100 Years Ago Today

[Sailor Steve]

February 16, 1916:

United States refuses German proposals on the Lusitania question.

Entente renews pledges to Belgium.

British War Office takes over defense of London from the Admiralty.

War office also takes over control of Mesopotamian operations from the India Office.



Southern Front:
Remnants of Montenegrin Army land at Corfu.



Asian Theater:
Russian forces capture the city of Erzerum, including 13,000 prisoners and 323 cannon.



North Sea:
Norwegian coaster SS Hjordis, 431 tons, carrying a load of coal from Hull to Calais, is wrecked off Blakeney, Norfolk, with the loss of ten of her crew. It is unclear whether this was the whole crew.



Celtic Sea:
British freighter SS Inver, 1,031 tons, travelling in ballast from Cork, Ireland to Newport, Wales, is sunk following a collision off the Coningbeg Rocks lightship.



Adriatic Sea:
French freighter SS Memphis, 2,382 tons, bound from Corfu to Durrës, Albania, hits a mine laid by Eberhard Fröhner in UC-12. The damaged ship is towed into Durrës but sinks there on the 19th.



United States:
American schooner SV Maurice R. Shaw, 803 tons, carrying a load of lumber from Jacksonville, Florida to New York, is abandoned 38 miles south-southeast from Bodie Island, North Carolina.

[Jimbuna]

17th February 1916

Western Front

Germany explodes two mines under British lines, near Fosses & south of Loos, but British troops are able to repel the ensuing attack.

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

British land at Chios.

Vurla bombarded.

Political etc.

British military service tribunal decides that barbers are not “indispensable” and therefore are not exempt from conscription.

Allied Powers renew their pledge not to stop fighting until Belgian independence is reestablished.

Republican party in U.S. Congress promises support to Administration in opposition to German submarine policy.

The United States is currently exporting around $2 million worth of arms and ammunition to Europe each day.

[Sailor Steve]

February 17, 1916:

Britain:
British freighter SS Heathmore, 3,147 tons, bound from Huelva, Spain to Garston, a part of the Liverpool port complex, with a load of copper ore, is wrecked at Garston.



Italy:
Italian barquentine SV Filippo, carrying charcoal from Terranova to Gena, is wrecked at Castagneto Carducci, near Piombino.

[Jimbuna]

18th February 1916

Western Front

Artillery duel at Ypres.

Southern Front

Italian advance in Collo zone.

Following the victory at Erzurum, Russian troops now occupy the city of Bayburt and are advancing towards Trebizond.

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

Russians take Mush and Aklat (Armenia).

Naval and Overseas Operations

Surrender of Mora completes conquest of Cameroons by Anglo-French forces.

German attack repulsed at Kachumbe (Uganda).

Political etc.

Debate in French Chamber on government control in army zone: Government secures vote of confidence.

Prussian Diet discusses issue of declining births in Germany. Minister of Education states the government is conferring with specialists.

Sweden asks the U.S. to organize a conference of neutral powers to protest British interference with trade.

German government apologizes to the Netherlands for sinking a Dutch vessel and offers to pay an indemnity.

[Sailor Steve]

February 18, 1916:

Cameroon, Africa:
After seventeen months of fighting the German colony of Cameroon surrenders to British and French forces. The only German forces left are in German East Africa, where Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck and his 10,000 troops continue to play havoc with a British force ten times their size.



Air War:
0845 Austrian pilot Mathias Bernath and Czech-born Heinrich Kostrba together shoot down Italian Caproni Ca.I heavy bomber number 478. It is Bernath's second (and last) victory, and Kostrba's first.
0925 Heinrich Kostrba shoots down an Italian-flown Caudron two-seater for victory numer 2.
0950 Heinrich Kostrba shoots down another Caproni Ca.I for victory number 3.

Sometime that day Austrian pilot Ludwig Hautzmayer also brings down a Caproni Ca.I for kill number 1.



North Sea:
British trawler Rhodesia, 193 tons, founders and is lost 60 miles east-northeast of Flamborough Head.

British coaster SS Theodor, 211 tons, carrying a load of burnt ore from London to Newcastle, founders off Katwijk, Netherlands. (Some sources have this on the next day, February 19).



Irish Sea:
British freighter SS Benshaw, bound from Bilbao to Ayr with a load of iron ore, is wrecked on South Rock, County Down, on the east coast of Ireland.



United States:
American schooner SV Harry F. Hooper is abandoned off Cape Hatteras.

[Jimbuna]

19th February 1916

Eastern Front

General Kuropatkin appointed to command the Northern front.

Southern Front

Russian troops capture the rest of the Ottoman 34th division, which was retreating after the fall of Erzurum.

Naval and Overseas Operations

General Smuts arrives at Mombasa.

Political etc.

British War Office admits that their forces on the Tigris, who are attempting to relieve Kut, were driven back by the Ottomans.

Action begun in Admiralty Court to recover "Appam".

Greek protest against French action in Corfu.

U.S. protest to Turkey on Armenian massacres.

President Wilson writes to the American Red Cross, urging them to be prepared to care for the sick and wounded if the U.S. enters the war.

Russian Finance Minister states he is confident Russia could prosecute the war indefinitely without financial difficulty.

Ship Losses:

John D. Archbold (United States) The cargo ship collided with Hova ( Italy) at New York and was beached.
Telmo (Spain) The cargo ship collided with Sea Cock ( United Kingdom) at Liverpool, Lancashire, United Kingdom and was beached.
Theodor (United Kingdom) The auxiliary schooner foundered in the North Sea off Katwijk, South Holland, Netherlands. Her crew were saved by a Dutch lugger.

[Sailor Steve]

February 19, 1916:

United States:
American schooner-barges J. Carlton Hudson and Shamokin founder off Hog Island, Virginia. The barges are being towed by steamship Richard F. Young when the tow cable parts in a gale. Richard F. Young is damaged and unable to help the barges, but the ship and a third barge, Rockland No. 7, manage to reach shore safely. All four crew of J. Carlton Hudson lost. Shamokin towed to safety but then sinks.

British freighter SS Potomac, 2,472 tons, bound from Middleboro, Massachussetts to Galveston, Texas, runs ground off Halifax, Massachussetts.

[Jimbuna]

20th February 1916


Western Front

Germans attempt to cross Yser at Steenstraate, capture post at Boesinghe.

German troops capture a 300 meter line of trenches from British forces north of Ypres. German aircraft also raid Dunkirk.

The weather is sunny over Verdun, France, allowing the ground to dry after the past few days of rain. The German Army prepares to attack.

Eastern Front

Russian success on the Dniester in Bukovina.

Southern Front

Deportation of Greeks from Xanthi by Bulgarians.

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

British airmen destroy power station at El-Hassana (Sinai).

Aviation

Two (some sources say four) German seaplanes raids the eastern and southeastern coasts of England, dropping 20 bombs.


Political etc.

British Admiralty reports that over a million men are engaged in various work for the Royal Navy, with 320,000 active officers & men.

Farmers in England have donated £50,000 to the farmers’ branch of the Red Cross to help rebuild farms in France.

Romanian Parliament introduces a bill that would prohibit the export of cereals and dried vegetables to ensure domestic supplies.

Berlin introduces ration cards for butter. Each person will be given around 100 grams each week.

Ship Losses:

Dingle (United Kingdom) The coaster struck a mine laid by UC 5 Ulrich Mohrbutterand and sank in the North Sea 10 nautical miles (19 km) south by west of the Kentish Knock Lightship ( United Kingdom) with the loss of nine of her crew.
HMT Gavenwood (Royal Navy) The naval trawler struck a mine and sank in the Adriatic Sea off Brindisi, Italy with the loss of eleven of her crew.

[Sailor Steve]

February 20, 1916:

"Another raid on Deal to-day, five bombs dropped and one man killed. I took over the War flight this morning, and had a patrol in the air at the same time. I myself and others were off withing a few minutes of receiving the signal, but no one even saw the machine.

Over sixty ratings arrived this morning without warning, and I had to make all arrangements for them to be fed, housed and washed. All of them were Derby recruits and had been in the service 24 hours, mostly graded as A.M. 2nd class. None had seen an aeroplane before. They were butchers, grocers, cotton spinners, weavers, etc.

The C.O. goes away to-morrow for 2 weeks. Sippe, Andreae, Husky, Viney, etc. go to Paris in a day or so, and I am left to run the Station, School and War flight, keeping up a continuous patrol with four machines.

Love to all."
-Harold Rosher, letter to his mother from Hotel Burlington, Dover, February 20, 1916



North Sea:
Karl Neumann, in his first war patrol in UB-13, takes Belgian fishing vessel David Marie, 27 tons, as a prize, off the coast of Flanders, Belgium.

British freighter SS Dingle, 593 tons, bound from Sunderaland to Caen with a load of coal, hits a mine laid by Ulrich Mohrbutter in UC-5. Mohrbuttere's score is now 2 ships and 3,478 tons.



Adriatic Sea:
His Majesty's Drifter Gavenwood, 88 tons, hits a mine laid by Cäsar Bauer in UC-14 off Brindisi, Italy. Bauer's score is now 6 ships and 7,319 tons.

[Jimbuna]

21st February 1916

Western Front

Battle of Verdun begins, 808 German artillery guns begin bombarding French positions around Verdun. Around a million shells will be fired in the next 10 hours.

German successes.

Zeppelin L.77 brought down by French.

Southern Front

General Sarrail received by King of Greece.

Political etc.

House of Commons passed two votes of credit, aggregating £420 million, the largest sum ever voted in any country in history.

French President Poincare, addressing the Anglo-French Parliamentary Committee, promises to fight until the end until peace is achieved.

Germany informs U.S. through a press representative that she regards armed merchantmen as cruisers.

Tsar Nicholas II threatens to prorogue the Russian Duma immediately if the parliamentary body delays passing laws.

Neville Usborne, British naval officer and pioneer in British airship design, is killed during a test flight.


Ship Losses:

HMT Carlton (Royal Navy) The naval trawler struck a mine laid by UC 6 (Matthias Graf von Schmettowand) and sank in the English Channel off Folkestone, Kent (51°03′N 1°15′E) with the loss of nine of her crew.
La Flandre (Netherlands) The tanker struck a mine in the North Sea off the Galloper Lightship ( United Kingdom) (51°43′N 1°57′E) and sank with the loss of 29 of her 31 crew.[40] The survivors were rescued by Ousel ( United Kingdom).
La Petite Henriette (Belgium) The fishing vessel was sunk in the North Sea off Lowestoft, Suffolk, United Kingdom by SM UB-12 ( Kaiserliche Marine).
Marechiaro Regia Marina (Flag of the Red Cross.pngRed Cross): The hospital ship struck a mine and sank in the Adriatic Sea off Cape Laghi, Durrës, Albania with the loss of at least 33 lives, and possibly over 200 lives.
Oleander (United Kingdom) The fishing smack was scuttled in the North Sea 28 nautical miles (52 km) off Lowestoft by SM UB-12 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived.
W. E. Brown (United Kingdom) The fishing smack was scuttled in the North Sea south east of Lowestoft by SM UB-12 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived.

Battle of Verdun - Overview:

By 1915, the Western Front had become a stalemate as both sides engaged in trench warfare.

Unable to achieve a decisive breakthrough, offensives simply resulted in heavy casualties with little gain. Seeking to shatter the Anglo-French lines, the German Chief of Staff, Erich von Falkenhayn, began planning a massive assault on the French city of Verdun. A fortress town on the Meuse River, Verdun protected the plains of Champagne and the approaches to Paris. Surrounded by rings of forts and batteries, Verdun's defenses had been weakened in 1915, as artillery was shifted to other sections of the line.

Despite its reputation as a fortress, Verdun was selected as it was located in a salient in German lines and could only be supplied by a single road, the Voie Sacrée, from a railhead located at Bar-le-Duc.

Conversely, the Germans would be able to attack the city from three sides while enjoying a much stronger logistical network. With these advantages in hand, von Falkenhayn believed that Verdun would only be able to hold out for a few weeks. Shifting forces to the Verdun area, the Germans planned to launch the offensive on February 12, 1916.

Due to poor weather, the attack was postponed until February 21.

This delay, coupled with accurate intelligence reports, allowed the French to shift two divisions of the XXXth Corps to the Verdun area prior to the German assault. At 7:15 AM on February 21, the Germans commenced a ten-hour bombardment of the French lines around the city. Attacking with three army corps, the Germans moved forward utilizing storm troopers and flamethrowers. Staggered by the weight of the German attack, the French were forced to fall back three miles in the first day of fighting.

On the 24th, troops of XXX Corps were compelled to abandon their second line of defense, but were buoyed by the arrival of the French XX Corps.

That night the decision was made to shift General Philippe Petain's Second Army to the Verdun sector. Bad news for the French continued the next day as Fort Douaumont, northeast of the city, was lost to German troops. Taking command at Verdun, Petain reinforced the city's fortifications and laid out new defensive lines. On the final day of the month, French resistance near the village of Douaumont slowed the enemy advance, allowing the city's garrison to be reinforced.

Pushing forward, the Germans began to lose the protection of their own artillery, while coming under fire from French guns on the west bank of the Meuse. Pounding German columns, French artillery badly bled the Germans at Douaumont and ultimately forced them to abandon the frontal assault on Verdun. Changing strategies, the Germans began assaults on the flanks of the city in March. On the west bank of the Meuse, their advance focused on the hills of Le Mort Homme and Cote (Hill) 304. In a series of brutal battles, they succeeded in capturing both. This accomplished, they began assaults east of the city.

Focusing their attention on Fort Vaux, the Germans shelled the French fortification around the clock. Storming forward, German troops captured the fort's superstructure, but a savage battle continued in its underground tunnels until early June. As the fighting raged, Petain was promoted to lead the Centre Army Group on May 1, while General Robert Nivelle was given command of the front at Verdun. Having secured Fort Vaux, the Germans pushed southwest against Fort Souville. On June 22, they shelled the area with poison diphosgene gas shells before launching a massive assault the next day.

Over several days of fighting the Germans initially had success, but met increasing French resistance. While some German troops reached the top of Fort Souville on July 12, they were forced to withdraw by French artillery. The battles around Souville marked furthest German advance during the campaign. With the opening of the Battle of the Somme on July 1, some German troops were withdrawn from Verdun to meet the new threat. With the tide stemmed, Nivelle began planning a counter-offensive for the sector. For his failure, von Falkenhayn was replaced by Field Marshal Paul von Hindenburg in August.

On October 24, Nivelle began attacking the German lines around the city. Making heavy use of artillery, his infantry was able to push the Germans back on the east bank of the river. Forts Douaumont and Vaux were recaptured on October 24 and November 2 respectively, and by December the Germans had been nearly forced back to their original lines. The hills on the west bank of the Meuse were retaken in a localized offensive in August 1917.

Battle of Verdun - Aftermath:

The Battle of Verdun was one of the longest and bloodiest battles of World War I. A brutal battle of attrition, Verdun cost the French an estimated 161,000 dead, 101,000 missing, and 216,000 wounded. German losses were approximately 142,000 killed and 187,000 wounded. After the war, von Falkenhayn claimed that his intention at Verdun was not to win a decisive battle, but rather to "bleed the French white" by forcing them to make a stand at a place from which they could not retreat. Recent scholarship has discredited these statements as von Falkenhayn attempting to justify the campaign's failure. The Battle of Verdun has assumed an iconic place in French military history as symbol of the nation's determination to defend its soil at all costs.

http://militaryhistory.about.com/od/...i/p/verdun.htm

[Sailor Steve]

February 21, 1916:

North Sea:
Wilhelm Kiel begins his career as captain of UB-12 with the capture of three fishing smacks off Lowestoft: Belgian vessel La Petite Henriette, 92 tons; and British smacks Oleander, 34 tons, and W.E. Brown, 58 tons, are all scuttled.

Dutch tanker SS La Flandre, 2,018 tons, bound from New York to Rotterdam, hits a mine laid by Ulrich Mohrbutter in UC-5. Mohrbutter's score is now 3 ships and 5,496 tons.



English Channel:
His Majesty's Trawler Carlton, 267 tons, his a mine laid by Matthias von Schmettow in UC-6 off Folkestone. Von Schmettow's score is now 23 ships and 17,532 tons.



Mediterranean Sea:
Italian hospital ship Marechiaro, 412 tons, hits a mine laid by Eberhard Fröhner in UC-12. Fröhner's score is now 2 ships and 2,794 tons.



China:
British coaster SS Ho Kwei, 376 tons, travelling from Shanghai to Chikiang, runs aground runs aground 50 miles off Hainan.

[Sailor Steve]

February 22, 1916:

Britain:
Lieutenant General Sir George Henry Fowke is appointed Adjutant-Generald to the British Expeditionary Force.
Lieutenant General Sir Cecil Frederick Nevil Macready is appointed Adjutant-General to the British Home Forces.

Blockade policy attacked in the House of Lords.



Paris:
Inter-paliamentary Commission opens.



Western Front:
German attack on Verdun is stopped at Brabant, but they take Haumont Wood and the Beaumont Salient.

French Command decides to create a supply road from Bar-Le-Duc to Verdun. It will later become known as "The Sacred Way."



Eastern Front:
General Aliksey Kuropatkin is appointed Commander-In-Chief of the Russian North Front.



Asiatic Theater:
Russians approach Trebizond



English Channel-Celtic Sea:
French schooner SV Amédée II, 349 tons, departs Rouen for Briton Ferry with a load of scrap iron and is not heard from again.



Scotland:
British freighter SS Duckbridge, 1,491 tons, bound from Cardiff to the Orkney Islands with a load of Welsh coal, hits a mine set by SMS Möwe.



Mediterranean Sea:
Japanese warships reported to be in the area.



Atlantic Ocean:
German raider SMS Möwe captures and sinks French freighter SS Maroni, 3,109 tons, carrying a general cargo from Bordeaux to New York, off the Azores Islands. The crew of Möwe offload some of the foodstuffs carried by Maroni, including eggs and cheese, but 1,000 cases of champagne are stored under other cargo and have to be left behind. Möwe now has claim to 17 ships and 67,110 tons.

[Jimbuna]

23rd February 1916

Western Front

Battle of Verdun: French evacuate Bois des Caures, Ornes and Samogneux. Germans claim 3,000 prisoners.

French regain part of trenches at Givenchy.

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

Russian capture of Erzerum relieves Egyptian front.

Naval and Overseas Operations

Portuguese seize German steamers in Tagus.

General Smuts arrives at Nairobi.

Political etc.

Andrew Bonar Law, British Secretary for the Colonies, announces that Germany has lost 730,000 square miles of territory in Africa.

Lord Robert Cecil appointed Minister of Blockade.

Peace debate in Commons.

Prime Minister Asquith pledges that Serbia will receive extra territory after the war’s end.

Paris War Office officially announces to the public that the Battle of Verdun is underway.

Japan warns Germany that if it continues “unlawful and inhumane” submarine warfare, Japan would not guarantee “generous” treatment of POWs.

Hugo von Pohl, German Admiral and former commander of the High Seas Fleet, dies of liver cancer.


Ship Losses:

Carmanta (United Kingdom) The brigantine was driven ashore at Aldeburgh, Suffolk and wrecked. Her six crew were rescued by rocket apparatus.
Diadem (United Kingdom) The cargo ship was shelled and sunk in the Mediterranean Sea 56 nautical miles (104 km) south west of Porquerolles, Var, France (42°10′N 6°24′E) by SM U-38 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived.
Monsone (Regia Marina) The naval trawler struck a mine and sank in the Adriatic Sea of Durrës, Albania with the loss of eight of her crew.
Roubine (France) The brigantine was sunk in the Mediterranean Sea 30 nautical miles (56 km) south by east of Porquerolles (42°11′N 6°20′E) by SM U-38 ( Kaiserliche Marine) with the loss of two crew.
Wilfred Marcus (United Kingdom) The schooner sank at Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada.

[Sailor Steve]

February 23, 1916:

North Sea:
British sailing ship SV Carmenta (or Carmanta), bound from Necastle-On-Tyne to Whitstable with a load of coal, is wrecked off Thorpeness.



Mediterranean Sea:
Leading submarine ace Max Valentiner, in U-38, sinks Brtish freighter SS Diadem, 3,752 tons, travelling in ballast from Marseille to Port Said; and French schooner SV Roubine, 327 tons, unknown route and cargo. This brings Valentiner's score to 73 ships and 159,168 tons.



Adriatic Sea:
Italian naval trawler Monsone, 249 tons, hits a mine laid by Eberhard Fröhner in UC-12. Fröhner's score is now 3 ships and 3,043 tons.



United States:
American schooner SV Horatio, 388 tons, carrying a load of lumber from Sherbrooke, Nova Scotia to Bridgeport, Connecticut, is abandoned off Cape Ann, Massachussetts.

[Jimbuna]

24th February 1916

Western Front

Battle of Verdun: front extended from Malancourt to Fromezy: part of Bois des Fosses taken by Germans.

Southern Front

Durazzo evacuated by Albanians: Essad Pasha goes to Italy.

Political etc.

German promise of Polish independence announced in Duma.

Charlotte (Norway) The barque ran aground at the mouth of the River Tees, Northumberland, United Kingdom and was wrecked. Her crew were rescued.
Daquoise (France) The cargo ship foundered in the English Channel off the coast of Cornwall, United Kingdom. Her crew were rescued.
Denaby (United Kingdom) The cargo ship was shelled and sunk in the Mediterranean Sea 40 nautical miles (74 km) south south west of the Île du Planier, Bouches-du-Rhône, France (42°32′N 5°40′E) by SM U-38 ( Kaiserliche Marine) with the loss of a crew member.
Fastnet (United Kingdom) The cargo ship was shelled and sunk in the Mediterranean Sea 55 nautical miles (102 km) south west of the Île du Planier (42°28′N 4°44′E) by SM U-38 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived.
Southford (United Kingdom) The cargo ship struck a mine laid by UC 10 (Alfred Nitzsche) and sank in the North Sea off Great Yarmouth, Norfolk with the loss of two of her thirteen crew. Survivors were rescued by Paul ( United Kingdom and a Royal Navy patrol boat.
Torborg (Sweden) The cargo ship was sunk in the Mediterranean Sea 40 nautical miles (74 km) of Marseille, Bouches-su-Rhône (42°28′N 4°44′E) by SM U-38 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived.
Trignac (France) The cargo ship struck a mine and sank in the North Sea 7 nautical miles (13 km) west of the Outer Dowsing Lightship ( United Kingdom) with the loss of 26 of the 30 people on board. Survivors were rescued by Borgsten ( Norway).[54][55]
Tummel United Kingdom World War I: The coaster struck a mine laid by UC 6 (Matthias Graf von Schmettow) and sank in the North Sea 7 nautical miles (13 km) south of the Kentish Knock Lightship ( United Kingdom) with the loss of nine of her fourteen crew.