100 Years Ago Today

[Sailor Steve]

January 10, 1916:

Air War:
German pilot Albert Dossenbach and observer Hans Schilling, Flying an Albatros C.I, shoot down Morane 'LA' 5091. It is the first kill for both of them.

German pilot Wilhelm Frankl, in a Fokker E.III, shoots down a Voisin two-seater for victory number 2.



North Sea:
Swedish freighter SS Birka, 1,790 tons, bound from Swansea to Gothenburg with a load of coal, is wrecked on Bow Rock, near the Noup Head Lighthouse at the north end of Westray, in the Orkney Islands.



Mediterranean Sea:
Italian sailing ship SV Nostra Signora Delle Vigne, 165 tons, sinks following a collision off Cap Corse, at the north end of Corsica.

[Jimbuna]

11th January 1916

Western Front

Munition explosion at Lille.

Southern Front

French land in Corfu; Greek protest.

Mount Lovcen, the last fortress in Montenegrin hands, falls to Austro-Hungary. They are now 6 miles away from Cetinje, the capital.

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

Sir J. Maxwell commanding in remainder of Egypt.

Naval and Overseas Operations

German raider "Moewe" reported to be operating in Atlantic.

Political etc.

William J. Bryan, former US Secretary of State, urges a ban on Americans traveling on belligerent ships due to the danger of submarines.

Sir Edward Carson urges the compulsion bill to include the Irish and asserts the recent Allied defeats were due to the lack of men.

Berlin cuts the daily allowance of bread to 200 grams, down from 225 grams, and urges “strict housekeeping” to assure supply.

Italian King Victor Emmanuel returns to Rome from the front for the first time since the start of the war.

Ship Losses:

Corbridge ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship was shelled and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean 140 nautical miles (260 km) west north west of Cape Finisterre, Spain by SMS Möwe ( Kaiserliche Marine).
Farringford ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship was shelled and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean 150 nautical miles (280 km) west north west of Cape Finisterre by SMS Möwe ( Kaiserliche Marine).

Takashima Tomonosuke, Japanese general and former War Minister, has passed away.

[Sailor Steve]

January 11, 1916:

Air War:
A part of German Reconnaissance squadron Feldflieger-Abteilung 23 is reformed as Kampfeinsitzerkommando (KEK) Vaux, with Oblt. Rudolf Berthold commanding. This is the first development of a dedicated fighter squadron in Germany. Previously the Fokkers have been assigned in ones or twos to the Recon squadrons.

German pilot Hans-Joachim Buddecke claims a Farman, but it is unconfirmed (his third u/c in a week).

German Pilot Hans Schüz, flying a Fokker E.III for the Turkish Air Force, shoots down a Farman two-seater for his first kill.



Bay of Biscay:
German armed merchant raider SMS Möwe captures British freighter SS Farringford, 2,146 tons, bound from Huelva, Spain to Garston, England, with 4,300 tons of copper ore. The crew are taken aboard Möwe and the freighter sunk by gunfire.

Möwe also captures British collier SS Corbridge, 3,687 tons, and uses her coal until January 30th.

[Jimbuna]

12th January 1916

Eastern Front

Resumption of Russian offensive in Galicia.

Southern Front

Allies blow up bridges at Demirhissar and Kilindir.

Armistice between Montenegro and Austria.

Aviation

Max Immelmann and Oswald Boelcke receive the Pour le Merite, the German Empire's highest military award, for achieving eight aerial victories each over Allied aircraft.

Four British aeroplanes on missions to the Western Front are shot down by German troops today.

Political etc.

House of Commons passes the compulsory military service bill by 431 to 39 on its second reading.

Herr Liebknecht expelled from Socialist party in Reichstag.

U.S. Department of Commerce announces that Europe brought more than $1 billion worth of food, a record, from the U.S. last year.

U.S. government orders all ships belonging to belligerent nations in U.S. ports to take down their wireless communications equipment.

Ship Losses:

Algerian ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship struck a mine laid by UC 5 (Herbert Pustkuchenand) sank in the English Channel 2.5 nautical miles (4.6 km) south west of The Needles, Isle of Wight (50°46′N 1°20′W). Her crew survived.
Haofru ( Norway): The cargo ship ran aground on the Middle Haisbro' Sands, in the North Sea off the coast of Norfolk, United Kingdom. She broke in two the next day with the loss of thirteen of her fourteen crew. The survivor was rescued by the Cromer Lifeboat.
Prudentia ( United Kingdom): The tanker collided with Hermione ( United Kingdom) and/or HMS Iron Duke ( Royal Navy) and sank in Scapa Flow, Orkney islands.
Traquair ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship struck a mine laid by UC 6 (Matthias Graf von Schmettow) and sank in the English Channel 1 nautical mile (1.9 km) off Dover, Kent. Her crew survived.

[Sailor Steve]

January 12, 1916:

Air War:
German Ace Oswald Boelcke shoots down RE.7 2287 for victory number 8. Pilot 2nd Lt. Leonard Kingdom is killed in the crash; observer Lt. K.W. Gray is severely injured and taken prisoner.

German Ace Max Immelman shoots down FB.5 5460 for victory number 8. Pilot 2nd Lt. Herbert Thomas Kemp is wounded and captured; observer Sidney Cornelius Hathaway killed in action.

That evening Boelcke and Immelmann together become the first pilots to be awarded the Pour le Mérite.

German pilot Hans Joachim Buddecke, flying a Fokker E.III in Turkey (where he has been stationed since the first of the year) shoots down a Farman two-seater for victory number 5.



English Channel:
British freighter SS Algerian, 3,837 tons, travelling in ballast from Cowes to Avonworth, hits a mine laid by Herbert Pustkuchen in UC-5. His score is now 20 ships and 26,601 tons.

British freighter SS Traquair, 1,067 tons, bound from Leith to Dunkerque with a load of coal, hits a mine laid by Matthias von Schmettow in UC-6 just off Dover. His score is now 21 ships and 17,264 tons.



North Sea:
Norwegian freighter SS Havfru, 660 tons, carrying a load of coal from Goole to Amsterdam, runs aground of Haisborough sands with the loss of 13 lives.

British freighter SS Prudentia, 2,781 tons, fueling in Gutter Sound, Scapa Flow, is accidentally rammed and sunk by SS Hermione.

[Jimbuna]

13th January 1916

Southern Front

Austrians take Cettinje.

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

General Aylmer attacks the Wadi (Mesopotamia). British troops are defeated in the Battle of Wadi by Ottoman troops, failing to relieve besieged British troops in Kut.

Turks reported at Kermanshah (Persia).

Political etc.

The Curtiss Aeroplane Company, Curtiss Motor Company, Curtiss Engineering Company, and Burgess and Curtis merge to form the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company.

Miners’ Federation of Great Britain votes to oppose the bill for compulsory military service.

Greek Government refuse consent to the occupation of Corfu.

Ship Losses:

HMT Albion II ( Royal Navy): The naval trawler struck a mine and sank in the English Channel off St. Catherine's Point, Isle of Wight (50°38′N 1°34′W). Her crew survived.
Author ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship was scuttled in the Atlantic Ocean 225 nautical miles (417 km) west of Lisbon, Portugal by SMS Möwe ( Kaiserliche Marine).
Dromonby ( United Kingdom): The collier was scuttled in the Atlantic Ocean 220 nautical miles (410 km) west of Lisbon by SMS Möwe ( Kaiserliche Marine).
Maashaven ( Netherlands): The cargo ship struck a mine in the North Sea west of the Galloper Lightship ( United Kingdom) with the loss of a crew member. Survivors were rescued by Goentoer, Maashaven and Prinses Juliana (all Netherlands).
HMT Rosy Morn ( Royal Navy): The naval trawler struck a mine laid by the cruisers "Stralsund" and "Straßburg, west of Doggerbank and sank in the North Sea.
Trader ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship was scuttled in the Atlantic Ocean 225 nautical miles (417 km) west of Lisbon by SMS Möwe ( Kaiserliche Marine).

[Sailor Steve]

January 13, 1916:
English Channel:
His Majesty's Trawler Albion II, 240 tons, hits a mine laid by Herbert Pustkuchen and UC-5 while on minesweeping duty off St. Catherine's Point, the southernmost tip of the Isle of Wight. Pustkuchen's score is now 21 ships and 26,841 tons.



North Sea:
Dutch freighter SS Maashaven, 2,609 tons, bound from New Orleans to Rotterdam with a load of grain and cottonseed, hits a mine laid by an unknown ship on Galloper Shoal, half a mile from the lightship there. Maashaven is refloated on the 29th and towed to Rotterdam.

His Majesty's Trawler Rosy Morn is acting as a minesweeper near Dogger Bank when she hits a mine laid by German light cruisers SMS Stralsund and Straßburg.



Irish Sea:
British coaster SS Harrington, 367 tons, is leaving Larne, Northern Ireland with a load of potatoes when her propeller is foulded on a mooring rope. the ship runs aground at Ferris Point and is wrecked.



Bay of Biscay: Spanish freighter SS Bayo, 2,766 tons, hits a mine laid by SMS Möwe.



Portugal:
German armed merchant cruiser SMS Möwe captures British freighters SS Author, 3,490 tons, carrying a general cargo from London to Durban, west of Lisbon; and SS Trader, 3,608 tons, en route from Talara to Queenstown with a load of sugar. Both ships are scuttled with explosive charges. Along with Bayo, Möwe has now sunk 6 ships for 30,518 tons.

[Jimbuna]

14th January 1916

Western Front

Severe bombardment of Givenchy.

Southern Front

Heavy fighting near Gorizia.

Austria-Hungarian troops capture the Montenegrin capital city of Cetinje. Negotiations for an armistice begins.

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

Russians occupy Arkhava (on Black Sea).

British take Wadi; Turks retreat to Um-el-Hanna.

Naval and Overseas Operations

Ottoman Empire announces it has seized 4,500 cases of ammunition and 45,000 shells after the evacuation of Gallipoli.

Aviation

In response to high losses German Fokker Eindecker fighters are inflicting on Allied reconnaissance aircraft flying over the Western Front, Royal Flying Corps Headquarters orders that reconnaissance planes have an escort of at least three fighters flying in close formation.

Political etc.

Lord Chelmsford appointed Viceroy of India.

Czar Nicholas reiterates wars aims that he will not seek peace until the motherland is free of Germans and the Allies gain victory.

Heavy storms case the Zuiderzee dikes in the Netherlands to break at several places, causing heavy flooding and deaths.

Richard Eckermann, German vice admiral and former chief of staff to the High Seas Fleet, has passed away.


Ship Losses:

Catahlot ( United Kingdom): The whaler was driven ashore at Trinity Harbour, Newfoundland and sank.
Parklands ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship ran aground at Kilnsea, Yorkshire. She was refloated on 24 January.
Breslau United Kingdom): The steamer enroute fom Calais to London in ballast was damaged when she struck a mine laid by UC 3 (Erwin Waßner) in position 6 miles NW of Gris Nez.

[Sailor Steve]

anuary 14, 1916:

Air War:
1015 German ace Oswald Boelcke, in a Fokker E.III, shoots down BE.2c 4087 for victory number 9. Pilot Capt. R. Erskine is unharmed, observer 2nd Lt. Justin Howard slightly wounded. Erskine manages to land the crippled plane safely on his own side of the lines.



English Channel:
British freighter SS Breslau, 1,330 tons, travelling in ballast from Calais to London, runs on a mine laid by Erwin Waßner in UC-5. The ship is only damaged.



North Sea:
German auxiliary minesweeper Sperrbrecher 8, 4,724 tons, is sunk by a mine.

Norwegian schooner SV Tangen, 153 tons, bound from West Hartlepool to Kristiania, is abandoned.

Norwegian coaster SS Varulv, 484 tons, carrying pit props from Brevik to Granton, is abandoned with the loss of 1 crewmember.



Bristol Channel:
British freighter SS Larchwood, 689 tons, carrying a load of coal from Penarth to an unnamed destination, is sunk in a collision with SS Argus.

[Jimbuna]

15th January 1916

Eastern Front

Russian progress on the Styr, south of Pinsk.

Southern Front

Serbian troops land in Corfu.

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

Russians enter Kangavar (Persia).

Naval and Overseas Operations

"Moewe" captures S.S. "Appam" and sends her to Norfolk, VA.

British monitors shell Westeinde (Belgium).

Political etc.

British casualty lists for December reveal that 22,081 officers have been killed, wounded, and missing since the war’s start.

Kaiser Wilhelm makes several appearances in Berlin and dispels rumors that he was incapacitated by illness.

Britain confiscates 1,600 bags of mail from Austria-Hungary and Germany destined for the U.S. on the charge that they contained propaganda.

Two Colonels in the Swiss army are accused of treason for relaying French army positions to Germany.

Direct passenger rail service is inaugurated between Berlin and Constantinople today.

Russian government places an order of 30,000 machine guns in the United States through J.P. Morgan & Co.

Ship Losses:

Clan Mactavish ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship was shelled and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean 120 nautical miles (220 km) south by west of Funchal, Madeira, Portugal by SMS Möwe ( Kaiserliche Marine) with the loss of seventeen of her crew. Three survivors were taken as prisoners of war.
Larchwood ( United Kingdom): The collier collided with Argus ( United Kingdom) in the Bristol Channel and sank with the loss of eight of her thirteen crew. Survivors were rescued by Argus.
Leelite ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship was driven ashore at Shoreham, West Sussex. Her crew were rescued.

[Sailor Steve]

January 15, 1916:

North Sea:
British trawler Braconmoor, 204 tons, founders and is lost.



Skaggerak:
Norwegian ketch Hanna, 60 tons, carrying a load of bricks from Sarpsborg to Flekkefjiord, is wrecked at Hestholmen, an island near Farsund.

Norwegian coaster SS Sartor, 82 tons, travelling from Kristiansund to Haltenbanken, is wrecked off Kroggen.



Bay of Biscay:
Spanish freighter SS Belgica, 2,068 tons, hits a mine laid by SMS Möwe west of La Rochelle, France.



Atlantic Ocean, northeast of Madeira:
German merchant raider SMS Möwe captures and scuttles British freighter SS Ariadne, 3,035 tons, bound from Rosario, Argentina to Nantes, France with 4,700 tons of corn. Möwe's score is now 8 ships and 35,621 tons.

[Jimbuna]

16th January 1916

Western Front

Lille bombed.

French troops are reinforcing and strengthening the Verdun forts in anticipation of a German attack on the area.

Southern Front

General Sarrail takes command at Salonika.

The Serbian army in exile promises to provide the Allies with 100,000 men to continue the fight.

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

Russians forced to evacuate Kangavar.

General Russian Offensive in Transcaucasia begins.

Naval and Overseas Operations

Westeinde shelled by British monitor.

Political etc.

Manitoban legislature votes to allow women to vote and hold office. It is the first Canadian province to do so.

Ship Losses:

Clan Mactavish ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship was shelled and sunk in the Atlantic Ocean 120 nautical miles (220 km) south by west of Funchal, Madeira, Portugal by SMS Möwe ( Kaiserliche Marine) with the loss of seventeen of her crew. Three survivors were taken as prisoners of war.
Larchwood ( United Kingdom): The collier collided with Argus ( United Kingdom) in the Bristol Channel and sank with the loss of eight of her thirteen crew. Survivors were rescued by Argus.
Leelite ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship was driven ashore at Shoreham, West Sussex. Her crew were rescued.

[Sailor Steve]

January 16, 1916:

Black Sea:
German coaster SS Alster hits a mine and sinks off Rügenwalde (Polish city of Darlowo).



Atlantic Ocean:
German raider SMS Möwe comes across British freighter SS Clan Mactavish, 5,816 tons, carrying a load of zinc, rubber, and frozen meat from Liverpool to Natal. At sunset Möwe spots Clan Mactavish south of Madeira, and closes. When ordered to stop, Clan Mactavish tries to run. Möwe fires warning shots. When Clan Mactavish opens fire with her one gun Möwe opens fire in earnest. Clan Mactavish takes many hits; Möwe takes none. Finally Clan Mactavish surrenders with eighteen crew members killed and five wounded.



United States:
American schooner Edison, 26 tons, is wrecked on Cape Decision, Alaska. All six crew members lost with their ship.

American Schooner Prosper, 513 tons, carrying a load of lumber from Mukilto, Washington to Port Allen, Hawaii, is wrecked at Hanapepe, Kauai, Hawaii.

[Jimbuna]

17th January 1916

Eastern Front

Russian offensive dies down.

Southern Front

Austrians announce capitulation of Montenegro.

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

Turks retreat towards Erzerum.

Bad weather hampers the Kut relief force.

Naval and Overseas Operations

Russian torpedo boats sink 163 sailing ships in Black Sea.

Political etc.

Socialists in the Prussian Diet disrupt the legislative session when they demanded “reestablishment of the complete independence of Belgium”.

Pope Benedict promises to launch an investigation into the reports of German atrocities committed in Belgium.

King Gustaf of Sweden, during the opening of Parliament, reiterates the country’s adherence to neutrality, but stresses the need for defense.

Ship Losses:

HMT Fulmar ( Royal Navy): The naval trawler was lost on this date.
Sutherland ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship was shelled and sunk in the Mediterranean Sea 192 nautical miles (356 km) south east by south of Malta (34°43′N 18°03′E by SM U-35 ( Kaiserliche Marine) with the loss of a crew member.
Varulv ( Norway): The cargo ship foundered in the North Sea. Twelve crew were rescued by Stegelborg ( Denmark).

[Sailor Steve]

January 17, 1916:

Air War:
English pilot Eustace Grenfell, flying Morane-Saulnier 'N' 5068, is credited with shooting down three Fokker eindeckers and an Albatros two-seater. Victories number 3-6.

German pilot Walter Höhndorf, flying a Fokker E.III, shoots down Voisin 5 V1096 for his first victory. Caporal Henri Follot and Mdl Hennequet are taken POW.

German pilot Gustav Leffers, in a Fokker E.III, claims a BE.2c, but it goes unconfirmed.


English pilot Frederick Powell, flying FE.8 7457, shoots down an Aviatik 2-seater for kill number 3.
http://www.subsim.com/radioroom/show...&postcount=120



North Sea:
Dutch trawler SS Catania, 132 tons, departs Ymuiden and is not heard from again.



Skagerrak:
Swedish barque SV Krey-Woggersin, carrying a load of pit props, is wrecked in the Vigsø Bugt, off Madsbøl Klitpantage, Denmark.



Mediterranean Sea:
Lothar von Arnauld de la Perière, commanding U-35, sinks British freighter SS Sutherland, 3,542 tons, bound from Bombay to Hull with a load of manganese ore. It is the first sinking for the man who will ultimately become the highest-scoring submarine ace of all time.

British trawler/minesweeper HMT Fulmar, 205 tons, is sunk by a mine in the Gulf of Sollum, on the Libya/Egypt boarder.



Canada:
Canadian schooner SV Stanley L., 19 tons, travelling from Saint John, New Bruswick to Advocate Harbour, Nova Scotia, runs aground at Advocate Beach.