100 Years Ago Today

[Jimbuna]

7th November 1914

Western Front

Lombartzyde again captured by Germans.

Heavy German attacks on the Allies at Givenchy (La Bassee) and Arras.

German attacks near Roye and Vimy repulsed.

Southern Front

Russians bombard Turkish ports in the Black Sea.

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

Siege of Tsingtao comes to an end as Japanese and British troops capture the German concession in China. 727 Allied troops are killed. Germany suffers 199 killed and more than 3000 are taken prisoner.
Japanese commanders and foreign observers at Tsingtao


Mesopotamia: British force lands in Persian Gulf.

Naval and Overseas Operations

South Africa: Union troops defeated by De Wet at Doornberg.

Ship Losses:

JAGUAR German gunboat scuttled in Tsing Tao.


© IWM (Q 57328)
The 2nd Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment being transported by bus through Dickebusch on their way to Ypres, 6 November 1914.

[Sailor Steve]

November 7:

Indian Ocean: Emden and Buresk reach their rendezvous point, but SS Exford is nowhere to be seen. Emden begins patrolling the area, looking for the missing collier.

Meanwhile the First ANZAC Troop Convoy is travelling northwest through the Indian ocean.

[Jimbuna]

8th November 1914

Western Front

Battle along line Dixmude-Ypres-La Bassee-Arras continued: German attacks repulsed.

French continue to advance in the Argonne, and occupy Vregny (Aisne).

Eastern Front

East Prussia: Russians re-enter Eydtkuhnen and Stalluponen: they advance into the Imperial forest of Rominten.

Southern Front

Serbia: Third Austrian invasion begun: advances on three lines, viz., towards (i) Nish, (ii) Shabats, (iii) Valyevo.

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

Japan assumes the occupation of German concession of Tsingtao, China until the end of the war.

Mesopotamia: Fao on Persian Gulf occupied by British.

Naval and Overseas Operations

South Africa: Rebels routed at Sandfontein.

Russians sink four Turkish transports in Black Sea.

Ship Losses:

ATLE (Sweden): Steamer mined and sunk about 7 miles. SO t. O from Cross Sands lightship, on a voyage London - Goteborg. 6 men killed.
TURRET CHIEF (United Kingdom): Steamer ran ashore near Keweenaw Point, Lake Superior when on a voyage Midland, Ontario – Fort William in ballast.

[Sailor Steve]

November 8:

London: Back on August 26th SMS Magdeburg was grounded and and destroyed in the Black Sea. Among the items captured were two copies of the Signalbuch der Kaiserlichen Marine, the German Naval Code Book. The Russians later passed one of them to the British. On October 17 the sinking German destroyer S-119 jettisoned her codebooks, which were recovered by a British trawler. All of this reached the Admiralty by the first of November, who began preparing a new decoding division. At its head was Sir Alfred Ewing, and it operated autonymously. One of the few department heads in on the secret was the Director Intelligence Division, Captain William Hall. On November 8 the new department set up shop in the Admiralty building, and took its informal name from its new location - Room 40.



HMS Invincible and Inflexible arrive at Devonport, where they are joined by Admiral Sir Doveton Sturdee. They will have to stay there for a few days to make some minor repairs and stock up on coal, ammunition and enough food for a three-month cruise. The Devonport yard commander, Rear Admiral Godfrey Mundy, signals the Admiralty that the ships will be ready to sail at midnight on November 13th. Fisher is said to have exclaimed "Friday the 13th. What a day to choose!"

Churchill writes a letter to the overall Commander at Devonport, Admiral Sir George Egerton: "Ships are to sail on Wednesday 11th. They are needed for war service and arrangements must be made to conform. If necessary, dockyard men should be sent away in the ships to return as opportunity may offer. You are held responsible for the speedy dispatch of these ships in a thoroughly efficient condition." Egerton takes a train to London to protest in person to Fisher. Fisher replies that as far as he cares the workmen can be thrown overboard if the repairs aren't finished by the time the ships sail.



Indian Ocean: SS Exford finally reaches her rendezvous with Emden and Buresk. KptLt. Gropius explains that his navigation was thrown off due to a discrepancy between his chronometer and Emden's. Captain von Müller had planned to attack the radio station at Cocos at dawn on the 8th, but now he is forced to postpone it for twenty-four hours. Gropius is returned to Emden and Lauterbach put in charge of Exford. Leutnants Fikentscher and Schall are also brought back to Emden; as leading signal officers they will be needed in the operation at Cocos.

Emden, Buresk and Exford now turn to the southwest. At 1600 hours Exford is sent away with orders to loiter off Socotra Island, near the Red Sea. Von Müller briefs his officers on the next day's operations. KptLt. von Mücke is to lead the shore party, with orders to destroy the wireless station and it's generators, then tear up the cable so it can't be too easily repaired. Then the raiding party is organized. Under von Mücke are Lts. Gryssling and Schmidt, leading a squad of thirty sailors, fifteen technicians and two signalmen.

At 1900 Buresk is dispatched to wait thirty miles north of Cocos for instructions. Emden then steams slowly toward the target, timing her arrival for dawn on the 9th.

Meanwhile the ANZAC convoy is some 150 miles away, heading for Cocos.

[Jimbuna]

9th November 1914

Western Front

Ypres: Violent German attacks: British position again in danger.

Eastern Front

Poland: Germans evacuate Kalish and Chenstokhov, etc.

Silesia entered by Russian cavalry, rail cut at Pleschen.

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

Armenia: Battle of Kroprukeui.

Naval and Overseas Operations

"Emden" destroyed at Cocos Island H.M.A.S. "Sydney". (See post: http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/show...9&postcount=83)
German light cruiser SMS Emden headed for the Cocos Islands to destroy the cable and wireless station on the smaller Direction Island, appeared at 0550 and a warning was immediately sent out by cable station superintendent. Emden anchored and sent armed party ashore which destroyed the installations over the next two and half hours. Around 0630, the warning signal had been intercepted by light cruiser HMAS Melbourne escorting an Australian troop convoy only 50 miles away to the north, sister-ship Sydney was detached to investigate. Arriving off Cocos at 0915, Sydney sighted Emden which opened accurate fire at 0940 from 9,500yds, Sydney's after control station was soon hit. Making the most of her longer-range guns, Sydney brought down Emden's foremost funnel, foremast, then second funnel and third, the badly damaged Emden headed for the northerly North Keeling Island and ran aground at 1120. Sydney left to pursue the escaping collier SS Buresk, captured some time before. Schooner Ayesha was seized by German landing party after Emden left them ashore to go and fight Sydney, sailed to Padang, Dutch East Indies, and on to Turkish-occupied Yemen. The Germans then travelled overland to Constantinople.

Sydney, Royal Australian Navy, light cruiser, Chatham-class, 6,000t, 8-6in/4-3pdr/2-21in tt, Capt John Glossop, Australian Fleet. Slightly damaged; 3 ratings killed, 1 DOW and 12 wounded. Royal Navy Single Ship Action - Sydney v EMDEN 1914.


Hellmuth von Mücke and 53 men escape on the Syesha, a derelict schooner they repaired, & return to Germany.


"Geier", German cruiser, interned by U.S.A. at Honolulu.


SMS Kronprinz, a König class battleship, is commissioned into the German Imperial Navy.


Political, etc.

Mr. Asquith's Guildhall speech setting forth the aims of the Allies: "We shall never sheathe the sword," etc.

President Yuan Shikai of China is forced to look towards the U.S. for loans as European funds are closed off due to the war.

Ship Losses:

SMS Emden ( Kaiserliche Marine): Battle of Cocos: The Dresden-class cruiser was shelled and damaged in the Indian Ocean by HMAS Sydney ( Royal Australian Navy). She was beached on North Keeling Island with the loss of 134 of her 360 crew.
AYESHA, British sailing vessel 123grt, captured by crew of German light cruiser EMDEN, off N Keeling Island, later scuttled 15th Dec 1914.

[Sailor Steve]

November 9:

Devonport, Britain: Admiral Sir Doveton Sturdee hoists raises his command flag aboard HMS Invincible, and personally takes charge of the preparations for the voyage to South America.



German East Africa: The preparations aboard SS Newbridge are complete, and plans are made to take the collier upriver, where she will be sunk to block the channel and prevent SMS Königsberg from using that route to escape. She will be accompanied by the armed steamship Duplex, a steam picket boat and two steam cutters.



Indian Ocean: During the night the radio crew of SMS Emden picked up several wireless messages between the station at Cocos and a British warship, call sign 'NC'. They assumed from the strength of the signals that the ship was at least two hundred miles away.

In fact the new mystery ship was HMS Minotaur, a new armoured cruiser and leader of the ANZAC Convoy's escort. She had the other ships on strict radio silence, so anyone listening would assume she was travelling alone. She was also a lot closer than von Müller had guessed.

At 0600 hours, with her false fourth funnel in place, SMS Emden enters the harbor at Direction Island, the largest of the Cocos/Keeling group. Earlier Emden's officers had discussed just shelling the wireless station and being done with it, but Captain von Müller said he wished to cause as little loss of life as possible, so the station would be wrecked by hand. The steam pinnace and two cutters are lowered and manned, with Kptlt. von Mücke is commanding the party from the pinnace, which tows the two cutters behind, with Lts. Gryssling and Schmidt each in charge of one. Each cutter has two machine guns. The three boats reach the shore shortly before 0700.

The weather is perfect, and von Müller sends a message to Buresk to come to the island so Emden can recoal. The cruiser's boilers are shut down. The crew of the wireless station intercept the message, and ask what ship is sending the signal. Emden doesn't answer, so the Australian wireless crew send out a distress call: "Foreign ship in harbor!" At this point von Mücke and party break into the wireless station and take the crew prisoner. They then proceed to wreck everything in sight with axes. Next is the big wireless aerial mast, which is toppled with dynamite. What none of the Germans know is that while the Australians were sending an open signal about "foreign ships" they were also sending a coded message through the cable: "SOS! Emden is here!"

HMS Minotaur is trying to raise the station, but by this time the mast is down and the crew made prisoners. Vice-Admiral Herbert King-Hall sends a signal via lamp to Captain Mortimer Silver aboard HMAS Melbourne, advising him that Emden is at Cocos. It is Silver's job to decide which escort to send. Captain Kanji Kato of IJNS Ibuki insists that his battlecruiser is the logical choice for the task, carrying four 12" and eight 8" guns, but Silver decides that HMAS Sydney is four knots faster than Ibuki and he wants her big guns to help protect the convoy. Sydney leaves the convoy at 0700 and heads for Cocos at 25 knots. At this rate it will take her two hours to get to Direction Island.

Von Mücke's last task is to destroy the trans-Malaysian wireless cable. The buried portion is easy enough to find, but it is important to make sure it can't be repaired easily, so a part of it must be raised from the water and cut, and the broken ends dragged to water deep enough that it can't be seen from the surface. The Germans find the underwater cable easily, but run into trouble trying to snag it with grappling hooks and drag it to the surface by hand. Finally they manage to raise the cable from the mud, and several men jump into the water to maneuver it by hand. Two cables are raised to the boat and cut apart in this manner, but they are unable to find the third. A small storehouse containg spare parts is blown up.

At 0900 the smoke of a ship is spotted approaching from the north. At first this is thought to be Buresk. Leutnant Guerard goes to Emden's crow's nest and confirms this to be so. At 0915 a message is sent to von Mücke to hurry his work and come back aboard Emden. Von Mücke had planned to also blow up the small schooner in the harbor, but this will have to be left undone. At this point Guerard reports that the approaching ship has the tall masts of an English warship. Almost at the same time the ship raises the White Ensign. Von Müller calls his ship to Action Stations, and the task of building steam in the boilers is begun. Normally this could take a couple of hours, but the boilers are still warm and at 0930 Emden weighs anchor and gets underway.

During the fifteen minutes it takes to get steam up, von Müller sounds the ship's siren to recall the landing party. Von Mücke has his crew aboard the boats and the steam pinnace is towing its companions seaward when he sees Emden's flag drop to half-mast, the signal that she is weighing anchor. Then he watches the cruiser start building up speed. Not knowing what is going on, von Mücke at first assumes that Emden is going out to meet Buresk. Von Mücke continues to follow, but finally gives up when he realizes that Emden is now making at least 16 knots, and his boats can only make about 4 knots.

At 0940 Sydney's Captain, John Glossop, executes a 90-degree turn to starboard, bringing the ships onto a parallel course, at a range of ten thousand yards. Von Müller immediately orders Lt. Gaede to open fire. Emden's second or third salvo (reports vary) strikes Sydney, and a lucky shell takes out her rangefinder. This leaves Sydney shooting wide, and Emden continues to score hits. At 0950 Sydney suffers a hit on one of her guns, and burning shell casings threaten to start a fire which could blow up the ship. Fast-thinking members of the gun crew fill a large tub with water and toss the red-hot casings in with their bare hands. By 1000 Sydney finally starts to score hits, one of which destroys Emden's wireless room, and another wrecks the forward gun.

Von Müller orders a turn to starboard in an attempt to close the range. Glossop uses his superior speed to maintain his distance. Emden's steering gear fails at this point. The backup hand-steering mechanism is also out of order, and the ship must be steered by its engines. After reporting this to the bridge, KptLt. Gropius goes aft to help with the gun there. He and most of the gun crew are blown overboard by the explosion of a 6" shell from Sydney. Orders to both engine rooms and gun crews must now be given by voice tube, so if the orders are received at all it is a least a minute before they are carried out. The forward funnel takes a hit, and since the support cables had been detached for coaling it immediately falls over. The resulting smoke covers the ship, and the loss of draft to the boilers reduces the ship's speed to twenty knots. The officers who had been in charge of range-finding go aft to help with the guns, and are soon killed.

At 1020 a shell penetrates the torpedo room which is below the waterline. Lt. Prinz Franz Joseph von Hohenzollern leads the repair team, and by 1025 the torpedoes are again ready to fire. At 1045 the mast is carried overboard, taking with it Lt. Guerard and Signalman Metzing. At 1100 the torpedo room takes another hit, and with water and gas both flooding into the room Lt. Hohenzollern leads his men in an evacuation. He then makes his way to the forward magazine, where he finds Lt. Geerdes wounded and Kptlt. Gaede dying.

With all of his guns out of action and power rapidly failing von Müller directs that the ship be grounded on the reefs of North Keeling. At 1115 this is accomplished. At 1120 Sydney ceases fire and sets off to find Buresk. Von Müller gives permission for anyone so desiring to jump overboard and swim to shore. The surviving officers set about flooding the boilers and wrecking the remaing guns, destroying the ship's books and tending to the wounded. Hohenzollern leads a team of men to the aft section, trying to find survivors. They end up climbing over piles of spilled coal and finding routes around red-hot compartments. Finally all of the wounded are taken forward to be treated as best as possible. It is then seen that several of the men who did leap overboard have been smashed on the reefs. Among these are the ship's chief surgeon, Dr. Schwabe.

At 1150 Sydney overtakes Buresk. Kptlt. Klopper knows he can't escape, so the process of scuttling the ship is begun. Signal books are destroyed. Valves are opened. At 1300 the collier is ordered to stop. A prize crew orders them to follow, but it is too late. Buresk is already sinking.

With no boats left on the wreck, an attempt is made to float a line to the men who did make it ashore, with no success. Then the two best swimmers aboard try to get a line ashore, but are forced by the reefs to turn back. Time is spent using pistols and clubs to kill the seagulls which keep trying to attack the most severely wounded.

Around 1600 hours Sydney returns to the wreck. She flies a flag meant to order Emden to surrender. A signalman aboard Emden uses flags to say "No signal book aboard", meaning they can't read Sydney's messages. Sydney twice signals "Do you surrender?" Upon receiving no reply, the British cruiser opens fire on the wreckage of Emden. Von Müller quickly gives permission for anyone who wishes to jump overboard. Someone then realizes that in their haste to beach the ship they have forgotten to lower the ship's flag. This is quickly done, and a white flag raised. Upon seeing this Sydney ceases fire. Then one of Buresk's boats is sent to tell von Müller that the British will return with help the next day.

When the shore party realized their ship was going into battle, they returned to the beach. Von Mücke rounds up the enemy signalmen and disarmed them. They then set to work digging ditches and constructing shore defenses. The officers also keep an eye on the battle raging in the distance. While watching the proceedings at sea von Mücke decides he can put up no more than a token defense if the Australian cruiser should decide to come to the island later. He decides to see if the schooner in the bay might be of any use. Going alone in the steam pinnace he finds the schooner in fairly good condition, manned only by her captain, J. Partridge, one sailor and Edmund and Roscoe Clunies-Ross, sons of the island's owner. From them he learns that the craft is called Ayesha, after Mohammed's favorite wife. As they are taken ashore Partridge tells von Mücke "I wish you a safe journey, but her hull is rotten."

When von Mücke returns to shore to gather his men the English and Australians try to tell him that the schooner is old and rotten, and not to trust her at sea. They also warn of the British and Japanese warships waiting to capture them. Then they seem to have a change of heart and start helping the Germans stock the little ship with supplies.

As Ayesha is preparing to get underway von Mücke climbs the mast. He can see Emden and Sydney still firing in the distance. Then he has the steam pinnace tow the schooner out of the bay. Once clear of the reefs the steam launch is set free, engine still running. It makes its own way into the darkness and is gone.

[Jimbuna]

10th November 1914

Western Front

Flooding around the Yser River, originally done to slow the German attack, now hampers the Allied advance.

Yser: Germans take Dixmude.

Ypres: Germans take St. Eloi.

Eastern Front

East Prussia: Russians re-enter Goldap.

Przemysl again isolated by Russian forces.

Naval and Overseas Operations

Arabian Coastal Operations - British-Indian forces bombarded and stormed Sheikh Said, southern Arabia and destroyed defences, armoured cruiser Duke of Edinburgh & troops of 29th Indian Infantry Brigade take part.

"Konigsberg" blocked up in Rufiji River.

German East Africa
NEWBRIDGE, Admiralty blockship, ex-collier, 3,737/1906, 342ft, Temperley SS Co, London-reg, purchased 1914, originally for use at Dover, sent to East Africa, filled with crushed rock and dynamite charges, 14 volunteer crew, Cdr Raymond Fitzmaurice. This was the first operation against the trapped German cruiser Koenigsberg. In the early morning, under fire but under cover of 6in cruiser gunfire, reached scuttling position 8 miles down the Ssuninga channel of the Rufuji river delta where it met the Ssimba-Uranga arm, swung across the river and anchored bow and stern, charges fired at 0550 and settled to the bottom. This still left two navigable channels - the northern Kikunja and the southern Kiomboni - by which Koenigsberg could reach the sea 10 miles away.



A German Naval landing party preparing to leave Direction Island.

Political etc.

Hotels in Italy owned by British companies fire all German staff members.

Americans entering Germany must now have permission from the German embassy in D.C. or the consulate in New York City.

Ship Losses:

Speculator ( United Kingdom): The fishing smack struck a mine and sank in the North Sea off the coast of Norfolk with the loss of five of her crew.

[Sailor Steve]

November 10:

German East Africa: Shortly before dawn the little convoy prepares to enter the Simba Uranga entrance to the Rufiji river. The collier SS Newbridge has had her bridge armored, but the only other protection from potential German gunfire is a pile of sandbags around her fantail. Her escort is the small armed steamer SS Duplex, which carries two 3-pounder cannon, the steam pinnace from the old battleship HMS Goliath, carrying two 14-inch torpedoes, and the steam cutters from the three cruisers. These last also have steel plates and sandbags to protect their crews as best as possible.

At 0500 the ship and the boats move out. At 0520 the sun starts to rise, and German shore emplacements open up with their 4-pounder guns. Fire is returned by the two 3-pounders on Duplex. Machine guns start shooting at the three cutters. At the river's mouth HMS Chatham tries to lend support with her 6-inch guns.

At 0540 Newbridge reaches her designated position. Commander Raymond Fitzmaurice gives the order to drop anchor. The current swings the big ship across the channel and the stern anchor is let go. Several of the anchor crews are wounded by the rifle and machine gun fire from the shore, but none are killed. The crew below open the seacocks. One of the cutters comes alongside to take off the crew. The detonator and wire attached to the explosive charges inside the ship are taken into the boat as well. Once they are well away the charges are detonated and Newbridge settles by the bow. The ship is also carrying a load of gravel to ensure a solid bottoming. Soon the hull is completely underwater and only the superstructure, funnel and masts are showing.

Duplex and the cutters set off back down the river at high speed. Fire from the shore continues until they are in sight of Chatham and the cruiser's 6-inch shells begin finding targets. At this point they are only 13,000 yards from SS Somali, and Drury-Lowe directs his fire at the collier. Soon Königsberg's supply ship is a burning wreck. The fire will continue to burn for two days. Convinced that Königsberg is no longer a threat, the Admiralty soon orders Dartmouth and Weymouth to other duties.



Indian Ocean: Overnight the men of SMS Emden have hardly slept. New fires have broken out and had to be dealt with. At dawn an international distress signal is hoisted in the belief that HMS Sydney will not return for them, and they must hope for a passing ship to help them. Several of the wounded have died during the night. The crew spend the rest of the morning trying to communicate with the islands.

At 1300 Sydney appears with her boats ready for lowering. First the severely wonded are taken off, then the lightly wounded, next the enlisted, the officers, and finally the captain himself departs. Von Müller has insisted that no special favors be accorded him, but Glossop sends his personal gig anyway. This sign of respect von Müller cannot refuse. The whole process takes four hours. Soon all are aboard Sydney and the British cruiser returns to the harbor for the night.

Out at sea von Mücke and his party begin to take stock of their new vessel. Thirty meters in length, rated at 97 tons, Ayesha's foremast can carry two square sails, while the main and mizzen are rigged fore-and-aft only. She was made to carry her captain and five sailors, but now she is crowded with fifty men. The cabin can hold six; the rest have to sleep in the cargo hold. Fortunately the little ship is carrying no cargo. The men make the best of their situation and cut up a spare sail to start making hammocks. Below decks there are two small cabins which are used to store what food they have. In the fantail is another small chartroom. It becomes the habitation of the petty officers. The deckhouse has three cabins. Von Mücke takes one and his two leutnants occupy the other. The smallest becomes their mess deck, wine storage, navigation room and office for the officer on watch.

The biggest problem is the tiny galley. It has nowhere near the facility to cook for fifty men. Their solution is to create a makeshift fire pit in the middle of the galley and cook over that. Cooking has to be done with salt water, as they have barely enough fresh water to drink as it is. There are four small tanks, but the original occupants had only ever needed one, so the other three are quite stagnant. Since it often rains in that part of the world, the crew are not overly worried.

[Jimbuna]

11th November 1914

Western Front

Ypres: Some British trenches penetrated by the Prussian Guard, but recovered.

Eastern Front

Memel (East Prussia) occupied by Russian forces.

Southern Front

Serbia: The Serbians in retreat; their headquarters moved from Valyevo to Kraguyevats.

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

Mesopotamia: British outposts attacked at Saniya.

Battle of Basra begins as Ottoman troops counterattack British troops in Iraq.

Sultan Mehmed V of the Ottoman Empire declares a jihad against the Allies, urging all Muslims to fight.


Naval and Overseas Operations

H.M.S. "Niger" sunk by German submarine U-12 in Dover Straits.

NIGER, minesweeper, ex-Alarm-class torpedo gunboat, 810t, 1892, 2-4.7in/4-3pdr/3-18in tt, 19kts, c90 crew, converted to minesweeper 1909, retained guns, fitted with kite winch & gallows on quarterdeck, now with Downs Boarding Flotilla, Dover Patrol, Lt-Cdr Arthur Muir. At anchor off Deal Pier as supervising vessel for local examination service, with two merchant steamers anchored nearby. Torpedo fired from direction of South Sand Head by U.12 (Walter Forstmann), track spotted at 600-800 yards on port beam, orders given to put port engine astern and helm over, but torpedo passed between the two steamers and hit amidships under the bridge at 1210. Ship settled by the head, slowly capsized to port and at 1230 sank bow first 1½m from Deal Pier (wi - in 51.13.12N, 01.26.29E); 15 ratings lost (He – 1 man killed; ke/wi - all 8 officers and 77 ratings saved), survivors rescued by North Deal and Kingsdown lifeboats, 47 landed at Deal, remainder by tugs at Ramsgate.


North Atlantic off Northern Scotland
Crescent (flag, Adm de Chair) and Edgar, old 1st-class protected cruisers, Edgar-class, 7,350t, 10th CS on Northern Patrol, steaming to SW of Foula Island to watch Fair Isle Channel for two reported minelayers, encountered full westerly gale with high and breaking seas, ordered to return to Scapa Flow but impossible to turn ship without risk of capsizing. Crescent lost boats and deck fittings, deck and sides began to give and open up, fires in foremost boiler put out by rising water, bridge smashed and Admirals sea cabin swept overboard, big gun broke loose in after turret and only stopped by filling the turret with hammocks. Edgar similarly damaged. Adm de Chair described it as "quite the most appalling gale I ever experienced in all my years at sea" and did not expect to survive; Edgar lost one man overboard. Half of the 10th CS sent to Clyde for refits, but inspections were so unfavourable all seven "Edgar's" of the 10th old Training Squadron paid off on 20th to be replaced by converted liners - armed merchant cruisers.

Political, etc.

Great Britain: Parliament opened; the King's Speech.

Prime Minister of Bulgaria states the country enjoys friendly relations with both sides of the war and will remain neutral.

Ship Losses:

HMS Niger ( Royal Navy): The minesweeper was torpedoed and sunk in the English Channel off Deal, Kent by SM U-12 ( Kaiserliche Marine) with the loss of a crew member.

[Sailor Steve]

November 11:

Britain: HMS Invincible and Inflexible depart Devonport for the Cape Verde Islands.



German East Africa: Things are at a standstill for the men of SMS Königsberg and those aboard HMS Chatham. With the northernmost channel successfully blocked there is only one escape route left open for the German cruiser. This won't do a lot of good since their only supply of coal was burned up the previous day. For both sides the biggest enemy will become boredom. Kapitan Looff makes plans to create a parade ground ashore where his men can be kept busy. Captain Drury-Lowe can at least take his ship out on maneuvers.

Drury-Lowe has a new idea on how to deal with his enemy, and wires London to enquire whether there might be a monitor or two available for his use. These ships were designed for shore bombardment, carrying high-elevation guns which can easily reach Königsberg's position. Upon being told that it might be possible the English captain then starts looking around for a way to direct the guns at such a distance, where the enemy cannot be seen at all.



Indian Ocean: HMAS Sydney returns to North Keeling Island to pick up the men who had made it ashore from Emden two days earlier. They are exhausted, hungry and thirsty. Once aboard Sydney they are fed and given medical treatment, then the cruiser returns to Direction Island for the night.

[Jimbuna]

12th November 1914

Western Front

Ypres again fiercely attacked by the Germans; latter take Lombartzyde.

Orders issued for all British aeroplanes on Western front to bear distinguishing marks.

Eastern Front

Galicia: Przemsyl again invested by the Russians.

Russian troops advance against German and Austrian positions in East Prussia and near Krakow, but face fierce resistance.

East Prussia: Russians again enter Johannisburg.

Southern Front

Montenegrins defeated at Grahavo (Bosnian frontier).

Naval and Overseas Operations

South Africa: De Wet defeated at Mushroom Valley.

Political, etc.

Kaiser Wilhelm issues documents urging German soldiers to defend their hearths and homes from France and Russia.

Turkey: Formal declaration of war against the Triple Entente.

Victor Franke becomes the commander of the Schutztruppe, the German colonial armed forces.


Ship Losses:

Duchesse de Guiche ( France): The coaster foundered in the English Channel off Le Havre, Seine-Maritime with the loss of eleven of her crew.

[Sailor Steve]

November 12:

German East Africa: Captain Drury-Lowe has decided that the only way to spot for the monitors (if they ever arrive) will be from the air. There are no naval aircraft in the region, but there is a civilian airman in Durban who owns a Curtiss flying boat. Local Admiralty officials offer to purchast the plane and give its owner, Dennis Cutler, a commission in the Royal Navy if he will maintain and fly it for them. Cutler agrees, and begins repair work to prepare his plane for its new task.



Indian Ocean: Two more of Emden's wounded die. The surviving crew are somewhat amazed to learn that Sydney's shore party had landed without opposition on the evening of the 9th, and that their own party had gotten away in the schooner Ayesha. Nothing has been heard of them since that night.

[Jimbuna]

13th November 1914

Western Front

The French recover Tracy-le-Val.

French marines capture the Belgian town of Dixmude, and Allied forces regain most of the positions on the River Yser.

Eastern Front

East Prussia: Russian advance threatens Thorn.

Galicia: Russians occupy line of Dunayetz and threaten Cracow.

Naval and Overseas Operations

French troops are defeated at El Herri by Moroccan tribesmen opposed to their rule. Over 600 French soldiers are killed.

Lieut.-General Sir A. Barrett takes over command of Indian Expeditionary Force "D" in Mesopotamia.


Political etc.

Britain releases new casualty lists: 57,000 casualties among all ranks, 2420 among officers.

British officials protest to Chile after the German warships Leipzig and Dresden are seen resupplying in Valparaiso.

Hungarian government grants increased autonomy to ethnic Romanians in order to secure their loyalty.

Dutch Government protest against modifications of the Declaration of London.

Prince Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, is placed in an asylum after he was found in a demented state.

[Sailor Steve]

November 13:

Pacific Ocean: Graf Spee sends SMS Dresden and Leipzig from Más Afuera to Valparaiso to dispel rumors that those to ships had been sunk at Coronel. Unfortunately this also tells the British that Spee's squadron is still off the coast of Chile.



German East Africa: SS Kinfauns Castle arrives at Durban to transport newly-minted Lieutenant Dennis Cutler and his Curtiss flying boat to Niororo.



Indian Ocean: HMAS Sydney is still anchored in the bay at Direction Island. Early in the morning yet another severely wounded German crewman dies. Captain Glossop sends a message ordering the armed merchant cruiser HMS Empress of Russia to come to the Cocos to transport the prisoners to Colombo.

Aboard the schooner Ayesha worries about stagnant water are alleviated by an approaching storm. The bad water has already been dumped out and the tanks cleaned. A spare sail is spread out over the main hatch to catch the rainwater. A hole is cut in the middle to guide the rain into the hatch, and underneath a man is stationed with a clean gasoline can, of which the schooner has several to collect the water. When the can is full it is passed along to the water tanks. Also the crew attach molding strips around the deckhouse roof, with two gutters to carry the water there to still more waiting cans. The fifty men aboard now have an adequate supply of drinking water. To flavor this are a few bottles of lime juice kept in stock by the former captain.

The fresh water is needed for drinking, and the type of soap they have will not disolve in salt water. Someone comes up with the idea of stopping up the scuppers with rags so the water is trapped on the deck. The rolling of the vessel leaves the water running back and forth on the deck, and the men use this for a rolling bath, and there's the rain to shower in.

One thing the men of Ayesha do not suffer from is boredom. The sails are old and rotten, and those who know how are put to work mending them and teaching those who don't. It turns out that several of the men have sailed before and some of them are experienced fishermen. The former captain had not lied; the hull is indeed old and rotten. There is nothing they can do about this except hope it holds out. The ship is constantly leaking, and the pump is worn out. A couple of engineers take it apart and replace the faulty rubber seals with oil-soaked rags. This does the trick and the pump is soon doing its job again.

During the storm one of Emden's cutters, which they are towing behind, crashes into Ayesha's stern, breaking out a plank. Von Mücke decides to cut the cutter loose rather than risk a repeat of this incident. Sometime later the other cutter will free itself and disappear in the night, leaving them with the two jolly-boats, enough to hold five of them.

[Jimbuna]

14th November 1914

Western Front

The Battles round the Yser and Ypres dying down.

Eastern Front

East Prussia: Russian advance checked.

Poland: Beginning of a new and powerful German invasion along the Vistula from Thorn as base.

Naval and Overseas Operations

South Africa: Rebels routed at Bultfontein.

Keupri-Keui (Armenia) retaken by Turkish forces.

Sultan of Turkey as Khalif proclaims Jehad against those making war on Turkey or her allies.


Political, etc.

Japanese Cabinet decide against despatch of troops or warships to Europe.

Death of Field Marshal Earl Roberts in France.