Battles at Sea in World War I: Coronel E-Book

Jürgen Prommersberger

• Herausgeber: Jürgen Prommersberger
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2016

Beschreibung

The Battle of Coronel was a German Navy victory over the Royal Navy on 1 November 1914 off the coast of central Chile near the city of Coronel. German Kaiserliche Marine forces led by Vice-Admiral Graf Maximilian von Spee met and defeated a Royal Navy squadron commanded by Rear-Admiral Sir Christopher Cradock.

The engagement probably took place as a result of a series of misunderstandings. Neither admiral expected to meet the other in full force. Once the two met, Cradock understood his orders were to fight to the end, despite the odds heavily against him. Although Spee had an easy victory, destroying two enemy armoured cruisers for just three men injured, the engagement also cost him almost half his supply of ammunition, which was impossible to replace. Shock at the British losses led to an immediate reaction and the sending of more ships, which in turn destroyed Spee and the majority of his squadron at the Battle of the Falkland Islands.

This book gives detailed informations about the prelude to the battle, the commanders and their decisions during the battle. It also describes all involved ships with tecnical specifications and history. A lot of historical pictures complete this book about the sea battle at Coronel.

Leseprobe

Battles at Sea in World War I

CORONEL

Jürgen Prommersberger: Battles at Sea in World War I - CORONEL

Regenstauf August 2016 All rights reserved: Jürgen Prommersberger Händelstr 17 93128 Regenstauf

SMS Scharnhorst

HMS Monmouth

CHAPTER 1 - PRELUDE

Battle of Coronel was a victory of the Imperial German Navy over the Royal Navy on 1st November 1914 off the coast of central Chile near the city of Coronel. German Marine forces led by Vice-Admiral Graf Maximilian von Spee met and defeated a Royal Navy squadron commanded by Rear-Admiral Sir Christopher Cradock.

The engagement probably took place as a result of a series of misunderstandings. Neither admiral expected to meet the other in full force. Once the two met, Cradock understood his orders were to fight to the end, despite the odds heavily against him. Although Spee had an easy victory, destroying two enemy armoured cruisers for just three men injured, the engagement also cost him almost half his supply of ammunition, which was impossible to replace. Shock at the losses led to an immediate reaction in Britain and the sending of more powerful ships, which in turn destroyed Spee and the majority of his squadron at the Battle of the Falkland Islands.

The Royal Navy—with assistance from other Allied navies in the far east—had captured the German colonies of Kaiser-Wilhelmsland, Yap, Nauru and Samoa early in the war, instead of searching for Vice-Admiral Maximilian von Spee's German East Asia Squadron which had abandoned its base at the German concession at Tsingtao in China once Japan entered the war on Britain's side. Eventually, recognising the German squadron's potential for commerce raiding in the Pacific, the British Admiralty belatedly made its elimination a high priority but concentrated the search in the western Pacific after Spee's squadron bombarded Papeete.

On October 5, the British learned from an intercepted radio communication of Spee's plan to prey upon shipping in the crucial trading routes along the west coast of South America. Patrolling in the area at that time was Rear-Admiral Sir Christopher Cradock's 4th Cruiser Squadron, consisting of the armoured cruisers HMS Good Hope (Cradock's flagship), and HMS Monmouth, the modern light cruiser HMS Glasgow, three other light cruisers, a converted liner—HMS Otranto—and two other armed merchantmen. Cradock's force was also to have been reinforced from Mediterranean waters by the newer and more powerful armoured cruiser HMS Defence, but ultimately the deployment was delayed with Defence only reaching Montevideo two days after the battle, and he instead received the old pre-dreadnought battleship HMS Canopus.

The last-minute change in plans meant that the British squadron was composed almost entirely of either obsolete or under-armed vessels, all crewed by inexperienced naval reservists. Both the Monmouth and the Good Hope possessed a large number of 6-inch guns between them, but only the Good Hope was equipped with heavier artillery in the shape of two 9.2-inch guns mounted in single turrets. In contrast, von Spee had a formidable force of five modern vessels (the armoured cruisers SMS Scharnhorst and Gneisenau and the light cruisers SMS Dresden, Leipzig and Nürnberg), all led by officers handpicked by Grand Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz himself. Both the Scharnhorst and the Gneisenau were armed with eight 8.2 in guns each, which gave them an overwhelming advantage in range and firepower. The latter advantage was further compounded by the fact that the crews of both ships had earned accolades for their gunnery skill prior to the war.

Nevertheless, Cradock was ordered simply to "be prepared to meet them in company", with no effort made to clarify what action Cradock was expected to take, should he find von Spee. On receiving his orders, Cradock asked the Admiralty for permission to split his fleet into two forces, each able to face von Spee independently. The fleets would operate on the east and west coasts of South America to counter the possibility of von Spee slipping past Cradock and raiding into the Atlantic. The Admiralty agreed and the east coast squadron, consisting of three cruisers and two armed merchantmen, was formed under Rear-Admiral A. P. Stoddart.

The remaining vessels formed Cradock's west coast squadron, which was reinforced by HMS Canopus upon its arrival on 18 October. Reprieved from its scheduled scrapping by the outbreak of war and badly in need of an overhaul, Canopus's top speed was only 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph), or about two-thirds her design speed and just over half that of the remainder of the squadron. The Admiralty recognised that her slow speed meant the fleet would not be fast enough to force an engagement with von Spee's cruisers. However, the Admiralty also believed that, without Canopus, Cradock's ships stood no chance against von Spee. Cradock was told to use Canopus as "a citadel around which all our cruisers in those waters could find absolute security" or in other words, keep contact with von Spee while avoiding any risky engagements.

The Chief of the Admiralty War Staff—Vice-Admiral Sir Doveton Sturdee—requested additional ships be sent to reinforce Cradock, but this was vetoed by First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill and First Sea Lord of the Admiralty, Prince Louis of Battenberg. Cradock's later request for HMS Defence to rejoin him was denied on the grounds that Canopus was "sufficient reinforcement".

CHAPTER 2 – THE COMMANDERS

Vizeadmiral Maximilian Reichsgraf von Spee

* 22 June 1861 in Kopenhagen;

† 8 December 1914 in the South Atlantic

Maximilian Reichsgraf von Spee was a naval officer of the German Kaiserliche Marine (Imperial Navy), who famously commanded the German East Asia Squadron during World War I. Spee entered the navy in 1878 and served in a variety of roles and locations, including on a colonial gunboat in German West Africa in the 1880s, the East Africa Squadron in the late 1890s, and as commander of several warships in the main German fleet in the early 1900s. During his time in Germany in the late 1880s and early 1890s, he married his wife, Margareta, and had three children, his sons Heinrich and Otto and his daughter Huberta. By 1912, he had returned to the East Asia Squadron as its commander, and was promoted to the rank of Vizeadmiral (Vice Admiral) the following year.

After the outbreak of World War I in July 1914, Spee led his squadron across the Pacific to the coast of South America. Here on 1 November, he defeated the British 4th Cruiser Squadron under Rear Admiral Christopher Cradock in the Battle of Coronel, sinking two of Cradock's cruisers and forcing his other two ships to retreat. A month later, Spee decided to attack the British naval base in the Falkland Islands, though a superior British force surprised him. In the ensuing Battle of the Falkland Islands, Vice Admiral Doveton Sturdee's squadron, which included two powerful battlecruisers, destroyed the East Asia Squadron. Spee and his two sons, who happened to be serving on two of his ships, were all killed, along with about 2,200 other men. Spee was hailed as a hero in Germany, and several ships were named in his honor, including the heavy cruiser Admiral Graf Spee, which was built in the 1930s and was defeated in the Battle of the River Plate during World War II.

SirChristopher George Francis Maurice Cradock

* 2. July 1862 in Yorkshire (Great Britain)

† 1. November 1914 at Coronel (Chile)

Rear-Admiral Sir Christopher "Kit" George Francis Maurice Cradock KCVO CB SGM (2 July 1862 – 1 November 1914) was a British officer of the Royal Navy. He earned a reputation for great gallantry. He was killed during the Battle of Coronel, an engagement with the German navy off the coast of Chile in the early part of World War I.

Cradock was born at Hartforth, Richmond, North Yorkshire. He entered the Royal Navy in 1875, and saw action in the Mediterranean, serving with distinction. On 1 February 1900 he was appointed in command of the cruiser HMS Alacrity, which later that year was posted to China during the Boxer Rebellion. He commanded a mixture of British, German and Japanese sailors during the capture of the Taku forts, and was promoted captain in April 1901 and received the Prussian Order of the Crown with swords as a result.

On 24 March 1902 he was posted to HMS Andromeda at the Mediterranean Station, where from June that year he served as flag captain to Rear-Admiral Sir Baldwin Wake Walker. Promoted to rear-admiral in 1910, he was involved in the sea rescue of the passengers and crew of the SS Delhi in December 1911. He was awarded the SGM and KCVO in 1912. In February 1913, he was given command of the North America and West Indies Station. From at least 21 until 26 April 1914, Cradock was at Veracruz on HMS Essex during the United States occupation of Veracruz.

With the start of the First World War in August 1914, Cradock, commanding the 4th Squadron of the Royal Navy, was ordered to pursue and destroy Admiral Maximilian von Spee's fleet of commerce-raiding cruisers. Cradock's fleet was significantly weaker than Spee's, consisting of mainly elderly vessels manned by largely inexperienced crews.

Cradock found Spee's force off Chile and decided to engage it. In the resulting Battle of Coronel, Cradock's ships HMS Good Hope and HMS Monmouth were destroyed with the loss of all 1570 lives, including his own.

Departing from Port Stanley he had left behind a letter to be forwarded to Admiral Hedworth Meux in the event of his death. In this he commented that he did not intend to suffer the fate of Rear-Admiral Ernest Troubridge, who in August had been courtmartialled for failing to engage the enemy despite the odds being severely against him, during the pursuit of the German warships Goeben and Breslau. The Governor of the Falklands and the Governor's aide both reported that Cradock had not expected to survive.

A monument to Admiral Cradock was placed in York Minster. It is on the east side of the North Transept towards the Chapter House entrance. There is another monument to Cradock in Catherington churchyard, Hampshire. There is a monument and a stained glass window in Cradock's memory in his parish church at Gilling West. Having no known grave, he is commemorated by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission on Portsmouth Naval Memorial.

CHAPTER 3 – THE HOCHSEEFLOTTE

As Flagship: SMS SCHARNHORST

SMS Scharnhorst ("His Majesty's Ship Scharnhorst") was an armored cruiser of the Imperial German Navy, built at the Blohm & Voss shipyard in Hamburg, Germany. She was the lead ship of her class, which also included her sister SMS Gneisenau. Scharnhorst and her sister were enlarged versions of the preceding Roon class; they were equipped with a greater number of main guns and were capable of a higher top speed. The ship was named after the Prussian military reformer General Gerhard von Scharnhorst and commissioned into service on 24 October 1907.

Scharnhorst served briefly with the High Seas Fleet in Germany in 1908, though most of this time was spent conducting sea trials. She was assigned to the German East Asia Squadron based in Tsingtao, China, in 1909. After arriving, she replaced the cruiser Fürst Bismarck as the squadron flagship, a position she would hold for the rest of her career. Over the next five years, she went on several tours of various Asian ports to show the flag for Germany. She frequently carried the squadron commanders to meet with Asian heads of state and was present in Japan for the coronation of the Taishō Emperor in 1912.

After the outbreak of World War I in August 1914, Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, accompanied by three light cruisers and several colliers, sailed across the Pacific Ocean—in the process evading the various Allied naval forces sent to intercept them—before arriving off the southern coast of South America. On 1 November 1914, Scharnhorst and the rest of the East Asia Squadron encountered and overpowered a British squadron at the Battle of Coronel. The stinging defeat prompted the British Admiralty to dispatch two battlecruisers to hunt down and destroy von Spee's flotilla, which they accomplished at the Battle of the Falkland Islands on 8 December 1914.

Design

The ship had four smoke stacks between a pair of tall pole masts. A twin gun turret was positioned on either end of the superstructure, which bristled with guns

Scharnhorst was 144.6 meters (474 ft 5 in) long overall and had a beam of 21.6 m (70 ft 10 in) and a draft of 8.37 m (27 ft 6 in). The ship displaced 11,616 tonnes (11,433 long tons) as designed and 12,985 t (12,780 long tons) at deep load. She was powered by three triple-expansion steam engines with eighteen coal-fired water-tube boilers. Her engines were rated at 25,644 indicated horsepower (19,123 kW), for a top speed of 22.5 knots (41.7 km/h; 25.9 mph). Scharnhorst's crew consisted of 52 officers and 788 enlisted men; of these, 14 officers and 62 enlisted men were assigned to the squadron commander's staff and were additional to the standard complement.

Schar [...]