[Sailor Steve]

September 5:

In order to make desperately-needed engine repairs HMS Dresden puts into a secluded bay at Isla Hoste, at the very tip of South America, on her way from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific, where Kpt.z.s von Lüdecke hopes to join von Spee's squadron.




A further note on U-21 and HMS Pathfinder: Ten u-boats had been sent out on the very first war patrol. They had sunk nothing, and only eight had returned. On August 14th three of them - U-19, U-21 and U-22 - had been sent out again to patrol between Scotland and Norway. They had sighted a cruiser and a destroyer but hadn't been able to attack.

The German high command decided to try a new tactic. Rather than going in large groups the u-boats would now be sent out alone, or at most in pairs. The commanders responded by making trips to every British North Sea port, and periscopes were sighted almost daily. At one point a periscope was seen off Scapa Flow and Admiral John Jellicoe ordered every ship at the base to put to sea. This would infect the fleet so badly that it would come to be known as "periscopitis". On the side of the u-boats there are stories of the boats stopping at the Orkney Islands and huntin wild goats and sea birds.

At one point U-20 and U-21 made a sweep into the Firth of Forth, but could not reach the main anchorage.

On September 5th Kapitänleutnant Otto Hersing had just surfaced U-21 for a battery recharge off the Isle of May, at the mouth of the Firth of Forth, when the light cruiser Pathfinder was sighted. He immediately dove the boat, but was forced to watch as the cruiser sailed away. Hersing surfaced and resumed charging the batteries. The weather worsened and the waves were rising when a ship was spotted. It was Pathfinder, patrolling in a pattern that brought her right back into U-21's sights. Hersing waited until the right moment and fired a single torpedo. It struck Pathfinder behind the bridge and apparently set off a magazine. The ship sank in just four minutes and the era of modern submarine warfare had begun. HMS Pathfinder was the first ship ever sunk with a self-propelled torpedo.



In Langini Bay at Simalur SMS Emden resumed coaling at 0600 hours. The job needed to be finished quickly as the Dutch regulations only allowed one 24-hour stop by beligerent warships every three months. At 0800 Emden was approached by a small steam yacht flying the Dutch flag. A local government official came on board and insisted that Emden leave immediately, as her 24 hours were long past. Captain von Müller called for senior engineer Friedrich Ellerbroek, and pointedly asked him when the engines would be ready for sea. Ellerbroek caught on immediately and said repairs would take at least two more hours. Von Müller invited the official in and offered him whisky and soda. The crew had the coaling finished by 1100 and Emden was on her way, steaming south-eastward until the island was completely out of sight, then turning north toward the trade routes from Khota Raja to Colombo.