100 Years Ago Today

[Jimbuna]

11th December 1915

Western Front

Belgian powder factory blown up near Havre, many lives lost.

Southern Front

Publication of Gallipoli casualties up to 11 December.

Bulgarians attack Anglo-French front at Furka (Macedonia) and lose 8,000 men.

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

300 hostile Arabs encountered by reconnoitring force near Mersa Matruh (W. Eg.) and driven west with many casualties.

Russians occupy Hamadan (Persia); rebel strength 8,000 irregulars, 13,000 gendarmes, with rifles and machine guns.

Political etc.

A Belgian arms factory near Havre explodes, resulting in over 1000 deaths and injuries.

Due to food shortages in Germany, German-Americans send condensed milk, rice, and lard through first-class mail.

Allied War Council in Paris agrees that they will continue to occupy Thessalonica, Greece in order to launch a future Balkan offensive.

Great rush of recruits, last two days under the age group system.

China’s National Assembly “elects” Yuan Shikai as Emperor of China.


Ship Losses:

Pinegrove ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship struck a mine laid by UC 3 (Erwin Waßner) and sank in the English Channel 8 nautical miles (15 km) west of Cap Gris Nez, Pas-de-Calais, France with the loss of two of her crew.
Rosmed ( Sweden): The cargo ship struck a rock and sank in the Norwegian Sea off Hindoen, Norway.
St. Kilda ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship came ashore on Little Miquelon, Saint Pierre and Miquelon and was wrecked.

[Sailor Steve]

December 11, 1915:

English Channel:
British freighter SS Pinegrove, 2,847 tons, travelling in ballast from Dunkerque to London, hits a mine laid by Irwin Waßner in UC-3. This brings his score to 9 ships and 12,298 tons.



Mediterranean Sea:
Italian freighter SS Giuseppina Ilardi, 1,552 tons, runs aground near Homs, Syria.



German East Africa:
Protected cruiser HMS Challenger and Monitor HMS Mersey are on patrol. The two ships, accompanied by whalers Charon and Childers, enter Moa Bay. From 0742 to 0845 the two warships fire on a house near the bay.

At Tyrene Bay on Mafia Island the crews of HMS Severn and the support vessels cheer Admiral King-Hall aboard HMS Hyacinth as he departs the African Station for a new post.



Atlantic Ocean:
Schooner SV Lavengro, 269 tons, en route from Fogo Island, Newfoundland to Naples, Florida, is wrecked off Seldom at Fogo Island.

American schooner SV Dora, 745 tons, founders off Fenwick Island, Delaware.

American schooner SV Baker Palmer, 2,240 tons, carrying a load of coal from Norfolk, Virginia to Buenow Aires, founders in mid-ocean northwest of Bermuda.

[Jimbuna]

12th December 1915

Western Front

British raid near Neuve Chapelle.

Eastern Front

German troops on the Eastern Front retreat to the Bug River after they failed to take control of the Lida-Baranovichi-Rovno railway.

Southern Front

Paris official report: Successful retreat in Macedonia.

Agreement to withdraw Greek Division east of Salonika. Allied troops destroy bridges and railways as they retreat from Serbia to Thessalonica, Greece.

Aviation

The Junkers J1, the first all-metal aircraft, performs its first flight at Döberitz, Germany.


Political etc.

Lord Derby's recruiting campaign closed.

Theodore Roosevelt writes to the Boy Scouts, urging the organization to provide military training.

U.S. demands an apology from Austria-Hungary for the Ancona sinking, which resulted in the deaths of 200 people, including US citizens.

Yuan Shikai declares himself Emperor of China and establishes the Empire of China.


Ship Losses:

Cross Sand Lightship ( United Kingdom): The lightship was struck by Marga ( United Kingdom and sank in the North Sea off the coast of Norfolk.
Réchid Pesha ( Ottoman Navy): The transport ship was sunk in the Sea of Marmara off Sylivra by a French Navy submarine.
SMS V107 ( Kaiserliche Marine): The V105-class destroyer struck a mine and sank in the Baltic Sea off Liepāja, Latvia with the loss of a crew member.

[Sailor Steve]

December 12, 1915:

Brooklands, UK:
Sopwith's new biplane, called the Land Clerget Tractor, is approved for flight. The aircraft will be described as "Structurally complete" on December 16th, so the first flight may not have taken place until then. Once accepted the RFC will call it the 'Sopwith Two-Seat Scout', the RNAS will use the number desigation 'Type 9400' and the French, who will build far more than the British, call it the 'Sopwith 1A.2'. Because of the W-shaped cabane, the outer part of which extends almost to the center of the wing, the plane will be remembered to history by the informal nickname given to it by the men who flew it - "1-1/2 Strutter".



Döberitz, Germany:
Leutnant Theodor Mallinckrodt conducts the first taxi tests and "flight" of the Junkers J.1, the first practical all-metal monoplane. The flight is only a short hop, reaching a height of three meters before a gust of wind forces a ground loop that damages the port wing.



Canada:
Norwegian sailing ship SV Kwango, 1,885 tons, bound from Rimouski, Quebec to Buenos Aires with a load of wood, is wrecked near Brion Island, in the middle of St. Lawrence Bay.

[Jimbuna]

13th December 1915

Western Front

Trench fighting near the Somme. French in Champagne and the British near Givenchy make slight gains after exploding mines beneath German trenches.

French batteries destroy at St. Mihiel the only German bridge spared by the flooded Meuse.

Anti-aircraft control in Great Britain transferred to War Office.

Southern Front

Allied troops withdraw across Greek frontier.

Greek troops are sent to reinforce its border in case Bulgarian troops cross into Greece to pursue Allied forces.

Salonika to be fortified.

80,000 enemy troops between Monastir and Greek frontier.

Greek Government informed their ships at Malta now free to proceeed.

Bulgarians enter Doiran and Gevgeli.

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

British force under Colonel Gordon defeats 1,200 Senussites at Wadi Shaifa, near Mersa Matruh.

Political etc.

All American and Canadian securities to be loaned or sold to the State.

Senator William E. Borah criticizes U.S. foreign policy, stating it cannot afford “to play the merchant with human miseries.”

German Marks and Austro-Hungarian Krone falls to new lows in the U.S. market due to the course of the war.

Ship Losses:

Lanao ( United States): The coaster was driven ashore on Marinduque Island, Philippines and was wrecked.
Lavengro ( Denmark): The schooner was wrecked at St. John's, Newfoundland.

[Sailor Steve]

December 13, 1915:

North Sea:
British brigantine SV Jean Anderson, 183 tons, bound from Hull to London with a load of coal, is wrecked on West Shingle Shoal.



Canada:
Canadian freighter SS Senlac, 615 tons, is destroyed by a fire while anchored off Sydney Harbour, Nova Scotia.

[Jimbuna]

14th December 1915

Naval and Overseas Operations

General Sir Hugh Smith-Dorrien to command in East Africa.

Political etc.

“Alien enemies” interned in England currently numbers 45,749. There are also 21,205 prisoners of war.

Casualty lists published in Germany reveals 2,244,248 Prussian casualties since the war’s start (does not include other German states).

Germany prevents American diplomats traveling between London and Berlin from carrying merchandise.

M. Schroeder, pro-Ally editor of the "Telegraaf" (Amsterdam) acquitted of charge of "imperilling Holland's neutrality".

Russian orders 3 million pairs of boots for soldiers, worth $14.1 million, from the United States.

Karl Helfferich, German Treasury Secretary, states the “economic situation now favors Berlin” and that the British Empire is tottering.

Greek government commandeers all Greek ships abroad in order to supply the deficiency in food and coal.

Ship Losses:

HMT Susanna ( Royal Navy): The naval trawler was lost on this date.

[Sailor Steve]

December 14, 1915:

Air War:
French pilot Georges Guynemer, flying a single-seat Nieuport 10, wins a fight with a Fokker E.III for kill number 4. This is shared with a two-seater crew, Adjutant Louis Bucquet and Lieutenant Louis Pandevant. What type of plane they were in is unclear.

German ace Max Immelmann, in a Fokker E.III, shoots down British-flown Morane LA 5087 for kill number 7. He overtakes Oswald Boelke as the leading ace.



Mediterranean Sea:
French passenger/troopship SS Djurjura, 1,790 tons, travelling in ballast from Salonica to Marseille, sinks after a collision with Canadian troopship Empress of Britain. Both ships were travelling with lights out per wartime orders. Empress, with 5,000 troops aboard, was only mildly damaged.



Canada:
Canadian schooner SV Levuka, 76 tons, bound from Windsor, Nova Scotia to Parrsboro, N.S., is wrecked of Minas Basin.

Canadian sailing ship SV Orleans, travelling from Loulsbourg, Nova Scotia to Montague, Prince Edward Island, runs aground at Big Dover.



Australia:
Australian coastal freighter Captain T. Fenwick, carrying a general cargo and three passengers down the Richmond River from Lismore to Ballina, New South Wales, is wrecked 15 miles south of Lismore.

[Jimbuna]

15th December 1915

Western Front

Resignation of Sir John French, succeeded by Sir Douglas Haig (below) as Commander-in-Chief, former being made a Viscount.


Eastern Front

Germans report Russians penetrated positions north of L. Drisviati, repulsed by counter-attack.

Russians repulsed near mouth of Beresina river.

Aviation
First flight of the Anatra D.


Naval

Austro-Hungarian Navy defends the sinking of the ocean liner SS Ancona, stating the commander of the submarine did his duty.

[Sailor Steve]

December 15, 1915:

"I so much enjoyed my too short week-end. I fear I shall not be able to get up to Town again until after Xmas. Had quite a nice journey down, making Stewart's acquaintance on the way, likewise his wife's.

Risk said he thought I had been away months and seemed quite relieved to see me back again. Graham and Ince have put up a first-rate performance. They were not shot down. Graham came down low to see the Huns in the water, and his engine never picked up again. The Hun machine caught fire, and must have had bombs on it, for it exploded on hitting the water. Both machines fell bang in the middle of the fleet, which was duly impressed. Graham, of course, turned a somersault, and both he and Ince were nearly drowned."
-Harold Rosher, letter to his father, December 15, 1915



English Channel:
British freighter SS Ocean Prince, 5,101 tons, runs aground at Cap de la Hague, Normandy.



Australia:
Australian coaster SS Wandra, 164 tons, en route from Moruya to Sydney, is swamped off Lamont Head, near Jervis Bay.



Canada:
Canadian passenger/cargo ship SS Majestic, 1,578 tons, is lost to a fire at Port Edward, Ontario.



United States:
Swedish schooner SV Carolina, 611 tons, carrying a load of sulphur from Freeport, Texas, USA to Gothenburg, Sweden is wrecked 30 miles west of Galveston.

American freighter SS Lucy Neff, 946 tons, travelling from Falmouth, Jamaica to New York City with a load of logwood, founders off Fenwick Island, Delaware.

[Jimbuna]

16th December 1915

Western Front

British raids near Armentieres.

Southern Front

Italian troops landed Avlona (Albania).

Political etc.

French Minister of Finance: “We did not think the war would last 17 months, and now no one can foresee when it will end.”

Camille Decoppet is elected the new President of Switzerland. He reaffirms the country’s pledge to neutrality.

Austria-Hungary rejects U.S. demands over the sinking of the passenger liner Ancona, further straining relations.

Mwambutsa IV Bangiriceng becomes the new king of Burundi at age three.

Ship Losses:

Lemnos ( United Kingdom): The collier was lost on this date.
Majestic ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship was destroyed by fire at Sarnia, Ontario, Canada.
Nyroca ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship struck a mine and sank in the North Sea off the Kentish Knock Lightship ( United Kingdom). Her crew were rescued by Pandion ( United Kingdom and a Royal Navy torpedo boat.
Levenpool (United Kingdom): The steamer enroute from New York to Rotterdam with a general cargo hit a mine laid by (unknown) in position 1.5 miles NE3/4E of the Kentish Knock LV - beached but salvaged. No casualties.

[Sailor Steve]

December 16, 1915:

North Sea:
British collier SS Lemnos, 1,530 tons, bound from Leith to Rouen with a load of coal, is stranded on the Tees Breakwater off Middlesbrough. The crew of 19 all survive.

[Jimbuna]

17th December 1915

Eastern Front

Austrians repulsed on River Strypa (Galicia).

Southern Front

German threat to invade Greece. M. Skouloudis forbids Bulgarian troops to set foot on Greek soil.

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

Russians drive hundreds of Kurds back to their mountains.

Naval and Overseas Operations

British advance in Cameroons.

Jang Mangas taken after sharp fighting.

Small German cruiser "Bremen" and T.B.D. sunk by submarine in Baltic.

HMS Cockchafer, an Insect-class gunboat of the Royal Navy, is launched.


Political etc.

A railway crash at the St. Bedes Junction between Newcastle and South Shields results in in 19 deaths and 81 injuries.

Debate on Anglo-Danish agreement signed 19 November 1915, text not published.

Germany warns Greece that it might have to cross its border to expel Allied troops in Thessalonica.

President Wilson obtains his license to marry Edith Bolling Galt. It is the 2nd marriage license ever issued to a President in D.C.

U.S. Senate confirms the appointment of John B. Hanes as postmaster, not knowing Hanes had died last Saturday.

Ship Losses:

SMS Bremen ( Kaiserliche Marine): The Bremen-class cruiser) struck a mine and sank in the Baltic Sea off Ventspils, Lithuania.
Carolina ( United States): The barque sprang a leak in the Atlantic Ocean off Galveston, Texas and was abandoned by her crew.
Lucy Neff ( United States): The coaster foundered in the Atlantic Ocean 20 nautical miles (37 km) east of Fenwick Island, Delaware.
Marien ( United Kingdom): The coaster came ashore at Hartlepool, County Durham and was abandoned by her crew. She broke in two on 24 December and was a total loss.
SMS V191 ( Kaiserliche Marine): The S138-class destroyer struck a mine and sank in the Baltic Sea.

Australian soldiers breaking up rum cases at Gallipoli prior to the evacuation.

[Sailor Steve]

December 17, 1915:

Hendon, United Kingdom:
The first prototype Handley-Page O/100, number 1455, makes its first test hop, reaching 50 miles per hour.



North Sea:
British coastal freighter SS Marien, 413 tons, travelling in ballast from Dunkerque to Middlesbrough, is wrecked off Hartlepool.



Baltic Sea:
German light cruiser SMS Bremen and destroyers V-186 and V-191 are operating off the Gulf of Riga. Late in the afternoon the three ships depart the port of Windau (Latvian Ventspils). At 1710 hours V-191 hits a mine. Bremen moves in to tow the stricken destroyer, but the attempt is unsuccessful. At this point Bremen hits two mines and begins to founder, sinking at 1804. V-186 manages to rescues 53 sailors from the two ships, but 250 men from Bremen and 25 from V-191 are lost.

[Jimbuna]

18th December 1915

Asiatic and Egyptian Theatres

Turks surprised in advanced trenches at Kut, about 30 killed and 11 prisoners.

Political etc.

Sir John French gives his last order to the BEF, expressing “earnest good wishes for a glorious future, which I feel to be assured.”

Britain calls up the first four classes of unmarried men, 19 to 22, to report for duty on January 20th under the Derby Scheme.

Records show that U.S. exports of war supplies to Europe since the war’s start total $785 million, which does not include food and clothing.

United States sends a second note to Austria-Hungary, again demanding an apology for the Ancona sinking, which killed US citizens.

Ship Losses:

Erzen (Albania Albania): The sailing vessel was sunk in the Adriatic Sea (41°47′N 19°31′E) by SM U-15 ( Austro-Hungarian Navy). Her crew survived.
Figlio Preligiona (Albania Albania): The sailing vessel was sunk in the Adriatic Sea (41°47′N 19°31′E) by SM U-15 ( Austro-Hungarian Navy). Her crew survived.
HMT Lottie Leask ( Royal Navy): The naval trawler was shelled and sunk in the Adriatic Sea off Sazan Island, Albania (40°35′N 18°45′E) by SM U-39 ( Kaiserliche Marine). Her crew survived.
Nico ( Norway): The coaster struck a mine laid by UC 3 (Erwin Waßnerand) sank in the North Sea 3.5 nautical miles (6.5 km) west of the Longsand Lightship ( United Kingdom) with the loss of two of her crew.
Northmount ( United Kingdom): The cargo ship sprang a leak in the Atlantic Ocean and was abandoned by her crew.