- An all-day meeting of the War Council is held in London today. After an exhausting discussion that touched on a wide range of issues, including the ongoing stalemate on the Western Front, just after sunset Churchill presents his plan for a purely naval attack on the Dardanelles. The mood of the meeting is suddenly transformed - from despair at the futility of operations in France and Belgium to optimism and hope at the prospects in the eastern Mediterranean. Here Churchill's plan offered the potential for a war-winning operation without the massive casualties that would be necessitated by further efforts to pierce the German lines on the Western Front. Success at the Dardanelles would allow the British squadron to anchor off Constantinople, and under the threat of bombardment force the surrender of the Ottoman government. With the Straits in Entente hands, munitions and armaments could flow unimpeded to the Russian, giving them the material necessary to complement their numerical advantage on the Eastern Front. Such a visible and overwhelming Entente victory would also certainly persuade the Balkan neutrals to enter the war on their side, and would open up a southern front for the invasion and destruction of Austria-Hungary. Churchill presented the plan with all his oratorical talents, and the Council is caught up in his enthusiasm. Admiral Fisher is in attendance, but is not asked for, nor does he offer, his opinions - he sees the War Council as a political, not a military, body, and thus the service chiefs are there merely to offer advice if asked, not attempt to persuade. The Council unanimously agrees that the Admiralty should prepare for an operation to break through the Dardanelles, with Constantinople as its objective. What will become one of the most controversial campaigns of the First World War has now been set in motion, and the next link in the chain connecting Enver Pasha's decision to invade the Caucasus and the fall of the last Liberal government in Britain is created.
- Along the Aisne French reinforcements are dispatched to the immediate north of Soissons to regain the ground lost yesterday at Crouy. The French movement, however, is a double failure - not only to they fail to regain the lost trenches around Crouy, buy they are also out of position to respond to the major German attack launched this afternoon just to the west centred on Vregny. By evening the Germans have pushed through Vregny and reached the northern edge of the wooded slope stretching down to the Aisne River.
- Joffe formally suspends the attacks of 10th Army in Artois and 4th Army in Champagne today, with neither offensive accomplishing more than the most negligible gains. For his part, General Fernand de Langle de Cary, commander of 4th Army, submits a review of his operation to Joffre which emphasizes the difficulty of breaking through the enemy front through a 'continous' attack. Instead, he suggests that once initial objectives have been achieved, it is necessary to repeat preparations for subsequent attacks, including digging approach trenches and an intensive preliminary artillery bombardment. De Langle is arguing in favour of a methodical, step-by-step approach to offensive operations, as opposed to the 'continuous' method which calls for repeated waves of infantry assaults to overwhelm defensive positions.
- In Austria-Hungary today Count Berchtold is replaced as Foreign Minister by Count Stephan Burián, reflecting the triumph of the opponents of territorial concessions to Italy and Romania. Instead, the Empire will seek to restore its international reputation through battlefield victory.
- In German South-West Africa the South African force that landed at Walvis Bay on December 25th today occupies the town of Swakopmund just to the north, which is also the terminus of the northern rail line running from the coast inland to the colonial capital at Windhoek. Further south, a thousand Boer rebels, formed into different groups commanded by Maritz and Kemp, cross the frontier into South Africa for a second time after the failure of December.
Showing posts with label 1st B. of Artois. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 1st B. of Artois. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 13, 2015
Saturday, December 27, 2014
December 27th, 1914
- After several days of attacks in Artois General Pétain's XXXIII Corps manages to capture seven hundred yards of German trenches today, but most of the gains are lost to subsequent enemy counterattacks. Meamwhile in Champagne Joffre moves IV Corps into the vicinity of 4th Army, which allows the commander of the latter to commit all of I Corps to the fight. Thus when 4th Army resumes the attack today, the French are able to feed more troops into the battle to maintain the pressure on the German lines.
Elsewhere the secondary attacks ordered by Joffre to distract the Germans also continue to have negligible effects: today XI Corps of 2nd Army advances against the German line opposite without the benefit of a preliminary artillery bombardment, with the results one would expect.
In addition to the ongoing offensives in Artois and Champagne, Joffre continues to deal with a range of other issues, reflecting his attention to detain and tight control over all aspects of the French army. Today a message goes out to all army commanders emphasizing the 'necessity' of organizing the 'first line of trenches in a manner to make them absolutely inviolable in order to reduce personnel placed in the trenches' and to 'permit the forming in the rear of important reserves required for future operations.' The emphasis on finding additional reserves also demonstrates his continued commitment to the offensive, regardless of the outcome of the current operations.
- In Germany four new corps (XXXVIII to XXXXI Reserve Corps) and one new division (8th Bavarian Division) have been formed, and although consisting largely of inexperienced wartime volunteers and under-equipped as compared to pre-war formations, their deployment will allow for the execution of a major offensive. The crucial issue now is whether these new units will be sent to the Western or the Eastern Front, in an attempt to secure a major victory. In the draft of a letter to Hindenburg that he ultimately does not send, Falkenhayn reveals that he believes they should be sent West, along with one or two corps transferred from the East, and that an offensive should be launched by the end of January. Here Falkenhayn once again demonstrates his belief that the primary enemies of Germany are on the Western Front, while a decisive victory cannot be achieved over Russia. Though he is Chief of Staff of the German army, his opinion is hardly the last word in the matter.
- During the Cuxhaven Raid of Christmas Day, the Grand Fleet had been a hundred miles north of Heligoland Bight, hoping the operation might tempt the High Seas Fleet to sortie, but given the lack of reaction Jellicoe had ordered the fleet home. In the predawn hours of this morning, the Grand Fleet is struggling through heavy seas as it approaches Scapa Flow when the dreadnought Monarch suddenly spots a patrol trawler dead ahead. It turns sharply to miss the trawler, but steers directly into the path of Conqueror, another dreadnought, and the latter's bow drives into the stern of Monarch. Both ships suffer significant damage, and although neither is in danger of sinking, they are both in need of time in drydock for repairs.
The temporary loss of two of the Grand Fleet's most powerful dreadnoughts leaves the British with just eighteen dreadnoughts, as compared to seventeen in the High Seas Fleet. It is the moment of parity the Germans have dreamt of but, riding at anchor day after day, the Germans have no idea that the opportunity to engage the British on practically level terms even exists.
- General Ivanov of South-West Front decides today to call off the pursuit of the Austro-Hungarian 3rd Army, except for advance guards designed to keep the enemy off-balance. The Russians have prevented the Austro-Hungarians from exploiting their victory at Limanowa-Lapanow, and will be able to hold a line well west of the San River. Advancing through the winter weather has taken its toll on the Russians, though, and Ivanov has concluded that the time has come to rest and recuperate. 4th Army will hold the line of the Dunajec River to Gorlice, and 8th Army from Gorlice eastwards roughly on the north face of the Carpathian Mountains.
- With the arrival of 17th Division today, Enver Pasha orders IX Corps to attack Sarikamish, even though X Corps has not yet arrived, and despite IX Corps having lost 15 000 of its starting 25 000 men over the past five days to the weather. Moreover, since December 25th the Russian garrison of Sarikamish has grown from two battalions of infantry to ten, and though the Ottomans press their attacks with great courage and tenacity, they are unable to break through the Russian lines and occupy the town.
Elsewhere the secondary attacks ordered by Joffre to distract the Germans also continue to have negligible effects: today XI Corps of 2nd Army advances against the German line opposite without the benefit of a preliminary artillery bombardment, with the results one would expect.
In addition to the ongoing offensives in Artois and Champagne, Joffre continues to deal with a range of other issues, reflecting his attention to detain and tight control over all aspects of the French army. Today a message goes out to all army commanders emphasizing the 'necessity' of organizing the 'first line of trenches in a manner to make them absolutely inviolable in order to reduce personnel placed in the trenches' and to 'permit the forming in the rear of important reserves required for future operations.' The emphasis on finding additional reserves also demonstrates his continued commitment to the offensive, regardless of the outcome of the current operations.
- In Germany four new corps (XXXVIII to XXXXI Reserve Corps) and one new division (8th Bavarian Division) have been formed, and although consisting largely of inexperienced wartime volunteers and under-equipped as compared to pre-war formations, their deployment will allow for the execution of a major offensive. The crucial issue now is whether these new units will be sent to the Western or the Eastern Front, in an attempt to secure a major victory. In the draft of a letter to Hindenburg that he ultimately does not send, Falkenhayn reveals that he believes they should be sent West, along with one or two corps transferred from the East, and that an offensive should be launched by the end of January. Here Falkenhayn once again demonstrates his belief that the primary enemies of Germany are on the Western Front, while a decisive victory cannot be achieved over Russia. Though he is Chief of Staff of the German army, his opinion is hardly the last word in the matter.
- During the Cuxhaven Raid of Christmas Day, the Grand Fleet had been a hundred miles north of Heligoland Bight, hoping the operation might tempt the High Seas Fleet to sortie, but given the lack of reaction Jellicoe had ordered the fleet home. In the predawn hours of this morning, the Grand Fleet is struggling through heavy seas as it approaches Scapa Flow when the dreadnought Monarch suddenly spots a patrol trawler dead ahead. It turns sharply to miss the trawler, but steers directly into the path of Conqueror, another dreadnought, and the latter's bow drives into the stern of Monarch. Both ships suffer significant damage, and although neither is in danger of sinking, they are both in need of time in drydock for repairs.
The temporary loss of two of the Grand Fleet's most powerful dreadnoughts leaves the British with just eighteen dreadnoughts, as compared to seventeen in the High Seas Fleet. It is the moment of parity the Germans have dreamt of but, riding at anchor day after day, the Germans have no idea that the opportunity to engage the British on practically level terms even exists.
- General Ivanov of South-West Front decides today to call off the pursuit of the Austro-Hungarian 3rd Army, except for advance guards designed to keep the enemy off-balance. The Russians have prevented the Austro-Hungarians from exploiting their victory at Limanowa-Lapanow, and will be able to hold a line well west of the San River. Advancing through the winter weather has taken its toll on the Russians, though, and Ivanov has concluded that the time has come to rest and recuperate. 4th Army will hold the line of the Dunajec River to Gorlice, and 8th Army from Gorlice eastwards roughly on the north face of the Carpathian Mountains.
- With the arrival of 17th Division today, Enver Pasha orders IX Corps to attack Sarikamish, even though X Corps has not yet arrived, and despite IX Corps having lost 15 000 of its starting 25 000 men over the past five days to the weather. Moreover, since December 25th the Russian garrison of Sarikamish has grown from two battalions of infantry to ten, and though the Ottomans press their attacks with great courage and tenacity, they are unable to break through the Russian lines and occupy the town.
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| The Battle of Sarikamish, December 27th, 1914. |
Thursday, December 18, 2014
December 18th, 1914
- Though the French have abandoned their attacks in Flanders, the British have not - they hope that the continued German redeployments to the Eastern Front have sufficiently weakened their lines opposite the BEF to allow for successful, if small-scale, attacks. The reality is that though the German lines are thinner, they are still able to easily repulse hastily-planned and poorly-executed operations. Today, a British attack against the German line at Ploegsteert Wood is a bloody failure, with some of the advancing infantry being killed by their own misdirected artillery fire.
- After the attacks by XXI and X Corps yesterday, the main attack of the French 10th Army's Artois offensive is launched today by XXXIII Corps. However, the same conditions that impeded progress yesterday - heavy rain and insufficient artillery fire - also plague today's advance, and XXXIII Corps, attacking along a broad front, secures only negligible gains. General Pétain decides that instead of continuing to attack all along his corps' front, he will instead concentrate his strength against just the portion of the line at the village of Carency, in an attempt to overwhelm the German defenders.
- The Russian armies in central Poland halt their retreat today, taking up strong and prepared positions on the lower Bzura and Rawka Rivers south to the Nida River. Attacks by both the German 9th and Austro-Hungarian 2nd Armies fail to break through this new line, indicating that the Russians intend to stand and fight here. Mackensen decides to continue 9th Army's offensive in an effort to capture Warsaw before the end of the year, and thus begins a series of attacks across the Bzura and Rawka Rivers.
- For his part, the Russian halt in central Poland is yet more evidence to Conrad that the essential battle is in Galicia where the Russian line in Poland can be turned from the south. The omens south of the Vistula, however, are not promising. In addition to yesterday's check at Lisko, today 4th Army finds its advance halted by Russian garrisons on the west bank of the Dunajec River, evidence that the Russian 3rd Army intends to stand along the Dunajec. Gone is the question of whether the Russians will retreat across the San; instead, it is now a matter of whether the Russians can be forced to continue retreating at all. To accomplish this the left wing of 4th Army is ordered to hold at the Dunajec, while the right wing swings around to the south against Tarnow - if successful, it will sever the main railway and supply route to the Russian 3rd Army and force its further withdrawal.
- Along the border between German South-West Africa and Portuguese Angola, the reaction of the latter to the massacre of the Portuguese garrison at Cuangar on October 31st by a small German force had been to evacuate four nearby border posts for fear of further German attacks. The German commander in South-West Africa, meanwhile, still does not know if Germany and Portugal are actually at war or not, so he decides to shoot first and ask questions later. Today a German force of approximately five hundred soldiers, aided by local Africans, attack the Portuguese fort of Naulila, just north of the border. The Portuguese defenders also number about five hundred, but Naulila was designed to resist native insurrections, not withstand the bombardment of the six artillery pieces the Germans brought with them. When a German shell detonates the munitions dump, the Portuguese survivors break and flee, having suffered 182 casualties.
The Germans halt their advance after destroying the fort at Naulila - in the long term, the much greater threat comes from the British and South Africans along the coast and the Orange River. The German success here, along with the Portuguese withdrawal, does effectively create a buffer zone in southern Angola, which allows the Germans to concentrate their forces elsewhere.
- After the attacks by XXI and X Corps yesterday, the main attack of the French 10th Army's Artois offensive is launched today by XXXIII Corps. However, the same conditions that impeded progress yesterday - heavy rain and insufficient artillery fire - also plague today's advance, and XXXIII Corps, attacking along a broad front, secures only negligible gains. General Pétain decides that instead of continuing to attack all along his corps' front, he will instead concentrate his strength against just the portion of the line at the village of Carency, in an attempt to overwhelm the German defenders.
- The Russian armies in central Poland halt their retreat today, taking up strong and prepared positions on the lower Bzura and Rawka Rivers south to the Nida River. Attacks by both the German 9th and Austro-Hungarian 2nd Armies fail to break through this new line, indicating that the Russians intend to stand and fight here. Mackensen decides to continue 9th Army's offensive in an effort to capture Warsaw before the end of the year, and thus begins a series of attacks across the Bzura and Rawka Rivers.
- For his part, the Russian halt in central Poland is yet more evidence to Conrad that the essential battle is in Galicia where the Russian line in Poland can be turned from the south. The omens south of the Vistula, however, are not promising. In addition to yesterday's check at Lisko, today 4th Army finds its advance halted by Russian garrisons on the west bank of the Dunajec River, evidence that the Russian 3rd Army intends to stand along the Dunajec. Gone is the question of whether the Russians will retreat across the San; instead, it is now a matter of whether the Russians can be forced to continue retreating at all. To accomplish this the left wing of 4th Army is ordered to hold at the Dunajec, while the right wing swings around to the south against Tarnow - if successful, it will sever the main railway and supply route to the Russian 3rd Army and force its further withdrawal.
- Along the border between German South-West Africa and Portuguese Angola, the reaction of the latter to the massacre of the Portuguese garrison at Cuangar on October 31st by a small German force had been to evacuate four nearby border posts for fear of further German attacks. The German commander in South-West Africa, meanwhile, still does not know if Germany and Portugal are actually at war or not, so he decides to shoot first and ask questions later. Today a German force of approximately five hundred soldiers, aided by local Africans, attack the Portuguese fort of Naulila, just north of the border. The Portuguese defenders also number about five hundred, but Naulila was designed to resist native insurrections, not withstand the bombardment of the six artillery pieces the Germans brought with them. When a German shell detonates the munitions dump, the Portuguese survivors break and flee, having suffered 182 casualties.
The Germans halt their advance after destroying the fort at Naulila - in the long term, the much greater threat comes from the British and South Africans along the coast and the Orange River. The German success here, along with the Portuguese withdrawal, does effectively create a buffer zone in southern Angola, which allows the Germans to concentrate their forces elsewhere.
Wednesday, December 17, 2014
December 17th, 1914
- The French 10th Army opens its offensive in Artois today. Its objective is Vimy Ridge, which stretches from the village of Souchez southeastwards to a point northeast of Arras. To the east of the ridge is a long flat plain stretching twenty kilometres towards Douai, and it is believed that by seizing the ridge French artillery would be able to dominate the plain and force the Germans to withdraw perhaps past Douai. 10th Army has three corps assigned to the operation: XXI, XXXIII, and X Corps, aligned north to south. The main attack will be undertaken by XXXIII Corps, under the command of General Philippe Pétain, which is to break through south of Souchez and seize the high ground before the village of Vimy itself. To the north, XXI Corps is to capture Souchez and advance to the northern end of the ridge near Givenchy, while to the south X Corps will attack northeastward from Arras to protect the flank of XXXIII Corps as it advances.
In an attempt to ensure the strongest support for each advance, General Maud'huy has the attack of XXXIII Corps delayed until tomorrow, so French artillery today can provide maximum aid to the attacks of the two flanking corps. Despite this, the preliminary artillery bombardment proves insufficient, and heavy rain has turned the battlefield into a field of mud, slowing the French infantry. As a result, today's attacks by XXI Corps to the north and X Corps to the south make only minimal gains - the former only occupies less than a kilometre of the first German trench line, while the latter makes even less progress.
- Meanwhile to the north in Flanders the attacks undertaken by the French south of Ypres in an effort to distract the Germans from the major operations in Artois and Champagne have continued to be unsuccessful. Not only have they failed to force the Germans to divert their reserves away from Artois and Champagne, but they have also failed to gain any significant ground whatsoever - along the Menin Road southeast of Ypres French attacks have gained only a hundred yards, while similar minuscule gains have been 'achieved' near the villages of Bixschoote and Klein Zillebeke. As a result, the French attacks in Flanders are halted.
- Bernhard von Bülow, a former Chancellor, is appointed German Ambassador to Italy today. He is tasked with keeping Italy neutral in the war, but his work is rendered difficult by the ongoing refusal of Emperor Franz Joseph to making any territorial concessions to Italy, the granting of which would be the vital 'inducement' to Italian neutrality.
- In central Poland the Russian 2nd and 5th Armies have begun their retreat eastward overnight, leading Mackensen to order his forces to quicken their advance in order to overtake and envelop the two Russian armies before they can withdraw to safety.
- General Falkenhayn, General Ludendorff, and Chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg meet today in Berlin to discuss operations on the Eastern Front. With reports indicating that the Russians are in full retreat along the entire front held by 9th Army, it is decided that the offensive in Poland should continue until Warsaw is occupied and the middle Vistula reached.
- On the Russian side, General Ruszkii has lost confidence in the ability of his armies to hold off the advances of the German 9th Army, and desires to retreat even further, past the line of the lower Bzura and Rawka Rivers and back to Warsaw itself. Doing so would require South-West Front to retreat further eastward as well, and as such General Ivanov strongly objects to Ruszkii's proposal. Grand Duke Nicholas decides in favour of Ivanov, ordering Ruszkii to hold the line decided upon on the 15th.
- Two days ago a significant Austro-Hungarian force in the besieged fortress of Przemysl had begun a sortie to the southwest towards the town of Lisko, on the other side of which the eastern wing of the Austro-Hungarian 3rd Army was advancing northwards. However, by today the Russians have brought in reinforcements, and in fierce fighting manage not only to drive the force from Przemysl back behind the siege lines but also compel 3rd Army to retreat southwards away from Lisko. This Russian victory upsets the Austro-Hungarian plans for a further advance by the eastern wing of 3rd Army towards the San River.
The weather along the Eastern Front also continues to deteriorate. Strong winds and heavy rain makes conditions for the infantry miserable, while the deep mud makes relocating artillery almost impossible; thus not only does the mud slow foot soldiers, but greatly reduces artillery support for those attacks that do occur.
In an attempt to ensure the strongest support for each advance, General Maud'huy has the attack of XXXIII Corps delayed until tomorrow, so French artillery today can provide maximum aid to the attacks of the two flanking corps. Despite this, the preliminary artillery bombardment proves insufficient, and heavy rain has turned the battlefield into a field of mud, slowing the French infantry. As a result, today's attacks by XXI Corps to the north and X Corps to the south make only minimal gains - the former only occupies less than a kilometre of the first German trench line, while the latter makes even less progress.
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| The Western Front around Vimy Ridge in early 1915. That this map can also be used to illustrate the front line prior to the 1st Battle of Artois says all that needs to be said about how successful that operation was. |
- Bernhard von Bülow, a former Chancellor, is appointed German Ambassador to Italy today. He is tasked with keeping Italy neutral in the war, but his work is rendered difficult by the ongoing refusal of Emperor Franz Joseph to making any territorial concessions to Italy, the granting of which would be the vital 'inducement' to Italian neutrality.
- In central Poland the Russian 2nd and 5th Armies have begun their retreat eastward overnight, leading Mackensen to order his forces to quicken their advance in order to overtake and envelop the two Russian armies before they can withdraw to safety.
- General Falkenhayn, General Ludendorff, and Chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg meet today in Berlin to discuss operations on the Eastern Front. With reports indicating that the Russians are in full retreat along the entire front held by 9th Army, it is decided that the offensive in Poland should continue until Warsaw is occupied and the middle Vistula reached.
- On the Russian side, General Ruszkii has lost confidence in the ability of his armies to hold off the advances of the German 9th Army, and desires to retreat even further, past the line of the lower Bzura and Rawka Rivers and back to Warsaw itself. Doing so would require South-West Front to retreat further eastward as well, and as such General Ivanov strongly objects to Ruszkii's proposal. Grand Duke Nicholas decides in favour of Ivanov, ordering Ruszkii to hold the line decided upon on the 15th.
- Two days ago a significant Austro-Hungarian force in the besieged fortress of Przemysl had begun a sortie to the southwest towards the town of Lisko, on the other side of which the eastern wing of the Austro-Hungarian 3rd Army was advancing northwards. However, by today the Russians have brought in reinforcements, and in fierce fighting manage not only to drive the force from Przemysl back behind the siege lines but also compel 3rd Army to retreat southwards away from Lisko. This Russian victory upsets the Austro-Hungarian plans for a further advance by the eastern wing of 3rd Army towards the San River.
The weather along the Eastern Front also continues to deteriorate. Strong winds and heavy rain makes conditions for the infantry miserable, while the deep mud makes relocating artillery almost impossible; thus not only does the mud slow foot soldiers, but greatly reduces artillery support for those attacks that do occur.
Tuesday, December 16, 2014
December 16th, 1914
- In a message to Grand Duke Nicholas today, Joffre outlines the two major objectives of the French offensives that begin tomorrow:
- In the early morning hours Hipper's battlecruisers and their escorts the British east coast. The plan is to divide into two forces, the first to bombard Scarborough and Whitby, the second to strike Hartlepool just to the north. The weather, however, is deteriorating, with rising seas and high winds. The weather becomes sufficiently serious to pose a risk to the light cruisers and destroyers, so at 653am Hipper orders them to turn back and sail eastward towards the Dogger Bank where Ingenohl and the High Seas Fleet are to be waiting.
An hour earlier, however, the situation around the Dogger Bank had changed decisively. As the High Seas Fleet was approaching Dogger Bank, the British battlecruisers under Beatty and the dreadnoughts of Warrender's 2nd Battle Squadron were to the northwest of Dogger Bank, sailing to their patrol point to the southeast. By a supreme coincidence the course of the two fleets brought them into close proximity to each other, neither knowing that the other was nearby. At 515am the seven British destroyers escorting Beatty's and Warrender's force are ten miles east of the dreadnoughts when they stumble upon several German light cruisers and destroyers, the latter being the advance screen of the High Seas Fleet. For the next forty minutes there is confused, short-range fighting between the two forces, with the British suffering the most - three of their destroyers are severely damaged.
As the fighting continued the captains involved signalled their main fleets that they were engaging the enemy. At 523am Ingenohl, aboard his flagship Friedrich der Grosse, is informed that German destroyers are fighting their British counterparts to the east, and the flashes of gunfire are visible on the horizon. He does not know the composition of the British force opposing him, which allows his worst fears to run wild. What if these British destroyers are the advance screen of the entire Grand Fleet? This would mean that the High Seas Fleet was almost certainly sailing towards its destruction. He was ever-mindful of the Kaiser's edict: no general naval battle is to be risked. In the dark of night, Ingenohl comes to believe that this is exactly what is about to happen. At 530am he signals all of his squadrons to reverse course and turn southeast for home.
It was a monumental decision, even leaving aside the fact that Ingenohl's retreat left Hipper's battlecruisers abandoned without even so much as a signal indicating the fleet was returning to Wilhelmshaven. It meant that Ingenohl was turning away from the greatest opportunity the German navy was to have in the entire war to engage an isolated portion of the Grand Fleet. If Ingenohl had not lost his nerve, a battle between his fourteen dreadnoughts and the six dreadnoughts and four battlecruisers of Beatty's and Warrender's force would have likely occurred at dawn. The British would certainly have dealt out serious damage, but the High Seas Fleet would have had the advantage and the most likely outcome of such a battle would have been the loss of significantly more British warships than German. Such a victory in turn would have given the Germans parity in the North Sea - at no point before or after December 1914 would the two fleets be closer in size, and the British margin of superiority would have been erased by the losses such a battle would likely have resulted in. Thus by turning away, Ingenohl threw away the best chance the Germans would ever have to change the course of the war at sea. While Ingenohl bears responsibility for the order, it bears recalling that it was given in line with the instructions of the Kaiser. Ultimately, it was the Kaiser's own unwillingness to risk defeat that ensured he never won the great naval victory he yearned for.
While Ingenohl was making his fateful decision, confusion reigned in the British force. Admiral Warrender, who as Beatty's senior was in overall command of the operation, had been informed that several of his destroyers were engaging the enemy, but they had failed to signal positions, courses, or speeds. Concluding that any small German warships could be swept up after Hipper's battlecruisers were dealt with, Warrender decides that instead of turning east towards the fighting, his dreadnoughts will continue southeast towards the morning rendezvous. By 730am Warrender's dreadnoughts, Beatty's battlecruisers, and Rear-Admiral Goodenough's light cruisers had arrived at their patrol point just off the Dogger Bank. Confused signals continued to come in from British destroyers to the east, with some being missed. Just as Beatty decides to charge eastwards to engage the Germans, word comes that the British coast is being shelled. Beatty abandons the chase, and the British warships at sea turn westward to intercept Hipper.
The German bombardment had begun at the town of Scarborough at 8am by the southern part of Hipper's force, consisting of the battlecruisers Derfflinger and Von der Tann, plus the light cruiser Kolberg. Out of the morning fog bright flashes were followed by shells crashing into buildings. For a half-hour the three warships fire, and when they depart at 830am seventeen people were dead and ninety-nine wounded - all civilians. These three warships then sailed twenty-one miles up the coast to the fishing village of Whitby, which they bombarded for ten minutes, killed two and wounding two more. The northern part of Hipper's force, comprised of the battlecruisers Seydlitz, Moltke, and Blücher (the latter variously classified as a battlecruiser or armoured cruiser - regardless, it was the weakest of the three), was approaching the shipbuilding and manufacturing town of Hartlepool when at 750am they encountered four elderly British destroyers patrolling offshore. Though one manages to close sufficiently to fire a torpedo, it misses and otherwise the destroyers retreat under a hail of German shellfire. When a light cruiser in Hartlepool attempts to put to see, it is struck by two shells and ran aground. This was the only naval resistance the three German warships would encounter at Hartlepool, and while several shore batteries did keep up a constant fire, their 6-inch shells were unable to pierce the armour protection of the enemy battlecruisers. The German bombardment of Hartlepool lasts from 810am to 852am, during which the three battlecruisers fire 1150 shells at the town. Shells rained down on the shipyard and the steelworks, but also damaged more than three hundred homes. When the Germans depart, eighty-six civilians were dead and 424 wounded. Damage to the six warships was minimal, and only eight sailors were killed and twelve wounded.
At 930am the two parts of Hipper's force reunite and turn for home, fifty miles behind the light cruisers and destroyers he had sent home earlier in the morning. He signals Ingenohl his course and speed, and asks for the location of the High Seas Fleet. Ingenohl's reply is that it is returning to port. Hipper's response is a rather colourful curse - Ingenohl's hasty retreat has abandoned the battlecruisers to their fate.
On the British side, Beatty and Warrender believe that they will soon be able to find and annihilate Hipper's force - there is a gap fifteen to twenty miles wide between two minefields on the Yorkshire coast through which Hipper must sail, and both British forces are heading for this point. At this point the British are stricken with almost comically bad luck. First, the weather in the North Sea deteriorates rapidly, drastically reducing visual range. Second, at 1125am the British light cruiser Southampton, part of Goodenough's cruiser squadron, sights several enemy light cruisers and destroyers - these were the warships Hipper had sent home early due to the rough weather. Goodenough signals Beatty that he is engaging the enemy, and orders the other three light cruisers of his own force to assemble on Southampton. Goodenough's cruisers had been tasked with scouting ahead of Beatty's battlecruisers, a vital task in the poor weather, and Beatty, not knowing Southampton has met multiple enemy light cruisers, is dismayed to see all of his light cruisers turn away to follow Southampton. He tells his Flag Lieutenant to signal 'that light cruiser' to resume its station ahead of the battlecruisers. The Flag Lieutenant, uncertain which light cruiser Beatty is referring to, tells the signalman, using his searchlight, simply to order the 'light cruiser' to resume its station. Nottingham, the light cruiser receiving the signal, believes the signal, given that it names no specific light cruiser is for the entire squadron, and passes it to Goodenough. The latter, believing he has received a clear and direct order from a superior officer, breaks off the fight with the German warships and orders all of his light cruisers to return to the battlecruisers. The German light cruisers and destroyers disappear in the distance, and when Beatty sees all of Goodenough's light cruisers returns he is apoplectic, believing Goodenough has allowed Hipper's screening force to escape. In reality, the problem was down to a misunderstood signal, not the last time such a problem would bedevil Beatty.
At 1215pm the same German warships that Goodenough had allowed to escape is sighted by some of the dreadnoughts of Warrender's squadron. However, Warrender himself cannot see them, and so never issues an order to fire. The dreadnoughts that do see the enemy believes that Warrender must have some reason for not yet firing, so they never open fire on their own initiative. The German light cruisers and destroyers then disappear again into the rain, a second miraculous escape.
Beatty aboard his flagship Lion believes that the German warships sighted, then lost, by Goodenough and Warrender are the immediate screening force for Hipper, and that the German battlecruisers must be just behind them. This leads Beatty to conclude that when the light cruisers and destroyers slip past Warrender, that Hipper's battlecruisers must also be about to escape. To prevent this, at 1230pm Beatty orders his squadron to turn to the east, believing that only his ships had the speed to cut off the Germans from their home base. The reality, of course, is that Hipper's battlecruisers were fifty miles behind the light warships. If Beatty had kept to his original course, he would have almost certainly ran right into Hipper. By turning away, he opened a gap between the minefields that Hipper promptly sailed through. By the time Beatty realized that the German battlecruisers were not in fact in front him, Hipper had slipped away to the north. Several hours of frantic searching by Beatty and Warrender find nothing, and by late afternoon they conclude that the Germans have made their escape.
The bombardment of Scarborough, Whitby, and Hartlepool caused outrage in Britain, compounded by the fact that the raiders had escaped. In the Royal Navy there was immense disappointment that what had seemed like a golden opportunity to destroy the German battlecruisers had gone to waste. There was infighting as the different admirals assigned blame to others, Beatty being particularly hard on Goodenough. In practice luck and the weather had been against the British this day. The muddled chase also showed the limitations of Room 40; though it had correctly detected the battlecruiser raid, they did not realize the entire German fleet was at sea, and the delay inherent in decyphering of signals also played a role - a signal by Hipper giving his position at 1245pm, when he could still have been intercepted, was intercepted but not decyphered and retransmitted to Beatty and Warrender until 250pm, by which time Hipper was long gone.
In Germany the raid was celebrated - naval honour was restored, and the hated British enemy was not quite so safe as it had thought it was behind its Channel frontier. Within the German navy, however, the realization of the opportunity Ingenohl had let pass was a bitter pill to swallow. Much criticism was heaped on the High Seas Fleet commander, including from the Kaiser himself, who informed Ingenohl that he had been too cautious, a case of misplaced blame.
Perhaps the most important impact of the raid, however, was on the morale of the British public. To most in Britain, the deliberate bombardment of largely-undefended coastal towns was an atrocity. The overall number of civilian dead - 105 - seems almost pitifully small from the vantage point of the 21st-century, where the record of the past hundred years has left us almost numb to the notion of civilian casualties in war. From the perspective of Britain in 1914, however, the notion of deliberately targeting civilians was seen as something that no civilized nation would ever do - it was in line with the thinking, then much prevalent, that no civilized nation would torpedo merchant ships without warning. The Scarborough Raid, as it becomes known, is quickly held up as yet another example of German barbarism and perfidy, taking its place alongside the Rape of Belgium to show why the war must be fought and why the Germans must be defeated, no matter the cost. The episode becomes a staple of recruiting posters, which emphasize the murder of women and children at the hands of heartless German sailors, imploring the men to avenge the dead and protect those still living - another example of drawing on gender roles to support the war effort. The memory of the Scarborough Raid live in the minds of the British public long after the physical damage had been repaired.
- In Poland the Russian 1st Army, northernmost of the Russian armies in the great bend of the Vistula River, had responded to Grand Duke Nicholas' order to retreat by fleeing as fast as possible east over the Bzura River. To its south, the Russian 2nd and 5th Armies have only begun their retreat, meaning their northern flank has been uncovered by the hastiness of 1st Army. General Mackensen of the German 9th Army believes an opportunity exists to envelop the Russian 2nd and 5th Armies, and while ordering his northern wing to attempt to outflank the enemy south of Sochaczew, he also requests that the Austro-Hungarian 2nd Army to send a detachment to the northeast towards Lubochnia to form the other half of the pincer movement.
- South of the Vistula River, the Austro-Hungarian pursuit of the retreating Russian armies continues to be stymied by strong rear-guard actions that limit their advance and result in hard fighting, suggesting that the Russians do not intend to withdraw a great distance. Despite this, Conrad continues to believe that the Battle of Limanowa-Lapanow is a crushing victory, and his major concern today is how to bring the Russians to battle before they can retreat across the San River.
- Overnight the schooner Ayesha endures a violent storm that tears away all of the forward sails, leaving it at the mercy of the ocean. In the morning, however, the storm vanishes, and Ayesha is left adrift when the wind proves too light to fill the remaining sails. Fortunately Choising appears, and takes Ayesha in tow to the sheltered bay of a nearby island, where Emden's landing party transfers to the merchant ship. They make Choising their new home, bringing with them all of their provisions and weapons. The decision is made to sink Ayesha, to prevent it either falling back into British hands or from revealing their most recent position. After cutting two holes in the hull, Ayesha is cut adrift as Choising's engine is started at 4pm. For some time Ayesha continues on its own to follow Choising, and the Germans decide to halt to watch its final minutes. At 458pm the Ayesha plunges out of sight, and the Germans give three cheers to honour their former ship.
Aboard his new ship First Officer Mücke must decide where to sail next. His original plan on leaving Padang was to try to reach the German colony of Tsingtao in China, but on boarding Choising they had learned of its fall over a month ago. Sailing to German East Africa was quickly dismissed, as the arrival of fifty under-equipped and poorly-armed sailors could not possibly make a difference to the fighting there. Joining with Königsberg was similarly ruled out. It appeared the only option was to sail around Africa until a report in one of the newspapers aboard Choising mentioned a skirmish between British and Ottoman forces in Arabia. Mücke thus decides that the best option is to sail to Arabia and return to Europe overland through the Ottoman Empire. The slow speed of Choising - between four and seven knots per hour - means the voyage to Arabia will take several weeks. In an effort to avoid suspicion, the crew disguises Choising as the Italian merchant ship Shenir, complete with an Italian flag made of a green window curtain, white bunting, a strip of red, and a painted coat of arms.
The objective of these actions is twofold: (1) hold the enemy in front of us in order to facilitate the general action of allied forces; (2) make a breach in one or more points on the front, then exploit this success with reserve troops by taking the enemy in the rear and forcing him to retreat.The first point is designed to alleviate the Russian commander's concerns regarding French inaction on the Western Front allowing the Germans to redeploy further units eastwards, while the second illustrates that Joffre saw the battle as a relatively-straightforward attack designed to achieve a breakthrough, from which would ensue a return to mobile warfare. Joffre, though, did recognize that the present circumstances on the Western Front required different tools to achieve the breakthrough, weapons akin to thus utilized in siege warfare. As he noted to the Grand Duke, should the attacks fail it would be because they were launched 'with still insufficient means.'
- In the early morning hours Hipper's battlecruisers and their escorts the British east coast. The plan is to divide into two forces, the first to bombard Scarborough and Whitby, the second to strike Hartlepool just to the north. The weather, however, is deteriorating, with rising seas and high winds. The weather becomes sufficiently serious to pose a risk to the light cruisers and destroyers, so at 653am Hipper orders them to turn back and sail eastward towards the Dogger Bank where Ingenohl and the High Seas Fleet are to be waiting.
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| The German battlecruisers Seydlitz, Moltke, and Derfflinger during the Scarborough Raid, as taken from Von der Tann. |
An hour earlier, however, the situation around the Dogger Bank had changed decisively. As the High Seas Fleet was approaching Dogger Bank, the British battlecruisers under Beatty and the dreadnoughts of Warrender's 2nd Battle Squadron were to the northwest of Dogger Bank, sailing to their patrol point to the southeast. By a supreme coincidence the course of the two fleets brought them into close proximity to each other, neither knowing that the other was nearby. At 515am the seven British destroyers escorting Beatty's and Warrender's force are ten miles east of the dreadnoughts when they stumble upon several German light cruisers and destroyers, the latter being the advance screen of the High Seas Fleet. For the next forty minutes there is confused, short-range fighting between the two forces, with the British suffering the most - three of their destroyers are severely damaged.
As the fighting continued the captains involved signalled their main fleets that they were engaging the enemy. At 523am Ingenohl, aboard his flagship Friedrich der Grosse, is informed that German destroyers are fighting their British counterparts to the east, and the flashes of gunfire are visible on the horizon. He does not know the composition of the British force opposing him, which allows his worst fears to run wild. What if these British destroyers are the advance screen of the entire Grand Fleet? This would mean that the High Seas Fleet was almost certainly sailing towards its destruction. He was ever-mindful of the Kaiser's edict: no general naval battle is to be risked. In the dark of night, Ingenohl comes to believe that this is exactly what is about to happen. At 530am he signals all of his squadrons to reverse course and turn southeast for home.
It was a monumental decision, even leaving aside the fact that Ingenohl's retreat left Hipper's battlecruisers abandoned without even so much as a signal indicating the fleet was returning to Wilhelmshaven. It meant that Ingenohl was turning away from the greatest opportunity the German navy was to have in the entire war to engage an isolated portion of the Grand Fleet. If Ingenohl had not lost his nerve, a battle between his fourteen dreadnoughts and the six dreadnoughts and four battlecruisers of Beatty's and Warrender's force would have likely occurred at dawn. The British would certainly have dealt out serious damage, but the High Seas Fleet would have had the advantage and the most likely outcome of such a battle would have been the loss of significantly more British warships than German. Such a victory in turn would have given the Germans parity in the North Sea - at no point before or after December 1914 would the two fleets be closer in size, and the British margin of superiority would have been erased by the losses such a battle would likely have resulted in. Thus by turning away, Ingenohl threw away the best chance the Germans would ever have to change the course of the war at sea. While Ingenohl bears responsibility for the order, it bears recalling that it was given in line with the instructions of the Kaiser. Ultimately, it was the Kaiser's own unwillingness to risk defeat that ensured he never won the great naval victory he yearned for.
While Ingenohl was making his fateful decision, confusion reigned in the British force. Admiral Warrender, who as Beatty's senior was in overall command of the operation, had been informed that several of his destroyers were engaging the enemy, but they had failed to signal positions, courses, or speeds. Concluding that any small German warships could be swept up after Hipper's battlecruisers were dealt with, Warrender decides that instead of turning east towards the fighting, his dreadnoughts will continue southeast towards the morning rendezvous. By 730am Warrender's dreadnoughts, Beatty's battlecruisers, and Rear-Admiral Goodenough's light cruisers had arrived at their patrol point just off the Dogger Bank. Confused signals continued to come in from British destroyers to the east, with some being missed. Just as Beatty decides to charge eastwards to engage the Germans, word comes that the British coast is being shelled. Beatty abandons the chase, and the British warships at sea turn westward to intercept Hipper.
The German bombardment had begun at the town of Scarborough at 8am by the southern part of Hipper's force, consisting of the battlecruisers Derfflinger and Von der Tann, plus the light cruiser Kolberg. Out of the morning fog bright flashes were followed by shells crashing into buildings. For a half-hour the three warships fire, and when they depart at 830am seventeen people were dead and ninety-nine wounded - all civilians. These three warships then sailed twenty-one miles up the coast to the fishing village of Whitby, which they bombarded for ten minutes, killed two and wounding two more. The northern part of Hipper's force, comprised of the battlecruisers Seydlitz, Moltke, and Blücher (the latter variously classified as a battlecruiser or armoured cruiser - regardless, it was the weakest of the three), was approaching the shipbuilding and manufacturing town of Hartlepool when at 750am they encountered four elderly British destroyers patrolling offshore. Though one manages to close sufficiently to fire a torpedo, it misses and otherwise the destroyers retreat under a hail of German shellfire. When a light cruiser in Hartlepool attempts to put to see, it is struck by two shells and ran aground. This was the only naval resistance the three German warships would encounter at Hartlepool, and while several shore batteries did keep up a constant fire, their 6-inch shells were unable to pierce the armour protection of the enemy battlecruisers. The German bombardment of Hartlepool lasts from 810am to 852am, during which the three battlecruisers fire 1150 shells at the town. Shells rained down on the shipyard and the steelworks, but also damaged more than three hundred homes. When the Germans depart, eighty-six civilians were dead and 424 wounded. Damage to the six warships was minimal, and only eight sailors were killed and twelve wounded.
At 930am the two parts of Hipper's force reunite and turn for home, fifty miles behind the light cruisers and destroyers he had sent home earlier in the morning. He signals Ingenohl his course and speed, and asks for the location of the High Seas Fleet. Ingenohl's reply is that it is returning to port. Hipper's response is a rather colourful curse - Ingenohl's hasty retreat has abandoned the battlecruisers to their fate.
On the British side, Beatty and Warrender believe that they will soon be able to find and annihilate Hipper's force - there is a gap fifteen to twenty miles wide between two minefields on the Yorkshire coast through which Hipper must sail, and both British forces are heading for this point. At this point the British are stricken with almost comically bad luck. First, the weather in the North Sea deteriorates rapidly, drastically reducing visual range. Second, at 1125am the British light cruiser Southampton, part of Goodenough's cruiser squadron, sights several enemy light cruisers and destroyers - these were the warships Hipper had sent home early due to the rough weather. Goodenough signals Beatty that he is engaging the enemy, and orders the other three light cruisers of his own force to assemble on Southampton. Goodenough's cruisers had been tasked with scouting ahead of Beatty's battlecruisers, a vital task in the poor weather, and Beatty, not knowing Southampton has met multiple enemy light cruisers, is dismayed to see all of his light cruisers turn away to follow Southampton. He tells his Flag Lieutenant to signal 'that light cruiser' to resume its station ahead of the battlecruisers. The Flag Lieutenant, uncertain which light cruiser Beatty is referring to, tells the signalman, using his searchlight, simply to order the 'light cruiser' to resume its station. Nottingham, the light cruiser receiving the signal, believes the signal, given that it names no specific light cruiser is for the entire squadron, and passes it to Goodenough. The latter, believing he has received a clear and direct order from a superior officer, breaks off the fight with the German warships and orders all of his light cruisers to return to the battlecruisers. The German light cruisers and destroyers disappear in the distance, and when Beatty sees all of Goodenough's light cruisers returns he is apoplectic, believing Goodenough has allowed Hipper's screening force to escape. In reality, the problem was down to a misunderstood signal, not the last time such a problem would bedevil Beatty.
At 1215pm the same German warships that Goodenough had allowed to escape is sighted by some of the dreadnoughts of Warrender's squadron. However, Warrender himself cannot see them, and so never issues an order to fire. The dreadnoughts that do see the enemy believes that Warrender must have some reason for not yet firing, so they never open fire on their own initiative. The German light cruisers and destroyers then disappear again into the rain, a second miraculous escape.
Beatty aboard his flagship Lion believes that the German warships sighted, then lost, by Goodenough and Warrender are the immediate screening force for Hipper, and that the German battlecruisers must be just behind them. This leads Beatty to conclude that when the light cruisers and destroyers slip past Warrender, that Hipper's battlecruisers must also be about to escape. To prevent this, at 1230pm Beatty orders his squadron to turn to the east, believing that only his ships had the speed to cut off the Germans from their home base. The reality, of course, is that Hipper's battlecruisers were fifty miles behind the light warships. If Beatty had kept to his original course, he would have almost certainly ran right into Hipper. By turning away, he opened a gap between the minefields that Hipper promptly sailed through. By the time Beatty realized that the German battlecruisers were not in fact in front him, Hipper had slipped away to the north. Several hours of frantic searching by Beatty and Warrender find nothing, and by late afternoon they conclude that the Germans have made their escape.
The bombardment of Scarborough, Whitby, and Hartlepool caused outrage in Britain, compounded by the fact that the raiders had escaped. In the Royal Navy there was immense disappointment that what had seemed like a golden opportunity to destroy the German battlecruisers had gone to waste. There was infighting as the different admirals assigned blame to others, Beatty being particularly hard on Goodenough. In practice luck and the weather had been against the British this day. The muddled chase also showed the limitations of Room 40; though it had correctly detected the battlecruiser raid, they did not realize the entire German fleet was at sea, and the delay inherent in decyphering of signals also played a role - a signal by Hipper giving his position at 1245pm, when he could still have been intercepted, was intercepted but not decyphered and retransmitted to Beatty and Warrender until 250pm, by which time Hipper was long gone.
In Germany the raid was celebrated - naval honour was restored, and the hated British enemy was not quite so safe as it had thought it was behind its Channel frontier. Within the German navy, however, the realization of the opportunity Ingenohl had let pass was a bitter pill to swallow. Much criticism was heaped on the High Seas Fleet commander, including from the Kaiser himself, who informed Ingenohl that he had been too cautious, a case of misplaced blame.
Perhaps the most important impact of the raid, however, was on the morale of the British public. To most in Britain, the deliberate bombardment of largely-undefended coastal towns was an atrocity. The overall number of civilian dead - 105 - seems almost pitifully small from the vantage point of the 21st-century, where the record of the past hundred years has left us almost numb to the notion of civilian casualties in war. From the perspective of Britain in 1914, however, the notion of deliberately targeting civilians was seen as something that no civilized nation would ever do - it was in line with the thinking, then much prevalent, that no civilized nation would torpedo merchant ships without warning. The Scarborough Raid, as it becomes known, is quickly held up as yet another example of German barbarism and perfidy, taking its place alongside the Rape of Belgium to show why the war must be fought and why the Germans must be defeated, no matter the cost. The episode becomes a staple of recruiting posters, which emphasize the murder of women and children at the hands of heartless German sailors, imploring the men to avenge the dead and protect those still living - another example of drawing on gender roles to support the war effort. The memory of the Scarborough Raid live in the minds of the British public long after the physical damage had been repaired.
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| Two classic British recruiting posters drawing on memories of the Scarborough Raid - whole books could be written on the gender themes implicit in them. |
- In Poland the Russian 1st Army, northernmost of the Russian armies in the great bend of the Vistula River, had responded to Grand Duke Nicholas' order to retreat by fleeing as fast as possible east over the Bzura River. To its south, the Russian 2nd and 5th Armies have only begun their retreat, meaning their northern flank has been uncovered by the hastiness of 1st Army. General Mackensen of the German 9th Army believes an opportunity exists to envelop the Russian 2nd and 5th Armies, and while ordering his northern wing to attempt to outflank the enemy south of Sochaczew, he also requests that the Austro-Hungarian 2nd Army to send a detachment to the northeast towards Lubochnia to form the other half of the pincer movement.
- South of the Vistula River, the Austro-Hungarian pursuit of the retreating Russian armies continues to be stymied by strong rear-guard actions that limit their advance and result in hard fighting, suggesting that the Russians do not intend to withdraw a great distance. Despite this, Conrad continues to believe that the Battle of Limanowa-Lapanow is a crushing victory, and his major concern today is how to bring the Russians to battle before they can retreat across the San River.
- Overnight the schooner Ayesha endures a violent storm that tears away all of the forward sails, leaving it at the mercy of the ocean. In the morning, however, the storm vanishes, and Ayesha is left adrift when the wind proves too light to fill the remaining sails. Fortunately Choising appears, and takes Ayesha in tow to the sheltered bay of a nearby island, where Emden's landing party transfers to the merchant ship. They make Choising their new home, bringing with them all of their provisions and weapons. The decision is made to sink Ayesha, to prevent it either falling back into British hands or from revealing their most recent position. After cutting two holes in the hull, Ayesha is cut adrift as Choising's engine is started at 4pm. For some time Ayesha continues on its own to follow Choising, and the Germans decide to halt to watch its final minutes. At 458pm the Ayesha plunges out of sight, and the Germans give three cheers to honour their former ship.
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| The schooner Ayesha. |
Aboard his new ship First Officer Mücke must decide where to sail next. His original plan on leaving Padang was to try to reach the German colony of Tsingtao in China, but on boarding Choising they had learned of its fall over a month ago. Sailing to German East Africa was quickly dismissed, as the arrival of fifty under-equipped and poorly-armed sailors could not possibly make a difference to the fighting there. Joining with Königsberg was similarly ruled out. It appeared the only option was to sail around Africa until a report in one of the newspapers aboard Choising mentioned a skirmish between British and Ottoman forces in Arabia. Mücke thus decides that the best option is to sail to Arabia and return to Europe overland through the Ottoman Empire. The slow speed of Choising - between four and seven knots per hour - means the voyage to Arabia will take several weeks. In an effort to avoid suspicion, the crew disguises Choising as the Italian merchant ship Shenir, complete with an Italian flag made of a green window curtain, white bunting, a strip of red, and a painted coat of arms.
Sunday, December 14, 2014
December 14th, 1914
- Planning continues for the two major offensive operations the French army will undertake in the next week - in Artois on the 17th, and in Champagne on the 20th. Today General Foch meets with General Maud'huy to discuss the Artois offensive, to be undertaken by the latter's 10th Army. Foch emphasizes to Maud'huy that the battle should be approached as if he were undertaking a siege, which means thorough and meticulous preparation combined with a methodical advance, ensuring that the infantry is supported by overwhelming firepower at every stage of the engagement. Maud'huy thus slows the planned pace of the operation, spreading the attack over multiple phases to ensure each attack is strongly supported. Despite the focus on preparation, the French units dedicated to the attack are not sufficiently equipped - 77th Division, which will be leading the main attack, requires over a hundred wire cutters to pierce the German barbed wire defences, but reports today that it has only fifteen.
- In addition to the two major attacks, Joffre is coordinating a number of diversionary attacks designed to distract the Germans from French preparations and force the enemy to commit their reserves elsewhere. One of these secondary operations is begun this morning by units of the French XVI and XXI Corps and the British II Corps in the line south of Ypres. The advancing infantry, however, are slowed by deep mud and intact barbed wire defences, and are unable to make any real progress. Only a small number of British soldiers are able to reach the first German trench line on the western edge of the Petit Bois woods, but this does not pose a risk to the overall German position.
- For the past month and a half the German High Seas Fleet has sat in port, immobilized by the Kaiser's edict that his prized dreadnoughts are not to risk annihilation in a major battle with the British Grand Fleet. The inaction is concerning to Admiral Ingenohl, commander of the High Seas Fleet, who worries about the morale of his sailors, while Admiral Hipper, commanding the Fleet's battlecruisers, is eager to undertake another attack on the British coast along the lines of that attempted against Yarmouth on November 3rd. Meanwhile, the destruction of the German East Asiatic Squadron on the 8th spurs a desire to secure a victory to restore the public image of the German navy, while the Battle of the Falklands Islands also gave notice that several British battlecruisers are absent from the Grand Fleet. Under these circumstances approval is given to another raid on the British coast - Hipper and his battlecruisers are to bombard Scarborough and Hartlepool. To support the operation, Ingenohl and the High Seas Fleet will sail to the eastern edge of Dogger Bank in the middle of the North Sea, not to seek battle, but to provide support if Hipper fins himself overwhelmed. There is also at least the chance that the Germans might stumble upon one part of the Grand Fleet divided from the rest, presenting the opportunity to even the odds in the North Sea. The Germans are to sail tomorrow morning, with the bombardment scheduled to occur on the morning of the 16th.
As the High Seas Fleet prepares for its raid, wireless signals are sent back and forth among the German ships. Unknown to them, these signals are being intercepted by the British, and though they are coded, the British have managed to break the German codes, thanks to the acquisition of several different German code books over the past few months. In Room 40 at the Admiralty in London, the signals are deciphered, and at 7pm this evening the First Lord and First Sea Lord are informed that the Germans are coming. Crucially, however, Room 40 has intercepted only a portion of the German signals - they inform the Admiralty leadership that the German battlecruisers are intending to raid the British coast, but they have no information that the entire High Seas Fleet will also put to sea. Thus it appears to Churchill and Fisher that only Hipper's five battlecruisers will be undertaking the operation, and so they order Admiral Jellicoe to dispatch an appropriately-sized force to destroy it - the four battlecruisers of Admiral Beatty's Battlecruiser Squadron and the six dreadnoughts of Vice-Admiral Sir George Warrender. Together these warships would be more than sufficient to defeat the German battlecruisers, but if they stumble onto the High Seas Fleet, the Germans would have overwhelming numerical superiority. Thus Churchill's and Fisher's response to the intelligence of Room 40 is to give the Germans precisely the opportunity they crave to destroy part of the Grand Fleet in isolation and level the playing field in the North Sea - depending, of course, on the Germans taking advantage of the opportunity.
- Since the Yarmouth raid of November 3rd, Admiral Hipper, commander of the battlecruisers of the German High Seas Fleet, has been eager to undertake another sortie against the British coast. Admiral Ingenohl, meanwhile, as overall commander of the High Seas Fleet is increasingly concerned about the morale of his sailors, given they have spent almost the entire war in port due to the Kaiser's edict forbidding the fleet from seeking out a major naval battle with the British.
- The Russian armies between the two bends of the Vistula River begin today the eastward retreat ordered by Grand Duke Nicholas yesterday.
- In response to the message of General Frank regarding the state of his army, General Potiorek orders 5th Army to retreat north over the Sava and Danube Rivers and abandon Belgrade to the advancing Serbs.
- For two weeks the schooner Ayesha, with its German crew from the light cruiser Emden, has been at the rendezvous point in the Indian Ocean it had signaled to the German merchant ships in Padang. During this time it has twice sighted English steamers, one of which the Germans suspected to be an armed auxiliary cruiser. When the cruiser approached, the crew of Ayesha did all they could to appear to be lost and hapless. First they asked the cruiser for their current position, and when the cruiser asked Ayesha for its name, the German response was to raise a jumble of signal flags that meant jibberish. Convinced that Ayesha was crewed by harmless incompetents, the cruiser had departed, leaving the German schooner to continue its wait.
Today their patience is rewarded when the German merchant ship Choising appears out of thick fog. The intention of First Officer Mücke and his men is to transfer to the merchant, but are prevented by the rough seas. Instead Ayesha signals Choising to follow it in sailing south, hoping to find calmer weather.
- In addition to the two major attacks, Joffre is coordinating a number of diversionary attacks designed to distract the Germans from French preparations and force the enemy to commit their reserves elsewhere. One of these secondary operations is begun this morning by units of the French XVI and XXI Corps and the British II Corps in the line south of Ypres. The advancing infantry, however, are slowed by deep mud and intact barbed wire defences, and are unable to make any real progress. Only a small number of British soldiers are able to reach the first German trench line on the western edge of the Petit Bois woods, but this does not pose a risk to the overall German position.
- For the past month and a half the German High Seas Fleet has sat in port, immobilized by the Kaiser's edict that his prized dreadnoughts are not to risk annihilation in a major battle with the British Grand Fleet. The inaction is concerning to Admiral Ingenohl, commander of the High Seas Fleet, who worries about the morale of his sailors, while Admiral Hipper, commanding the Fleet's battlecruisers, is eager to undertake another attack on the British coast along the lines of that attempted against Yarmouth on November 3rd. Meanwhile, the destruction of the German East Asiatic Squadron on the 8th spurs a desire to secure a victory to restore the public image of the German navy, while the Battle of the Falklands Islands also gave notice that several British battlecruisers are absent from the Grand Fleet. Under these circumstances approval is given to another raid on the British coast - Hipper and his battlecruisers are to bombard Scarborough and Hartlepool. To support the operation, Ingenohl and the High Seas Fleet will sail to the eastern edge of Dogger Bank in the middle of the North Sea, not to seek battle, but to provide support if Hipper fins himself overwhelmed. There is also at least the chance that the Germans might stumble upon one part of the Grand Fleet divided from the rest, presenting the opportunity to even the odds in the North Sea. The Germans are to sail tomorrow morning, with the bombardment scheduled to occur on the morning of the 16th.
As the High Seas Fleet prepares for its raid, wireless signals are sent back and forth among the German ships. Unknown to them, these signals are being intercepted by the British, and though they are coded, the British have managed to break the German codes, thanks to the acquisition of several different German code books over the past few months. In Room 40 at the Admiralty in London, the signals are deciphered, and at 7pm this evening the First Lord and First Sea Lord are informed that the Germans are coming. Crucially, however, Room 40 has intercepted only a portion of the German signals - they inform the Admiralty leadership that the German battlecruisers are intending to raid the British coast, but they have no information that the entire High Seas Fleet will also put to sea. Thus it appears to Churchill and Fisher that only Hipper's five battlecruisers will be undertaking the operation, and so they order Admiral Jellicoe to dispatch an appropriately-sized force to destroy it - the four battlecruisers of Admiral Beatty's Battlecruiser Squadron and the six dreadnoughts of Vice-Admiral Sir George Warrender. Together these warships would be more than sufficient to defeat the German battlecruisers, but if they stumble onto the High Seas Fleet, the Germans would have overwhelming numerical superiority. Thus Churchill's and Fisher's response to the intelligence of Room 40 is to give the Germans precisely the opportunity they crave to destroy part of the Grand Fleet in isolation and level the playing field in the North Sea - depending, of course, on the Germans taking advantage of the opportunity.
- Since the Yarmouth raid of November 3rd, Admiral Hipper, commander of the battlecruisers of the German High Seas Fleet, has been eager to undertake another sortie against the British coast. Admiral Ingenohl, meanwhile, as overall commander of the High Seas Fleet is increasingly concerned about the morale of his sailors, given they have spent almost the entire war in port due to the Kaiser's edict forbidding the fleet from seeking out a major naval battle with the British.
- The Russian armies between the two bends of the Vistula River begin today the eastward retreat ordered by Grand Duke Nicholas yesterday.
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| The front lines in Poland on December 14th (on the left) and December 31st (on the right), illustrating the Russian retreat. |
- In response to the message of General Frank regarding the state of his army, General Potiorek orders 5th Army to retreat north over the Sava and Danube Rivers and abandon Belgrade to the advancing Serbs.
- For two weeks the schooner Ayesha, with its German crew from the light cruiser Emden, has been at the rendezvous point in the Indian Ocean it had signaled to the German merchant ships in Padang. During this time it has twice sighted English steamers, one of which the Germans suspected to be an armed auxiliary cruiser. When the cruiser approached, the crew of Ayesha did all they could to appear to be lost and hapless. First they asked the cruiser for their current position, and when the cruiser asked Ayesha for its name, the German response was to raise a jumble of signal flags that meant jibberish. Convinced that Ayesha was crewed by harmless incompetents, the cruiser had departed, leaving the German schooner to continue its wait.
Today their patience is rewarded when the German merchant ship Choising appears out of thick fog. The intention of First Officer Mücke and his men is to transfer to the merchant, but are prevented by the rough seas. Instead Ayesha signals Choising to follow it in sailing south, hoping to find calmer weather.
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