100 Years Ago Today

[Sailor Steve]

November 14:

The first Vickers F.B.5 Gunbus, No. 861, is delivered to RNAS Eastchurch.

Pilot Max Hesse and observer Otto Jindra are shot down near Krolik Woloski, Poland by Russian cavalry. After counting 180 bullet holes they collect everything they can carry, burn their aeroplane and walk back to their own side of the lines. Jindra will go on to become the second-highest Austro-Hungarian ace.

The Philadelphia Public Ledger publishes photograph of HMS Audacious sinking. This is the first the Germans know of it.



Indian Ocean: HMS Empress of Russia arrives to take the men of SMS Emden to Colombo. Being a former passenger liner she is well suited to act as a hospital ship. Empress and HMAS Sydney depart Direction Island for the last time.

[Jimbuna]

15th November 1914

Western Front

Battle of Ypres: Last serious attack of the Germans (made by the Prussian Guards) beaten off.

Eastern Front

Poland: Russians retreating before the strong German advance from Thorn, take up the line Gombin-Lodz.

Battle of Cracow begins.

Southern Front

Serbia: Austrians continue to advance: the Serbians fall back south-eastwards.

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

Mesopotamia: Skirmish between Turks and British at Sahain.

Political etc.

U.S. bans airships and the usage of wireless in the Panama Canal Zone for all the belligerent nations.

Ship Losses:

Kenilworth (United Kingdom): The cargo ship ran aground on the Black Middens, in the North Sea off the coast of Northumberland. Her crew were taken off by lifeboats.
HMT Parthian, Admiralty trawler, Grimsby-reg, 202/1911, hired 8/14. In collision with and sank SS Vera, 2,391grt off Norfolk coast (wi - 4 miles E of Cley-next-the-Sea, in 52.58.15N 01.09.30E).
SS Vera (United Kingdom): The cargo ship was wrecked in a collision with HMT Parthian.

[Sailor Steve]

November 15:

Pacific Ocean: Graf Spee and his squadron - the armored cruisers SMS Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, the light cruiser Nürnberg and the colliers SS Baden and Santa Isabel - depart Más Afuera for Cape Horn. The squadron is limited by the colliers to a maximum of eight knots. Believing the smaller SS Titania to be unable to round the horn safely, Spee has her scuttled. The armed merchant cruiser SMS Prinz Eitel Friedrich is left behind to send random messages, hoping to fool the Allies as to their location.



German East Africa: SS Kinfauns Castle arrives at Niororo with Lt. Cutler and his Curtiss flying boat. It will take Cutler several days to make repairs, and Midshipman Arthur Noel Gallehawk is assigned to be his assistant.



Indian Ocean: Around 1000 hours HMAS Sydney and HMS Empress of Russia steam into the harbor at Colombo. Around noon The unwounded men of SMS Emden are transferred to the armed merchant cruiser. The first officer of Empress reads aloud an order from the King of England that the German officers are to keep their ceremonial swords. The honor is accepted gratefully and no one points out that said swords are lying in the wreck at North Keeling Island. They are then informed that they will travel to England aboard Empress of Russia. Later in the day this changes. Empress will be remaining in Colombo, and the men of Emden are moved to Australian troop transports which are bound for Britain anyway. The wounded are taken to a hospital ashore.

Captain von Müller, Leutnant Fikentscher, Lt. Hohenzollern and Doctor Luther are taken aboard SS Orvieto along with thirty of their men. The remaining officers and men are placed in two other transports. The only officer to remain in Colombo is Oberleutnant sur See Geerdes. Each officer has his own cabin on the upper deck, and are allowed excercise periods. Still, they are always accompanied by armed guards.

[Jimbuna]

16th November 1914

Western Front

Rains and floods put a term to the struggles on the Yser: Fighting dies down round Ypres.

Germans fail to cross the Aisne at Vailly.

Prince Edward crosses the channel and arrives in France with the 1st Grenadier Guards.


Eastern Front

Poland: Russian rearguards defeated at Vlotslavek and Kutno.

Second German offensive against Warsaw. Battle of Lodz begins.

Caucasus Campaign

Bergmann Offensive ends in an Ottoman victory, as Russian troops are forced back to their border.

Southern Front

The villa of Danilo, the Crown Prince of Montenegro, at Antivari is bombed by Austrian aeroplanes.

Naval and Overseas Operations

South East Pacific

NORTH WALES, Admiralty collier, 3,691/1905, North Wales Shipping Co, Newcastle-reg, Mr George Owens, sailing Cardiff (kp - Tyne)/Juan Fernandez for Falkland Islands with coal. Captured by Dresden, sunk by bombs 360 miles SW¼W true of Valparaiso (L/Mn - in 37.30S, 77W); crew to tender Rhakotis, landed a month later at Callao.

First units of Indian Expeditionary Force "F" land in Egypt.

"Berlin", German auxiliary cruiser, interned at Trondhjem.


Political, etc.

Turkey: Sultan at German instigation, proclaims the "Holy War".

Great Britain: Mr. Asquith moves War Credit for £225,000,000.

Official German casualties pass half million, with recent lists adding up to the total to 535,000 men.

Ship Losses:

North Wales ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship was scuttled in the Pacific Ocean 360 nautical miles (670 km) south west of Valparaiso, Chile by SMS Dresden ( Kaiserliche Marine).
ANDREA (Sweden): The steamship struck a mine and sank in the North Sea when on voyage Törefors - Hull with a cargo of wood.

[Sailor Steve]

November 16:

Germany: The New Fatherland League is created by Georg Nicolai, with the help of his friend Albert Einstein. The League's purpose is to promote an end to the war and "A just peace without annexations". The League will also advocate the creation of a worldwide organization to prevent future wars.



Pacific Ocean: SMS Dresden and Leipzig start on their way to meet the rest of Spee's squadron. They encounter the freighter SS North Wales and scuttle her.

[Jimbuna]

17th November 1914

Western Front

End of the first Battle of Ypres; stationary warfare now the rule.

Current situation on the Western Front


Eastern Front

Poland: Violent conflicts round Plotsk.

Galicia: Russians begin to recover over Carpathian Passes.

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

Mesopotamia: Turks decisively routed at Sahil.

Naval and Overseas Operations

German cruiser "Friedrich Karl" sunk by mine in the Baltic. Hits two mines, the ship takes 5 hours to sink and all except 8 members of the crew are rescued.


A boat launched by the USS Tennessee is fired upon by Ottoman forts in the Gulf of Smyrna; American captain warns the Ottomans.

Libau (Baltic) bombarded by German squadron.

Trebizond bombarded by Russian squadron.

Aviation

The first Imperial German Navy shipboard air operations take place, when the armored cruiser Friedrich Karl embarks two seaplanes with which to scout Russian ports in the Baltic Sea. One is still aboard when Friedrich Karl strikes a mine and sinks.

Political, etc.

Great Britain: Mr. Lloyd George introduces his first War Budget totaling £450 million.

Prince Edward of Britain is appointed as Aide-de-Camp to Sir John French; the Prince's request to serve at the front is denied.

General Hugh L. Scott becomes the new U.S. Army Chief of Staff.


Ship Losses:

SMS Friedrich Carl ( Kaiserliche Marine): The Prinz Adalbert-class cruiser struck a mine in the Baltic Sea off Memel, East Prussia and sank with the loss of eight of her 586 crew.
Mateus ( Russia): The schooner foundered in the Bay of Biscay. Her crew were rescued by Diciembre ( Spain).

[Sailor Steve]

November 17:

HMS Invincible and Inflexible stop at St. Vincent in the Cape Verde Islands. For six days Admiral Sturdee has been steaming at a comfortable 15 knots, in order to conserve coal and keep his stokers rested. Sturdee has also been broadcasting his position daily on an open channel, and German agents are tracking his every move. He doesn't start coding his messages until he finds out that his ships' call signs are being broadcast from West African stations, and that one of them carried the news that an officer aboard Invincible had just become a father. After this Sturdee signals his ships that "The utmost harm may be done by the indiscrete use of wireless. The key is never to be pressed unless absolutely necessary."



Indian Ocean: SS Orvieto departs Colombo for Aden, with HMS Hampshire as escort.

[Jimbuna]

^ Just the first of many examples of just how incompetent this guy (Sturdee) could be I should imagine. Looking forward to reading about his further bloopers at the Falklands.

[Jimbuna]

18th November 1914

Western Front

Fighting limited to artillery duels and local skirmishes.

Eastern Front

East Prussia: Russians defeated at Soldau.

Poland: Russians in retreat towards Lovich.

Galicia: Austro-German offensive from Cracow.

Three Austro-Hungarian divisions cross the Danube and moves against Belgrade, Serbia; fall of the capital is declared imminent.

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

Armenia: Turkish offensive compels Russians to retreat.

Political etc.

Re-transfer of French Government from Bordeaux to Paris begins.

Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz advocates the bombing of London with massed Zeppelin attacks.

Naval and Overseas Operations

"Goeben" and "Breslau" engaged by a Russian squadron in Black Sea: the "Goeben" damaged.
In a dense bank of fog, Breslau joined her consort. The two German ships were almost on top of the Russian Fleet, when the fog cleared and suddenly the antagonists were in each other′s view at less than 4,000 yd (3,700 m) range. Instantly, the guns of both sides opened fire. Goeben—with Breslau sheltering behind her—found herself sailing past the entire line of the Black Sea Fleet. A 12 in (300 mm) shell from a Russian battleship tore through the armour of Goeben′s 5.9 in (150 mm) casement, killing the six-man gun crew and detonating the ammunition. Only swift flooding of a magazine prevented a bigger explosion, but the Russian flagship Evstafi was hit four times by Goeben, killing 33 men, and the Russian battleship Rostislav were badly damaged. The Black Sea Fleet quickly hid itself again but continued to threaten the Turkish Black Sea coast for the rest of the war.

SMS Goeben

SMS Breslau

Ship Losses:

Dirigo ( United States): The coaster foundered in the Pacific Ocean.
Petrel ( United Kingdom): The schooner foundered at Castletown, Isle of Man. Her crew were rescued.
Seymolicus ( United Kingdom): The trawler struck a mine and sank in the North Sea off the coast of Norfolk with the loss of nine of her crew.
Thistle ( United Kingdom): The cargo liner ran aground in the River Foyle, County Londonderry. Her passengers were taken off. She was refloated the next day.

[Sailor Steve]

November 18:

Indian Ocean: Aboard the three-masted schooner Ayesha the men have settled into a routine. Every morning at 0600 hours they are awakened, or rather one of them is. There are so many crowded into the little ship's hold that it is only required to wake the man nearest the door. His rowsing will disturb the next man, and so on until they are all up. If there was rain during the night the men line up to wash using the water collected in the two jolly-boats. They have no toothbrushes, and only one comb among the entire company. There is one rusty razor for anyone who wishes to shave.

After cleaning themselves they turn to cleaning the ship. Some haul up seawater in buckets to scrub the deck while others go aloft to find new rents in the old sails and sew them up as needed. Meanwhile the cook prepares the only food available for breakfast - rice, coffee and tea. With nothing else to do all day von Mücke has the men experienced in sailing to teach their skills to the ones who have never sailed. This primarily involves the stokers, and they are taught to steer the ship, climb the rigging and follow the compass. The only chart aboard is used to show everyone where the ship is each day.

Lunch is again rice. There are some accomplished fisherman on board, but the only bait they have is rice, and nothing is ever caught. After that the men take turns playing with the handful of card decks, conversing or just taking a nap to while away the time. Supper is the same. The evenings are devoted to singing. There is no set time for sleep; they just drop off when they feel like it. The night watch consists of the helmsman and one lookout on the bow. It is up to them to make sure they are relieved at the proper time.

[Jimbuna]

19th November 1914

Eastern Front

Poland: Mackensen captures Piontek and opens the way to Lodz.

Russian troops in Poland are forced to retreat up the Vistula River in the face of strong German and Austrian attacks.

Southern Front

Serbia: Austrians take Valyevo: Serbians retreat.

Political etc.

U.S. Secretary of the Navy Daniels warns the U.S.S. Tennessee not to retaliate against Ottoman fire on U.S. boats.

Theodor Kocher, Nobel Prize winner, announces a powder that can stop blood flow in wounds, & donates samples to both Germany and France.

Ship Losses:

Madeira ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship foundered in the Bay of Biscay 30 nautical miles (56 km) off Brest, Finistère, France. Her crew were rescued by Mars ( Norway).

[Sailor Steve]

November 19:

Britain: The Monitors HMS Humber, Mersey and Severn are moved from the Medway to the Wash, over concerns that the Germans might invade there. The ships were built for the Brazilian government in 1913-14. With the outbreak of war they were taken into the Royal Navy. These flat-bottomed vessels each carry one 6" gun forward, a 4.7" aft and 12-pounders on each side. Their shallow draft and very low freeboard make them difficult to handle in a wind, and are intended for use on the rivers.



German East Africa: The Curtiss flying boat is ready, and Lt. Cutler makes his first reconnaisance of SMS Königsberg. The takeoff is made from a sheltered bay on Niororo Island. Cutler only has about 50 minutes of fuel, so a single pass is all he will get. At 4,000 feet he flies up the Rufiji River. The sky turns out to be too cloudy and Cutler doesn't find Königsberg. On the way back he gets lost in the clouds and lands in the bay at Okusa Island. Aboard HMS Chatham the worry grows as Cutler's hour of flight time passes. After three more hours the cruiser's men are convinced that Cutler has been shot down or has crashed somewhere in the jungle. A few hours later the plane is discovered at Okusa. Cutler has been waiting all this time, thinking he was at Niororo.

The plane has developed a radiator leak which cannot be repaired, plus some hull damage in the landing. At this point someone recalls seeing a Ford automobile at Mombasa, with a radiator of similar size. HMS Fox is sent to make the 1,000-mile round trip to fetch it.

[Jimbuna]

20th November 1914

Western Front

Sir John French's fourth despatch published dealing with Battle of Ypres.

Eastern Front

Poland: German attacks on Russian line from Lovich to Skiernievitse.

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

Egypt: The Bikanir Camel Corps beats off the Turks on the coast towards Port Said.

Naval and Overseas Operations

Admiralty announces extension of mine-field in North Sea.

Northern British waters:
Achilles, armoured cruiser, Warrior-class, 13,550t, 6-9.2in/4-7.5in/26-3pdr, 2nd CS Grand Fleet, at gun practice. Lyddite shell detonated in 9.2in gun, 11 gun crew injured, all survived.

HMS Canopus, Port Stanley, Falkland Islands, 9am: Marines landed at wireless telegraph point.

Political etc.

French President Poincare issues a decree striking off the names of all Germans in the Legion of Honor.

British, Belgian, and French Governments withdraw proposal for neutralisation of African free trade zone in view of altered situation.

Japanese Prime Minister Okuma requests the Diet to approve a larger military and navy.

U.S. contractor companies challenge the law prohibiting alien laborers from working on public works.

Ship Losses:

Lord Carnarvon ( United Kingdom): The trawler struck a mine and sank in the North Sea off Great Yarmouth, Norfolk with the loss of ten of her crew.

[Sailor Steve]

November 20:

Atlantic Ocean: HMS Invincible and Inflexible stop to rig out targets for gunnery practice. After stopping again to re-stow the targets they run into a rain squall.



British East Africa: HMS Fox reaches Mombasa. The motorcar in question is not hard to find, and the radiator is quickly commandeered.

[Jimbuna]

21st November 1914

Western Front

British airmen raid Zeppelin factory at Friedrichshafen (left of Constance).
Four RNAS Avro 504’s carrying four 20 lb (9 kg) bombs each bombed Zeppelin sheds at Friedrichshafen, Navy airship L.7 (Production No. LZ.32) survived the attack. While one aircraft was shot down, the raid was successful, with several direct hits on the airship sheds and the destruction of the hydrogen generating plant.



Eastern Front

Poland: Germans attack Russians at Lovich.

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

Britain and Italy reach an agreement to send Italian warships to Egypt to protect Italian citizens in the country.

Egypt: Skirmish at Katiya, near Suez Canal.

Mesopotamia: Basra occupied by British forces from India.

Naval Operations

HMS Invincible, 10am: HM King Neptune held his court. Carried out customary rites crossing the line.

Ship Losses:

HMT Spider ( Royal Navy): The naval trawler was driven ashore at Lowestoft, Suffolk and was wrecked. All thirteen crew were rescued by the lifeboat Kentwell (RNLI FLAG.png Royal National Lifeboat Institution).