100 Years Ago Today

[Sailor Steve]

December 18:

The Admiralty, London: First Sea Lord Fisher sends a message to Admiral Sturdee demanding to know why Sturdee had not sunk SMS Dresden along with the rest of Spee's squadron.



Port Stanley, Falkland Islands: HMS Canopus departs The Falklands to return to Europe.



Pacific Ocean: HMS Bristol and Glasgow part company with Inflexible. The two light cruisers put into Vallenar, Chile for coal.

[Jimbuna]

19th December 1914

Western Front

Allied forces attempt an attack against German lines in Flanders and are supported by the Royal Navy.

Allied airmen bomb German airsheds at Brussels.

Germans counter-attack at Givenchy and Festubert.

Eastern Front

Galicia: Desperate sortie by Austrian garrison of Przemsyl repelled by Russians.

Aviation

Allied airplanes bombard German Zeppelin sheds in Brussels with 12 bombs.

Naval and Overseas Operations

Turkish Coastal Operations - independent harassing action near Alexandretta by old light cruiser Doris.

North Sea

Three days after the Yorkshire Raid, minesweeping gunboats Skipjack, Gossamer, Jason, on passage from Sheerness to Scapa Flow to rejoin Grand Fleet, were ordered to sweep from Flamborough Head north to Scarborough to determine the extent of the minefield laid by the German Kolberg, but only found two mines off Scarborough. Grimsby-based Admiralty-hired minesweeping trawlers were then sweeping closer inshore, and a number of mines were swept up or detonated in sweeps. As Skipjack joined them, Orianda was mined and sunk close by, and two more damaged, all off Scarborough. Skipjack and the rest of the sweepers anchored until the tide rose:

ORIANDA, 273/1914, Grimsby-reg GY291, hired 9/14, Admiralty No.99, Lt Hubert Boothby RNR. Went down within 10min with engines at full ahead, the tip of her masthead the last part to disappear (do - c1 mile SE of Scarborough Castle; wi – wreck lies in 54.15.17N, 00.18.32W); 1 rating lost. Wreck stands upright and remains in one piece.

Passing, 459/1913, Grimsby-reg GY877, hired 8/14, 1-12pdr or 1-6pdr, Admiralty No.58, later 1542, Lt G Parsons. Badly holed (ap - first to be mined), down by the bows, badly on fire, steam-pipe severed and blowing off steam. Assisted by sweeping partner, then towed stern-first across Cayton Bay by paddle minesweeper Brighton Queen (SNO), beached on Scarborough Sands; no lives lost. Salvaged and put back into service.

Star of Britain, 228/1908, hired 9/14, Aberdeen-reg, Lt C Crossley RNR. Leaking badly from mines exploding close alongside, in danger of sinking but saved; no lives lost.

South Africa: Captain Fourie and Lieutenant Fourie condemned for high treason.

Political etc.

Germany lifts ban on the Polish language and awards military contracts to Polish-owned firms in order to win their support.

Prime Minister Salandra of Italy expresses hope that 1915 will mirror 1815, when the Napoleonic Wars ended and brought peace to Europe.

U.S. declines to protest the bombardment of British towns by German warships, as it wishes to remain uninvolved in European affairs.

British Government declare Khedive Abbas Hilmi deposed, and proclaim Prince Hussein Kamel Pasha as Sultan of Egypt.

Ship Losses:

HMT Orianda ( Royal Navy): The naval trawler struck a mine and sank in the North Sea off Scarborough, Yorkshire with the loss of a crew member. Survivors were rescued by HMS Brighton ( Royal Navy).
Tritonia ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship struck a mine and sank in the Atlantic Ocean 22 nautical miles (41 km) north west of Tory Island, County Donegal.

[Sailor Steve]

December 19:

Pacific Ocean: HMS Bristol and Glasgow travel down the coast of Chile, investigating all the inlets and coves along the way. HMS Inflexible proceeds southward, planning to return to The Falklands and then for home.



Indian Ocean: Hellmuth von Mücke has SS Choising repainted to look like a Dutch merchant.

[Jimbuna]

20th December 1914

Western Front

Battle of Givenchy continued.

First Battle of Champagne begins.

Furious German attacks on Indian troops.

German troops abandon the Belgian town of Diksmuide in the face of the Allied advance.

Eastern Front

Poland: Russians holding the Bzura against heavy German assaults.

Galicia: Russians begin to counter-attack and to recover the Carpathian Passes.

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

Armenia: Russians defeat the Turks near Lake Van.

Naval and Overseas Operations

French submarine Curie is sunk by Austria-Hungary outside of Pola; three of her crew are killed, the rest are captured.


North Sea
Two hired auxiliaries mined in the Kolberg-laid Scarborough field:

Valiant, Admiralty yacht, 1,855/1893, hired 18/11/14, Cdr C Barlow RNR (Adm Rtd), heading for Cromarty. Mined off Filey about 0900, propellers and rudder blown off, two trawlers brought her into Scarborough. Next day, taken in tow by yacht Eileen for the Humber and on to Isle of Wight for repairs; no lives lost.
GARMO, Admiralty trawler, 203/1900, Ocean Steam Fishing, Grimsby-reg GY1165, hired 11/14, believed as patrol vessel (He – minesweeper), armed, Admiralty No.810, Skipper Thaddeus Gilbert RNR, on patrol rather than minesweeping (He – minesweeping). Mined about an hour after Valiant, turned right over and sank off Scarborough (wi - 3.5 miles SE of Scarborough Castle, in 54.15.12N, 00.17.06W); skipper died of injuries from the explosion and five ratings lost, survivors saved by HM Drifter Principal.

Dover Straits
Two Admiralty blockships, purchased for scuttling in the gap between Admiralty Pier and Southern Breakwater at Dover:
MONTROSE, passenger-cargo liner, 7,207/1897, 443ft, (D - 4,452grt, 365ft), famous for carrying murderer Dr. Crippen and his mistress across the Atlantic in 1910 only for them to be arrested after the captain had sent a wireless message ahead, Canadian Pacific Railway, London-reg, purchased 28 October, fitted with large gantries for hanging anti-torpedo nets, filled with cement and ready for scuttling. (wi – 28 December 1916) - Broke loose from moorings within the harbour during a gale, drifted through the entrance and on towards Goodwin Sands, grounded near East Goodwin LV on South Sand Head (wi - in 51.14.56N, 01.34.12E).
LIVONIAN, 4,017/1881, 420ft, Glasgow-reg, Allan Line SS, purchased 1914. Shortly after loss of Montrose - Scuttled on west side of entrance.

South Africa: Captain Fourie shot; his brother's sentence commuted.

Political etc.

Germany announces measures to intern all Frenchmen in the country between the ages of 16 and 60.

Kaiser Wilhelm’s health improves after several days of illness; he visits a reserve hospital at Potsdam.

Former President Taft states he is glad President Roosevelt’s Progressive Party has declined in power after the 1912 election.

Ship Losses:

Curie ( French Navy): The Brumaire-class submarine was scuttled at Pula, Austria-Hungary. She was later refloated and entered service as U-14 ( Austro-Hungarian Navy).
HMT Garmo ( Royal Navy): The naval trawler struck a mine and sank in the North Sea with the loss of five of her crew.
Montrose ( United Kingdom): The ocean liner was wrecked on the Goodwin Sands, Kent.

[Sailor Steve]

December 20:

South America: HMS Invincible reaches Montevideo. Admiral Sturdee replies to Fisher's message, explaining that he had assumed that Lüdeke would have tried to coal Dredsen in secret rather than openly sail into a neutral port.

[Jimbuna]

21st December 1914

Western Front

British troops aid the Indians at Givenchy to repel the Germans.

Eastern Front

Poland: Vain German efforts to cross the Bzura.

Aviation

First German air raid on England. Aeroplane drops bombs in sea near Dover.

Naval and Overseas Operations

Jasin (East Africa) occupied by British forces.

Political etc.

Georges Weill, a missing German Deputy of Metz, is found serving in the French Army.
Picture from 1933


Pope Benedict XV orders that all bishops in belligerent nations should provide chaplains to POWs who can speak the prisoners’ language.

Bulgaria assures Britain, France, and Russia that it will remain neutral in the War.

Kings of Sweden, Norway, and Denmark agree to stand together and preserve their neutrality in the war.

[Sailor Steve]

December 21:

Dover, England: Kptlt.z.S. Stephan von Prandzynski, flying a Friedrichshaven FF.29 two-seat floatplane, attempts to drop two hand bombs on the Admiralty Pier at Dover. Both miss widely, exploding in the bay. It is the first recorded German air raid on Britain.

- Walter J. Boyne, The Influence of Air Power Upon History; Pelican Publishing Company, Louisiana, USA, 2003

(Some sources give the plane as a Taube monoplane. This is the only source I could find which gives the name of the pilot.)



Meditteranean Sea: In the Strait of Otranto, which separates the Adriatic and Ionian seas and Italy from Albania, Austro-Hungarian submarine K.u.K. SM U-12, commanded by Egon Lerch, puts one torpedo into the French battleship Jean Bart. The torpedo hits the bow, missing the magazine but destroying the wine locker. Jean Bart will spend three months at Malta undergoing repairs.





Pacific Ocean: HMS Bristol and Glasgow are still steaming slowly down the Chilean coastline, serching every possible bay and river that might hide SMS Dresden.

HMS Inflexible begins her passage around Cape Horn on her way back to Port Stanley. At one point she is less than 50 miles from Dresden's actual hiding place in Hewett Bay.



Atlantic Ocean: Underway from Montevideo to the Abrolhos Rocks, HMS Invincible stops to investigate SS Ague, a British freighter.



Indian Ocean: Aboard SS Choising, Kptlt von Mücke and his officers come to two decisions. First is that with the discovery from newspapers of the declaration of war between Turkey and Britain their best plan of action would be to try to reach the Ottoman Turkish Empire. Second is that painting Choising in Dutch colors might raise questions if they encounter a Dutch warship. Von Mücke orders the ship to be repainted to represent an Italian Merchant. The name "Shenir, Genoa" is painted on the stern and artistic crewmen are put to work making an Italian flag.

[Jimbuna]

22nd December 1914

Western Front

Battle of Givenchy begins to die down; British positions held.

French make progress towards Noyon.

Eastern Front

Fresh sortie from Przemysl repulsed by Russians.

German army that invaded northern Poland is forced to retreat from the Vistula River and back to the Prussian frontier.

Naval and Overseas Operations

Raid by rebels under Maritz; loyal Boers defeated.

Political, etc.

France: Meeting of the Chambers; M. Viviani makes statement concerning the war. Premier Viviani declares France will not stop fighting until its lost territories are restored and Belgium is liberated.

French General Joffre announces that 24 generals have been forced to retire due to unfitness and/or incompetence.

Great Britain: Admiral Sir G.A. Callaghan appointed to the Nore.

Ghent, Belgium, is ordered to provide a million cigars, a million cigarettes, and 90,000 pounds of tobacco for German troops for Christmas.

In St. Petersburg, it is reported that 4 consecutive days have passed without an arrest for drunkenness, which is a record.

Ship Losses:

Brazil ( United Kingdom): The steam barge was in collision with Megantic ( United Kingdom) at Liverpool, Lancashire and sank. Her crew were rescued.

German Submarine "U-10" at full speed.

[Sailor Steve]

December 22:

Pacific Ocean: HMS Bristol and Glasgow are still investigating the Chilean coastline. Commodore Stoddart orders Kent and Orama to the Pacific to join in the search, while Newcastle and IJNS Asama and Idzumo move down from the north to be placed under his command.



Tierra del Fuego: SMS Dresden is seen by a passing schooner. Captain Lüdeke orders the ship moved. They search several inlets, finally settling on a small bay that is unmarked on the charts and has no name.



Atlantic Ocean: HMS Invincible stops to investigate another freighter, which turns out to be the British SS Palmer. She also records sighting several sailing vessels.

HMS Inflexible sights Cape Saint John, Isla de los Estados, Argentina. She is past the Horn and officially back in the Atlantic.

[Jimbuna]

23rd December 1914

Western Front

Belgians cross the Yser and establish themselves on right bank of Dixmude.

Eastern Front

Poland: Germans succeed in crossing the Bzura at two points.

Galicia: Russians compelled to raise the siege of Cracow.

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

Egypt: Arrival of Australian and New Zealand troops at Cairo.

Political, etc.

Captain Piper, commander of the SMS Yorck, is court-martialed and sentenced to two years imprisonment for losing the ship. The SMS Yorck was sunk after hitting a friendly mine off Wilhelmshaven, Germany.
http://i.imgur.com/wAheCgF.png

French Parliament votes in a $1.7 billion ($40.1 billion today) appropriation bill for the coming half-year.

In a Christmas message to the belligerent nations, Pope Benedict declares, “Lay down your arms!”

Ship Losses:

Ocana ( United Kingdom): The trawler struck a mine and sank in the North Sea 75 nautical miles (139 km) north east by east of Flamborough Head, Yorkshire with the loss of nine of her crew.

[Sailor Steve]

December 23:

Pacific Ocean: HMS Bristol and Glasgow arrive back at Vallenar Road and recoal. Armoured Cruiser HMS Kent spends the day patrolling the same area. HMS Newcastle is on her way south to Valparaiso.



Port Stanley, Falkland Islands: HMS Inflexible arrives at Port William and recoals.

[Jimbuna]

24th December 1914

Western Front

British bomb German airsheds at Brussels.

Dover bombed by German aeroplane.

French successes at Perthes-les-Hurlus (Champagne) and Consenvoye (Meuse).

Eastern Front

Reported rising of Romanians in Transylvania.

Armenian volunteers (pictured) are deployed by Russia in the battle of Sarikamish against the Ottomans:


Naval and Overseas Operations

Portguese Colony of Angola (south-west Africa) invaded by Germans.

Ship Losses:

Oceana ( United Kingdom): The trawler struck a mine and sank in the North Sea with the loss of all but one of her crew.

Political, etc.

Morocco: Great Britain recognises French Protectorate.

Japan states it has not been asked by the Allies to send troops to Europe, but has sent arms to Europe valued at $5 million.

Fifty Filipinos are caught by police and charged with plotting an uprising against U.S. rule.

134,000 German and 225,000 Austrian prisoners claimed by Russia to date.

“Soldiers Themselves May Call Xmas Truce” from the NY Tribune:

[Sailor Steve]

December 24:

Dover: A second raid by a Friedrichshaven FF.29 is successful to a point. A bomb falls in the garden of a Dover citizen, causing about £40 worth of damage. No one is hurt.

It is the first bomb ever to fall on English soil.



Falkland Islands: HMS Inflexible departs Port William for Europe.

[Oberon]

[Jimbuna]

25th December 1914

Unofficial ceasefire along the Western Front is reported. Thousands of soldiers leave their trenches to fraternize.

Football matches and exchanges of gifts occur along the Western Front. British and German soldiers.

German and British troops near Ypres decorates their trenches with Christmas trees and candles and begin singing carols.