five minutes later he is overhauled and then tries to ram the big armed merchant cruiser. Therichens avoids this move and under the threat of the German guns Wedgewood finally surrenders. The crew are taken off and the ship scuttled. This is Prinz Eitel Friedrich's last victim.

HMS Carnarvon meets the old battleship HMS King Edward VII.

German East Africa: SS Kinfauns Castle arrives at Niororo, a tiny island north of Mafia Island, with her cargo of new seaplanes for the Königsberg mission.

Jimbuna

02-21-15, 09:48 AM

21st February 1915

Western Front

German aeroplane drops bombs at Colchester and other places in Essex; no damage.

French progress north of Perthes.

Germans take Hochrod and Stossweiler (Alsace).

Eastern Front

Successful Russian counter-attacks near Lomja and Pltsk.

Russians carry heights near Lupkow and Wyzskow Passes, and make successful attack on Austrians south-east of Stanislau.

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

Turks driven across River Ichkalen (Armenia).

Political etc.

Edwin Emerson, war correspondent & grandson of the poet, reports he was blacklisted by UK censors for refusal to distort war stories.

International Peace Committee at Amsterdam petitions Queen Wilhelmina to mediate in the war.

Representatives from Sweden, Norway, and Denmark meet in Copenhagen to discuss creating a convoy to protect shipping from German attacks.

Ship Losses:

Evelyn ( United States): The cargo ship struck a mine and sank in the North Sea off Borkum, Lower Saxony, Germany. Her crew were rescued by a German vessel.

http://i.imgur.com/TwwCTj2.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/TChkqfQ.jpg

Sailor Steve

02-21-15, 02:08 PM

February 21:

Pacific Ocean: HMS Kent spends the day patrolling off Coronel.

Cape Horn: HMS Bristol patrols the Strait of Magellan from Casa to Focus Island. HMS Glasgow patrols a different area to arrive at the same destination.

Atlantic Ocean: HMS Carnarvon arrives at Abrolhos Rocks, recoals from SS Buresh.

German East Africa: The first of the Sopwith seaplanes is assembled and ready for testing. With pilot and observer, four bombs, and fuel for one hour in the air, the plane refuses to lift off.

Jimbuna

02-22-15, 09:47 AM

22nd February 1915

Western Front

Zeppelin bombards Calais, causing the deaths of 5 civilians but relatively little material damage.

Heavy bombardment of Reims; cathedral vault broken.

French capture trenches and two woods on the line Souain-Beausejour.

British military observer in the French Army admits that gains in the Western Front has been slight and is practically a deadlock.

Eastern Front

Germans report that "the pursuit of the Russians is now finished", and claim over 100,000 prisoners in East Prussian offensive.

Heavy fighting at many points in northern Poland, especially near Przasnysz, where strong German attacks are repulsed.

Big battle begins south of the line Dolina-Stanislau.

The Winter Battle in Masuria ends.

Naval and Overseas Operations

Net barrage across North Channel (between Ireland and Scotland) established.

Carnarvon, armoured cruiser, Devonshire-class, 10,850t, flag, Rear-Adm Stoddart, searching South American waters for light cruiser Karlsruhe and raider Kronprinz Wilhelm. Left Abrolhos Rock anchorage, shortly after weighing she hit uncharted shoal and ripped 95ft of bottom plating, beached and out of action, patched and sent into Rio de Janeiro where repairs were allowed because she had "suffered peril of the sea". Flag transferred to cruiser Vindictive.

Occupation of Garub (German south-west Africa) by Union forces.

Political etc.

Brigadier General John Gough, recipient of the Victoria Cross, dies due to wounds sustained at the front.
http://i.imgur.com/64oeziY.jpg

American Citizen’s Association protests President Wilson at the New York Hippodrome for being “subservient to British influence.”

Ship Losses:

CARIB American steamer sunk by mine in the North Sea; 3 killed. (ex: Kimon, ex: President Garfield; Clyde S.S. Co., New York; build 1882.01 by W. Hamilton & Co., Port Glasgow; 2.087 grt, 1.280 nrt; 288.4 x 36.2 x 22.4 ft; C.2-cyl. 241 nhp build by Dunsmuir & Jackson, Glasgow).

Sailor Steve

02-22-15, 01:15 PM

February 22:

Air War: Hauptmann Adolf Heyrowsky, commanding officer of Flik 9, flying a Lohner (or possibly Albatros) biplane with Oskar Safar as observer, attacks a Serbian observation balloon. Safar shoots down the balloon. This is the first recorded victory by an Austro-Hungarian crew and the first recorded "balloon bust".

Pacific Ocean: HMS Kent moves from Santa Maria Island to the port of Coronel, Chile.

Cape Horn: HMS Bristol and Glasgow continue their patrol in the vicinity of Focus Island, Last Hope Inlet and Puerto Natales. At 1335 Bristol runs aground, heavily damaging her rudder. She is now only able to steer using her propellers.

Atlantic Ocean: While patrolling the Abrolhos Rocks area HMS Carnarvon runs aground. "Ship struck an obstruction on Starb side. Hard a port." Flooding is reported in A, B and C boiler rooms. The ship is anchored in shallow water and HMS Vindictive comes alongside and puts a diving party into the water to investigate Carnarvon's hull.

German East Africa: The two newly-arrived Sopwiths are rapidly proving useless. Neither one can become airborne unless it carries neither observer nor bombs, and even in that condition the maximum altitude they can reach is only 1500 feet, leaving them easy prey for the Germans' machine guns.

Jimbuna

02-23-15, 01:28 PM

23rd February 1915

Eastern Front

Russians advance across the Bobr, south-east of Augustovo.

Germans report capture of 300 guns in recent offensive.

Naval and Overseas Operations

Entrance to the North Channel, except south of Rathlin Island, closed by British Government.

Dardanelles Campaign - Royal Marines occupied Greek island of Lemnos, off the Dardanelles; the harbour of Mudros became a major advanced Allied base.

Occupation of Nonidas and Goanikas (German south-west Africa).

Political etc.

Court of inquiry is held by the British to investigate the captured members of the Singapore Mutiny.

According to a suit filed in the US Supreme Court, Britain is receiving 3.5 million cartridges of ammunition a week from the U.S.

Kaiser Wilhelm praises the “poets and thinkers” of the country for uniting the country and strengthening the determination of the people.

Germany is currently imposing a levy of $8 million ($187 million today) a month on Belgium.

German government puts a stop to the practice of printing hostile phrases, like “God Punish England,” on mail leaving the country.

Bread rationing begins in Berlin, with every citizen, including royalty, only entitled to what they receive through tickets.

Ship Losses:

Branksome Chine ( United Kingdom): The collier was torpedoed and sunk in the English Channel 6 nautical miles (11 km) south of Beachy Head, East Sussex by SM U-8 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her twenty crew survived.
Oakby ( United Kingdom): The collier was torpedoed and damaged in the English Channel 4 nautical miles (7.4 km) east by north of the Royal Sovereign Lightship ( United Kingdom) by SM U-8 ( Kaiserliche Marine). She was taken in tow but sank the next day off Folkestone, Kent. Her twenty crew survived.
Regin ( Norway): The cargo ship was torpedoed and sunk in the English Channel off the Goodwin Sands, Kent. Her 23 crew were rescued by a Royal Navy torpedo boat destroyer.
HMT Tern ( Royal Navy): The naval trawler was lost on this date.

Sailor Steve

02-23-15, 02:24 PM

February 23:

English Channel: U-8, commanded by Alfred Stoß, torpedoes SS Branksome Chine, 2,026 tons, en route from Grimsby to Portsmouth with a cargo of coal. Later in the day U-8 torpedoes SS Oakby, 1,976 tons, travelling in ballast from London to Cardiff.

Pacific Ocean: HMS Newcastle arrives at San Bartolome.

HMS Kent starts moving southward toward Cape Horn.

Cape Horn: HMS Bristol and Glasgow move from Puerto Natales back to Focus Island.

Atlantic Ocean: At 0047 hours HMS Carnarvon uses her anchors to turn the ship seaward. At 0108 Ahead Slow is ordered. Four minutes later the ship runs aground again. At 0115 Half Speed is called up and the ship slips free. At 0119 Carnarvon is anchored in deep enough water for an thorough examination. At 0230 another anchor is let go and the ship is securely in place.

With the rising sun divers are put into the water for a careful examination of the damage. At 0945 the ship starts bumping the anchors with the rising tide. The divers are taken back aboard and at 1004 Carnarvon is moved to slightly deeper water. The divers begin the work of caulking the hole in the ship's bottom, and the three affected boiler rooms begin pumping out water. At 2000 there is still a 1/2 degree list to starboard. By 2200 the list is corrected.

Jimbuna

02-24-15, 08:13 AM

24th February 1915

Western Front

Small British advance near La Bassee.

Further French progress near Mesnil.

Heavy bombing of German rear in Champagne.

The first British Territorial division (the North Midland) leaves England for France.

Eastern Front

Continued heavy fighting near Przasnysz; Russians take 2,600 prisoners.

Russians retake Stanislau.

Germans bombard Osovyets.

Southern Front

Bombardment resumed at Dardanelles; outer forts reduced.

Naval and Overseas Operations

Seven British merchantmen sunk by submarines in first week of "blockade".

Arrivals and sailings, 1,381.

Political etc.

Military activity increases on the eastern border of the Netherlands with Germany, as a protest is sent to Berlin for its u-boat campaign.

Ship Losses:

Dague ( French Navy): The Bouclier-class destroyer struck a mine and sank at Bar, Montenegro with the loss of 38 of her crew.
Harpalion ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship was torpedoed and sunk in the English Channel 6.5 nautical miles (12.0 km) west of the Royal Sovereign Lightship ( United Kingdom) by SM U-8 ( Kaiserliche Marine) with the loss of three crew.
Rio Parana ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship was torpedoed and sunk in the English Channel 4 nautical miles (7.4 km) south east of Beachy Head, East Sussex by SM U-8 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived.
Western Coast ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship was torpedoed and sunk in the English Channel 8 nautical miles (15 km) south of Beachy Head, East Sussex by SM U-8 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her nineteen crew survived.

First-aid worker attempting to rest during a German barrage, by Georges Barrière.
http://i.imgur.com/uxoGpAM.png

Sailor Steve

02-24-15, 12:46 PM

February 24:

English Channel: Alfred Stoß continues his attacks on merchant shipping. U-8's first victim is SS Harpalion, 5,867 tons, travelling from London to Cape Henry, Virginia in ballast. Next is SS Rio Parana, 4,015 tons, bound from Tyne to Porto Ferraio, Portugal, with a cargo of coal. Last is SS Western Coast, 1,165 tons, carrying a mixed cargo from London to Liverpool. Stoß' total is now 15,049 tons.

Cape Horn: HMS Bristol and Glasgow depart Focus Island for Puerto Condell. They stop there for half an hour then proceed again. At 1530 Glasgow parts company and sails for Cooper Key. Bristol arrives at Puerto Tamar at 1845.

Atlantic Ocean: Off the Abrolhos Rocks, divers work from dawn to dusk trying to repair the hole in HMS Carnarvon's bottom plates. The three boiler rooms are still taking water and the list starts to increase again, first to 1/2 degree then finally to 1-1/2 degrees.

German East Africa: One of the two Sopwith seaplanes, S921, crashes on landing after a test flight. The plane is damaged beyond repair.

Jimbuna

02-25-15, 07:25 AM

25th February 1915

Much of yesterdays content should heve been posted today :oops:

Allied naval attack on the Dardanelles forts continues.
Second Bombardment of Outer Dardanelles Forts.

Second bombardment resumed after delays due to bad weather. Runs were made by battleships Vengeance and Cornwallis, French Suffren and Charlemagne, supported by anchored dreadnought Queen Elizabeth, battleships Agamemnon, Irresistible and French Gaulois. Fire was opened around around 1015, but within a short time, Agamemnon was hit:

Agamemnon, battleship, Lord Nelson-class, 17,680t, 4-12in/10-9.2in/24-12pdr/5-18in tt, 5th BS Channel Fleet 8/14, later to Mediterranean, anchored about 2½m WSW of Cape Yeni Shehr on Asiatic side. Cape Helles batteries opened fire at 1017 at 10,000yds and straddled her after 15min, ordered to weigh but within 10min hit by seven armour piercing shells, most of which broke up, but holed above waterline, hydraulic engine and main derrick damaged; 3 ratings killed, one DOW and four seriously injured. Cleared up wreckage, continued in action and repaired damage off Tenedos next day.

By 1500 the outer batteries had been practically silenced by the Anglo-French ships. Minesweeping trawlers escorted by destroyers and covered by battleships Vengeance, Albion and Triumph then started sweeping the entrance. At 1600 the rest of the fleet retired to Tenedos. By 2000 the sweepers had penetrated four miles without finding any mines.

Swiss soldiers fire at a German aircraft that flew over Swiss territory near Bonfol; the aircraft returned safely.

Prince von Bülow, German ambassador to Italy, states he will resign if Austria-Hungary does not cede territory to Italy to keep it neutral.

German government buys the Berlin electrical works, which supplies most of the power to the city’s industry, in order to control prices.

Ship Losses:

Orozco ( Spain): The cargo ship foundered in the Bay of Biscay 50 nautical miles (93 km) off La Rochelle, Charente-Maritime, France. Her crew were rescued by a tug.

Allied warships at sea, a seaplane flyby, 1915.
http://i.imgur.com/9icqg8s.jpg

Sailor Steve

02-25-15, 01:11 PM

February 25:

Pacific Ocean: Still at San Bartolome, HMS Newcastle recoals from SS Boyne, after which Newcastle departs San Bartolome for Esquimalt.

Cape Horn: At Puerto Tamar HMS Bristol recoals from SS Cairn Ross, then proceeds to investigate the area around Capo Quod.

HMS Glasgow once again patrols the area around Punta Arenas, near the western entrance to the Strait of Magellan.

Atlantic Ocean: HMS Carnarvon is still laid up off the Abrolhos Rocks. While divers continue with their efforts to seal the ships bottom, various anchors are hauled out by boat in an attempt to keep the ship from moving. This is only partially successful. A passing Brazilian collier, SS Amiral Broccoas, kindly stops when signaled so Carnarvon can send a launch to investigate her cargo.

Indian Ocean: HMS Goliath departs Simonstown, South Africa for the Rufiji River delta, with Admiral Herbert Goodenough King-Hall aboard. King-Hall will be taking command of the Königsberg operation.

Jimbuna

02-26-15, 07:54 AM

26th February 1915

Western Front

French take two lines of German trenches north of Mesnil.

Liquid fire first used by the Germans on the Western front when the German 3rd Guard Pioneer Regiment used them in a successful small-scale attack against French trenches near Verdun.
http://i.imgur.com/1YAo26C.jpg

Eastern Front

Russians report German retirement near Przasnysz.

Naval

Dardanelles Campaign
Battleships Albion, Triumph and Majestic entered the Straits at 0800 to complete the destruction of the entrance forts and to attack the defences further inside, Albion along the European or north shore, Majestic along the Asiatic or south. Both soon came under fire which they returned, but as the day progressed the fixed shore guns were joined by concealed and mobile howitzer and field gun batteries and only by constantly shifting their positions could the two battleships avoid serious damage, that is until Majestic was hit. They were recalled at 1600:

Majestic, battleship, Majestic-class, c16,000t, 4-12in/12-6in/18-12pdr/5-18in tt, 7th BS Channel Fleet 8/14, later to Mediterranean, now with howitzer mounted on each of her turrets. Holed below waterline and leaking.

Before then, at 1430, Royal Marine covering and Royal Navy demolition parties were landed near the entrance forts to complete their destruction, men from Irresistible on the European side, and from Vengeance on the Asiatic side covered by battleship Cornwallis, light cruiser Dublin and destroyers Racoon and Basilisk. The missions were successfully carried out with some casualties; Lt-Cdr Eric Gascoigne Robinson who led the Vengeance demolition party was awarded the Victoria Cross for his gallantry under fire. He later took part in the successful destruction of stranded submarine E.15.

Aviation

The second German attempt to bomb the United Kingdom fails when strong headwinds force the German Navy Zeppelin L-8, sent out to attack alone, to give up her attempt and land an Imperial German Army camp in German-occupied Belgium.

Political etc.

British War Office decides to allow small groups of war correspondents to see the frontlines, beginning March 1st.

Premier Asquith declares Britain will continue to fight even if France and Russia were to fall.

The Welsh Guards regiment is created.

Sailor Steve

02-26-15, 11:01 AM

February 26:

Cape Horn: HMS Bristol and Glasgow are taking separate routes to Isthmus Bay. Also arriving at Isthmus bay is armoured cruiser HMS Kent.

Atlantic Ocean: HMS Carnarvon's situation is growing worse. All four boiler rooms are now taking water, and pumping operations are keeping the ship from flooding more, but not making progress.

German East Africa: The surviving seaplane, S920, conducts taxi tests and makes a brief flight. The extreme heat is making difficult any kind of real flying.

Jimbuna

02-27-15, 10:39 AM

27th February 1915

Western Front

French take part of Beaujesour, near Perthes (Champagne).

Eastern Front

Russians retake Przasnysz. 5,400 prisoners reported.

Russians report capture of 4,000 prisoners near Dolina (southern Galicia).

Southern Front

Dardanelles operations hindered by bad weather.

Naval and Overseas Operations

"Dacia" intercepted in Channel by French and taken into Brest.

Admiralty proclaim blockade of German East Africa.

Hugo von Pohl is appointed Commander of the German High Seas Fleet:
http://i.imgur.com/nhH7J5b.jpg

Political etc.

French soldiers are warned that they may face court-martial on their return if they surrender too easily.

Registrar General warns English women not to marry Hindus or Muslim soldiers, as the marriage might not be recognized in the colonies.

Field Marshal von Hindenburg is awarded the Pour le Mérite, the highest order of merit in Prussia.

A U.S. Navy attaché at the German Embassy is accused of heading a spy network that covers the U.S. and Canada.

Ship Losses:

Conway Castle ( United Kingdom): The sailing vessel was scuttled in the Pacific Ocean 560 nautical miles (1,040 km) south west by west of Valparaiso, Chile by SMS Dresden ( Kaiserliche Marine).
Pet ( United Kingdom): The schooner was abandoned in the North Sea. She was driven ashore at Spurn Point, Yorkshire and was a total loss.
William and Alice ( United Kingdom): The schooner was driven ashore at Spurn Point and was a total loss. Her crew were rescued.

Sailor Steve

02-27-15, 04:24 PM

February 27:

Pacific Ocean: SMS Dresden captures and scuttles British barque Conway Castle, 1,694 tons.

Cape Horn: HMS Kent is patrolling the area around Isthmus Bay, where HMS Glasgow is coaling from SS Cairn Ross. HMS Bristol moves from Isthmus Bay to Cape Bower in Fortescue Bay.

Atlantic Ocean: HMS Carnarvon is still unable to move from the Abrolhos Rocks. Divers are now working on fitting a collision mat to prevent the hull bumping against the bottom. All four boiler rooms are still continuously pumping out water, and the ship is still listing about one degree.

Jimbuna

02-28-15, 10:27 AM

28th February 1915

Western Front

French make progress near Perthes.

Germans bombard Soissons and Reims Cathedral.

Eastern Front

Russian forces launch an offensive against the Germans in northern Poland, with both sides supported by massed armored cars and motor vans.

Political etc.

Passengers traveling between U.K & Netherlands are required to sign declarations freeing the ship company of responsibility if they are sunk.

German Supreme Court rules that property owned by foreigners of belligerent nations cannot be seized, as the war is not against individuals.

Russia imposes a war tax of 6-10% on incomes of individuals exempt from military service and under 43 years old.

Anatole de Baudot, French architect known for pioneering reinforced-concrete construction, has passed away.
http://i.imgur.com/CND5XM5.jpg

Dario Resta, a British national, wins the 1915 United States Grand Prix in San Francisco.
http://i.imgur.com/XDaa66P.jpg

MERCHANT SHIPPING
British, Allied and Neutral ships lost to enemy submarines, mines and cruisers etc in the month - 25 ships of 60,000 tons gross (Lloyd's War Losses).

http://i.imgur.com/yQsTeDt.jpg

Sailor Steve

02-28-15, 11:29 AM

February 28:

Cape Horn: Confusion: According to her log HMS Kent moves from Isthmus Bay to Sholl Bay, meets Bristol and Glasgow, recoals from SS Cairn Ross., departs to patrol the area around Fairway Island.

According to the logs of Bristol and Glasgow, they spend the day at Fortescue Bay and don't meet Kent until the next day.

South Africa: HMS Goliath arrives at Port Natal, Durban, recoals from SS Cilicia.

German East Africa: SS Kinfauns Castle puts Sopwith S920 into the water. The seaplane taxis for a while then reports back to the ship with engine problems. At 1457 the plane takes off and rises to an altitude of 150 feet, then lands near the beach at Niororo Island. At 1500 a launch carries mechanics to the beach. At 1540 the seaplane takes off again, flies around for ten minutes at about 100 feet, and lands. At 1618 S920 takes off for a third time, stays aloft for four minutes, then lands badly, damaging her floats. A boat is sent to consult with the pilot. At 1641 Kinfauns Castle gets underway and moves alongside the crippled aircraft. At 1745 S920 is hoisted aboard and the ship is underway.

Jimbuna

03-01-15, 09:37 AM

1st March 1915

Western Front

French establish a new line two kilometres in front of old positions between Perthes and Beausejour.

Eastern Front

Niemen River front: Collapse of German offensive; signs of a general retreat.

Heavy fighting near Grodno and Osovyets.

Russian troops, aided by Cossack cavalry, defeat Germany forces east of Przasnysz, Poland.

Austrian attacks repulsed in the Carpathians.

Naval and Overseas Operations

Heavy winds causes a momentary halt of the Allied bombardment of the Dardanelles forts.

Ottoman Empire begins heavily reinforcing the Asiatic side of the Dardanelles as an Allied landing becomes likely.

Dardanelles Campaign
Battleships Albion and Ocean, Canopus-class, 14,300t, 4-12in/12-6in, Triumph, Swiftsure-class, 11,985t, 4-10in/14-7.5in, and Majestic, Majestic-class, c16,060t, 4-12in/12-6in, taking part in the second attack within the Dardanelles after more delays due to the weather. Albion and Triumph to engage Fort Dardanos, Ocean and Majestic to search for mobile guns. All ships engaged by concealed guns, continually hit sometimes by 4in howitzers but not seriously; 1 officer and 4 men in Albion injured by splinters.

That night the trawlers started sweeping towards Kephez Point, escorted by destroyers Basilisk, Grasshopper, Racoon and Mosquito supported by light cruiser Amethyst. Just short of the first line of mines at 2300 they were illuminated by searchlights, subjected to heavy fire by the minefield protection guns, and forced to withdraw under cover of the supporting ships.

Political, etc.

Lloyd George expresses that he sees no hope of aid from the U.S., and the Allies will have to defeat Germany on their own.

Britain and France formally announces that it will impose a strict naval blockade against Germany for the duration of the war.

Premier announces presumed "enemy destination" ships will be detained if necessary.

Theodore Roosevelt establishes a reserve force to shore up U.S. defense and promises to take charge of the cavalry division in case of war.

Ship Losses:

Princess May ( United Kingdom): The ketch was run down and sunk in the North Sea off Great Yarmouth, Norfolk by Gunnar ( Norway). Her crew survived.
Sapphire ( United Kingdom): The trawler struck a mine and sank in the North Sea off Filey, Yorkshire with the loss of a crew member.

Sailor Steve

03-01-15, 12:22 PM

March 1:

Air War: Sometime in late February or early March Louis Strange devises his own bomb racks for his BE.2c. The racks will be installed on several planes of Number 6 Squadron.

Sheerness, Britain: Sometime around this date the captains of HMS Humber, Mersey and Severn are told that dockyard workers will be boarding within the week to prepare the three monitors for an ocean voyage, a trip for which they were not designed.

Cape Horn: HMS Kent continues to patrol the area between Isthmus Bay and Sholl Bay. HMS Bristol patrols the Barbara Channel, near Fortescue Bay. Bristol and Kent meet briefly. HMS Glasgow spends the day anchored at Sholl bay, and also has a brief meeting with Kent.

Atlantic Ocean: The crew of HMS Carnarvon have finished making the collision mat to protect the ship's bottom. It takes most of the day to get it overboard and in place. The ship is still listing 1/2 degree, and all for boiler rooms are still being pumped free of water.

South Africa: HMS Goliath departs Port Natal and sets course for Mafia Island.

German East Africa: SS Kinfauns Castle steams from Niororo Island to the mouth of the Lindi River (171) miles. Along the way she stops two suspect dhows and takes them both in tow.

Yemen: Again von Mücke fails to give an exact date, but it is around this time that his men are well enough to begin the ride back to Al Hudaydah. Von Mücke takes a few men with him and rides ahead. He will reach the coastal town a day-and-a-half before the rest of his men.

Jimbuna

03-02-15, 01:56 PM

2nd March 1915

Western Front

German counter-attacks repulsed near Perthes.

Eastern Front

Niemen River front: Continued Russian offensive, prisoners reported to number over 10,000.

Continued heavy fighting near Grodno and Osovyets.

Russians bombard Czernowitz.

Austrian attacks repulsed at Lupkow Pass.

Southern Front

Naval bombardment of the Dardanelles inner forts resumes; more than 100,000 Ottoman Turks are now posted at Gallipoli.
Battleships Canopus, Canopus-class, 14,300t, 4-12in/12-6in, Cornwallis, Duncan-class, c15,000t, 4-12in/12-6in and Swiftsure, Swiftsure-class, 11,800, 4-10in/14-7.5in, taking part in third attack within the Straits. Opened fire on Fort Dardanos at 1420 which did not reply until 1615 but immediately straddled the ships. Canopus hit on quarter-deck wrecking wardroom, another shell carried away main topmast, and a third went through after funnel and wrecked two boats, all ships received minor damage; one man slightly wounded. Weather remained bad making aerial reconnaissance impossible, and again that night the minesweeping trawlers were driven back. However further landings were made by beach and demolition parties around Cape Helles and Kum Kale on the 3rd and 4th.

Political, etc.

Anglo-French Note to Germany declares policy of reprisals in retaliation for submarine blockade; neutrals protest.

Report shows U.S. trade has dropped by $10 million ($231 million today) since January due to the German submarine campaign.

President Wilson states all Powers in Europe have to obey rules of warfare even though methods of warfare have changed.

South African Government issues White Book on the rebellion.

Austria declares a Metal Week, steel being excepted.

http://i.imgur.com/wDrWeXW.jpg

Sailor Steve

03-02-15, 04:39 PM

March 2:

Cape Horn: HMS Kent patrols from Sholl Bay to Fortescue Bay, meeting Bristol there.

Atlantic Ocean: HMS Carnarvon's divers are busy fitting the collision mat to the ship. C and D boiler rooms are secured and made ready. A and B are still taking water, and still being pumped out. Various anchors are weighed and the ship moved to deeper water.

German East Africa: SS Kinfauns Castle returns to Mafia Island, capturing a third dhow along the way, and finally ending up back at Niororo Island.

Jimbuna

03-03-15, 12:54 PM

3rd March 1915

Western Front

French repulse attacks by German Guards north-east of Mesnil (Champagne).

Germans again bombard Reims.

Eastern Front

Russians retake Stanislau and village of Krasna; over 6,000 prisoners.

Austrian attacks repulsed in the Carpathians.

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

Ahwaz (Persian Gulf): Turks located in strength at Ghadir, west of Ahwaz; heavy Turkish attack forces retirement, but is repulsed.

Aviation

Italian dirigible M-1 achieves the altitude record for a war dirigible, reaching 10,763 feet (3253 meters).
http://i.imgur.com/sKfInrJ.jpg

Naval and Overseas Operations

Three more Ottoman forts on the Dardanelles are silenced, allowing the Allied fleet to advance 2 more miles.

Vice-Admiral Sir Doveton Sturdee's despatches on Falkland Isles battle published.

Admiral Sir David Beatty's despatches on Dogger Bank (24 January) engagement published.

Political, etc.

South Africa: Debate on the Rebellion in the Union Parliament.

National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (predecessor of NASA) is founded by the U.S. government for aeronautical research.

U.S. passes a law that forbids the supply of coal and food to war vessels of belligerent nations.

President Wilson cancels plans of attending the Panama Canal’s formal opening, as Congress refuses to appropriate the expenses.

Czar Nicholas sets up a committee to investigate generals who led the failed invasions of East Prussia; court-martials are hinted at.

Ship Losses:

Cornish Coast ( United Kingdom): The coaster collided with the interned Jeanette Woermann ( Germany) and sank in the River Mersey at Liverpool, Lancashire with the loss of six of her fourteen crew. The survivors were rescued by a tug.
HMT Rondo ( Royal Navy): The naval trawler was wrecked off the Shetland Islands. Her crew survived.
Tiflis ( Belgium): The tug suffered an onboard explosion and fire at Alicante, Spain with the loss of five of her ten crew. Although declared a constructive total loss, She was sold in April 1915, repaired and returned to service.

Sailor Steve

03-03-15, 03:08 PM

February 3:

Air War: Louis Strange and other members of No. 6 Squadron test Strange's bomb racks. Several BE.2s are sent without observers to bomb various railway stations and bridges in support of the battle of Neuve Chapelle, the first use of tactical bombing as part of an integrated battle plan. Strange's target is the station at Courtrai. Crossing the lines at 5,000 feet he has trouble finding his target in the fog and mist below. He sights the river Lys and follows it to his destination, then dives to 500 feet for his attack. He comes out of the clouds a mile short of Courtrai, and follows the tracks to his target. Upon reaching the station he drops even lower. On the station platform he sees a sentry and throws a hand-grenade at him. Strange drops his three bombs between two trains from an altitude of 50 feet in the midst of rifle fire from all sides. Climbing to avoid telegraph wires his plane is rocked by a large explosion. "It was huge sport..."

It is later confirmed that the two trains were crowded with German troops, with around 75 casualties reported. Rail traffic through the station is stopped for three days. Strange will be awarded the Military Cross for this feat.

Austrian Pilot Adolf Heyrowsky scores his second kill, with an unnamed observer again shooting down a balloon.

Pacific Ocean: HMS Newcastle arrives at Esquimalt, British Columbia. Her part in the hunt for Dresden is over.

Cape Horn: HMS Kent moves from Sholl Bay to Fortescue bay and back. HMS Bristol patrols the Barbara Channel. HMS Glasgow patrols the Cockburn Channel to Broderip Bay.

Atlantic Ocean: HMS Carnarvon makes her final preparations for moving. The divers and their sailing pinnace are returned to HMS Vindictive.

Jimbuna

03-04-15, 07:28 AM

4th March 1915

Eastern Front

Prisoners taken by Russians round Stanislau increased to 19,000.

Continued fierce Austrian attacks in the Carpathians.

Southern Front

Dardanelles: Bombardment of the inner forts continued.

Naval and Overseas Operations

Submarine U8 sunk by destroyers in the Channel; crew taken prisoner. First case of "indicator" nets aiding in the destruction of a German submarine ("U.-8" in Straits of Dover) sunk by destroyers Ghurka and Maori.

Dardanelles Campaign
Landings by beach and demolition parties around Kum Kale resulted in a number of Royal Navy and Royal Marine casualties, including two ratings killed from battleship Lord Nelson, one from battleship Ocean, and 23 Marines from the Plymouth Battalion of the Royal Naval Division. Others died of wounds.

Political, etc.

Admiralty decides enemy submarine prisoners cannot be afforded "honourable treatment".

American Consul in Berlin warns that a famine in Germany is near due to the Allied blockade and other war-related causes.

Ship Losses:

Risøy ( Norway): The cargo ship collided with Warsaw ( United Kingdom) in the North Sea off the Nore Lighthship ( United Kingdom) and sank. Her crew were rescued.
SM U-8 ( Kaiserliche Marine): The Type U 5 submarine became trapped in nets in the English Channel off Seaford, East Sussex (50°41′N 0°06′E) and was scuttled.

http://i.imgur.com/nGA0kRr.jpg
U-8 (third row, second from the right), Kiel Harbour, February 1914

Sailor Steve

03-04-15, 11:44 AM

March 4:

English Channel: Having returned to Ostend for fuel and torpedoes after the successes of February 23rd/24th, Alfred Stoß and U-8 return to the hunt. The destroyer HMS Viking spots U-8 on the surface through a heavy mist and opens fire. Viking's captain is Commander Edward Ratcliffe Garth Russell Evans, who was second in command on Robert Scott's famous Antarctic expedition. Stoß takes his boat down unharmed and fires a torpedo at Viking, which misses. U-8 slips away submerged, but leaves behind a trail of swirling pools of water which Viking follows. Meanwhile the drifter (trawler converted to a minesweeper) Roburn observes the buoys supporting the anti-submarine nets moving against the tide, and signals the destroyers patrolling the area. HMS Cossack intercepts the signal and informs his superiors at Dover. At 1315 Dover receives a report from Viking and dispatches several more destroyers to assist. At 1417 HMS Kangaroo sights a lone buoy moving by itself to the east. At 1551 Viking explodes her anti-submarine sweep with no results. At 1610 HMS Gurkha sights a periscope and rigs out her sweep. At 1640 HMS Maori also sees a periscope. At 1700 Gurkha's sweep makes contact and the explosive charge is fired, causing enough damage that U-8 is forced to surface and the two destroyers open fire. The crew of the U-boat rush to the conning tower and hold up their hands as a sign of surrender. Stoß and his men sink their boat and all 29 abandon ship safely to be made prisoners-of-war.

The crews of the drifters are awarded £500 to split between them for their contribution to the action.

Atlantic Ocean: With A & B boiler rooms still out of action and the collier SS Brampton following. HMS Carnarvon gets underway for Rio de Janiero. She has been grounded for two weeks.

Admiral Archibald Peile Stoddart, commanding his squadron from HMS Vindictive since February 23, the day after Carnarvon's grounding, receives a message from the Admiralty of a coded message from Berlin ordering the collier SS Gotha to meet SMS Dresden 300 miles west of Coronel on March 5th. Stoddart immediately orders HMS Kent to investigate.

Cape Horn: SS Galileo, a small merchant chartered by the British to help in the hunt for Dresden, puts into Weihnachts Bay. They have finally acted on the rumors of her presence there, but far too late.

At 1450 hours HMS Kent sets off to the rendezvous point to look for the collier Gotha.

Jimbuna

03-05-15, 09:19 AM

5th March 1915

Western Front

French attack on German positions at Hartmannsweilerkopf.

Zeppelin L8 wrecked near Tirlemont.

Eastern Front

Germans concentrate strong forces between Thorn and Mlava.

Russians cross the Bistritza (eastern Carpathians) and threaten Austrian flank.

Southern Front

Dardanelles: Narrows forts bombarded by "Queen Elizabeth" from Gulf of Saros; fort L blown up and others damaged.

Naval and Overseas Operations

British warships bombard Smyrna.
http://i.imgur.com/QLIrGqQ.jpg

Dardanelles Campaign - Phase 1 had been successful with the outer defences destroyed, beach and demolition parties landed, little damage to the bombarding ships, and few casualties. Now Adm Carden was ready for Phase 2 - sweeping the minefields, believed to consist of ten lines of mines starting 8 miles inside the entrance and reducing the gun and other defences right up to the Narrows. For the latter, naval forces included 14 British and 4 French capital ships and four British light cruisers, but the only minesweepers were eight slow trawlers.

Turkish Coastal Operations - Attempt to reduce Smyrna (Izmir) forts by bombardment was unsuccessful because of defensive minefields; battleships Swiftsure, Triumph, armoured cruiser Euryalus, seaplane carrier Aenne Rickmers, five trawler minesweepers took part. Minesweeper No.285 sunk on 8th, Aenne Rickmers damaged on 11th.

Dardanelles Campaign
Queen Elizabeth, dreadnought, Queen Elizabeth-class, 31,500t, completed January 1915, 8-15in/16-6in, taking leading part in first bombardment of the inner defences, anchored in the Aegean 2½m W of Gaba Tepe and firing over the Gallipoli peninsula at the Narrows forts, spotting by seaplanes and battleship Albion within the Straits. Turks brought up mobile field guns and howitzers, mainly 12pdrs and hit her 17 times, no serious damage.

Political, etc.

German Note issued an answer to attempt to United States to mitigate rigours of war zone.

Germany stops the sale of wheat or rye flour on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays to conserve food.

Ship Losses:

HMT Calliope II ( Royal Navy): The naval trawler collided with another vessel off the Butt of Lewis (58°31′00″N 5°45′30″W) and sank with the loss of a crew member.
Dongola ( United Kingdom): The ship was driven ashore in Porthkerry Bay. Her passengers were taken off by two Royal Navy patrol ships. She was subsequently refloated.
Ignacio Roca ( Spain): The cargo ship departed from West Hartlepool, County Durham, United Kingdom for Barcelona, Spain. No further trace, presumed foundered with the loss of all hands.

Russian battleship Tsesarevich, a pre-dreadnought battleship of the Imperial Russian Navy, docked, ca. 1915.
http://i.imgur.com/rLLOJBq.jpg

Sailor Steve

03-05-15, 12:00 PM

March 5:

Sheerness, England: HMS Humber, Mersey and Severn are boarded by parties of dock workers whose orders are to shore up the hulls for their upcoming ocean voyage. Fittings and boats are removed; since they are considered unseaworthy the monitors are to be towed by seagoing tugs. The crews will ride in a liner and the monitors will be empty. Commander Eric John Arthur Fullerton, captain of Mersey, is the senior naval officer and the only one privy to their destination, which is Malta.

Cape Horn: HMS Bristol puts into Puerto Tamar with rudder problems. HMS Glasgow is patrolling the area around Union Sound.

German East Africa: At 1625 Kinfauns Castle hoists out Sopwith S920. The seaplane makes two flights before returning to the ship.

Jimbuna

03-06-15, 10:25 AM

6th March 1915

Eastern Front

Austrian attacks in the Carpathians again repulsed. They retreat in the Bukovina.

Naval

Ottoman Empire begins dismantling some forts in the Dardanelles straits as they prove ineffective in countering Allied warships.

Dardanelles: Bombardment continued by "Queen Elizabeth" and seven other warships.

Queen Elizabeth continued indirect fire across the peninsula with Albion spotting, while Agamemnon and Lord Nelson entered the straits to carry out their attacks on the Narrows forts:

Majestic, battleship, Majestic-class, covering Albion while she spotted. Hit by a heavy shell from Messudieh Fort.

Agamemnon and Lord Nelson, battleships, Lord Nelson-class, c17,700t, 4-12in/10-9.2in, nicknamed "Aggie" and "Nellie", covered by the French battleship division, opened fire about 1230 on the powerful Chanak forts. Agamemnon soon hit on armour by 6in shell, at 1300 on quarterdeck apparently by 14in shell which blew a great hole, wrecked the wardroom and gunroom and drove splinters through the foretop, followed by two more heavy shells. As both ships continued to come under intense fire from many batteries, both were hit several times from 1400 on, rigging and upper works damaged. Agamemnon hit by a total of 8 heavy shells, Lord Nelson by 7 including one which hit her armour below the waterline, flooded two bunkers and also sent splinters into her conning tower; Capt McClintock and two crew wounded by the splinters. Both ships returned to Tenedos, and next day Lord Nelson left for Mudros and the repair ships there.

Smyrna Blockade
Triumph, battleship, Swiftsure-class and Euryalus, armoured cruiser, Cressy-class, 12,000t, 2-9.2in/12-6in, taking part in blockade of Smyrna to prevent it being used as a submarine base. The intention was to destroy the forts ready for an attack, with minesweeping trawlers sweeping ahead, covered by Triumph, Swiftsure and Euryalus. Turks opened heavy and accurate fire forcing the trawlers to withdraw, Triumph, Euryalus and minesweepers hit; 1 officer DOW, 1 officer and 6 ratings wounded.

Political, etc.

Greece: King Constantine forces the resignation of Venizelos cabinet.

Garibaldi Legion, a French Foreign Legion made up of Italians, is disbanded due to the general mobilization in Italy.

Germany asks the U.S. to take care of its diplomatic interests in Constantinople if the city was to fall to the Allies.

Ship Losses:

Glendalough ( United Kingdom): The schooner sprang a leak and foundered in the Irish Sea off Skerries, Dublin.
HMT John Sherburn ( Royal Navy): The naval trawler ran aground and was wrecked near Dover, Kent.
British steamer BILLITER steel screw 832grt/468nrt was sunk by the Turkish Authorities at Channel of Smyrna Harbour. She was one of three British steamers detained at Smyrna at the outbreak of the war. The others were ASSIOUT (3146 grt) and CITY OF KHIOS (3496 grt). All three were scuttled.

http://i.imgur.com/cJkMg2v.jpg

Sailor Steve

03-06-15, 11:23 AM

March 6:

Austro-Hungarian chief-of-staff General Conrad von Hötzendorf tells his German counterpart General Erich von Falkenhayn that in his opinion war with Italy is inevitable.

Air War: Russian pilot Yevgraph Nikolayevich Kruten, flying a Voisin III with an unnamed observer, is credited with bringing down an 'Enemy Aircraft'.

Cape Horn: HMS Bristol is anchored at Puerto Tamar with divers examining her rudder. HMS Glasgow investigates the area around Ultima Esperanza, finally anchoring at Puerto Natales.

German East Africa: Sopwith S920 is again hoisted into the water, taxis to the beach, makes on test flight and is recovered by Kinfauns Castle. The aircraft is still having trouble functioning it the extreme heat.

Jimbuna

03-07-15, 11:12 AM

7th March 1915

Western Front

Ostend bombed by six British aviators.

Eastern Front

Russians pursue retreating Germans in Augustovo Woods (northern Poland).

Heavy fighting at Osovyets.

Further Austrian attacks repulsed at Baligrod (Carpathians).

Naval and Overseas Operations

No liners from the U.S. will be arriving in England for 11 days, which is the longest pause in 35 years.

German East Africa Campaign - British lake steamers Winifred and Kavirondo drove German gunboat Mwanza ashore at the southern end of Lake Victoria and established local control.

Several coast batteries silenced at Smyrna.

Dardanelles: "Queen Elizabeth", "Ocean" and "Agamemnon" continue bombardment from Gulf of Saros. Fort Dardanos batteries silenced.

Dublin, light cruiser, Chatham-class, 6,000t, 8-6in/4-3pdr/2-21in tt, in Gulf of Xeros/Saros, keeping watch off Bulair at the neck of Gallipoli peninsula. Hidden battery opened fire, hit four times, damage not serious.

Political etc.

Greek Government request explanation of British occupation of Lemnos.

Germany begins calling up men up to the age of 55 for military service.

Germany confiscates the “Münchener Zeitung” newspaper for advocating the annexation of Belgium and suspends “Hammer” for antisemitism.

Government in Constantinople prepares to evacuate the capital, but the Sultan remains in favor of staying in the city.

Romanian Parliament passes a law empowering the government to proclaim a “state of siege” until the end of war if it was deemed necessary.

Ship Losses:

Bengrove ( United Kingdom): The collier was torpedoed and sunk in the Bristol channel 5 nautical miles (9.3 km) north north east of Ilfracombe, Devon by SM U-20 ( Kaiserliche Marine): All 33 crew were rescued.

http://i.imgur.com/fHE8eqN.jpg

Sailor Steve

03-07-15, 12:56 PM

March 7:

English Channel: U-20, Walther Schwieger commanding, torpedoes SS Bengrove, 3,840 tons, carrying 5,000 tons of coal. The ship explodes, which is seen from the shore. The Ilfracombe coast guard sends boats to aid in the rescue. At first it is thought that Bengrove hit a mine. Schwieger now has 4 ships to his credit, for 15,748 tons.

Pacific Ocean: HMS Kent arrives at the reported German rendezvous point hoping to find SS Gotha. With only 530 tons of coal remaining, Captain J.D. Allen stops both engines and waits.

Cape Horn: HMS Bristol is still anchored at Puerto Tamar, divers still working on her rudder. HMS Glasgow spends the day patrolling Almirante Gulf.

Atlantic Ocean: At 1143 hours HMS Carnarvon arrives at Rio de Janeiro. She salutes the Brazilian flag with 21 guns, which honor is returned by the local fort. She then salutes the ship carrying the local rear-admiral with 13 guns. The ship is joined by the collier Bampton and begins coaling and pumping all four boilers again.

German East Africa: SS Kinfauns Castle hoists out S920 again. Again the plane makes two tentative flights. Again it is decided that the Sopwith is not ready.

At 1335 hours HMS Goliath anchors at Moresby Point (Ras Mkumbi), the northern-most point of Mafia Island.

Yemen: Sometime around this date Hellmuth von Mücke arrives back at Al Hudaydah and begins making plans for an escape by sea.

Jimbuna

03-08-15, 09:44 AM

8th March 1915

Western Front

Local attack by Germans, after heavy bombardment, fails at Dixmude.

Eastern Front

Severe fighting on whole front north of Vistula.

Fighting goes in favour of Russians round Osovyets.

Despite heavy losses, Austrians continue to attack at Baligrod.

Russians checked at Kosziowa (southern Carpathians), but retain positions by a counter-attack.

Naval and Overseas Operations

Two more Dardanelles forts are silenced by Allied warships; Ottoman counter-battery fire is largely ineffective.

Smyrna Blockade
OKINO, Admiralty trawler, 241/1914, H L Taylor, Grimsby-reg GY4, hired 8/14 as minesweeper, Admiralty No.285, 15 crew, Lt Geoffrey Whitehouse RNR in command, sweeping channel into Smyrna (Izmir) at night to allow battleships to close and bombard the forts, battleships Triumph and Swiftsure firing on the searchlights. Night of 8th/9th - Mined and sunk about 3,000yds from Fort Yeni Kali, S side of Gulf of Smyrna (H/C/D/sc - in the Dardanelles); 10 crew lost, skipper and four men saved.

Heraclea (Eregli) (Asia Minor) and neighbouring coast bombarded by Russian Black Sea fleet.

Ostend bombed.

Political, etc.

Britain allows U.S. cotton shippers until March 31st to complete their contracts in Germany before the Allied blockade goes into effect.

Britain considers trying the captured German crew of submarine U-8 as pirates.

Greece: M. Zaimis having refused to form a ministry, King Constantine summons M. Gounaris who forms a cabinet.

In a council at Vienna, the Emperor Francis Joseph accepts the principle of a rectification of frontiers in favour of Italy.

Ship Losses:

HMT Okino ( Royal Navy): The naval trawler was lost on this date.

Sailor Steve

03-08-15, 01:01 PM

March 8:

Pacific Ocean: HMS Kent is still waiting for SS Gotha to appear. With the dawn Captain J.D. Allen and his crew find themselves in the midst of a heavy fog. By late afternoon the fog has burned off, and at 1517 Allen is surprised to see SMS Dresden herself, at a distance of 26,000 yards. Kent starts working up to full speed. At 1537 they are only 17,000 yards away when Captain Lüdecke sights the British cruiser and runs. Kent is making 21 knots but Dresden turns out to be faster, making better than 23 knots. By 2000 she has opened the range to 30,000 yards and Allen slows his ship to cruising speed and sends a message to Captain Luce aboard HMS Glasgow.

"By 2000 she was hull down and only her masts and tops of funnels showed. Our funnels were glowing red hot and sparks were flying astern. At 2100 it was nearly an hour since I had seen anything."

Kent is low on coal and returns to the meeting place to see if the German collier will show up. Dresden is even worse off. Lüdecke decides to make his way to Más a Tierra, or Robinson Crusoe Island. He has been given permission to seek internment if that becomes the only option - "His Majesty the Kaiser leaves it to your discretion to lay up."

Cape Horn: HMS Bristol is still laid up with her damaged rudder.

Rio de Janeiro: HMS Carnarvon once again has divers examining her damaged hull. Arrangements are made for the ship to move to a floating dry-dock for repairs.

Zanzibar: HMS Goliath moves from Moresby Point to join the squadron at Mafia Island. Admiral King-Hall takes direct command of the Rufiji squadron.

Yemen: The rest of the Emden crew arrive back at Al Hudaydah.

Jimbuna

03-09-15, 02:23 PM

9th March 1915

Western Front

French gain ground in the Perthes-Mesnil district.

Heavy fighting between Four-de-Paris and Bolante.

Eastern Front

New German offensive near Przasnysz.

Russian advance north of Osovyets.

Heavy artillery firing along the river Narev.

Austrian attack fails in the Carpathians.

Naval and Overseas Operations

Submarine U12 rammed and sunk by H.M.S. "Ariel".

North Sea
Leviathan, armoured cruiser, Drake-class, was 6th CS Grand Fleet, now ordered to Rosyth prior to becoming flagship North American Station, zig-zagging near Bell Rock around 1730. Torpedo fired by U.12, missed.

22 French transports make their way to the Dardanelles; bombardment of Turkish forts continues.

German submarines sink three British steamships today, resulting in 37 deaths.

The U.S. sends the armored cruiser Washington and the battleship Georgia to Veracruz, Mexico to protect US interests.

Political, etc.

Lloyd George proposes a measure which will allow the government to take control of factories that produce war supplies.

German Imperial Family cancels receptions and reduces staff to be more in line with the war conditions.

Professor Lowell of Harvard declares that it is “inevitable” the U.S. will be drawn into the European war and should prepare for it.

Ship Losses:

Aberdon ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship was torpedoed and sunk in the North Sea off St. Abb's Head, Berwickshire by SM U-12 ( Kaiserliche Marine) with the loss of fifteen crew.
Blackwood ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship was torpedoed and sunk in the English Channel 18 nautical miles (33 km) south west by south of Dungeness, Kent by SM U-35 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived.
Gris Nez ( France): The trawler was shelled and sunk in the English Channel 20 nautical miles (37 km) west south west of Beachy Head, East Sussex, United Kingdom by SM U-35 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived.
Princess Victoria ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship was sunk in Liverpool Bay 16 nautical miles (30 km) north west by north of the Liverpool Bar Lightship ( United Kingdom) by SM U-20 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived.
Tangistan ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship was torpedoed and sunk in the North Sea off Scarborough, Yorkshire with the loss of 37 of her 38 crew. The survivor was rescued by Woodville ( United Kingdom).

Sailor Steve

03-09-15, 04:31 PM

March 9:

English Channel: U-12, under Hans Kratzsch, torpedoes SS Aberdon, 1,005 tons, travelling from Seaham to Aberdeen with a cargo of coal. This will be Kratzsch's only score.

Walther Schwieger in U-20 torpedoes SS Princess Victoria, 1,108 tons, bound from Aberdeen to Liverpool with a general cargo. This is Schwieger's fourth ship for 15,856 tons.

U-35, commanded by Waldemar Kophamel, torpedoes the British freighter SS Blackwood, 1,230 tons, heading from Blyth to Le Havre with a load of coal. Later the same day Kophamel stops the 208-ton French trawler Gris Nez. He allows the crew to abandon ship and then sinks the boat with his deck gun.

Pacific Ocean: HMS Kent returns to the German rendezvous point. While waiting for the arrival of the collier Gotha the ship is stopped and men put over the side to scrape the bottom. Captain Allen means to makes sure that if they should meet Dresden at sea again his ship will be faster.

Cape Horn: HMS Bristol is still laid up at Puerto Tamar with divers working on her damaged rudder. The repairs will not be completed until April 18th.

HMS Glasgow is moving through the narrow channels from Ultima Esperanza to Caffin Pass in preparation for joining HMS Kent at sea. Glasgow was one of the survivors of the disaster at Coronel, and Captain Luce wants to be there when they finally meet SMS Dresden.

Rio de Janeiro: At 0810 HMS Carnarvon is moved into the Brazilian floating drydock Alfonso Pina. Divers go down and remove the collision mat. At 1045 pumping water out of the dock begins. At 1110 the ship comes to rest on the wooden blocks designed for that purpose. At 1130 pumping is stopped and workers begin shoring up the sides of the hull. At 1545 pumping begins again. At 1815 a second row of shoring is set up and at 1845 the dock is dry. HMS Carnarvon will remain there undergoing repairs until April 1.

Zanzibar: HMS Kinfauns Castle again tests S920. The plane rises to 1000 feet, but is still struggling the whole time.

HMS Goliath departs Zanzibar for Mombasa.

Jimbuna

03-10-15, 07:27 AM

10th March 1915

Western Front

Battle of Neuve Chapelle begins.

Eastern Front

Russians repulse renewed German attacks on the Niemen and west of Grodno.

Naval and Overseas Operations

German armed auxiliary cruiser "Prinz Eitel Friedrich" puts into Newport News (U.S.A.) for repairs.

Dardanelles: Renewed bombardment.

German submarine U-12 is sunk after being rammed by the British torpedo destroyer Ariel.
Ariel, destroyer, I-class, c990t, 2-4in/2-12pdr/2-21in tt, 1st DF, now believed based at Rosyth for service with Grand Fleet, Lt-Cdr Cyril Calaghan. U-boat sighted by trawler off Fife Ness, SE Scotland, three destroyers including Attack and Acheron called up, spotted her on the surface and opened fire, Ariel then rammed the conning tower as she submerged, U.12 came back up, was hit again and scuttled by the crew. Ariel's bow considerably damaged, stern high out of water, docked at Leith for repairs.
http://i.imgur.com/LZm5EhT.jpg

Political, etc.

Greece: Gounaris ministry sworn in.

Further report on German treatment of civilians in occupied territory issued by the French Government.

A new Note on the Anglo-French naval blockade presented by the United States.

Ship Losses:

HMT Manx Hero ( Royal Navy): The naval trawler was lost on this date.
U-12 ( Kaiserliche Marine): The Type U 9 submarine was shelled by Ariel and Attack then rammed by Acheron (all Royal Navy) in the North Sea off Eyemouth, Berwickshire and sank with the loss of nineteen of her 29 crew.

After Neuve Chapelle – bivouac of 4th Battalion on 10th March 1915
http://i.imgur.com/hlcIJr1.png

Sailor Steve

03-10-15, 12:11 PM

March 10:

English Channel: After being chased for four days by trawlers, U-12 is cornered and attacked by the destroyers HMS Acheron, Ariel, and Attack. Attack opens fire on the submarine, which starts to dive. Ariel manages to ram the boat's conning tower as it slips beneath the surface. Captain Kratzsch orders the tanks blown and U-12 shoots back to the surface, only to come under fire from all three destroyers. The main hatch is jammed and only ten of the boat's crew manage to escape and be taken prisoner. Among those lost is the boat's commander, Hans Kratzsch.

Also taking part in the chase are the trawlers May Island, which first spotted the submarine on March 6th, Ben Strome, Olive Branch and Strathisla, plus Auxiliary Patrol trawlers Chester, Coote, Duster, Martin and the armed yacht Portia.

U-12 has a unique place in history. Back on January 15th, with Walther Forstmann commanding, U-12 carried a Friedrichshafen FF.29 on her forward deck from Zeebrügge into the open ocean. Forstmann ordered the forward tanks flooded and the seaplane floated free, then took off and returned to its base. The pilot for this test was Oberleutnant zur See Friedrich von Arnauld de la Perière, the younger brother of the man who would become the greatest submarine ace of all time.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/German_submarine_U-12_zpsxhewcjf5.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/German_submarine_U-12_zpsxhewcjf5.jpg.html)

Pacific Ocean: Captain Allen of HMS Kent decides the German collier is not going to show up and sets course for Coronel to recoal there.

HMS Glasgow leaves Cape Horn behind, moving into the Pacific and heading for SMS Dresden's last known position.

Africa: HMS Goliath arrives at Mombasa, recoals, and heads back for Mafia Island.

Jimbuna

03-11-15, 08:41 AM

11th March 1915

Western Front

British make progress near Neuve Chapelle, occupying village of l'Epinette.

Eastern Front

Heavy fighting is ongoing on an 80-mile front near Przasnysz, Poland as German troops launch another offensive in the area.

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

Cavalry reconnaissance to Nakaila (west of Basra).

Naval and Overseas Operations

North Channel
Ambrose, Admiralty armed merchant cruiser, 4,595/1903, hired 20/11/14, 10th CS. Heading for Liverpool to coal, approaching North Channel, two torpedoes fired in separate attacks off Oversay Island (ss - Ornsay island) off Islay, possibly by U.20. During third attack, conning tower spotted and fired at.

BAYANO, Admiralty armed merchant cruiser, ex-passenger ship, 5,948/1913, 14kts, Elders & Fyffes, Liverpool, hired 8/14 (C/wi - 21/11/14), 2-6in, Pennant No.M.78, 10th CS Northern Patrol, Cdr Henry Carr i/c, master, Lt Bernard Dunphy RNR. After coaling in the Clyde, left night of 10th to return to patrol line (Rn/wd - for Liverpool to coal), sailing without lights at 13kts, very calm dark night. Torpedoed by U.27 (Bernd Wegener) amidships under boiler room around 0515, magazines exploded and she sank within 4min in Firth of Clyde, 10 miles SE by E of Corsewall Point, Galloway (ke - 10 miles WNW of; wi - in 55.03.03N, 05.26.03W); 196 lives lost - 14 officers, 124 ratings and 59 merchant seamen (ke - 195 lost), 26 survivors - 2nd i/c, 7 officers and men picked up by ABS Tara, 18 PO's and men on two liferafts by SS Balmerino and landed at Ayr. Wreck believed to lie at 330ft.

Dardanelles Campaign
Six trawler minesweepers again attempted to sweep the Kephez lines; one unknown trawler hit by 6in shell and repaired by Agamemnon's carpenters. Gunfire so heavy the trawlers soon withdrew, next night the French sweepers failed to make any progress sailing against the current, and it was decided to man some of the trawlers with regular navy crews. It was noted that the mines were “not as violent as North Sea mines".

Smyrna Blockade
Aenne Rickmers, seaplane carrier, German steamship, 7,000t/4,083grt, 1911, 1-12pdr/2 seaplanes, seized at Port Said 8/14, taken over as seaplane carrier in January with minimum of modifications, under Red ensign with mixed naval/civilian crew, French aircraft with French pilots and British observers, operated off Sinai, Syrian & Turkish coasts, taking part in British naval blockade of Smyrna. Torpedoed by German-commanded, Turkish torpedo boat Demir Hisar at 0200, grounded at Mudros for shoring-up by HMS Reliance, refloated 12 May, to Alexandria for repairs, completed 18 June. Recommissioned as HMS Anne with naval crew 5 August, paid off August 1917.

Political etc.

Swiss authorities begin expelling French refugees in the country, who total over 30,000.

Ship Losses:

Auguste Conseil ( France): The cargo ship was sunk in the English Channel 22 nautical miles (41 km) south of Start Point, Devon, United Kingdom by SM U-29 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew were rescued by Excellence Pleske ( Denmark).
HMS Bayano ( Royal Navy) The armed merchant cruiser was torpedoed and sunk in the North Channel 3 nautical miles (5.6 km) off Corsewall Point, Dumfriesshire (55°03′N 5°26′W) by SM U-27 ( Kaiserliche Marine).[21] Twenty-six survivors were rescued by Balmarino ( United Kingdom and HMS Tara ( Royal Navy).
Florazan ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship was torpedoed and damaged in the North Sea 53 nautical miles (98 km) north east of the Longships Lighthouse by SM U-20 ( Kaiserliche Marine) with the loss of a crew member. She sank on 13 March 50 nautical miles (93 km) south west of St. Ann's Head, Aberdeenshire.

HMS Manica was a British cargo steamship that became the first kite balloon ship of the Royal Naval Air Service. She saw active service in the Dardanelles Campaign of 1915 directing the fire of the supporting ships at Anzac Cove.
http://i.imgur.com/GnZbJYP.jpg

Sailor Steve

03-11-15, 02:44 PM

March 11:

Sheerness, England: The work on HMS Humber, Mersey, and Severn is done. Their crews are put into a barracks and the three monitors are towed out of the harbor and prepared for their journey.

English Channel: Walther Schwieger, commanding U-20, torpedoes SS Florazan, 4,658 tons, travelling in ballast from Le Havre to Liverpool. His score is now 20,514 tons.

Bernd Wegener, in U-27, torpedoes the armed merchant cruiser HMS Bayano, 5,948 tons, giving him a score of 12,273 tons.

Otto Weddigen, now commanding U-29, sinks SS Auguste Conseil, 2,952 tons, carrying a cargo of coal from Cardiff to Le Havre. Weddigen also torpedoes SS Adenwen, travelling in ballast from Rouen to Barry, but the damaged merchant manages to safely make port. Weddigen is still the leading U-boat ace with 46,302 tons.

Pacific Ocean: HMS Kent arrives at Vallenar, Chile. Delaying his journey to Coronel, Captain Allen decides it is more important to complete the task of cleaning his ship's bottom. He puts out a picket boat armed with a machine gun and two torpedoes, a common practice when anchored in a foreign port.

United States: SMS Prinz Eitel Friedrich puts into Newport News, Virginia, for repairs. Captain Max Therichens finds that the sinking of William P. Frye has severely prejudiced the Americans against him. This is somewhat mollified by the statement of Frye's captain H.H. Kiehne, who describes the destruction of his ship after they were too slow jettisoning their cargo of wheat, but also the gentlemanly treatment accorded Kiehne, his family and his crew.

German East Africa: HMS Goliath returns to Mafia Island. The captain of HMS Kinfauns Castle is called to Goliath for a conference with the Admiral. Goliath then heads back to sea.

Yemen: Hellmuth von Mücke charters two zambuks (a type of sailboat common to the area, about 45 feet in length). The French armored cruiser is still anchored at Al Hudaydah. Convinced that there are British and French spies in the city, von Mücke spreads the word that he will be sailing from Isa Bay on the 13th.

Jimbuna

03-12-15, 08:25 AM

12th March 1915

Western Front

German counter-attacks repulsed at Neuve Chapelle.

Eastern Front

Russians repulse German attacks near Augustovo Woods and north of Przasnysz.

Naval and Overseas Operations

French force for Dardanelles collecting in North Africa.

North Sea
INVERGYLE, Admiralty collier, 1,794/1907, Invergyle SS Co (Stewart & Gray), Glasgow-reg, Mr D Minto, Scapa Flow for Hartlepool in ballast. (te/un - 13th) - Torpedoed by U.23 (Hans Schulthess), sank next day 12 miles NNE of Tyne estuary (L/wi - 15 miles NNE of, in 55.18.40N, 01.25.44W).

General Sir Ian Hamilton appointed Commander-in-Chief, Mediterranean (Dardanelles) Expeditionary Force.
http://i.imgur.com/nhvu3a7.jpg

Political etc.

Prince von Buelow, German ambassador to Italy, officially raises an offer to cede Austrian territory to Italy for an alliance.

Dutch Government issue warning that foreign merchant ships using Dutch flag will be detained.

British Government notify Russian Government of their acceptance of Russian claims to Constantinople.

Naval council of Germany convenes due to the high rate of attrition of its submarine fleet.

U.S. government launches an investigation after the revelation yesterday that an American civilian vessel was sunk by Germany.

Ship Losses:

Andalusian ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship was scuttled in the Atlantic Ocean 25 nautical miles (46 km) west north west of the Bishop Rock, Isles of Scilly by SM U-29 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived.
Headlands ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship was torpedoed and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean 8 nautical miles (15 km) south of the Isles of Scilly (49°51′N 6°26′W) by SM U-29 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived.
Indian City ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship was sunk in the Atlantic Ocean 10 nautical miles (19 km) south of St Mary's, Isles of Scilly (49°30′N 6°15′W) by SM U-29 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived.
Inga ( Bermuda): The schooner was driven ashore on Bermuda and was wrecked.

Sailor Steve

03-12-15, 11:24 AM

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

03-13-15, 11:04 AM

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.
http://i.imgur.com/ksz9rF4.jpg

Laura Spelman Rockefeller, abolitionist, philanthropist, and wife to John D. Rockefeller, has passed away.
http://i.imgur.com/5UmM3wW.png

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
http://i.imgur.com/d4fKxKi.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/DjXVL8q.jpg

Sailor Steve

03-13-15, 12:07 PM

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

03-14-15, 09:38 AM

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://i.imgur.com/7HXApH3.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_M%C3%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.

http://i.imgur.com/XddSCvd.jpg

Sailor Steve

03-14-15, 01:17 PM

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

03-15-15, 08:38 AM

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://i.imgur.com/LZ9WD6G.jpg
http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9F00E2DC153AE633A25756C1A9659C946496D6CF

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

03-15-15, 12:13 PM

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

03-16-15, 03:55 PM

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.
http://i.imgur.com/RgPPcMF.png
http://i.imgur.com/dWoDdCt.jpg

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

03-16-15, 06:04 PM

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

03-17-15, 07:37 AM

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.
http://i.imgur.com/9SguGzY.jpg

Sailor Steve

03-17-15, 03:54 PM

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

03-18-15, 09:19 AM

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.
http://i.imgur.com/NdeTyD7.jpg

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.
http://i.imgur.com/7dLyUpG.jpg

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

03-18-15, 04:09 PM

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

03-19-15, 08:07 AM

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

03-19-15, 10:33 AM

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.

Jimbuna

03-20-15, 11:36 AM

This is the second reminder that topics should be confined to as per title '100 Years Ago Today'.

Jimbuna

03-20-15, 11:41 AM

20th March 1915

Western Front

Germans regain some trench elements near Notre Dame de Lorette.

Eastern Front

Russians attack, taking 2,400 prisoners, near Smolnik.

Russian troops enter and capture the East Prussian port city of Memel.

Naval

Dardanelles: Violent storm. Despite high losses in the previous attempt, Allied warships resume operations in the Dardanelles straits.

Overseas Operations

German south-west Africa: General Botha defeats German force at Riet, on the Swakop.

Political etc.

German Socialist in the Reichstag criticizes the military for trying to “Germanize” people living in Alsace-Lorraine.

George Clemenceau predicts Britain will soon institute conscription as the war could continue for some time.

Edmond Rostand, French poet, calls on Greece to enter the war; says Achilles mourns to see the nation doing the goose step.

Austria offers to cede a part of the province of Trent to Italy if it will remain neutral in the war.

Sailor Steve

03-20-15, 03:42 PM

March 20:

German East Africa: The old Canopus-class Battleship HMS Goliath, flagship of Admiral King-Hall, moves south to the mouth of the Lindi River and opens fire with her secondary guns. The ship's log doesn't say what the target is, but records 53 rounds of 6" Common and Lyddite shell fired, so presumably it is German or native troops on land.

HMS Kinfauns Castle moves from Zanzibar to Mombasa, where S920 performs a couple more short test hops.

Saudi Arabia: Hellmuth von Mücke and his men set sail northward from Al Qunfudhah in their zambuk. The next stop will be Al Lith, 76 nautical miles to the north-northeast.

Jimbuna

03-21-15, 11:22 AM

21st March 1915

Western Front

French regain lost trench elements near Notre Dame de Lorette.

Severe fighting at Bagatelle (the Argonne).

Eastern Front

Germans re-occupy Memel.

Germans abandon attack on Osovyets and withdraw their artillery.

Aviation

Two German zeppelins drops fifty bombs on the Batignolles and Neuilly districts of Paris.

Naval

Dardanelles Campaign
TB.064, torpedo boat, Yarrow 125ft-type, c87t, 1886, 19kts, 2-3pdr/5-14in tt, 16 crew, Chief Gunner James Cottrell in command. One of a group of six torpedo boats, including TB’s 063 and 070, sailed on 17th from Port Said for Mudros on the island of Lemnos, in company with old light cruiser Doris and collier Kasala. On the 20th, off the island of Khio (or Chios) with the weather worsening, they coaled, but TB.064 only took on half her bunkers. Continuing on to Lemnos in strong NE gales and following a course change, 064 became separated, and Doris, after reaching Mudros with the other five TB's, went out to search for the missing one. She was found off the east coast of the island, at anchor, with hardly any remaining coal and in no condition to proceed. Night of 21st - anchors dragged, drifted ashore and wrecked E side of Lemnos island; no lives lost, crew saved after a stoker swam ashore with a line.

Political, etc.

Italian military attache leaves Vienna.

German government advises its citizens to leave Italy, as it becomes likely the country will enter the war.

Crown Prince Rupprecht of Bavaria is wounded at the front, but the injuries are not serious.
http://i.imgur.com/WirZdKa.jpg

7000 women respond to the British government’s call for female workers to replace men who have gone to the front.

Ship Losses:

Cairntorr ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship was torpedoed by U 34 and sunk in the English Channel 7 nautical miles (13 km) south of Beachy Head, East Sussex 50°40′N 0°15′E by SM U-34 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew were rescued by the Eastbourne Lifeboat and the Newhaven Lifeboat.
HM Torpedo Boat 64 ( Royal Navy): The torpedo boat ran aground and was wrecked in the Aegean Sea.

http://i.imgur.com/R7P3rTV.jpg

Sailor Steve

03-21-15, 02:47 PM

March 21:

English Channel: Claus Rücker, commanding U-34, torpedoes the British freighter SS Cairntorr, 3,588 tons, carrying a cargo of coal from Newcastle to Genoa, Italy. Rücker's score now stands at two ships and 8,789 tons.

German East Africa: HMS Goliath moves from the Lindi River back to Moresby Point on Mafia Island. Later she moves into the North Mafia Channel toward Tirene.

HMS Hyacinth moves from the South Mafia Channel to Tirene and back. Along the way she encounters Goliath and transfers a German civilian prisoner to the battleship.

S920 makes several more flights from Kinfauns Castle, anchored at Port Reitz, Mombasa. The longest lasts eight minutes.

Jimbuna

03-22-15, 11:51 AM

22nd March 1915

Western Front

Eastern Front

Capitulation of Przemsyl to the Russians; 126,000 prisoners and 700 big guns.

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

Turkish raiding forces discovered near El Kubri (Suez).

Naval

1488 horses are loaded up on the French liner La Gascogne, which is the largest cargo of horses in history.

French battleship Jaureguiberry is ordered to join the Dardanelles fleet.
http://i.imgur.com/waLIdCl.jpg

Political etc.

Germany issues $2.25 billion ($52.06 billion today) of war loans, which secures funding for the war until late autumn.

French Prize Court declare seizure of S.S. "Dacia" valid.

Ship Losses:

Turbine ( Regia Marina): The Nembo-class destroyer was sunk in the Adriatic Sea by SMS Helgoland and two destroyers (all Austro-Hungarian Navy).

http://i.imgur.com/FJKzc62.jpg
A captured German Taube monoplane, on display in the courtyard of Les Invalides in Paris, in 1915.

Sailor Steve

03-22-15, 01:02 PM

March 22:

Eastern Front: During the fighting around Przemsyl, at a town called Okna a Croatian sergeant named Josip Broz is stabbed in the back by a Russian cavalryman's lance. "I fainted. The Circassians began to butcher the wounded, even slashing them with their knives. Fortunately Russian infantrymen reached the positions and put an end to the orgy."

Josip Broz is the youngest sergeant-major in the Austro-Hungarian army. Later he will be (in)famous as the Yugoslavian dictator Tito.

English Channel: Claus Rücker, in SMS U-34, torpedoes British freighter Concord, 2,861 tons, carrying a cargo of mixed grains from Rosario to Leith. Rücker's score is now three ships and 11,650 tons.

Gibraltar: The monitor convoy stops off the coast of Gibraltar. The tugs Danube II, Southampton and T.A. Joliffe unship their towing lines and move into the harbor for recoaling. The convoy continues on at slow speed. After replenishing the three tugs rejoin the convoy and the same process is repeated with Blackcock, Sarah Joliffe and Revenger. As it is now late the latter three remain in harbor overnight.

Adriatic Sea: Egon Lerch, commanding Austro-Hungarian submarine KEK U-12, takes two prizes: Montenegrin sailing vessels Fiore Di Dulcigno and Hilussie.

Africa: HMS Goliath anchors at Zanzibar, then departs for Mombasa.

Light cruiser HMS Hyacinth is patrolling down the coast from Mafia Island.

At Port Reitz, Mombasa, HMS Kinfauns Castle again hoists S920 into the water. The plane makes three flights, the longest being nine minutes.

Jimbuna

03-23-15, 02:42 PM

23rd March 1915

Western Front

Germans bombard Reims and Soissons; French silence the German guns at Soissons.

German occupation forces executes 17 Belgians on charges of doing espionage for the Allies.

Southern Front

Dardanelles: Bombardment resumed.

40,000 Austria-Hungarian troops are sent to Trieste to protect the port from a possible Italian attack.

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

Turkish raiding forces routed by British near El Kubri.

Italy begins fortifying the Aegean Islands, which had been recently taken from the Ottoman Empire in the Italy-Ottoman War.

Naval

First kite-balloon ship, H.M.S. "Manica" commissioned.
http://i.imgur.com/wBmZ4u3.jpg

Political, etc.

U.S. government asks the Japanese government what exactly are its intentions in China.

Chinese and Japanese Governments conclude secret agreement as to future policy in Manchuria.

An American is shot and wounded by a British sentry, after he sailed too close to a German POW camp in Bermuda.

Sailor Steve

03-23-15, 04:40 PM

March 23:

Writing at Charleville, Admiral von Tirpitz compares the fall of Przemysl to the Allied failure at the Dardanelles: "The one will lessen the effect of the other, but everywhere the Russians are attacking ruthlessly and the Austrians are always beaten, and we too are getting nervous. Hindenburg is coming to the end of his resources."

Gibraltar: The tugs Blackcock, Sarah Joliffe and Revenger rejoin the monitors' convoy and they all proceed on toward Malta at their full six knots.

Africa: HMS Goliath reaches Mombasa and recoals.

HMS Hyacinth moves from the South Mafia Channel into the Indian Ocean.

Jimbuna

03-24-15, 12:43 PM

24th March 1915

Eastern Front

Russian forces launch a push south of the Carpathians as troops are freed up after the fall of Prmysl.

Naval

North Sea
Undaunted, light cruiser, Arethusa-class, 4,400t, 3rd DF leader and Landrail, destroyer, L-class, c1,300t, 3rd DF, Harwich Force, in collision. Damaged to Undaunted not known but three crew drowned, Landrail towed home with badly crumpled bow.

Aviation

Five Royal Naval Air Service Avro 504s of No. 1 Squadron bomb the German submarine depot at Hoboken in Antwerp, Belgium, starting a fire in the shipyard that destroys two German submarines.

Political, etc.

Chile protests against violation of her territorial waters by the British at the battle of Juan Fernandez.

Russian nobility passes a resolution that it is in the vital interests of Russia to take control of Constantinople & the Dardanelles Straits.

China tentatively accepts 5 of the 21 Demands made by Japan; anti-Japanese riots occur in the south.

Mary Anna Jackson, 2nd wife of General “Stonewall” Jackson, has passed away.
http://i.imgur.com/omdiRYe.jpg

Sailor Steve

03-24-15, 12:52 PM

March 24:

Air War: Five Avro 504s from No. 1 Squadron RNAS attack the submarine base at Hoboken, The Netherlands. The pilots are Squadron Commander Ivor T. Courtney, Flight Lieutenants Bernard Crossley-Meates and Harold L. Rosher, and Flight Sub-Lieutenants B.L. Huskisson and F.G. Andreae.

The flight takes off from Dunkirk at 0530 and flies at 2,500 feet to Zeebrugge. They rise to 5,000 feet and continue toward Antwerp. Courtney drops to 500 feet and drops his bombs. Rosher glides down from 5,500 feet to 2,500 then 1,000 for his bomb run, under fire the entire time. Rosher is convinced his plane is shredded, but when he gets home he discovers it was only hit twice. Courtney and Rosher make it home safely, but Meates comes down in Holland with engine trouble and is enterned. Andreae gets lost in the fog and returns home. Huskisson also becomes lost but manages to drop his bombs on Ostende.

"At Hoboken the Antwerp ship-building yard was set on fire and two submarines were destroyed, while a third was damaged. Forty German workmen were killed and sixty-two wounded."
-French official communique

Some information from With The Flying Squadron: Being the War Letters of the Late Harold Rosher to his Family, Macmillan, New York, 1916

Africa: HMS Goliath departs Mombasa to return to Zanzibar.

HMS Hyacinth rounds the Cape Delgado lighthouse to examine Keonge Bay and Lindi Bay.

Saudi Arabia: After four days at sea Hellmuth von Mücke and his party arrive at Al Lith which he calls "Leet".

Jimbuna

03-25-15, 08:00 AM

25th March 1915

Eastern Front

Russian counter-offensive makes progress in the Carpathians; 5,700 prisoners taken.

Naval

Submarine U29 sunk.
http://i.imgur.com/IUuXb6n.jpg

First deliberate neutral sinking, Dutch SS Medea, 1,235grt, sailing Valencia for London with oranges, stopped and searched, then sunk by U.28 in English Channel off Beachy Head. Dutch government made strong protests.
http://i.imgur.com/vKNvgii.jpg

Overseas

Indian Expeditionary Force "F" (in Egypt) absorbed into Indian Expeditionary Force "E".

General Liman von Sanders appointed to command Turco-German Forces, Dardanelles.

Political etc.

Duchess Victoria Louise, daughter of Kaiser Wilhelm, gives birth to her second son, Prince George William.

Japan holds general elections; Prime Minister Okuma’s Rikken Doshikai party wins the most seats.
http://i.imgur.com/MBLc0vA.jpg

Ship Losses:

Delmira ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship was intercepted in the English Channel 23 nautical miles (43 km) north north east of the Cap d'Antifer, Pas-de-Calais, France by SM U-37 ( Kaiserliche Marine). An attempt was made to scuttle her but it did not succeed. Delmira subsequently drifted ashore. Later salvaged, repaired and returned to service.
USS F-4 ( United States Navy): The F-class submarine sank in the Pacific Ocean 1.5 nautical miles (2.8 km) off Honolulu, Hawaii with the loss of all 21 crew.
Medea ( Netherlands): The cargo ship was shelled and sunk in the English Channel off Beachy Head, East Sussex, United Kingdom by SM U-28 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew were rescued by HMS Teviot ( Royal Navy).
Tamar ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship was shelled and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean 500 nautical miles (930 km) east nort east of Pernambuco, Brazil by SMS Kronprinz Wilhelm ( Kaiserliche Marine).

USS F-4
http://i.imgur.com/Dc9M09V.jpg

Sailor Steve

03-25-15, 12:30 PM

March 25:

London: Colonial Secretary Lewis Harcourt sends the British War Council a memorandum suggesting that after Turkey is defeated Britain should annex the region as "an outlet for Indian immigration", and that they should offer Palestine as a mandate to the United States.*

*Martin Gilbert, The First World War, page 139

Saudi Arabia: Hellmuth von Mücke discovers that the British have warships blockading the port of Jeddah, some 100 nautical miles to the northeast. They are stopping even the smallest boats, so there is no chance of travel by sea. They are also at the northernmost end of the Farasan Bank, so there is no more protection from the reefs. Von Mücke realizes that the only option left to him is to travel by land. He begins looking for the means to make that happen.

Jimbuna

03-26-15, 10:53 AM

26th March 1915

Western Front

French gain summit of Hartmannsweilerkopf.

Belgian troops drive back Germans south of Diksmuide with only light losses.

Aviation

Six French airmen bomb Metz.

Eastern Front

Continued Russian advance in the Carpathians, 2.500 prisoners reported.

Lupkow Pass taken.

Political etc.

Despite warnings from the British government, docks in Liverpool threaten to strike, which would hold up vital supplies.

Troop transport Sardinia, in dazzle camouflage, at a wharf during World War I.
http://i.imgur.com/hHenmGX.jpg

Sailor Steve

03-26-15, 11:46 AM

March 26:

German East Africa: In a pouring rain storm HMS Goliath returns to Mafia Island. HMS Hyacinth moves from Mafia Island to the Rufiji Delta. HMS Weymouth returns from Rufiji to Mafia to repair a damaged steering gear.

At Mombasa, HMS Kinfauns Castle is discharging all the seaplane stores. The RN has finally given up on the Sopwith seaplane.

Saudi Arabia: In an attempt to gather enough animals to transport his party over land, Hellmuth von Mücke contacts the Sheik of Al Lith. The town is small - only a few hundred people - and even the Sheik is poor. He invites von Mücke to dinner at his home. Von Mücke describes it as a hut with no windows, with weapons hanging on all the walls. The only furniture is described as "smoking apparatus". To eat they lie on mats on the floor. The meal consists of a large pile of rice and a whole roast sheep.

The Sheik agrees to do everything he can to acquire sufficient camels for the journey.

Jimbuna

03-27-15, 08:42 AM

27th March 1915

Western Front

French make progress at Les Eparges.

After heavy fighting, French troops capture the peak of Hartmannswillerkopf in the Vosges Mountains of Alsace.

Eastern Front

Russians repulse German attacks in the Niemen district.

Austria-Hungarian forces halt the Russian advance in the Carpathians and in Bukovina; Russians are also ousted from East Prussia.

Naval

Bosporus forts bombarded by Russian Black Sea Fleet.

Political etc.

German Field Marshal von der Goltz travels to Sofia, Bulgaria to negotiate its entry into the war.

Ship Losses:

Aguila ( United Kingdom): The cargo liner was torpedoed and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean 47 nautical miles (87 km) south west of the Smalls Lighthouse by SM U-28 ( Kaiserliche Marine) with the loss of eight lives. Some of the survivors were rescued by the trawler Ottilie ( United Kingdom).
Coleby ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship was shelled and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean 460 nautical miles (850 km) north east of Pernambuco, Brazil by SMS Kronprinz Wilhelm ( Kaiserliche Marine).
South Point ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship was torpedoed and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean 60 nautical miles (110 km) west of Lundy Island, Devon by SM U-28 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived.
Vosges ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship was shelled and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean 38 nautical miles (70 km) west by north of Trevose Head, Cornwall (50°42′N 5°35′W) by SM U-28 ( Kaiserliche Marine) with the loss of a crew member.[53] Survivors were rescued by HMS Wintona ( Royal Navy).

Sailor Steve

03-27-15, 11:41 AM

March 27:

London: Sir John French gives an interview to The Times saying they are suffering from a lack of artillery shells at the front. Times owner Lord Northcliffe blames Lord Kitchener for the death of his nephew along with thousands of other British soldiers.

Celtic Deep, west of Cornwall: Georg-Günther von Forstner in U-28 sinks three more freighters, all British: Aguila, 1,295 tons, carrying a general cargo and passengers from Liverpool to Lisbon, Madeira and the Canary Islands; South Point, 3,838 tons, bound from Cardiff to Philadelphia with a load of China Clay; and Vosges, 1,295 tons, travelling from Bordeaux to Liverpool with a mixed cargo. This gives von Forstner six ships and 12,697 tons.

Indian Ocean: Admiral King-Hall has recognized the uselessness of his flagship HMS Goliath in the shallow waters around the Rufiji Delta. While patrolling off Zanzibar King-Hall transfers himself, his staff and his flag to the light cruiser HMS Hyacinth. The old battleship is dispatched to Mombasa while the admiral's new flagship returns to the South Mafia Channel.

Port Reitz, Mombasa: HMS Kinfauns Castle lowers S920 overboard for the last time. The Sopwith is towed to shore. Flight Commander Cull, Flight Lieutenant Watkins and all nineteen mechanics are taken ashore in a lighter.

Al Lith, Saudi Arabia: For the first time since their boarding Ayesha on November 9th, von Mücke suffers the loss of one of his crew. A sailor he names as 'Keil' was one of the ones who came down with typhus in Al Hudaydah. Without medical supplies his condition has continually deteriorated, and he dies at 0300 hours on the 27th. Von Mücke decides to use a rowboat to bury seaman Keil at sea, partly because of tradition and partly because of worry over locals raiding a grave. The body is sewn into sailcloth weighted with stones, draped with the battle flag, given a full military and religious ceremony with a three-volley rifle salute, rowed out to deep water and "we committed it to its last resting place".

Jimbuna

03-28-15, 10:58 AM

28th March 1915

Western Front

French repulse all counter-attacks at Les Eparges.

Eastern Front

Attempted renewal of offensive by Germans in northern Poland.

Failure of Austrian attacks and progress by Russians in the Carpathians.

Naval and Overseas Operations

German submarine torpedoes and sinks S.S. "Falaba". The Thrasher incident, as it became known in U.S. media, nearly became the start of America's involvement in World War I. On March 28, 1915, the British steamship RMS Falaba was torpedoed and sunk by German U-boat U-28. In the incident, 104 people were killed, including one American passenger — Leon Chester Thrasher, a 31-year-old mining engineer from Massachusetts.
http://i.imgur.com/UZ8vJKp.jpg

Russian Black Sea fleet bombards the forts on the Bosporus.

Smyrna forts shelled.

Bombardment of the Dardanelles by Allied warships resume; there is little return fire from the Ottoman side.

Crews fail to raise the U.S. submarine F-4, which sank 2 days ago off Honolulu; rescuers now believe all 21 submariners are dead.

Political etc.

German government condemns the British for attacking the German cruiser Dresden, which sank off the coast of Chile, in neutral waters.

Greek government issues an official statement stating there is no need to abandon the country’s neutrality.

Typhoid Mary, asymptomatic carrier of the pathogen who infected 51 people, is quarantined for the rest of her life.
http://i.imgur.com/lsODKyQ.jpg

Ship Losses:

Falaba ( United Kingdom): The ocean liner was torpedoed and sunk in St. George's Channel 38 nautical miles (70 km) west of the Smalls Lighthouse by U-28 ( Kaiserliche Marine with the loss of 104 lives.[55] Survivors were rescued by three trawlers, amongst them Eileen Emma and Wenlock (both United Kingdom).

Cattle is herded to the butcher: provision for Austrian troops in the Carpathians.
http://i.imgur.com/gaauoBq.png

Sailor Steve

03-28-15, 11:11 AM

March 28:

Celtic Sea: Georg-Günther von Forstner scores again with U-28, sinking the British passenger/cargo ship SS Falaba, 4,806 tons, bound from Liverpool to several West African ports. He now has 7 ships and 17,503 tons.

Saudi Arabia: Having gathered ninety camels, Hellmuth von Mücke and his men depart Al Lith at 1600 hours. He has purchased a number of straw mats for shade while resting. Most of the camels carry water, with the remainder packing the supplies and machine guns. The men march with loaded rifles due to the number of bandits in the region. Their route is northward, paralleling the coast. They also have an escort of one Turkish officer and seven troops.

Jimbuna

03-29-15, 07:45 AM

29th March 1915

Eastern Front

Germans take Tauroggen (north-east of Tilsit).

Further Russian advance in the Carpathians; 5,600 prisoners.

Naval and Overseas Operations

Battleships Alabama, Connecticut, and Utah arrive off the Virginia Cape to watch over the German raider Prinz Eitel, which is in port.

Political, etc.

British Government conclude agreement with American rubber interests that rubber should not be exported except to Great Britain.

Holland protests against the sinking of one ship, the shelling of another, and the detention of two more, by the Germans.

100,000 Chinese troops, including reserves, are deployed in Peking and the surrounding areas.

Ship Losses:

Amstel ( Netherlands): The coaster struck a mine and sank in the North Sea off Flamborough Head, Yorkshire, United Kingdom. Her crew were rescued by the trawler Pinewold ( United Kingdom).
Dakar ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship caught fire in the Forcados River, Nigeria. She sank on 31 March.
Flaminian ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship was shelled and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean 50 nautical miles (93 km) south west by west of the Isles of Scilly (49°50′N 7°00′W) by SM U-28 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived.
Theodore Weems ( United States): The coaster was run in to by Heredia ( United States) off New Orleans, Louisiana and sank.

http://i.imgur.com/DZjzIcq.jpg

Sailor Steve

03-29-15, 10:39 AM

March 29:

Western Approaches, off the tip of Cornwall: Georg-Günther von Forstner in U-28 stops the British freighter SS Flaminian, 3,500 tons, carrying a general cargo from Glasgow to South Africa. The crew are allowed to abandon ship and the steamer sunk with the deck gun. Von Forstner's score now stands at 8 ships and 21,003 tons.
For a fascinating side note, see here (http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showpost.php?p=2302055&postcount=12).

Later U-28 attacks SS Theseus, 6,723 tons, en route from Liverpool to Java with general cargo. The ship is damaged by gunfire but after a chase of 57 miles manages to outrun the U-boat.

Valletta, Malta: The monitor convoy arrives at Grand Harbor and moors in Lazaretto Creek. They have encountered some rough weather in the past few days but suffered no damage, not even a broken tow line.

Erongo, Namibia, West Africa: The armed merchant cruiser HMS Laconia has been stationed here for a month, and operating in the area since January. On this day she departs Walfisch Bay for Simonstown, South Africa and a much-needed drydocking.

German East Africa: HMS Goliath arrives at Mombasa. HMS Hyacinth is patrolling the area around Niororo Island. HMS Kinfauns Castle has returned from Mombasa to Mafia Island. She and HMS Weymouth are patrolling the Rufiji Delta in a pouring rainstorm.

Saudi Arabia: As the sun is coming up Hellmuth von Mücke and his men stop for the day and set up camp. The night's journey has been slow. The caravan has made several stops to re-tighten straps loosened by the gait of the camels. They find a watering hole, but the "water" is brown, brackish, full of insects, and despite the dark color they can see a dead sheep at the bottom of the pool. They build a fire and boil the water thoroughly, having no other choice but to use it despite the smell and taste.

Jimbuna

03-30-15, 07:04 AM

30th March 1915

Western Front

Germans bomb Reims Cathedral.

Eastern Front

Heavy fighting continues between Russia and Austria-Hungary in the Uzsok Pass; several feet of snow hinders movement.

Political etc.

Lloyd George: “We are fighting Germany, Austria and drink, and so far as I can see the greatest of these three deadly foes is drink.”

King Albert of Belgium on the defense of his country: “I am not a hero, you will find them in our trenches.”

Kaiser Wilhelm meets in Berlin with Field Marshal von der Goltz, military advisor in Constantinople, to discuss the Dardanelles situation.

Ship Losses:

Crown of Castile ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship was scuttled in the Atlantic Ocean 31 nautical miles (57 km) south west of the Bishop Rock, Isles of Scilly (49°25′N 6°50′W) by SM U-28 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her 43 crew were rescued by Magellan ( France).
HMT Trygon ( Royal Navy): The naval trawler was lost on this date.

Sailor Steve

03-30-15, 11:04 AM

March 30:

Western Front: In a letter to his mother Flt. Lt. Harold Rosher repeats a joke popular at the time:
One Tommy, speaking to another over the trenches: "'Ello, Bill, got a lice over there?"
"Garn, we ain't lousy!"
"I mean a boot lice!"

Off the English Channel, south of Cornwall: Georg-Günther von Forstner scores his last victory of this patrol when he stops SS Crown Of Castile, 4,505 tons, bound from St. John, New Brunswick for Le Havre, carrying a load of oats and hay. The crew are allowed to abandon ship and the freighter sunk with scuttling charges. U-28 heads for home with a final score of 9 ships and 25,508 tons.

Malta: The three monitors are battened down. Even the governor of Malta is not allowed below decks when he visits. The six tugs are pressed into service towing military equipment to the Dardanelles and Lemnos in preparation for the upcoming operations there.

Dardanelles: British General Hamilton tells Admiral de Robeck that they should renew the naval attack, since "It is always possible the opposition may crumple up. If you should succeed be sure to leave light cruisers enough to see me through my military attack in the event of that being after all necessary."

German East Africa: HMS Hyacinth joins Goliath at Kilindini Harbour, Port Reitz, Mombasa. Kinfauns Castle and Weymouth are still guarding the mouth of the Rufiji river.

Saudi Arabia: The German caravan sets out on its third night's journey. Short of water they comfort themselves with the knowledge that there are other watering holes ahead and they are only two nights' ride from their next destination, Jeddah (von Mücke calls it Djidda).

Jimbuna

03-31-15, 07:00 AM

31st March 1915

Eastern Front

Germans bombard Libau.

Severe fighting in the Carpathians.

Austria-Hungarian troops advance 35 miles into the Russian province of Bessarabia towards Khotyn on the Dniester River.

Political, etc.

Thomas Scott, secretary of the British Mercantile Marine Service Assoc., urges the arming of merchant ships to protect them from submarines.

Home Secretary appoints a Committee of enquiry into the recruiting of men from retail trades.

King George V of Britain offers to give up drinking for the duration of the war to serve as an example for the country.

U.S. orders Ambassador Page to protest the British decision to impose a blockade against Germany.

General Alexander von Kluck is seriously wounded in the leg while inspecting the trenches.
http://i.imgur.com/t4aw0Mv.jpg

Ship Losses:

Emma ( France): The cargo ship was sunk in the English Channel 12 nautical miles (22 km) south of Beachy Head, East Sussex, United Kingdom by SM U-37 ( Kaiserliche Marine) with the loss of nineteen of her 21 crew. The survivors were rescued by a Royal Navy destroyer.
Nor ( Norway): The sailing vessel was sunk in the North Sea off Sunderland, County Durham, United Kingdom (56°13′N 4°25′E) by SM U-10 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived.

The four Montenegrin sailing vessels Buona Forte, Fiore I, Hailie and Indaverdi were taken as prizes off the coast of Montenegro by the commander of k.u.k. U12, Egon Lerch.

MERCHANT SHIPPING
British, Allied and Neutral ships lost to enemy submarines, mines and cruisers etc in the month - 34 ships of 87,000 tons gross (Lloyd's War Losses).

Sailor Steve

03-31-15, 01:44 PM

March 31:

Air War: Aleksandr Alexandrovich Kozakov repeats the feat of Pyotr Nestorov the previous September when he rams an Albatros two-seater with his Morane-Saulnier G. Unlike his predecessor, Kazakov survives the collision. The story goes that he first tried to snare his opponent with a grappling hook. Kozakov will go on to become Russia's highest-scoring ace.

This event was previously recorded as taking place on March 18th. This is due to Russia still using the Julian Calendar at the time.

English Channel: Erich Wilke, commanding U-37, sinks the small French freighter Emma, 1,617 tons, travelling in ballast from Dunkerque to Bordeaux.

North Sea: U-10, commanded by Fritz Stuhr, stops the Norwegian sailing vessel Nor, 544 tons, carrying a load of lumber from Fredrikstad to Hull. The crew are allowed to abandon ship and the vessel scuttled.

Adriatic Sea: Egon Lerch in the Austro-Hungarian submarine U-12 rounds up a small fishing fleet and takes them back to his base as prizes. Tonnages are unknown.

Saudi Arabia: Around 1100 hours von Mücke's caravan arrives at the next watering hole. They find there a Turkish officer and seventeen soldiers sent from Jeddah to meet them. The Turks have brought a supply of water. The grateful Germans set up their straw mats for cover and settle in for the day. They are only one day from Jeddah and a garrison of more than three hundred soldiers.

At 1600 hours they break camp and start the final night's journey. The terrain consists of sand dunes overgrown with clumps of grass. Visibility is only about 400 meters. As they are riding along in the moonlight they catch sight of a group of twelve or so Bedouins, who immediately trot out of sight. The Turkish officer tells von Mücke that he believes them to be bandits, based on the rumors in Jeddah of a group of forty or so robbers roaming the area. Von Mücke had sent word from Al Lith that they were coming, and assumed that the whole area knew that they were not a merchant caravan but a group of fifty armed men with four machine guns.

Von Mücke divides his caravan into two columns and orders his men to have their weapons at the ready. As the sky starts to grow lighter they relax a little, having heard that the bandits never attack in daylight. He is riding down the columns to make sure everything is in order when a shrill whistle sounds, followed by a heavy volley of gunfire. Von Mücke and his mean leap from their camels and run to the front of the caravan. They cannot see the enemy, but can see the flashes from the rifles. They assume the bandits cannot see them either, lying prone in the sand, and conclude that their camels must be the intended targets.

With fire coming in from all sides, von Mücke decides the first order of business is to get the machine guns ready. They are tied to the backs of camels, two at the head of the caravan and two at the rear. After a few minutes the machine guns are ready and open fire. This unexpected turn of events silences the enemy's fire for the moment. The Germans take advantage of the lull to drag the camels to the ground where they will be a little safer. Once this is done the men organize themselves and prepare for the next round.

Taking stock of their weapons they count the four machine guns, thirteen German and three modern Turkish rifles, ten older Turkish rifles and twenty-four pistols. As the sky grows lighter von Mücke concludes that they might be facing as many as three hundred Bedouins. Von Mücke records that his men behave splendidly, mounting bayonets as a group without being ordered to do so. In the quiet a young sailor calls to his Captain. When von Mücke asks what he wants the boy says "How soon are we going at it, Sir?"
"Going at what?"
"Why, storming the enemy, sir."
"Exactly, my man. Up! March! March!"

The Germans leap to their feet and charge the bandits, who have never seen this type of tactic. They start to mill about in confusion, then begin to run. The bandits at the rear of the caravan also beat a hasty retreat, even though no one is rushing them. When the Bedouins are an estimated twelve hundred meters away the Germans return to their caravan to take stock. They have suffered only one man wounded. Their escort of Turkish gendarmes have mostly fled, leaving seven of the original twenty-four. Of these several have been wounded in the legs. They had attempted to hide behind the camels, which were the enemy's prime target. The Germans count fifteen Bedouin bodies. The rest are still visible in the distance.

Several of the camels are dead. Von Mücke and his men strip the supplies and distribute them among the uninjured camels. The machine guns are stripped and remounted to the camels. Von Mücke decides that they will be safer with the sea protecting one flank, and the caravan turns to its left, toward the coast. The caravan is divided into four rows, with a skirmish line of ten men walking 150 meters ahead. Leutnant Gerdts is in command of the advance guard, with Leutnant Schmidt in charge of the rear and Leutnant Gyssling commanding the flanks.

After marching no more than ten minutes the bandits again start firing from about four hundred meters' distance. Their new tactic is to appear ten or twenty at a time, fire a volley and disappear again. The main burden is on the rear guard. To everyone's surprise not one man is hit during all this. Von Mücke is with the rear guard when he receives a report of heavy fire from the front. When he gets to the head of the caravan he sees what he describes as "...the whole horizon was black with Bedouins." He then hears from Lt. Schmidt at the rear requesting additional camels, as one of the beasts carrying a machine gun has been shot. Then the sound of machine gun fire can be heard from the rear. Schmidt has taken it upon himself to set up the guns and start using them. On his way back to the rear von Mücke finds that one of his sailors, Rademacher by name, has been killed and that Lt. Schmidt is mortally wounded. Leutnant Wellmann, who had taken the two camels to the rear for the machine guns, is now commanding the defense.

Suddenly the enemy fire ceases, and von Mücke sees two of the Turkish gendarmes running toward the Bedouins waving a white flag. The Germans take advantage of this lull to dig trenches and fortify them with saddles and sacks of rice and coffee. The water bottles are buried in the sand to protect them from rifle fire. The camels are gathered in the middle and a protective wall built from empty cans filled with sand. Leutnant Schmidt is carried there on a litter and seaman Rademacher hastily buried.

The negotiations are conducted by the Turkish dragoman and his wife. They will not be seen again until the Germans reach Jeddah. The two gendarmes return from their parley with the bandits' demands. The Germans are to surrender all their arms, provisions, water and camels, and pay £11,000 in gold. Von Mücke sends his reply: "In the first place, we have no money; in the second, we are guests of the country - get your money in Djidda; thirdly, it is not customary with Germans to surrender their arms."

The attack begins anew. The Turkish gendarmes and camel drivers follow the dragoman's example and vanish into the dunes. A new problem begins - the store of ammunition that was rescued from the wrecked zambuk begins to misfire. Several more camels are shot, and the men make use of them for extra protection.

The running fight has lasted the entire day. In the hour between sunset and moonrise they can see nothing at all, and prepare for a possible assault. When the moon rises they can see about three hundred meters, and there is no enemy in sight. The Germans increase their fortifications and distribute water and the first food they have eaten in several hours. trenches are deepened and camel carcasses dragged downwind. Von Mücke sends an Arab who has been with him since Al Hudaydah, to try to get to Jeddah with news of their situation.

At about 2100 Leutnant Schmidt dies. They dig as deep a grave as the sand will allow, and he is buried around 2300. Guards are posted and everyone tries to get some sleep.

Jimbuna

04-01-15, 10:37 AM

1st April 1915

Western Front

British air raid on Zeebrugge and Hoboken.

Germans occupy Cloister Hoek (near Dixmude).

Eastern Front

Russian advance checked in western Poland.

Russians make progress in the Carpathians.

Southern Front

Bulgarian Komstodjis attack the Serbs at Valandovo.

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

Russians occupy Tsria (Transcaucasia).

Naval and Overseas Operations

First Flanders UB flotilla commissioned, six boats operational by end of April; U.37 possibly mined off Zeebrugge, Belgium during the month.

South African forces occupy Hasuur (German south-west Africa).

British S.S. "Seven Seas" torpedoed off Beachy Head.

Aviation

French pilot Lieutenant Roland Garros scores the first kill achieved by firing a machine gun through a tractor propeller when he shoots down a German Albatros observation plane.

Political, etc.

Bruce Ismay of the White Star Line estimates that German submarines have cost the British £7.4 million (£517 million today).

Bismarck centenary celebrations.

Herr Dernburg, interviewed by New York Times, justifies sinking of S.S. "Falaba".

Scheme for a Dockers' Battalion at Liverpool published.

Ship Losses:

Gloxinia ( United Kingdom): The trawler was stopped and scuttled in the North Sea 40 nautical miles (74 km) north east by east of the mouth of the River Tyne by SM U-10 ( Kaiserliche Marine).
Jason ( United Kingdom): The trawler was stopped and scuttled in the North Sea 40 nautical miles (74 km) north east by east of the mouth of the River Tyne (55°27′N 0°25′W) by SM U-10 ( Kaiserliche Marine).
Nellie ( United Kingdom): The trawler was stopped and scuttled in the North Sea 40 nautical miles (74 km) north east by east of the mouth of the River Tyne (55°33′N 0°19′W) by SM U-10 ( Kaiserliche Marine).
Seven Seas ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship was torpedoed and sunk in the English Channel 6 nautical miles (11 km) south of Beachy Head, East Sussex by SM U-37 ( Kaiserliche Marine) with the loss of nine of her Seventeen crew. Survivors were rescued by a Royal Navy destroyer.

Sailor Steve

04-01-15, 02:00 PM

April 1:

Air War: Jean Marie Dominique Navarre of France scores his first aerial victory. He is flying a Morane-Saulnier 'L' parasol with Jean Robert as his observer. Navarre maneuvers their plane to within thirty feet of an Aviatik B.I, and Robert opens fire with his carbine. Two of the shots hit the radiator and one wounds the pilot, who lands on the French side of the lines.

French pilot Roland Garros becomes the world's first fighter pilot, shooting down an Albatros two-seater with his Morane-Saulnier 'L' parasol.
Details here.
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/showthread.php?p=2302883#post2302883

Harold Rosher writes his sister detailing his test flight in a Vickers Gunbus, including an engine failure and ditching just off the docks. He concludes with a note: "This afternoon Garros shot down a taube from his Morane. The poor wretches were burned to death. Two of our people raided Hoboken again this morning."

English Channel: U-37, under Erich Wilke, sinks SS Seven Seas, 1,194 tons, heading from London to Liverpool in ballast.

North Sea: Fritz Stuhr in U-10 captures and scuttles three British trawlers, Gloxinia, Jason and Nellie. This brings his score to 4 ships and 974 tons.

South Africa: HMS Laconia arrives at Simonstown at 0754. At 0845 she goes into drydock. By 1145 the dock is drained. At 1515 the dock is refilled
and the ship repositioned. At 1705 the dock is again empty and Laconia properly positioned.

German East Africa: HMS Goliath arrives at Zanzibar. At Kilindini Harbour, Port Reitz, Mombasa, the crew of HMS Hyacinth note that Sopwith S920 is airborne over the town and once circles their ship.

Saudi Arabia: With the coming of daylight the attacks resume. Von Mücke observes that in the distance he can see two large zambuks tied up at the shore. The enemy troops are being resupplied from the boats, and their camels are roaming free nearby, grazing in the grass there. A camel is killed outside the compound nearby. It is upwind, and as it rapidly decays in the fierce heat the Germans can do nothing but endure the smell. Then they are attacked by a new enemy when the camp is overrun by thousands of large beetles. These get under the men's clothes and crawl all over the bodies and faces of the wounded. The men cannot wear headcloths as they make good targets. Accidently touching the barrel of a rifle while firing brings burns to the hands. The camel saddles are coated with grease, and begin to smolder in the heat. To keep the smoke from spreading the saddles are covered with sand. The sand itself blows around the camp, sticking to the sweating men.

Two more sailors are severely wounded. One of them, a fireman named Lanig, dies that night. With darkness von Mücke sends to of the Turkish gendarms to Jeddah, dressed as Bedouins.

After dark the men are trying to get some sleep when one of their sentries opens fire, followed by several more. Von Mücke asks one of them where the enemy is. "Right here, at a distance of about forty meters some of them were creeping along. There goes one now!" The man then shoots at it. After some careful observation the officers determine that the "enemy" are a pack of hyenas feasting on the dead camels.

Catfish

04-01-15, 02:33 PM

The whole thread is very interesting, but i think a lot of the incidents are described a bit one-sided. Especially regarding U-boats and e.g. the Falaba incident on march 28th i have a slightly different view of things :hmm2:
I just hate to let this stand as it is, but i plain do not have enough time :shifty:

Jimbuna

04-02-15, 06:48 AM

2nd April 1915

Western Front

German attack stopped at Bagatelle (Argonne).

French air raids on German aviation camps in Belgium and Lorraine.

Eastern Front

Russian cavalry defeat German cavalry in northern Poland.

Russians take Cigielka (Carpathians).

Naval and Overseas Operations

English Channel
LOCHWOOD, Admiralty collier, 2,042/1900, Constantine & Pickering SS Co, Middlesbrough-reg, 21 crew, Mr T Scott, from Barry with 3,200t coal, steaming at 8kts in misty weather with sea rough, strong WSW wind. U.24 (Rudolf Schneider) sighted on reverse course on port beam about 1¼m distant, turned away, hoisted Norwegian ensign and went to full speed. U-boat followed, fired a first torpedo at 1745 and a second at 1815, then approached within hailing distance, ordered Lochwood to stop and gave the crew 10min to abandon ship, while doing so a third torpedo hit port-side abaft the engine-room. U.24 made off at 1900 and Lochwood sank at 1930, 25 miles SW of Start Point, Devon (wi - in 49.54.30N, 04.04W).

German steamer Macedonia, which had been interned in the Canary Islands, evades British cruisers and escapes.
http://i.imgur.com/6pMxjIk.jpg

South African troops capture the key trading station of Aus, German Southwest Africa (today Namibia).

Political, etc.

Premier Asquith temporary takes the position as head of the Foreign Office as Sir Edward Grey goes on vacation.

American Note to Great Britain on the blockade.

Correspondence between Great Britain and Germany as to submarine crews taken prisoner by former, published.

Austria offers Italy a rectification of frontier in the Trentino.

Ship Losses:

Lochwood ( United Kingdom): The collier was torpedoed and sunk in the English Channel 25 nautical miles (46 km) south west of Start Point, Devon by SM U-24 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived.
Parquerette ( France): The barquentine was scuttled in the English Channel 18 nautical miles (33 km) north of Cap d'Antifer, Pas-de-Calais (50°20′N 0°16′E) by SM U-33 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived.

Sailor Steve

04-02-15, 01:29 PM

April 2:

Air War:
0600 French pilot Georges Pelletier d'Oisy and observer René Chambe, in a Morane 'L' two-seater, shoot down an Albatros two-seater for victory number 1.

English Channel: Rudolf Schneider and U-24 are already doubly famous, first for the loss of life aboard the French ferry Admiral Ganteaume on October 26th and then for sinking HMS Formidable on January 1st. Now they sink SS Lochwood, 2,042 tons, carrying a load of coal from Barry to an unnamed destination.

Konrad Gansser, commanding U-33, stops and scuttles the French barquentine Paquerette, 399 tons, sailing in ballast from Fécamp to Newfoundland.

Valletta Harbour, Malta: Orders are given for the monitors to prepare for another voyage. Most of the tugs are still under service for duty at the Dardanelles, with only Blackcock and Danube II remaining at Valletta. The tug Rescue is dispatched from Gibraltar to aid in the trip.

Zanzibar: HMS Hyacinth arrives from Mombasa. HMS Goliath departs for Aden.

Bombay, India: HMS Chatham, which under Captain Drury-Lowe was the first ship to keep SMS Königsberg bottled up at Rufiji, has been stationed at Bombay for awhile now.

Saudi Arabia: As the sun rises on the third day of battle, Hellmuth von Mücke and his men know that it may be the last. They have only enough water for this one day. Von Mücke gives orders that at nightfall they will make a break for it. The sick and wounded are to be left behind, and anyone wounded along the way will be left where they fell. After these instructions are given the attack begins anew.

Around noon they are approached by a man carrying a white flag. He tells them that the attackers will allow them to keep their arms, camels and provisions if they are paid £22,000. In an attempt to play for time, Von Mücke tells the man that they have enough food and water to last four weeks and are looking forward to the fight. He says that they should be grateful he does not attack them with his machine guns. The man leaves, and returns a half-hour later with the same demands. This time Von Mücke tells the messenger that he will now only talk to the attackers' leader personally.

The man departs, and a quarter of an hour passes with no gunfire. Then another. They carefully take a look around, and see nothing. Fearing a ruse, von Mücke orders his men to wait. After awhile they take another look, and then risk standing up. There is no gunfire, and nothing to be seen.

About an hour later they see two men on camels approaching their camp. When these arrive they announce themselves as emmisaries of the Emir of Mecca. They tell the Germans that troops are on the way to give them an escort.

Half an hour after this the Germans can see a party of around seventy men approaching. They carry a red banner with verses from the Koran written in gold lettering. Their leader is Abdullah, second son of the Emir. He distributes water and offers his men as escort to Jeddah.

Von Mücke comments that loading up for the trip takes some time, "...as getting camels ready to march has as yet not been included in the training for service in the Imperial Navy." With forty of their camels dead they are forced to leave behind a large amount of supplies. As the caravan sets out von Mücke notes that the enemy were quite organized, and had dug their own large system of trenches.

That night they make camp, and for the first time in four days have a cooked meal and are able to bathe and get a good night's sleep. At this point they see searchlights off the shore of the Red Sea. Von Mücke is convinced that the party of Arabs who attacked them were paid to do so by the English, who also supplied their weapons.

Jimbuna

04-03-15, 07:16 AM

3rd April 1915

Western Front

French take Regnieville (Woevre).

Eastern Front

Russian attacks repulsed in the Carpathians.

Severe fighting north of Czernowitz.

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

French expeditionary force begins to land at Alexandria.

Naval and Overseas Operations

Dover Straits barrage completed.

Turkish cruiser "Medjidia" sunk by a mine off Odessa; Russian Black Sea fleet engages the "Goeben" and "Breslau".
http://i.imgur.com/Yvx2j6C.jpg

South African forces occupy Warmbad (German south-west Africa).

Aviation

The French pilot Adolphe Pégoud scores his fifth aerial victory, becoming history 's first ace.
http://i.imgur.com/K4S9YCh.jpg

Political, etc.

General Joffre, French Commander-in-Chief, predicts that the war will end soon in an Allied victory.

Greece: Publication of a memorandum of 24 January 1915 by M. Venizelos to King Constantine on Greek foreign policy.

American military mission, attached to the German Staff, recalled.

Shipments of food by parcel post from Chicago to Germany and Austria have increased in the last two weeks from 115 packages per day to 1200.

Ship Losses:

Childwall ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship collided with Trinculo ( United Kingdom) in the Bristol Channel off Lundy Island, Devon and sank. Her crew were rescued by Trinculo.
Douro ( Portugal): The cargo ship was reported to have been torpedoed and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean. Her crew survived.
Mecidiye ( Ottoman Navy): The cruiser struck a mine and sank in the Gulf of Odessa. She was later salvaged by the Russians and entered service with the Imperial Russian Navy as Prut.

Sailor Steve

04-03-15, 11:34 AM

April 3:

Air War: Adolphe Pègoud, flying a Morane-Saulnier 'L' parasol, brings down an unidentified two-seater and later an Aviatik B.I. There is some debate over whether Pègoud had an observer firing the gun or was using a deflector plate system as Garros had done two days earlier. On the one hand it seems unlikely that he would have had such an apparatus so quickly, but if it was Saulnier and not Garros who had developed the device then he certainly might have shared it with more than one pilot.

After this double victory French newspapers begin calling Pègoud "L'As" ("The Ace"). The term will later be applied to any pilot scoring five victories or more, a practice still in use today.

German East Africa: HMS Hyacinth arrives at the Rufiji Delta to relieve HMS Weymouth, which departs for Zanzibar. Kinfauns Castle is patrolling up and down the coast, looking for possible German activity ashore.

Saudi Arabia: Hellmuth von Mücke and his group arrive in Jeddah, where the sick and wounded are taken into a military hospital. He has his theory about the Bedouins being hired by the British confirmed. From the city they can see the masts of Allied warships. Despite this von Mücke decides to take to the sea again. Assuming the presence of English spies he spreads the rumor that he is planning to continue to travel by land. He then hires a zambuk and a pilot. There will be a few days' delay while the wounded men recover. The plan is made to leave Jeddah on the 8th.

Jimbuna

04-04-15, 06:47 AM

4th April 1915

Western Front

French make progress south of St. Mihiel (Meuse) and in the Woevre district.

Germans take Driegrachten.

Eastern Front

Russian hospital bombed at Radom (Poland).

Russians occupy Cisna and reach Sztropko (Carpathians).

Fierce battle at Okna (nezr Czernowitz).

Russian troops move into the Beskid Mountains and claim they are capturing 5000 Austria-Hungarian troops a day.

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

Russians defeat Turks at Olty (Armenia).

Naval and Overseas Operations

"Goeben" and "Breslau" withdraw to Bosporus.

Political, etc.

Greece: Publication of a further memorandum by M. Venizelos, dated 30 January 1915, on Greek foreign policy.

Japanese government abandons a proposal to send a volunteer army to fight in the Europe.

Ship Losses:

City of Bremen ( United Kingdom): The collier was torpedoed and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean 20 nautical miles (37 km) south by west of the Wolf Rock, Cornwall by SM U-24 ( Kaiserliche Marine) with the loss of four of her seventeen crew. The survivors were rescued by Fanny ( United Kingdom).
Flora ( Netherlands): The cargo ship was driven ashore 6 nautical miles (11 km) west of Hartland Point, Devon, United Kingdom and was a total loss. Her crew were rescued.
Hermes ( Russia): The sailing ship was sunk in the English Channel 35 nautical miles (65 km) south of St. Catherine's Point, Isle of Wight United Kingdom (50°17′N 0°55′W) by SM U-33 ( Kaiserliche Marine).
Olivine ( United Kingdom): The coaster was torpedoed and sunk in the English Channel 30 nautical miles (56 km) south of St. Catherine's Point (50°26′N 1°12′W) by SM U-33 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived.

http://i.imgur.com/ae7cxQr.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/Fihho4N.jpg

Sailor Steve

04-04-15, 09:19 AM

April 4:

Atlantic Ocean, off Cornwall: Rudolf Schneider, commanding U-24, torpedoes SS City of Bremen, 1,258 tons, bound from Port Talbot to Nantes with a load of coal.

English Channel: U-33, under Konrad Gansser, sinks Russian sailing ship Hermes, travelling in ballast from London to Port Arthur. She thin sinks the British steamer SS Olivine, 634 tons, carrying a load of granite from Guernsey to Calais.

Valletta Harbour, Malta: The three monitors and their tugs are ready to travel, but heavy seas in the region force them to delay their departure.

Jimbuna

04-05-15, 07:57 AM

5th April 1915

Western Front

Belgians repulsed at Driegrachten.

French make progress east of Verdun, but are repulsed in the Argonne.

Eastern Front

Russian forces make steady gains in the Carpathian passes, capturing Cisna station from Austira-Hungary.

Naval and Overseas Operations

Union forces occupy Kalkfontein and Kamus (German south-west Africa).

Political, etc.

King George V prohibits use of alcoholic drinks in any of the royal households.

Report shows that manufacturers in Leeds, England are producing 15 uniforms a minute for the British Army.

Great Central Railway Company in Britain begins employing women in limited roles; other companies will soon follow.

Mr. John Redmond addresses the National Volunteer Convention at Dublin.

In the U.S. note to Britain, it states that the Allies have no justification for the illegal act of blockading Germany.

Germany deports Gifford Pinochet, an American working for relief efforts in Belgium, as his sister wed an Englishman.

Ship Losses:

Acantha ( United Kingdom): The trawler was torpedoed and sunk in the North Sea 25 nautical miles (46 km) east by north of the Longstone Lighthouse (55°41′N 1°00′W) by SM U-10 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her thirteen crew were rescued by Tord ( Sweden).
Northlands ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship was torpedoed and sunk in the English Channel 24 nautical miles (44 km) south west of Beachy Head, East Sussex (50°03′N 0°16′W) by SM U-33 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her 24 crew were rescued by Topaz ( Belgium).
SMS T57 ( Kaiserliche Marine): The S43-class torpedo boat struck a mine and sank in the Baltic Sea.

Sailor Steve

04-05-15, 01:46 PM

April 5:

English Channel: U-33, under the command of Konrad Gansser, captures and then torpedoes SS Northlands, 2,776 tons, traveling from La Goulette to Middlesbrough with a cargo of iron ore. Gansser now has 4 ships for 4,828 tons.

North Sea: Fritz Stuhr in U-28 stops the trawler Acantha, 322 tons. After allowing the crew to abandon ship Stuhr sinks the little vessel with a torpedo. Due to encountering only small coastal vessels this makes 5 ships for a total of only 1,296 tons.

German East Africa: HMS Hyacinth is patrolling the area around the Rufiji Delta while HMS Weymouth replenishes at Zanzibar. Assisting them are the old iron gunboat HMS Pickle and several hired trawlers.

Jimbuna

04-06-15, 02:33 PM

6th April 1915

Western Front

French make progress east of Verdun and in Alsace.

Indecisive fighting on the Meuse front.

Eastern Front

Russian advance in the Niemen district.

Southern Front

Serbian artillery silence bombardment of Belgrade.

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

Russians enter Artvin (Armenia).

Naval and Overseas Operations

Battleships and aeroplanes bombard Smyrna.

Germans defeated at Karunga (German East Africa).

Warmbad taken.

Political, etc.

Greek Note to Bulgaria and Bulgarian Note to Serbia on the Komitadjt outrages.

British Government appoint a committee on munitions of war.

German embassy: U.S. should ask Britain for reparations when U.S. citizens are killed on British ships sunk by German submarines.

http://i.imgur.com/SiYHqVG.jpg
A single soldier on his horse, during a cavalry patrol in World War I. At the start of the war every major army had a substantial cavalry, and they performed well at first. However, the development of barbed wire, machine guns and trench warfare soon made attacks from horseback far more costly and ineffective on the Western Front. Cavalry units did prove useful throughout the war in other theatres though, including the Eastern Front, and the Middle East.

Sailor Steve

04-06-15, 02:50 PM

April 6:

Valletta Harbour, Malta: With the weather growing worse the planned move for the monitors is cancelled. The remaining tugs return to towing lighters to the Dardanelles.

Cape Town, South Africa: HMS Laconia leaves drydock and moves from the shipyard at Simonstown to the main harbor at Cape Town.

Saudi Arabia: Hellmuth von Mücke hires a motorboat to spy on English warships in the area. He finds none.

Jimbuna

04-07-15, 11:34 AM

7th April 1915

Western Front

Indecisive fighting near St. Mihiel.

Eastern Front

Further Russian advance in Carpathians.

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

Skirmish between Turks and British north-east of El Kantara (Egypt).

Political, etc.

German Minority Socialists publish a manifesto against the war.

Appeal by the Churches for restraint in use of alcohol is followed by a memorial by business men to the same effect.

Italy conducts secret negotiations with Serbia on how to divide up the Adriatic coast of Austria-Hungary.

In an interview, Sultan Mehmed V declares that the Allies will be unable to force the Dardanelles Straits.

Ship Losses:

Zarina ( United Kingdom): The trawler was torpedoed and sunk in the North Sea 72 nautical miles (133 km) north east by north of the Spurn Lightship ( United Kingdom) by an unidentified Kaiserliche Marine submarine with the loss of nine of her crew.

http://i.imgur.com/kxTXBuu.jpg

Sailor Steve

04-07-15, 01:57 PM

April 7:

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Daily%20Times%20April%2010%201915_zpst83exq0l.png (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Daily%20Times%20April%2010%201915_zpst83exq0l.png. html)

It is my opinion that, lacking any records of U-boat attacks from German sources, Zarina was more likely to have hit a mine.

German East Africa: HMS Hyacinth puts into Tirene Bay at Mafia Island and recoals from SS Cyfarthfa and loads ammunition from torpedo boat HMVS Childers. She is joined there by Kinfauns Castle, which coals from SS Reichenfels, and Weymouth.

Jimbuna

04-08-15, 10:03 AM

8th April 1915

Western Front

French attacks in the Woevre district repulsed.

Eastern Front

Indecisive fighting in the Carpathians.

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

Deportation and massacre of Armenians in the Ottoman Empire begins.

Naval and Overseas Operations

"Prinz Eitel Friedrich" interned at Newport News.
http://i.imgur.com/69h3RI8.jpg

Political, etc.

Attempted assassination of Hussein Kamel, Sultan of Egypt.

Italian Note to Austria, demanding territorial concessions in return for neutrality.

Germany agrees to pay for the sinking of the U.S. cargo ship William P. Frye, but maintains the attack was justified.

Military expert of the Italian newspaper Avanti! estimates that there have been 6 million causalities in the war so far.

French Women’s Automobile Club starts recruiting women motorists, aviators, and balloonists to help the French Army in support roles.

Louis Pergaud, French writer, is killed by French artillery when he was captured by Germans & brought behind lines.
http://i.imgur.com/OX2XhGF.jpg

Ship Losses:

Châteaubriand ( France): The four-masted full-rigged ship was torpedoed and sunk in the English Channel 25 nautical miles (46 km) south east of Beachy Head, East Sussex, United Kingdom by SM U-32 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her 25 crew survived.

Sailor Steve

04-08-15, 12:05 PM

April 8:

Italy has been a member of the Triple Alliance with Germany and Austria-Hungary since 1882. Because the Alliance was supposed to be for mutual defense, Italy declined to enter the war with the others. On April 8th, 1915, Italy offers to come into the war on the side of the Central Powers if Austria will grant Italy the territory of Trentino, the Dalmatian Islands, and the towns of Gorizia and Gradisca, and recognize Italy's control of Albania.

"I inform you that I intend to intern S.M.S. Prinz Eitel Friedrich. The relief I expected appear not to arrive in time, so number and force of enemy cruisers watching the entrance of the bay makes to me impossible the dash for the open sea with any hope of success. I have decided not to deliver the crew and the ship to fruitless and certain destruction. Being obliged for the courtesy shown by all the United States authorities, I am expecting your orders. I have sent same information to Rear-Admiral Helm, of the United States ship Alabama."
-Captain Max Therichens, letter to Newport News, Virginia port authority

Prinz Eitel Friedrich has been in Newport News since March 11th.

Edgar von Spiegel von und zu Peckelsheim in U-32 scores his first victory. He stops Chateaubriand, 2,247 tons, travelling from London to New York with a cargo of chalk, allows the crew to depart, then sinks the French sailing ship with a torpedo.

Saudi Arabia: Late in the evening of the 8th Hellmuth von Mücke and his crew depart Jeddah in a large zambuk, bound northwestward for Al Wajh, some 330 nautical miles to the north.

Jimbuna

04-09-15, 07:11 AM

9th April 1915

Western Front

French completes the capture of Les Eparges.

Germans bombard Reims.

Indecisive fighting on the Meuse.

Eastern Front

Russians make progress near Suvalki.

Continued indecisive fighting in the Carpathians.

Falkenhayn decides to divert eight of his fourteen divisions to the Eastern Front for a major spring offensive against the Russians. He places Mackensen in charge of the new Eleventh Army.
http://i.imgur.com/UaY9F8C.jpg

Naval

Indian Ocean: The Kronborg, formerly the British steamer Rubens, arrives at Aldabra Island carrying guns and supplies for the Königsberg, which had made its way to the delta of the Rufiji River in preparation for making a break for the open sea and escape.
http://i.imgur.com/Gvy3HYx.jpg

Auxiliary Patrol - British order for 50 American-built motor launches (ML.1-50) placed with Elco of Bayonne, NY through Canadian Vickers; further orders reached ML.580.

Political, etc.

General Sir John Nixon relieves General Sir Arthur Barrett as Commander-in-Chief Indian Expeditionary Force "D" Mesopotamia.

Possibility of implementing prohibition in Britain comes under attack in Scotland, where spirits consumption is 3 times higher than England.

Greece: M. Venizelos temporarily retires from public life.

Sailor Steve

04-09-15, 01:39 PM

April 9:

Red Sea: HMS Goliath arrives at Aden under orders to join the Dardanelles campaign.

German East Africa: All of Admiral King-Hall's ships are together at Niororo Island.

Indian Ocean: In an attempt to get supplies to the trapped SMS Königsberg, the Admiralstab had designated the captured British freighter SS Rubens to attempt to sneak past the blockading British ships. On February 18th, under the command of Leutnant Carl Christiansen, the 3,850-ton Rubens departed Wilhelmshaven flying the Danish flag and carrying the name Kronborg. She has on board 1,600 tons of coal, plus ammunition, food, medical supplies and new uniforms. The real Kronborg is at Copenhagen, being closely watched by German spies. Christiansen and Rubens have travelled over ten thousand miles in two months, through the North Sea, past Iceland, down the middle of the Atlantic Ocean to avoid British patrols and far south of Cape Town.

Now, on April 9th, Rubens arrives at Aldabra Island, just north of Mozambique and only 430 nautical miles from the Rufiji Delta.

Jimbuna

04-10-15, 06:12 AM

10th April 1915

Western Front

French success in the Bois de Montmare (Woevre).

Eastern Front

Severe fighting for the Uzsok Pass (Carpathians).

Southern Front

Austrian gunboat shells Belgrade.

Albanians bombard Durazzo.

Naval and Overseas Operations

British steamer Harpalyce, which was carrying relief supplies for Belgium, is sunk by a submarine UB-4 (Oblt. Karl Groß), resulting in 26 deaths.
http://i.imgur.com/2prn3x4.jpg

Political, etc.

White Book published, containing correspondence between the British Government and the U.S. Ambassador on German treatment of prisoners of war and interned civilians.

German Note to U.S.A. protesting against the unneutral conduct of America.

Pope Benedict XV orders prayers for peace.

Charles Henry Wilcken, German-American soldier (and great-great grandfather to Mitt Romney), has passed away.
http://i.imgur.com/uVmzHuW.jpg

Ship Losses:

Harpalyce ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship was torpedoed and sunk in the North Sea 7 nautical miles (13 km) off the Noord Hinder Lightship ( Netherlands) by SM UB-4 ( Kaiserliche Marine) with the loss of seventeen of her 44 crew. Survivors were rescued by Elizabeth ( Netherlands).
The President ( United Kingdom): The coaster was stopped and scuttled in the Atlantic Ocean 14 nautical miles (26 km) south by west of The Lizard, Cornwall by SM U-24 ( Kaiserliche Marine).[26] Her ten crew were rescued by the fishing smack Pencaer ( United Kingdom).

Sailor Steve

04-10-15, 11:47 AM

April 10:

English Channel: Just south of The Lizard, at the west end of the Channel. Rudolf Schneider, commanding U-24, stops and scuttles the small British steamer SS The President, 647 tons bound from Clyde to St. Malo with a cargo of pitch.

North Sea: Karl Groß, in the brand-new coastal attack boat UB-4, torpedoes and sinks SS Harpalyce, 5940 tons, travelling in ballast from Rotterdam to Norfolk, Virginia. Harpalyce had the words "Commission For Belgian Relief" painted on her sides and carried a white flag with the same words.

Cape Town, South Africa: HMS Laconia recieves orders to proceed to Durban an pick up a special cargo. At 2351 Laconia weighs anchorand gets underway.

German East Africa: After a day in harbor together, Admiral King-Hall's squadron disperses to continue their patrols. In Mombasa, Lieutenant Cull is notified that he will have three new seaplanes arriving shortly.

Jimbuna

04-11-15, 09:38 AM

11th April 1915

Western Front

Germans repulsed at Les Eparges.

Severe fighting near Albert.

Eastern Front

Germans bombard Osovyets.

Russians capture Wysocko Nizhne, near the Uzsok Pass.

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

Turks attack British at Kurna (Mesopotamia) and Ahwaz (Persian Gulf).

Naval and Overseas Operations

Harrison liner "Wayfarer" torpedoed. Wayfarer sailed from Avonmouth on 10 April 1915 carrying 200 soldiers of the Warwickshire Yeomanry, their mounts and equipment. After the attack by U 32 (Edgar von Spiegel von und zu Peckelsheim) in which five horses were also killed the ship was taken in tow by Framfield (2510/94) and towed to Queenstown for temporary repairs arriving there on 13 April. Permanent repairs were carried out at Liverpool between 19 May and 16 July.

French steamer Frederic Franck was attacked by U 24 (Rudolf Schneider) enroute from La Pallice - London was damaged about about 25 miles S of Start Point - did not sink after scuttling attempt.

"Kronprinz Wilhelm" arrives at Newport News.
http://i.imgur.com/pPY6HjQ.jpg

The German submarine UB-15 is commissioned.
http://i.imgur.com/Tji791a.jpg

English Channel
Sarnia, Admiralty armed boarding steamer, 1,498/1910, hired 14/11/14, 2-12pdr, Cdr H Muir RNR. At 0700 Brixham smack Addax reported seeing a U-boat chasing a steamer half an hour earlier, at 0730 Sarnia sighted the French SS Frederic Franck 3½m off with crew in boats and U.24 (Rudolf Schneider) alongside. Sarnia approached, the U-boat submerged, and Sarnia circled the steamer firing at the periscope. Around 0820 a first torpedo was evaded, then a second. Having called for destroyer help, she continued circling, firing at and attempting to ram the periscope until 1020 when the U-boat made off; the French steamer was only damaged

Political, etc.

Count Bernstorff publishes the German Note to U.S.A.

German reprisals announced re: British treatment of captured submarine crews: 39 British officer prisoners under arrest.

Bulgaria agrees to mixed Serbian and Bulgarian commission on frontier incidents in Macedonia.

Sailor Steve

04-11-15, 11:42 AM

April 11:

German East Africa: Back in August when the Russians destroyed the grounded German cruiser Magdeburg, they had captured that ship's code books intact. Thanks to that, the British have known of SS Rubens' mission to resupply SMS Königsberg. Admiral King-Hall is aboard his flagship HMS Hyacinth patrolling the area around Niororo Island with his other ships combing the area looking for signs of the German supply ship.

Jimbuna

04-12-15, 09:43 AM

12th April 1915

Western Front

Failure of French attack south-east of Hartmannsweilerkopf.

French consolidate their positions at Les Eparges.

German airship bombs Nancy.

Eastern Front

Russians checked east of the Uzsok Pass. Russian forces continue a slow advance in the Carpathians into the Hungarian plain, but Austro-Hungarian forces hold the strategic Hill 992.

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

Indecisive fighting at Kurna and Ahwaz.

Turks attack Basra from west and south.

Naval and Overseas Operations

French cruiser "St. Louis" bombards Gaza.

The steamer Minnesota, the largest American cargo ship, runs aground off the shore of Iwajima, Japan, and is stranded.

Political, etc.

Papal Note to President Wilson declaring the readiness of the Pope to co-operate for the restoration of peace.

Pyotr Bark, Russian Finance Minister, states the war is a blessing to the peasants, who are “more prosperous than at any time in history…”

Kaiser Wilhelm refuses to return a $10,000 trophy for the upcoming Brooklyn singing festival, stating he does not want it fall to the Allies.

Sailor Steve

04-12-15, 11:42 AM

April 12:

Saudi Arabia: Hellmuth von Mücke and his men arrive at Rabigh; roughly one quarter of their journey on the Red Sea is done. There they hire a larger, stronger zambuk, as the one they now have is showing signs of strain.

Von Mücke notes that they have seen no British ships at all, and wonders if his planted rumors of their travelling by land have worked. Given the events taking place at the same time, it seems more likely that the British are moving all their naval assets northward in anticipated support of the invasion of Gallipoli.

Jimbuna

04-13-15, 12:21 PM

13th April 1915

Western Front

French progress near Berry-au-Bac.

Failure of French attacks near Maizeray.

Eastern Front

Russians capture heights near Uzsok Pass.

Approximately 280,000 German reinforcements are being sent to Austria-Hungary to repel the Russian advance.

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

Turks beaten north of Basra and retreat from Shaiba (south-west of Basra).

Naval and Overseas Operations

Publication of Rear-Admiral Hon. H. Hood's despatch on patrol action on Belgian coast, 17 October-9 November 1914.

Aviation

Germany now has 36 dirigibles, while 9 has been lost since the war.

Political, etc.

M. Radoslavov, Bulgarian premier, orders disarmament of Turco-Bulgarians on Serbian frontier.

Italy presses Austria for an answer to the Note of 8 April.

Munitions Committee meets under the chairmanship of Mr. Lloyd George.

Sailor Steve

04-13-15, 01:14 PM

April 13:

Air War: Jean Navarre, flying a Morane-Saulnier 'L' parasol with a "Soldat Girard" as observer, is credited with his second kill when the pair bring down an Aviatik two-seater.

Catfish

04-13-15, 03:36 PM

OT today, re the german outrage regarding the sinking of the "Falaba" march 28th, 1915, just found what i wrote some years ago in another forum:

The Falaba was not a typical passenger liner like the "Imperator", or the "Lusitania", but I will post what is found in the papers regarding the sinking of the steamship S.S. "Falaba". This is not only from the book "Die U-Boote des Kaisers".
Referring to to the patrol of Kapitaenleutnant von Forstner, commanding the U-28 :
The U-boat left port at march 16th, heading for its patrol target area, the Irish sea. Forstner used the prize procedure, as all german U-boat commanders did at that time, and which b.t.w. caused more sinkings than the "unrestricted U-boat war" later.
Armed with a 8.8 cm quick-loading deck gun Forstner tried to stop all ships he encountered, neutrals, hostile or those that did not show any flag, with a signal, or using warning shots. Neutral ships were controlled via the ship's papers. Two steamers of The Netherlands were manned with a prize crew, and sent to Zeebrugge, Belgium. One steamer of The Netherlands carried banned goods (or contraband?) and was sunk at sea, a spanish steamer was allowed to continue after checking its freight. [...]

Eight ships had been destroyed with the deck gun, when at march 28th, a 5000 tons steamer without a national flag, was stopped via signalling by Forstner, south of the St. George's canal. It was quickly identified as the british merchant freighter "Falaba", and Forstner ordered to immediately leave the ship. The Falaba's captain was told via megaphone that he had ten minutes to clear the ship. What happened next is a direct translation from U-28's war diary (from me, so it may be not exact, or perfect):

"In the moment of setting the signal a big turmoil began on the ship. [...] at port side a lifeboat was thrown into the sea. There had already been people in the boat [...] Much of the boat's inventory and other things fell overboard. Other boats were quickly put to water, and soon swamped, but remained afloat.
It made the general impression, as if parts of the crew immediately manned some favoured boats, which were put to water quickly, and well. Then again the passengers were running helplessly along the deck, to find a lifeboat. Without doubt there had not been any advice to the distribution of boats for the passengers before."

Because of the observed panic and with regard to the many civilian persons Forstner extended the period of time for another ten minutes before preparing a torpedo, which again took some time. When there were still people left on the ship he again extended the wait for a further 3 minutes (log book again). As it could be observed by U-28's radio operator, the "Falaba" radioed distress signals for the whole time, firing one signal rocket after the other. When some plumes of smoke became visible after some more time, and an attack of hostile warships was imminent, Forstner gave the order to fire the torpedo.

The "Falaba" is said to have sunk within eight minutes, taking dozens of passengers with it, among them an US citizen. It is controversial whether some tons of explosives were responsible for the quick sinking, but it is verifiable those explosives were aboard. Kaiser William was informed about this incident, and he did not officially criticize Forstner. Instead the Kaiser accepted Forstner's sober procedure.

Jimbuna

04-14-15, 06:17 AM

14th April 1915

Western Front

Germans accuse the French of using poison gas near Verdun.

Zeppelin raid on Tyneside.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01wv7dr
http://i.imgur.com/isSz4VF.jpg

Eastern Front

Germans repulsed before Osovyets.

Indecisive fighting at the Uzsok Pass.

Russians make progress east of Czernowitz.

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

British offensive south of Shaiba routs Turks.

Naval

German East Africa Campaign - German supply ship Kronburg, ex-British SS Rubens detained at Hamburg 8/14, now carrying supplies for light cruiser Königsberg still lying in the Rufuji River delta, sunk by old light cruiser Hyacinth in the Indian Ocean.

Political, etc.

Mr. Fisher states in Australian Parliament that the Government will send every available man to the war.

Mr. Harcourt states that the Dominions will be consulted as to peace terms.

General von Bissing suppresses the Belgian Red Cross.

Japanese Government inform British Government of German overtures for separate peace.

Ship Losses:

Folke ( Sweden): The cargo ship was torpedoed and sunk in the North Sea (57°55′N 0°30′E) by SM U-6 ( Kaiserliche Marine).
Katwijk ( Netherlands): The cargo ship was sunk in the North Sea 6 nautical miles (11 km) west of the Noord Hinder Lightship ( Netherlands) by SM UB-10 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived.
Vestland ( Denmark): The cargo ship was torpedoed and sunk in the North Sea off the north east of Scotland by SM U-6 ( Kaiserliche Marine) with the loss of all 27 crew.

Sailor Steve

04-14-15, 12:13 PM

April 14:

North Sea: Reinhold Lepsius, commanding U-6, scores his first victories. First is the Swedish steamer Folke, 1,352 tons, en route from Levanger to London with a load of timber. Next is the British fishing boat Glencarse, 188 tons, taken as a prize off Scotland. Last is the Danish cargo ship Vestland, 3,392 tons, torpedoed and sunk with all hands while underway from Narvik to Middlesbrough with a cargo of iron ore.

Otto Steinbrinck, in UB-10, sinks the Dutch steamer SS Katwijk, 2,040 tons, travelling from Baltimore to Rotterdam, cargo unlisted. Steinbrink had previously commanded U-6, without success.

German East Africa: HMS Hyacinth is patrolling from Niororo Island to Mansa Bay. At 0410 hours she stops off the Kilulu Channel to wait for the sun to come up. At 0445 she moves inside the reef, then stops at 0450 when her starboard engine breaks down. At 0505 her lookouts see smoke. On closer inspection this turns out to be the German supply ship Rubens. At 0530 Hyacinth opens fire over land, but Rubens is out of range. At 0620 Hyacinth is close enough and opens fire again. Rubens takes several hits and starts to burn. At 0640 Hyacinth turns into Mansa Bay. At 0755 Hyacinth sends a fire-fighting party to Rubens. While they are fighting the fires the Germans are busy offloading supplies into boats and taking them to shore. At 0910 Hyacinth opens fire on the shore to stop the Germans' offloading activities. At 0920 Admiral King-Hall has his firefighting party recalled and at 0940 opens fire with 6" Lyddite shells, which are designed specifically to start fires and burn men. At 0950 he orders the Germans ashore attacked with shrapnel. At 1015 this is supplemented with 12pdr fire to destroy the Germans' boats. By 1030 Rubens has settled to the bottom and is burning from stem to stern. At 1045 Hyacinth departs Mansa Bay.

Captain Looff's last hope of resupply is gone.

At 0811 HMS Laconia arrives at Durban. At 1145 she begins recoaling from lighters.

Jimbuna

04-15-15, 08:04 AM

15th April 1915

Western Front

Ostend bombed by 15 Allied aeroplanes.

French airship bombs Freiburg.

Severe fighting off Ostend.

Eastern Front

German troops under the command of General Litzinger launches a counterattack against the Russian left wing in the Carpathians.

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

Russian Black Sea fleet bombards Ergeti and other places on the coast of Anatolia.

Political etc.

Sir John French's despatch on operations from 2 February to 20 March published.

French War Office looks into adopting khaki uniforms due to the disadvantage of the current blue uniforms.

Ship Losses:

Ptarmigan ( United Kingdom): The coaster was torpedoed and sunk in the North Sea 6 nautical miles (11 km) west by north of the Noord Hinder Lightship ( Netherlands) by SM UB-5 ( Kaiserliche Marine) with the loss of five crew.

Sailor Steve

04-15-15, 10:17 AM

April 15:

Air War: German Zeppelins L-5, L-6 and L-7 continue the bombings over Britain. This time German Naval Airship Division Commander Peter Strasser is along for the ride.

Roland Garros of France scores his second victory in his single-seat Morane 'L', shooting down an unidentified German aircraft.

"My new bus is a Morane parasol, 80 h.p. Le Rhone. They are supposed to climb like fire and do over 80 miles per hour, but are very touchy on the elevator and rather tiring to fly. I have not yet been up in her. Garros brought another machine down today, and a Frenchman managed to fly back to our own lines after having one foot smashed by shrapnel over Ostend."
-Lt. Harold Rosher, letter to his father, April 15, 1915

North Sea: Wilhelm Smiths, commanding U-5, sinks the small British steamer Ptarmigan, 784 tons, bound from Rotterdam to London with a general cargo.

Durban, South Africa: HMS Laconia continues coaling in Durban harbor, takes aboard various aviation equipment.

Jimbuna

04-16-15, 08:26 AM

16th April 1915

Western Front

Germans repulsed at Notre Dame de Lorette.

French airships bomb Strasbourg and other German towns.

Zeppelin raid on East Anglia: aeroplane bombs Faversham and Sittingbourne.
http://kentww1.com/the-faversham-and-sheppey-air-raid-on-the-16th-april-1915/

Eastern Front

Russians capture two heights south-west of Rosztoki Pass (Carpathians).

Southern Front

Allied fleets bombard Enos.

Albanian rebels bombard Durazzo.

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

Turks reach Urumia (north-west Persia).

Aviation

The United States Navy conducts the first catapult launch of an aircraft from a floating platform, launching an airplane from Navy Coal Barge No. 214 at Naval Air Station Pensacola at Pensacola, Florida.
http://www.navalaviationmuseum.org/history-up-close/nas-pensacola-100th/coal-barge-catapult/
http://i.imgur.com/SXje448.jpg

Naval and Overseas Operations

French cruiser bombards El Arish.

British transport "Manitou" was attacked by the Turkish torpedo boat Demir Hissar. The attack does not seem to have been very well carried out, for both of the torpedoes fired missed and the torpedo boat was subsequently beached by her crew while being pursued by the cruiser HMS Doris.
http://i.imgur.com/dcZDFGr.jpg

On 16th April 1915 whilst attempting to run beneath the minefields guarding the Dardanelle Straits, HMS E15 was swept ashore by the strong currents. The submarine ran aground directly under the guns of Fort Dardanus. E15 came under heavy fire from the fort: - one shell killing the Captain, another hitting the vessels battery compartment forcing the crew to surrender. Many attempts were made to prevent the submarine falling into enemy hands and finally a torpedo launched from a picket boat put pay to Turkish attempts to re-float the submarine.

Political, etc.

British apology to Chile for sinking of the "Dresden" in Chilean waters published.

British Board of Trade reduces insurance rates for shipping by 50%, stating it is confident the threat of German submarines have subsided.

Austria declares that the Italian proposals are in the main unacceptable.

Sinking of "Katwyk" by German submarine causes excitement in Holland.

Pro-German Americans donate and deliver three ambulances to the German military.

Ship Losses:

Eglantine ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship ran aground at Filey, Yorkshire and was a total loss. Her crew were rescued.

HMS E15 ( Royal Navy): The E-class submarine ran aground at Kepez, Çanakkale, Turkey. She was scuttled on 18 April.
http://i.imgur.com/DS2JVaJ.jpg

Sailor Steve

04-16-15, 11:23 AM

April 16:

Durban, South Africa: After more than a day HMS Laconia is finally finished coaling.

Bombay, India: HMS Chatham has an interesting entry in her log: "0800. Temperature 82. Picked up one corpse (male) and handed over to police." No other information is supplied.

Jimbuna

04-17-15, 06:25 AM

17th April 1915

Western Front

British troops detonate mines under German positions at Hill 60 in Flanders, Belgium, leading to its capture. (St. Eloi).

Eastern Front

Austrian offensive towards Styrj (eastern Galicia).

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

Anglo-Indian cavalry occupy Nakaila.

Naval and Overseas Operations

SW Scotland
Virginian, Admiralty armed merchant cruiser, 10,760/1905, hired 13/11/14, 10th CS. Ran ashore in Clyde opposite Govan Ferry, blocked river and delayed armed merchant cruiser Oropesa leaving for her patrol.

French cruiser bombards Turkish camp south of Gaza.

Turkish t.b. "Demir Hissar" forced by H.M.S. "Minerva" to run ashore at Chios.

Aviation

In the 3rd straight day in a row, a German zeppelin raids England, reaching 30 miles of London. However, it causes little damage.

Political, etc.

Herr Dernburg conducts a peace campaign in U.S.A.

Austria-Hungary announces that all men between ages 18 to 50 are now eligible for military service.

Ship Losses:

Domir Kapu ( Ottoman Navy): The torpedo boat was run ashore on Chios, Greece following a battle with Allied cruisers with the loss of one of her 34 crew. The survivors were interned on Chios.
Ellispontos ( Greece): The cargo ship was sunk in the North Sea off the Noord Hinder Lightship ( Netherlands) (51°52′N 3°00′E) by SM UB-4 ( Kaiserliche Marine).

Sailor Steve

04-17-15, 12:37 PM

April 17:

"Very little news of interest to tell you, but here goes for what there is. My Morane parasol was ready to-day and Babington tested it. If the weather is fne to-morrow, I shall float forth on it into the "ethereal blue." Not having flown a monoplane before, I am all of a "doo-da."

Yesterday I went out to see the War at N____. Though a fine day, the Bosches were not bombarding, so we went around in peace, and I brought back a few shell fragments with me, which you may find interesting. For the rest, our miserable lives continue much as before. The Frenchmen here have lost a machine to-day, but the R.F.C. brought down an Aviatik at Wipers (Ypres), so that makes us all square."
-Harold Rosher, letter to his father, April 17, 1915

Air War: Pilot Fernand Maximillian Leon Jacquet and observer Henri de Vindevoghel, in a Farman HF.20, bring down an Albatros two-seater. Vindevoghel fires seven rounds from his Lewis gun at a range of 30 yards, hitting the German pilot, Offizierstellvertreter Wilhelm Wohlmacher. Wohlmacher manages to land the plane safely before dying, allowing observer Hauptmann Bogislav von Hayden to be captured. This is the first aerial victory for a Belgian aircrew.

North Sea: Karl Groß in UB-4 sinks the Greek freighter Ellispontos, 2989 tons, bound from Amsterdam to Montevideo with an unlisted cargo. His score is now 2 ships and 8,929 tons.

Durban, South Africa: At 1100 hours HMS Laconia hoists Short Type 81 'Folder' S.122 aboard. At 1300 she takes aboard Folder S.119.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/SailorSteve/Short%20Folder%20HMS%20Hermes_zpsimjzjqu6.jpg (http://s14.photobucket.com/user/SailorSteve/media/Short%20Folder%20HMS%20Hermes_zpsimjzjqu6.jpg.html )

Short 81 'Folder' S.64 being hoisted aboard HMS Hermes, July 1913

Jimbuna

04-18-15, 08:30 AM

18th April 1915

Western Front

German attacks repulsed at Hill 60.

Eastern Front

Russians repulse attacks in the Carpathians.

Russian forces state they have captured 70,000 Austro-Hungarian prisoners in the last three weeks of fighting in the Carpathians.

Naval and Overseas Operations

Union forces occupy Seeheim (German south-west Africa).

Frontier raid repulsed on the northern border of Peshawar valley.

The USS New Orleans is sent to Baja California to investigate claims that the Japanese are attempting to establish a base there.

Aviation

Flying a B.E.2c, Royal Flying Corps pilot Lanoe Hawker attacks the German Zeppelin sheds at Gontrode, Belgium, destroying a brand-new shed and shooting down a nearby Drachen observation balloon. He will be awarded the Distinguished Service Order for the action.
http://i.imgur.com/1lFhoQQ.jpg

A member of the German Bahnschutzwache, or Railway Protection Guard, shoots down the well-known French airman Roland Garros in his flight over German positions in Flanders, France, on a bombing raid.
http://i.imgur.com/Xz8py0s.jpg

Political etc.

Germany places 10 captured British officers in solitary confinement as reprisals for the treatment of German submariners by the British.

General von Bissing, military Governor of Belgium, dissolves the Belgian Red Cross and puts relief work under German control.

Industrialist Henry Ford dismisses rumors that he might run for President on the Republican ticket for 1916.

Ship Losses:

Vanilla ( United Kingdom): The trawler hit a mine and sunk in the North Sea 53 nautical miles (98 km) east by south of the Inner Dowsing Lightship ( United Kingdom) with the loss of nine of her crew. The location matches a minefield laid by the German cruisers Straslund and Strassburg on April 17, 1915.

Sailor Steve

04-18-15, 11:28 AM

April 18:

Roland Garros of France shoots down his third victim, an unidentified German two-seater.

Later the same day Garros lands behind German lines and is captured in the act of trying to burn his plane. The Morane is captured relatively intact and handed over to Idflieg. There seems to be the usual controversy over the cause of Garros' forced landing, the two main claims being a clogged fuel line and a bullet fired from the ground. Neither theory is substantiated, and Garros himself seems to have left no comments behind.

North Sea: Max Valentiner, commanding U-38, takes as a prize the Norwegian freighter SS Brilliant, 1,441 tons, travelling from Fredrikstad to London with a load of timber.

Durban, South Africa: At 0800 HMS Laconia hoists Short Folder S121 aboard. At 1652 Laconia departs Durban for the Rufiji Delta.

Red Sea: Hellmuth von Mücke and his men are halfway through their slow journey from Jeddah to Al Wahj. Every night they anchor among the coral reefs. This is done not with an actual anchor, but by taking the zambuk as close to a reef as possible, at which point two Arab sailors leap onto the reef and drive iron hooks directly into the coral. The coast on this journey is mostly unpopulated, but stopping among the reefs is preferable to the risk of another attack should they spend the night ashore.

Jimbuna

04-19-15, 08:12 AM

19th April 1915

Western Front

German retirement in Alsace.

Fighting for Hill 60.

Sir John French denies that the British have made use of poison gas.

Southern Front

Austrians bombard Sep (near the Iron Gates).

Naval and Overseas Operations

North Sea
MAYFAIR, naval motor boat No.1, hired 1914, Lt Edward Martin RNVR. Darkened and on patrol in Firth of Forth, W of Inchkeith in approaches to Rosyth, spotted at 2033 by also darkened and patrolling torpedo boat TB.32 which put engines full astern and helm hard a starboard, but hit Mayfair the starboard side, sinking her; no lives lost, all crew picked up by TB.32’s boat(s). Mayfair continued to be listed until 1919, either a clerical error or she was possibly salvaged.

off NW Scotland
RHODESIA (1), Admiralty trawler, 155/1899, Hull Steam Fishing & Ice, Hull-reg H443, hired 1/15 as auxiliary patrol vessel, Admiralty No.1215, Skipper Philip Marr RNR (wi - A Gibson, Captain). Wrecked near Stornaway, Isle of Lewis (He/wi - on Obb Rock, S of Tulm Is, South Harris, in 57.41.20N, 06.20.40W); no lives lost.

Germans evacuate Keetmanshoop (German south-west Africa).

British and French troops begin leaving the island of Lemnos, the staging area for the upcoming Gallipoli Campaign.
http://i.imgur.com/XMevPTV.jpg

Japan recalls all of its warships that were stationed in Pacific Waters near the American coast.

Political, etc.

A German Prisoner captured by the British states that Germany has been testing the use of poison gas on the Western Front.

Germany expresses regret for sinking of "Katwyk".

Enver Pasha, War Minister of the Ottoman Empire, declares this is a “war of the Turkish people.”

Baron Herbert de Reuter, managing director of Reuter, commits suicide at his home in Reigate, England.

Ship Losses:

HMT Rhodesia ( Royal Navy): The naval trawler was lost on this date.
Tweed ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship ran aground at Sea Mills, Gloucestershire. She was refloated but then sank in the River Avon whilst being taken to Bristol.

Sailor Steve

04-19-15, 09:33 AM

April 19:

"I have flown my Morane twice. It is a most comic affair, but I think I shall like it when I get more used to it. It is very light on the controls, especially the elevator, and gets off the ground before you san say "squeak". Garros was missing last night, and there has since been a rumour that his is a prisoner of war. This is, of course a nasty knock for us."
-Harold Rosher, letter to his father, April 19, 1915

German East Africa: HMS Hyacinth is patrolling the area south of Rufiji, investigates the bays of Keonga and Tunghi.

HMS Kinfauns Castle spends the day anchored at the north end of Niororo Island, reports 78-degree temperature but rain storms all day long.

HMS Weymouth is patrolling between Niororo and the Rufiji delta.

Jimbuna

04-20-15, 02:11 PM

20th April 1915

Western Front

British forces gain 3 miles in Ypres, which represents the greatest gain they had since last autumn.

Germans bombard Reims and Ypres.

Germans retake Embermenil (Lorraine).

Eastern Front

Austrians repulsed near Gorlitse.

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

Turks lay siege to Van (Armenia).

Naval and Overseas Operations

Union forces defeat the Germans at Kebus (north of Keetmanshoop).

Anglo-French troops take Mandera (Cameroons).

Aviation

Flying a reconnaissance mission along the border with Mexico in a Martin T biplane, First Lieutenant Byron Q. Jones and Lieutenant Thomas D. Milling become the first United States Army aviators to come under enemy fire during a flight when Mexican forces open fire on them.
http://www.texasescapes.com/TexasPersonalities/Combat-Over-Texas.htm

Political, etc.

Mr. Asquith at Newcastle denies that military operations have been hampered by lack of munitions.

Correspondence between Great Britain and U.S.A. on the "Peklat" case published.

President Wilson announces that U.S.A. hopes to share in restoration of peace.

Ship Losses:

Merwede ( United Kingdom): The dredger sank at Rosyth, Ayrshire.
SMS S21 ( Kaiserliche Marine): The V1-class destroyer collided with SMS Hamburg ( Kaiserliche Marine) and sank in the North Sea with the loss of 36 of her crew.

Sailor Steve

04-20-15, 02:34 PM

April 20:

Bombay, India: HMS Chatham reports that at 2100 hours shore batteries open fire on three dhows entering the harbor. At 2200 Chatham turns on her searchlights to aid the batteries' targeting. Last fire is recorded at 2330.

German East Africa: HMS Hyacinth probes into the Lindi River, Kiswere Harbour, Port Pactolus and Kilwa Kisiwani.

HMS Kinfauns Castle is still operating north of Niororo Island.

HMS Weymouth is still patrolling the Rufiji Delta.

Jimbuna

04-21-15, 09:12 AM

21st April 1915

Western Front

Continued fighting for Hill 60.

French take "the Cow's Head", two lines of trenches, near St. Mihiel.

Eastern Front

Russians take Hill 1002, north-east of Lubonia (Carpathians).

German zeppelins raid the town of Bialystok, dropping a hundred bombs and causing several civilian casualties.

Southern Front

Affair between frontier guards on the Austro-Italian frontier.

Naval and Overseas Operations

British and French forces defeat German troops in central Kamerun; German colonial capital is transferred to Jaunde.

Political, etc.

Mr. Lloyd George delivers a speech on the capacity of the country for producing munitions.

Khalil, a young Egyptian merchant who unsuccessfully attempted to assassinate the Sultan of Egypt, is sentenced to death.

Austria-Hungary’s ambassador to Italy sends his family home, anticipating that Italy’s entry into the war is imminent.

Ship Losses:

Ruth ( Sweden): The coaster was sunk in the North Sea 100 nautical miles (190 km) east of the Isle of May, Fife, United Kingdom by SM U-22 ( Kaiserliche Marine).

http://i.imgur.com/tFd6YJi.jpg

Sailor Steve

04-21-15, 10:55 AM

April 21:

North Sea: Just off the entrance to the Firth of Forth, Bruno Hoppe, commanding U-22, stops SS Ruth, 867 tons, bound from Leith to Göteborg with a cargo of coal. The crew is allowed to abandon ship, then Hoppe torpedoes the freighter.

Malta: Captain Eric Fullerton is informed of upcoming plans for the three monitors. HMS Humber will stay at Malta to support the upcoming Dardanelles invasion. HMS Mersey and Severn are to be towed to the Rufiji Delta to commence operations against SMS Königsberg.

German East Africa: HMS Hyacinth returns to Zanzibar. HMS Kinfauns Castle does the same.

HMS Weymouth, still on station at Rufiji, recoals from SS Cento.

Jimbuna

04-22-15, 05:06 AM

22nd April 1915

Western Front

Second Battle of Ypres begins: town of Ypres largely destroyed; German advance checked by Canadians after French retreat before poisonous gas attack.

Progress by the French near St. Mihiel.

Eastern Front

Russian attacks repulsed on both sides of the Uzsok Pass.

Austrian attack towards Styrj fails.

Southern Front

Anglo-French force landed at Enos.

Naval and Overseas Operations

Resumed bombardment of the forts at Smyrna.

Political, etc.

Lloyd-George states there are now 36 British divisions in France, which totals 750,000 men.

British Admiralty suspends passenger traffic between England and Holland.

U.S. rebukes German accusations that it is favoring the Allies, stating the U.S. will always observe “strict neutrality.”

Ship Losses:

Eva ( Norway): The sailing vessel was sunk in the North Sea 170 nautical miles (310 km) north east of the Longstone Lighthouse (56°31′N 3°03′E) by SM U-38 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived.
Oscar ( Norway): The sailing vessel was sunk in the North Sea south west of Lindesnes, Vest-Agder (56°31′N 3°03′E) by SM U-38 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived.
St. Lawrence ( United Kingdom): The fishing vessel was scuttled in the North Sea 88 nautical miles (163 km) east of the Spurn Lightship ( United Kingdom) (54°14′N 3°02′E) by SM U-22 ( Kaiserliche Marine) with the loss of two of her crew.

Gas attack at Ypres
http://i.imgur.com/YKvVgj8.jpg

Sailor Steve

04-22-15, 11:04 AM

April 22:

Louis Strange and observer Lt. Hawkins are flying their BE.2c 5,000 feet above Ypres, watching for German artillery fire, when they see an odd yellow-green smoke. Strange drops to 2,000 feet to get a better look. The odd-colored smoke is drifting toward the French lines. Strange lands at Poperinghe where he and Hawkins hitch a ride to 5th Army headquarters and report to General Plummer. What they have witnessed is the first chlorine gas attack ever.

North Sea: Bruno Hoppe in U-22 captures and scuttles the British steam trawler St. Lawrence, 196 tons. His score is now 2 ships and 1,053 tons.

Max Valentier in U-38 sinks two Norwegian sailing ships - Eva, 312 tons and Oscar, 766 tons. Both are travelling to Granton carrying pit props.

German East Africa: HMS Kinfauns Castle rejoins HMS Weymouth at Niororo Island.

Jimbuna

04-23-15, 06:54 AM

23rd April 1915

Western Front

Second Battle of Ypres: German attack east and west of St. Julien repulsed by Canadians; Germans take several hamlets.
Canadian Expeditionary Force counterattacks against the German advance in Ypres; cloths drenched in urine are used to counter the gas.
http://i.imgur.com/roSpi7w.jpg

Southern Front

Turkish coast bombarded by Allied fleet in the Gulf of Saros.

Naval and Overseas Operations

British Government declares a blockade of the Cameroons.

White Book on military operations in Togoland published.

Political, etc.

German Navy claims it has “carried out many cruises in the North Sea, navigating as far as English waters” without seeing the Royal Navy.

Sir Edward Grey presides over a conference of the French, Russian, Italian and Serbian ministers.

Ship Losses:

Fråck ( Russia): The coaster was scuttled in the Baltic Sea off the Flöttjan Lighthouse (59°51′N 19°36′E) by SM U-26 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived.

Sailor Steve

04-23-15, 09:32 AM

April 23:

Western Front: The previous day's gas attack has forced a retreat of British and Canadian troops at Langenmarck. While covering the withdrawal with his machine gun Lance Corporal Frederick Fisher is killed. Fisher is the first Canadian to recieve the Victoria Cross while serving in the Canadian Army.

Baltic Sea: Egewolf von Berchheim, commanding U-26, scores his second victory when he captures and scuttles The Russian steamer Fråck, 849 tons. His first was the sinking of the cruiser Pallada with all hands back in November. His score is now 8,624 tons.

Aegean Sea: Legendary war poet Rupert Brooke dies from an infected mosquito bite while waiting with the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force for the Gallipoli landings. He is buried on the island of Skyros.

German East Africa: HMS Laconia anchors off Niororo Island at 0740. SS Reichenfels delivers stores for the three seaplanes, which are hoisted overboard and tested by Lt. Cull and his pilots.

Jimbuna

04-24-15, 06:41 AM

24th April 1915

Western Front

Second Battle of Ypres: Germans take St. Julien: French and Belgians recover Lizerne: 3rd Canadian brigade withdrawn.
The German Fourth Army resumes the assault at Lizerne and Saint-Julien. Before dawn, a cloud of chlorine gas floats over the trenches held by Franco-Belgian and Canadian troops. Though some collapse, the vast majority hold the line, delivering a withering fire against the Germans.
http://www.cwgc.org/ypres/content.asp?menuid=35&submenuid=36&id=16&menuname=St%20Julien&menu=subsub

Eastern Front

Austrians capture Ostaij, height south-east of Kosziowa.

Naval and Overseas Operations

North Sea
Undaunted, light cruiser, Arethusa-class, 4,400t, 3rd DF leader and Landrail, destroyer, L-class, c1,300t, 3-4in/1-12pdr/4-21in tt, 3rd DF, Harwich Force sailed on the 23rd with carrier Empress for a seaplane raid on the German coast, good weather lasted until around 0500 on the 24th when dense fogbanks were encountered near the take-off position. During manoeuvres, Landrail hit Undaunted in the engine-room at 18kts holing her badly, Landrail lost 20-30ft of her forecastle, and both had their wireless knocked out, making it difficult to inform Cdre Tyrwhitt in Arethusa. Undaunted made her way home with 3ft of water in the engine-room, Landrail was towed stern-first by destroyer Mentor and then light cruiser Aurora, both having towing-hawsers part twice in rising seas. At 1830 and drifting close to Terschelling on a lee shore, Arethusa, after her own two failed attempts took up the tow and headed for Yarmouth at 4kts, reaching there at 2100 on the 26th, 71 hours after the collision. Two tugs took Landrail to Chatham where repairs took 5 weeks. Their last collision has been exactly one month before, on 24 March!

Nidaros 1024 tons, Danish steamer was taken as a prize in the North Sea by U 38 (Max Valentiner).

Russian Black Sea torpedo boat squadron bombards Ottoman formations on the coast and routs them.

Fighting round Kilimanjaro (German East Africa).

Dardanelles: The Allied fleet of two hundred ships carrying the invasion force sets out from Lemnos with troops headed to three destinations: the Royal Naval Division to the Gulf of Saros, the Anzac force to Imbros, and the British and French troops to Tenedos.
http://www.anzacsite.gov.au/1landing/nbeach1.html

Political etc.

Christakis-Zografos, Greek Foreign Minister, states Greece will aid the Allies in the war if it was asked to do so.

Secretary Bryan announces he will not issue passports to Americans going to Europe for tourism.

The French ambassador to Russia writes of Rasputin's "disgusting orgy" at a restaurant and claims that "without assistance from above he would have never been able to get out of it so cheaply".

Sailor Steve

04-24-15, 10:23 AM

April 24:

"Spenser Grey and Marsden paid a visit to Ostend to-day with bombs, and Sippe was turned upside down on the ground in a Morane by a gust of wind this afternoon. He was unhurt, but the machine was badly damaged."
-Harold Rosher, letter to his father, April 24, 1915

North Sea: Max Valentiner in U-38 takes as a prize the Danish steamer SS Nidaros, 1,024 tons. No credit is given, as Valentiner was later forced to release his prize.

German East Africa: HMS Hyacinth returns from Zanzibar to Niororo Island. HMS Kinfauns Castle is patrolling the Mafia Channel. HMS Weymouth is patrolling the Rufiji Delta. At one point she secures alongside Laconia, and then receives mail from Hyacinth. HMS Laconia is anchored off Niororo Island. At 0910 she likewise receives stores and mail from Weymouth.

Bombay, India: After several months in Bombay, at 0004 hours HMS Chatham is underway on a return trip to the Rufiji Delta. It was Chatham and her captain, Sidney Drury-Lowe, which first discovered SMS Königsberg in the Rufiji River.

Red Sea: Hellmuth von Mücke and his men are still making their slow journey north, hugging the shoreline and staying behind reefs as much as possible. He reports that the only other vessels they see are Arab fishing and supply boats. The occupants are in the habit of greeting each other with a loud howling noise. The Arabs in the other boats are always surprised when their howls are greeted by more than fifty voices doing the same.

August

04-24-15, 10:21 PM

25 April 1915.

The Gallipoli landings begin.

The main landings were made at 'V' Beach, beneath the old Seddülbahir fortress and at 'W' Beach, a short distance to the west on the other side of the Helles headland. The covering force from the Royal Munster Fusiliers and Hampshires landed from a converted collier, SS River Clyde, which was run aground beneath the fortress so that the troops could disembark via ramps to the shore. The Royal Dublin Fusiliers landed at 'V' Beach from open boats. At 'W' Beach, the Lancashire Fusiliers also landed in open boats, on a shore overlooked by dunes and obstructed with barbed wire. On both beaches the Ottoman defenders occupied good defensive positions and inflicted many casualties on the British infantry as they landed. Troops emerging one-by-one from sally ports on the River Clyde were shot by machine-gunners at the Seddülbahir fort. Of the first 200 soldiers to disembark, only 21 men reached the beach.

As at Anzac, the Ottoman defenders were too few to defeat the landing but inflicted many casualties and contained the attack close to the shore. By the morning of 25 April 1915, out of ammunition and left with nothing but bayonets to meet the attackers on the slopes leading up from the beach to the heights of Chunuk Bair, the 57th Infantry Regiment received orders from Kemal, commanding the 19th Division: "I do not order you to fight, I order you to die. In the time which passes until we die, other troops and commanders can come forward and take our places". Every man of the regiment was either killed in action or wounded. As a sign of respect, the 57th Regiment no longer exists in the Turkish Armyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gallipoli_Campaign#Landings

Jimbuna

04-25-15, 07:02 AM

25th April 1915

Western Front

Second Battle of Ypres: Germans retake Lizerne; British repulsed at St. Julien.

Germans capture and lose summit of Hartmannsweilerkopf (Alsace).

Eastern Front

Severe fighting near Styrj.

Southern Front

Dardanelles: Anglo-French forces land on both shores of the Straits.

ANZAC troops begin landing at Anzac Cove on the Gallipoli peninsula.
http://i.imgur.com/XWztUnR.jpg

Lieutenant-Colonel Mustafa Kemal of the 19th Division is ordered to defend against the landings.
http://i.imgur.com/HWd0hFC.jpg

Ottoman resistance is initially light, but the rough terrain of ridges and cliffs hampers the ANZAC advance.

Naval and Overseas Operations

Russian Black Sea fleet shells the forts of the Bosporus.

Political, etc.

Erasmus Darwin IV, grandson of the famed naturalist Charles Darwin, is killed in action at Ypres.
http://i.imgur.com/pJllt1W.jpg

Herr Dernburg in U.S.A. outlines unofficial German peace terms.

Frederick W. Seward, Assistant Secretary of State under the Lincoln and Johnson administrations, has passed away.
http://i.imgur.com/NswD8PH.jpg

Russian military announces it will not recruit any more horsemen due to the nature of modern war.

Edmund von Mach, former chair of art history at Harvard, says that Sir Edward Grey is a traitor & will be hanged.
http://i.imgur.com/WzH8SAd.jpg

Admiral Tirpitz is honoured by the Kaiser for his 50 years of service and is named the empire’s saviour.
http://i.imgur.com/C0o7fZL.jpg

Sailor Steve

04-25-15, 12:49 PM

April 25:

German East Africa: HMS Hyacinth patrols the South Mafia Channel to Tirene and back to Niororo Island. HMS Kinfauns Castle covers the area from Kibondo Anchorage to Aldabra Island. HMS Weymouth is still on station at the Rufiji Delta.

HMS Laconia departs Niororo Island at 0520 hours, and procedes to Kilindini, anchoring there at 0710. At 1010 one of the three Short Seaplanes takes off on a reconnaisance flight. Flight Commander John T. Cull and his observer, Air Mechanic Ebenezer Henry Alexander Boggis, find SMS Königsberg at the western end of the Simba Uranga, in the company of several small supply vessels. As they fly over at an altitude of 1200 feet a sudden downdraft forces the Short to 700 feet, exposing them to heavy fire from Konigsberg's 5cm guns. Cull is surprised at the German cruiser's condition. They had thought the ship was in bad shape, and in a deteriorated condition. Instead she looks as if ready for sea.
"She looked as though she had been newly painted. Her side-screens and awnings were spread, smoke was issuing from her funnels and in general she was looking very spic-and-span."

The Short's engine begins to falter, and after they overfly the wrecks of Newbridge and Somalia it quits entirely. Cull manages to land within a few hundred yards of Laconia. The plane has been hit several times and the main oil line is severed.

Jimbuna

04-26-15, 07:10 AM

26th April 1915

Western Front

Second Battle of Ypres: Germans pierce British line at Brrodseinde: French recover Het Sas; British fail to recover St. Julien.

British airmen bomb Courtrai and various neighbouring places.

Eastern Front

Austro-Hungarian troops make gains against the Russians at Uzsok Pass and captures Ostry Mountain.

Southern Front

Dardanelles: Hill 141 stormed and V Beach secured.

ANZAC forces fail to capture their objectives and only hold a 3.2km long, 790m deep beachhead. They are ordered to dig in.

16,000 ANZAC troops are now on the Gallipoli peninsula. They have suffered around 2900 total casualties today.

These below should have been posted yesterday had I have had sufficient time.
http://i.imgur.com/ZBxJzgS.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/uFkQJHg.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/15mOAAV.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/88le8iQ.jpg

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

Russian advance on Olty (Armenia).

Naval and Overseas Operations

Germans repulsed at Trekopjes, north-east of Swakopmund (German south-west Africa).

Aviation

For actions on this day 2nd Lieutenant William Rhodes-Moorhouse would become the first aviator to be awarded the Victoria Cross.
On 26 April 1915 at Kortrijk, Belgium, Rhodes-Moorhouse swept low over the railway junction that he had been ordered to attack. He released his 100 lb (45 kg) bomb and was immediately plunged into a heavy barrage of small arms fire from rifles and a machine-gun in the belfry of Kortrijk Church; he was severely wounded by a bullet in his thigh, and his plane was badly hit. Returning to the Allied lines, he again ran into heavy fire from the ground and was wounded twice more. He managed to get his aircraft back, and insisted on making his report before being taken to the Casualty Clearing Station. He died the next day, 27 April 1915.
http://i.imgur.com/BL7BZyX.jpg

Political, etc.

Lord Kitchener and Mr. Asquith on German barbarity.

Treaty of London is signed, which secures Italy’s entry into the war on the side of the Allies.

Ship Losses:

Recolo ( United Kingdom): The trawler struck a mine and sank in the North Sea 60 nautical miles (110 km) east by north of Spurn Point, Yorkshire with the loss of two of her crew. At least seven survivors were rescued by the trawler Sebastian ( United Kingdom).

Sailor Steve

04-26-15, 08:55 AM

April 26:

German East Africa: HMS Hyacinth comes from the south Mafia Channel to Kibondo, recoals from SS Corbridge and then moves to Songa Songa, where Admiral King-Hall entertains the local headman.

HMS Kinfauns Castle patrols from Kibondo to Aldabra and back, notes rain all day long but temperature still reaching 84 degrees Fahrenheit.

HMS Laconia is off Niororo Island. No flying due to rain.

HMS Weymouth maintains her constant patrol at the Rufiji Delta. At 1600 "Sent whaler to Laconia for fresh meat."

Jimbuna

04-27-15, 07:04 AM

In addition to yesterday 26th April 1915:

http://i.imgur.com/fKntigw.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/pjJYyXI.jpg

Jimbuna

04-27-15, 07:32 AM

27th April 1915

Western Front

Second Battle of Ypres: Allied attack north of Ypres checked by use of gas.

Eastern Front

German advance towards Shavli (Baltic Provinces).

Southern Front

Dardanelles: Allies establish themselves across the Gallipoli Peninsula.

Ottoman forces under Mustafa Kemal launche a counterattack against the ANZAC forces, but are driven off by naval gunfire.

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

Russians expel the Turks from Kutur (Persia).

Baghdad railway bridge over Euphrates at Jerablus stated to be open for traffic.

Naval and Overseas Operations

French armoured cruiser "Leon Gambetta" sunk by an Austrian submarine in the Adriatic.
http://i.imgur.com/JTS4YZI.jpg

"Queen Elizabeth" sinks a Turkish t.b. off Maidos.

Submarine E14 sinks a Turkish gunboat in the Sea of Marmora.
Victoria Cross - Lt-Cdr Edward Courtney Boyle (CO, HM S/M E.14) arrived in the Sea of Marmara on the 27th at the start of a successful patrol, returning on 18 May in time to brief Lt-Cdr Nasmith of E.11. Lt-Cdr Boyle was awarded the VC for this and two further patrols.
http://i.imgur.com/pRiE2WV.jpg

Gallipoli Campaign
BALMEDIE, Admiralty trawler, 205/1906, Balgownie Steam Trawl Fishing Co, Aberdeen-reg A113, hired 8/14 as minesweeper, Admiralty No.350, Skipper George Reynolds RNR. In collision, sank in the Dardanelles (C - off); no lives lost.

Scorpion and Wolverine, destroyers, G-class, c,1,100t, 1-4in/3-12pdr/2-18in tt, 5th DF Mediterranean Fleet, two of nine temporarily-equipped minesweeping destroyers, sweeping some way inside the Straits to allow the battleships to reach bombardment positions, sweep wires passed and drawing apart. Turkish 4.1in shore batteries opened fire, Wolverine hit on bridge, Scorpion by shell in seaman’s messdeck which started a fire, soon put out; Wolverine lost Cdr O Prentis her captain, a sub-lieutenant RNR and coxswain (dk – on the 28th, probably night of 27th/28th). There were a few shrapnel holes in Scorpion (Lt-Cdr A B Cunningham - “ABC” of WW2 fame) soon repaired by destroyer depot ship Blenheim. Over the succeeding days, more destroyers were hit and damaged.

Political, etc.

Mr. Churchill announces that 29 prisoners from German submarines are separately confined and specially treated as a reprisal against the German submarine campaign.

London sees a shortage of whiskey, as people buy up stocks in fear that the government will institute prohibition.

Ship Losses:

HMT Balmedie ( Royal Navy): The naval trawler collided with another vessel and sank in the Dardanelles.
Léon Gambetta ( French Navy): The Léon Gambetta-class cruiser was sunk in the Mediterranean Sea off Santa Maria di Leuca, Apulia, Italy (39°30′N 18°15′E) by SM U-4 ( Austro-Hungarian Navy) with the loss of 684 of her 821 crew.

Sailor Steve

04-27-15, 09:45 AM

April 27:

"According to the papers, the Germans are making another dash for this place. There is certainly a hell of a row going on. We hear the guns day and night."
-Harold Rosher, No. 1 Naval Aeroplane Squadron, BEF, letter to his father, April 27th, 1915

North Sea: Max Valentiner in U-38 takes another prize - the Swedish freighter SS Torvald, 1,085 tons, carrying a load of wood from Niedewalle to Hartlepool. This ship will later be released along with Nidaros.

German East Africa: HMS Hyacinth patrols the south Mafia Channel from Kibondo to Tirene.

HMS Kinfauns Castle spends the day cruising north of Mafia Island.

HMS Laconia launches one of the Short floatplanes for another reconnaissance flight. This time the pilot stays well away from Königsberg, out of gun range but where the German ship can still be easily seen from the air.

HMS Weymouth, anchored off the Rufiji Delta, notes the seaplane flying over on its mission.

Jimbuna

04-28-15, 07:33 AM

28th April 1915

Western Front

Second Battle of Ypres: German offensive definitely stopped.

Germans bomb Dunkirk, Pervyse and Nancy; French bomb Friedrichshafen.

Germans storm French position at Les Mesnils.

Eastern Front

Very powerful Austro-German offensive under von Mackensen begins between the Dunajec and Biala Rivers (west Galicia). Russians driven back.

Southern Front

Dardanelles: Allied forces, aided by "Queen Elizabeth", advance on Krithia, 3rd Royal Marine Battalion landed. With Sedd el Bahr captured, Hamilton sends British and French troops into a general advance. They gain two miles but, meeting resistance, give in to fatigue. Continuing Turkish shelling renders the beaches chaotic, preventing or hindering resupply of these frontline troops. Hamilton's goal eludes him. (See map below).

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

Skirmishes east of the Suez Canal.

Naval and Overseas Operations

Gallipoli Campaign
Albion, battleship, Canopus-class, 14,300t, 4-12in/12-6in, above Morto Bay on European side off Kereves Dere, providing gunfire support for French forces, shortly after noon, about to be relieved by Lord Nelson. Hit and damaged by Turkish shellfire, leaking and retired to Mudros for three days for repairs.

Diplomatic Incidents - US merchant ship Cushing bombed by German aircraft in North Sea.

Atlantic off NW Scotland
Many supply ships especially colliers were needed for Admiral Jellicoe's Grand Fleet; some were lost as they passed up the western British Isles.

MOBILE, Admiralty collier, 1,950/1914, Furness, Withy & Co, West Hartlepool-reg, Mr W Fortune, Barry for Scapa Flow with coal. Captured by U.30 (Erich von Rosenberg-Grusczyski), sunk with bombs 25 miles NW of Butt of Lewis, Outer Hebrides (wi - by gunfire, in 58.48N, 06.50W).

Germans defeated at Gibeon (German south-west Africa).

South African Government publishes a Blue Book on the rebellion.

Political etc.

During the last 3 days, over 3000 Germans, 8000 Italians, & 1000 Austrians have left Switzerland as Italy’s entry into the war draws near.

British postal servants threaten to strike as the government refuse to grant them a war bonus.

War Secretary Lord Kitchener tells the House of Lords that Germany disregards The Hague Convention and has killed prisoners.

Germany prepares to buy 4 years supply of food, as Chancellor von Bethmann-Hollweg states the war might last that long.

Ship Losses:

Fuki Maru ( Japan): The cargo ship collided with Daichi Mari ( Japan) in the Yellow Sea off Hichihatsuto Island, Korea and sank with the loss of 30 of her crew.
Lilydale ( United Kingdom): The trawler was stopped and scuttled in the North Sea 37 nautical miles (69 km) east of St. Abb's Head, Berwickshire by SM U-10 ( Kaiserliche Marine).
Mobile ( United Kingdom): The collier was shelled and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean 25 nautical miles (46 km) north west of the Butt of Lewis, Outer Hebrides by SM U-30 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived.

First Battle of Krithia
http://i.imgur.com/uLSEaaD.jpg

Sailor Steve

04-28-15, 01:31 PM

April 28:

Air War: French pilot Jacques Toussaint François Ortoli and his observer, Lt. J. Menj, in a Maurice Farman MF.11, are credited with bringing down a Rumpler two-seater.

Albert Achard of France, riding as observer in a Morane 'L' parasol, shoots down an unidentified German aircraft. Achard's pilot is also unidentified.

North Sea: Fritz Stuhr, commanding U-10, sinks the British trawler Lilydale, 129 tons, bringing his score to 6 ships and 1,425 tons.

Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Ireland: Erich von Rosenberg-Grusczyski, in U-30, sinks SS Mobile, 1,905 tons, bound from Barry to an unlisted destination with a load of coal. His score is now 3 ships for 5,350 tons.

Malta: The two remaining monitors depart Grand Harbour. The tugs Blackcock and Revenger are undergoing repairs. HMS Mersey is being towed by Sarah Joliffe. HMS Severn is towed by Southampton and T.A. Joliffe. The collier SS Kendal Castle is following and the liner Trent is there bringing the monitors' crews along.

German East Africa: HMS Hyacinth spots a ship and heads seaward to investigate. It turns out to be the collier SS Corbridge, which had just departed Kibondo the day before. Later Hyacinth takes on stores from HMS Laconia.

HMS Kinfauns Castle is patroling north of Mafia Island.

At 1315 HMS Laconia hoists out one of the surviving two Short seaplanes. The aircraft is hoisted back in at 1430.

At 1410 hours HMS Weymouth logs the sighting of an aeroplane.

Saudi Arabia: After twenty days at sea Hellmuth von Mücke and his men land at an inlet eleven miles south of Al Wajh. Von Mücke had sent a messenger to the city, and his party is met by some gendarmes from the city. The gendarmes find some camels and begin to organize a caravan.

Jimbuna

04-29-15, 06:46 AM

29th April 1915

Western Front

Second Battle of Ypres: Artillery duels north of Ypres; Canadians withdrawn from the Ypres salient.

Germans bombard Reims and Dunkirk.

Eastern Front

Continued German advance in Galicia; also in the Baltic Provinces; Libau-Dvinsk railway reached.

Russians repulse Austrian attacks in the Uzsok Pass.

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

Turks retreat from neighbourhood of the Suez Canal.

Naval and Overseas Operations

Submarine E14 sinks a Turkish transport in the Sea of Marmora.

The British admiralty collier Cherbury, bound from Barry to Cromarty with 5,100 tons of coal, crossed paths with a German submarine U-30 (Erich von Rosenberg-Grusczyski), on April 29, 1915, twenty-seven nautical miles west northwest of Eagle Island off Northern Island, spurring a 10-15 miles chase in which the German’s fired several shells and one torpedo at her as she zig-zagged in a futile attempt to escape. Finally, the German sub, apparently tiring of the game, came to within 150 yards of the steamer and signaled her to immediately abandon ship. Recognizing it as the courtesy it was, the Cherbury hove to and complied, thus sparing her entire crew of between 25 and 29 men. The German’s boarded the vessel, confiscated the ship’s papers and navigational equipment, and set three timed charges, by which they scuttled and sank her. The Cherbury’s crew rowed to Eagle Island Lighthouse that night and the next morning proceeded to Scotsport and Belmullet.

Political, etc.

Hundreds of thousands of respirators are donated to the British War Office after a public appeal was made after the German gas attacks.

Mr. Lloyd George announces the Government scheme with regard to alcoholic drinks.

Mehmed Selaheddin, only son of Sultan Murad V, has passed away.
http://i.imgur.com/MV6rW65.jpg

International Congress of Women is held at The Hague, drawing over a thousand delegates.
http://i.imgur.com/d2G0iLt.jpg

Ship Losses:

HMAS AE2 ( Royal Australian Navy): Naval operations in the Dardanelles Campaign: The E-class submarine was scuttled in the Dardanelles following battle damage.
Cherbury ( United Kingdom): The collier was scuttled in the Atlantic Ocean 27 nautical miles (50 km) west north west of Eagle Island, County Fermanagh by SM U-30 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her 29 crew survived.

Sailor Steve

04-29-15, 10:38 AM

April 29:

"There has been some excitement here to-day. To begin with, three enemy aircraft came over here before breakfast, and then another between eleven and twelve o'clock. It was most comic to see our infuriated machines dashing off into the atmosphere in pursuit, with not an earthly chance of catching them. Soon after eleven o'clock there was a big explosion in the town and we all did a great leap into the air. From then, for nearly three hours, we were shelled with the greatest regularity at five minute intervals. We all climbed on to the roof of one of our sheds and watched through glasses the explosions, occuring to the second almost; big stuff it was too, 12" I should say, and fired from the back of Nieuport, quite 20 miles away. The total bag was 40 killed and 60 wounded."
-Harold Rosher, letter to his father, April 29, 1915

Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of Ireland: Erich von Rosenberg-Grusczyski, in U-30, sinks SS Cherbury, 3,220 tons, travelling from Barry to an unspecified destination with a load of coal. His score is now 4 ships for 8,048 tons.

German East Africa: HMS Hyacinth is patrolling around Niororo Island.

HMS Kinfauns Castle spends the day coaling from SS Cento and then dealing out stores to Hyacinth, Reichenfels and Weymouth.

HMS Laconia moves from Niororo to Mafia Island. At 1500 she hoists out one of the Short Folders. "Seaplane 121 exercising. Unable to climb to required height."

HMS Weymouth is at her usual station off the Rufiji Delta.

Saudi Arabia: Hellmuth von Mücke and his men ride to Al Wajh. They leave everything behind in the zambuk, carrying only their weapons and provisions for one day. The Arab sailors take the zambuk to Al Wajh, and as it happens meet no enemy ships. The Germans arrive in the early evening, where they are greeted by Suleiman Pasha, Sheik of Al Wajh.

Jimbuna

04-30-15, 07:50 AM

30th April 1915

Western Front

Second Battle of Ypres: Attempted German advance from St. Julien repulsed.

Zeppelin raid on East Anglia.

Eastern Front

German cavalry succeeds in getting around the extreme right of the Russian flank and conducts raids into the Russian Baltic provinces.
Germans reach the railway stations of the Muravievo and Radziviliski (Province of Kovno, Baltic Provinces).

Aviation

German zeppelins raid the towns of Bury St. Edmunds, Ipswich, and Whitton, destroying several homes.

Naval and Overseas Operations

Victoria Cross - L/Cpl Walter Richard Parker RMLI (Portsmouth Battalion, RN Division), to 1 May, Gallipoli, stretcher bearer, also carried ammunition and supplies to isolated position under intense enemy fire and cared for wounded.

Atlantic off SW Ireland
FULGENT, Admiralty collier, 2,008/1910, Westoll Line/James Westoll, Sunderland-reg, collier No.151, presumably Pennant No.Y3.151, 20 crew, Mr C Brown, from Cardiff south-about Ireland for Scapa Flow with 2,750t coal. U.30 (Erich von Rosenberg-Grusczyski) (L/Mn - U.7 but sunk 21 January 1915; ge - U.23) surfaced close astern at 0900 and fired one shot, collier went to full speed, attempted to keep the U-boat astern, but quickly overhauled on the port quarter, second shell hit bridge, engines stopped and ship abandoned. U.30 used the port-side boat to put a scuttling crew on board, charges sank her at 0945, 20 miles WNW from Blasket islands, N entrance to Dingle Bay (L/te/un - 45 miles NW of Skellig Rocks; wi - in 52.10.10N, 11.10W); man at the wheel killed and master badly wounded by second shell, 14 men took to the starboard boat with the master while the rest took the port, the boats stayed together all through the 30th and into the 31st then became separated during the night. The survivors, excluding the master who died two hours after being taken off, were picked up the SS’s Tosto and Angle, and landed at Galway and Kilrush on 1 May.

Political, etc.

German warning in U.S. newspapers re: sailing in "Lusitania".

King George congratulates General Sir Ian Hamilton for the “splendid achievement” of the landings at Gallipoli.
http://i.imgur.com/DIBlIt1.jpg

Ship Losses:

Elida ( Sweden): The cargo ship was sunk in the North Sea 190 nautical miles (350 km) east of the Farne Islands, United Kingdom (56°29′N 3°16′E) by SM U-38 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived.
Fulgent ( United Kingdom): The collier was scuttled in the Atlantic Ocean 45 nautical miles (83 km) north west of the Skellig Islands, County Kerry by SM U-30 ( Kaiserliche Marine) with the loss of two of her crew.
Laila ( Norway): The coaster was sunk in the North Sea (56°51′N 3°09′E) by SM U-35 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived.
Svorono ( Russia): The cargo ship was sunk in the Atlantic Ocean 14 nautical miles (26 km) west of the Blasket Islands, County Kerry by SM U-30 ( Kaiserliche Marine).
SM U-37 ( Kaiserliche Marine): The Type U 31 submarine struck a mine and sank in the English Channel (51°04′N 1°48′W).

MERCHANT SHIPPING
British, Allied and Neutral ships lost to enemy submarines, mines and cruisers etc in the month - 44 ships of 58,000 tons gross (Lloyd's War Losses).

Sailor Steve

04-30-15, 10:24 AM

April 30:

Atlantic Ocean: Erich von Rosenberg-Grusczyski continues his success in U-30, sinking two ships while making his way southward to the Western Approaches. First is the British freighter SS Fulgent, 2,008 tons, on her way around the islands from Cardiff to Scapa Flow with a load of coal. Next is the Russian steamer Svorono, also carrying coal from Port Talbot to Archangelsk. His score is now 6 ships and 13,168 tons.

North Sea: Waldemar Kophamel, commanding U-35, sinks Norwegian SS Laila, 748 tons, bound from Kragerø to Tyne with a load of timber. He now has 3 ships for 2,186 tons.

Max Valentiner and U-38 strike again, sinking Norwegian freighter Elida, 1,693 tons, travelling from Hälsingborg to Hull with a load of pit props, giving him 3 ships and 3,446 tons.

Indian Ocean: Approaching Zanzibar, HMS Chatham records heavy rain squalls.

German East Africa: HMS Hyacinth patrols the area, the anchors at Kibondo. The collier Corbridge supplies her with stores. Cornwall and Pioneer are also in the anchorage. Hyacinth communicates with the collier Lady Charlotte.

HMS Kinfauns Castle patrols the north Mafia Channel, then coals from SS Cento. The gunboats Fly and Echo are also in the area.

HMS Laconia travels from Nioroo to Mafia Island, where she takes on stores via her ship's boats.

HMS Weymouth continues her watch off the Rufiji Delta. At 0300 hours the captain has his Officer Of the Watch, Lt. A.G. Murray, arrested "...for neglect of duty in not keeping a vigilant lookout as OOW, the ship being anchored off the enemy coast."

Saudi Arabia: After a bath and a good night's sleep, Hellmuth von Mücke and his men make their first business of the day to have their clothes washed, especially the underwear. It is the first opportunity for a completely clean outfit in several weeks. Next they set about collecting enough camels for an overland journey.

Jimbuna

05-01-15, 06:07 AM

1st May 1915

Western Front

Second Battle of Ypres: Repulse of German attack on Hill 60; British ordered to withdraw to new line.

Eastern Front

Germans occupy Shavli and approach Libau (Baltic Provinces).

Austro-German offensive towards the Uzsok Pass.

Southern Front

Dardanelles: Turks attack the Allied line at Gallipoli.

Naval and Overseas Operations

Two German t.b.'s sunk by British destroyer in North Sea.

Union forces occupy Kubas (German south-west Africa).

American tanker Gulflight is torpedoed by the German submarine U-30, resulting in 3 American deaths. The ship survives the attack.
http://i.imgur.com/XcfK1kR.jpg

North Sea
Old destroyers Recruit and Brazen were on patrol off the Galloper Lightvessel in the Thames Estuary, while Yarmouth trawlers Columbia, Barbados, Miura, Chirsit were searching for a reported U-boat off North Hinder. Recruit was torpedoed and sunk at 1120 by a UB-boat, and about the same time a torpedo was fired at Columbia off the mouth of the Scheldt, probably by another UB. The trawlers continued their search and by 1500 were back at North Hinder when they were attacked by small German TB's A.2 and A.6, a new type based at Zeebrugge and sent overland in sections for assembly at Antwerp. Four torpedoes were fired and Columbia sank, followed by a 20 minute gun action between the TB's and the three surviving trawlers. The Germans then headed back at the sight of Harwich destroyers Laforey, Leonadis, Lawford, Lark coming out in reponse to the loss of Recruit, chased and sank both by gunfire:

RECRUIT (1), destroyer, C-class, 425t, 1896, 1-12pdr/5-6pdr/2-18in tt, 30kts, c63 crew, Pennant No.N.60, Nore Defence Flotilla, Cdr Charles Wrightson. Torpedoed amidships at 1120 by UB.6 (Erich Haecker) (Cn/D - by UB.16), broke in two and sank quickly near Galloper LV (Rn - c30 miles SW of North Hinder LV; ge/un - 30 miles SW of the Galloper), reportedly the first warship sunk by a Flanders Flotilla submarine; 39 ratings lost (He – 34, ke - 43), four officers and 22 men saved by passing Dutch steamer.

COLUMBIA, Admiralty trawler, 266/1886, Hellyers Steam Fishing, Hull-reg H42, presented (presumably as a private gift) 9/14 as auxiliary patrol vessel, Admiralty No.200, Canadian Lt-Cdr Walter Hawthorn RNR. Torpedoed shortly after 1500, probably by first torpedo fired by A.6 off North Hinder LV (ap - 4 miles NW of; D - nearby Thornton Ridge; H/L/C - Foreness, near North Foreland, Kent); total of 3 officers and 13 ratings lost, Barbados searched for survivors without success, later discovered one had been rescued by Miura. According to German reports, Lt Hawthorn and two men were picked up as POW’s, but lost when A.2 and A.6 were sunk.

Barbados, Admiralty trawler, (C - 211/1905; D - 183/1907), Hull-reg H.938, hired 10/14 as minesweeper, 1-6pdr AA, Lt Sir James Domville. Second torpedoes fired by A.2 and A.6 missed, then badly damaged by gunfire as Chirsit and Miura came up from some way off; Lt Domville and the skipper wounded. Note: The Colledge tonnage and build date apply to a second trawler named Barbados employed as BDV according to Dittmar & Colledge.

Political, etc.

Navigation resumed again between England and Holland.

Chinese Note to Japan requiring the restoration of Kiao-chau, and making other demands.

Ship Losses:

SMS A2 ( Kaiserliche Marine): The A1-class torpedo boat was shelled and sunk in the North Sea by HMS Laforey, HMS Lark, HMS Lawford and HMS Leonidas (all Royal Navy).
SMS A6 ( Kaiserliche Marine): The A1-class torpedo boat was shelled and sunk in the North Sea by HMS Laforey, HMS Lark, HMS Lawford and HMS Leonidas (all Royal Navy).
Balduin ( Norway): World War I: The cargo ship was sunk in the North Sea (56°58′N 3°15′E) by SM U-39 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived.
HMT Columbia ( Royal Navy): The naval trawler was torpedoed and sunk in the North Sea off the Noord Hinder Lightship ( Netherlands) by two German torpedo boats. Three of her crew were rescued by one of the torpedo boats, both of which were subsequently sunk by HMT Barbados, HMT Christi and another naval trawler (all Royal Navy).
Edale ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship was torpedoed and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean 45 nautical miles (83 km) north west by north of the Isles of Scilly (50°09′N 7°30′W) by SM U-30 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her 24 crew survived.
Elsa ( Sweden): The sailing vessel was sunk in the North Sea 100 nautical miles (190 km) east of the Isle of May, Fife, United Kingdom by SM U-39 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived.
Europe ( France): The cargo ship was captured by, and sunk by gunfire from, SM U-30 ( Kaiserliche Marine) in the Atlantic Ocean 3 nautical miles (5.6 km) north west of the Bishop's Rock (49°54′N 6°30′W). Her crew survived.
Joule ( French Navy): World War I: Gallipoli Campaign: The Brumaire-class submarine struck a mine and sank in the Dardanelles with the loss of all hands.
Gulflight ( United States): World War I: The tanker was torpedoed and damaged in the Atlantic Ocean 20 nautical miles (37 km) west of the Isles of Scilly by SM U-30 ( Kaiserliche Marine) with the loss of three crew and was beached. She was subsequently repaired and returned to service.
HMS Recruit ( Royal Navy): World War I: The C-class destroyer was torpedoed and sunk in the North Sea 30 nautical miles (56 km) south west of the Galloper Lightship ( United Kingdom) by SM UB-6 ( Kaiserliche Marine) with the loss of 34 of her crew.

German artillery near Warsaw
http://i.imgur.com/q2Mci9y.jpg