March 14, 1915

[Martin Antonenko]

The End Of S.M.S. "Dresden"...!


On December 8, 1914, the former German East Asia squadron under Vizeadmiral Reichsgraf Maximilian von Spee...



...was almost completely destroyed by far superior British naval forces near the Falkland Islands!



The lGroße Kreuzer (armoured cruisers) "Scharnhorst" and "Gneisenau" were sunk with very high casualties, as were the light cruisers "Leipzig" and "Nürnberg"!



The small cruiser "Emden", previously detached from Admiral Spee for independent cruiser warfare, had already been destroyed on November 9, 1914 by the Australian cruiser HMAS "Sydney" off the Cocos Islands in the Pacific.

Only one ship of the East Asia Squadron escaped destruction - the 130 meter long light cruiser SMS "Dresden"...:





The German admiral had radioed "Dresden" to flee: "To Dresden - try to escape if the machinery is still intact."



The barely armored ship was a sister ship of the "Emden" and resembled her over water like one egg in the other.





However, there was one key difference between the two ships, and it was underwater:

"Emden" was powered by a conventional piston steam engine and two screws, while "Dresden" had a completely new machine installed: a steam turbine that gave the ship a much higher speed of 26 knots with four screws!

And so it was "Dresden" under Freattenkapitän Fritz Lüdecke...



...managed to escape the slaughter at the Falklands.

The flight of the "Dresden" was aided by wrong tactical decisions made by the British commander in the battle, Vice Admiral Sir Frederick Doventon Sturdee:



Sturdee had, among other things, the two completely new battle cruisers "Invincible" (blown up in the Battle of Skagerak in 1916)...



...and "Inflexible" (the next photo shows her rescuing survivors off the Falklands)...



...under his command set out for the two German armored cruisers - each of the two could easily have caught up with the "Dresden" - the two giant ships were faster than 30 knots!

Vice Admiral Sturdee was therefore relieved of his post after the battle and never regained his independent command!

After the battle, "Dresden" hid for weeks in the fjord landscape of the Chilean province of Magelanes north of Cape Horn, where the British search ships could not find them.

We call this region "Tierra del Fuego"...:



The adjutant of the "Dresden", Oberleutnant zur See Wilhelm Canaris...



...the later chief of the German "defense" in the Second World War, proved his conspiratorial skills even then:

Together with the German-born seal hunter Albert Pagels who lived there...


...he builds up a conspiratorial supply network for the cruiser - and the two even manage to bring in a German supply ship with coal for the machinery. "Dresden" had to burn all the coal and then all the wood on board - including the wall paneling in the captain's cabin!

And Pagels, who knows the waters north of Cape Horn like the back of his hand, has always been able to evade "Dresden" from being pursued by the British.

The cat and mouse game lasted two and a half months until "Dresden" had replenished provisions, water and fuel and was ready to sea again and can sail into the Pacific!

However, the machine system, which is quite malady due to the constant overuse, can only be repaired in a very makeshift manner!


**continued next post**

 

[Martin Antonenko]

Part II


On March 9, 1915, "Dresden" dropped anchor in "Cumberland Bay" in the northeast of the Chilean island of Mas a Tierra, now called "Robinson Crusoe Island".



Here the bay from a bird's eye perspective - the Chilean cruiser "Esmeralda" is in 1915 in exactly the same place as before SMS "Dresden"...:



"Dresden", completely unsuitable for long-distance operations, is technically at the end of its rope!

After 15 months in service, eight months of which were under wartime conditions, its high-performance machines are defective and can hardly be operated. There are still 80 tons of coal stored in the coal bunkers, which is enough for a further ten hours of driving.

With this small supply, it would just be possible to keep electricity and cooking going on for 10 days at anchor.

500 meters from the anchorage of the "Dresden" lies the small village of San Juan Bautista...:



There, in what was then the only settlement on the island, live about 20 fishermen with their families who sell their catch to a lobster cannery.

The port captain, a member of the Chilean Navy and local representative of the Republic of Chile, has - like the frigate captain Lüdecke - no illusions:

This worn-out ship will never leave the territorial waters of the neutral state of Chile. Two days after the cruiser's appearance, he declared - with Lüdecke's express consent - that the ship and crew were interned.

A peaceful ending?

Unfortunately, no!

On March 14, 1915, just after dawn (8:00 a.m.), two British warships are sighted off the eastern headland of the bay:

The British light cruiser HMS "Glasgow"...



...and the armed (six x 15.2 cm guns) auxiliary cruiser HMS "Orama"...:



Only a few minutes does a third ship appear, the armored cruiser HMS "Kent", which is far superior in terms of artillery alone...:



At 8.50 the British cruisers opened fire at ranges between 8500 and 3600 metres - a target shootout...:



The German cruiser cannot maneuver at anchor and can only use half of its already far inferior guns.

After a short time, "Dresden" is burning in the rear!



The unarmoured hull is perforated at many places...:



At 9.00 a.m. Dresden raises the white parliamentary flag.

The eloquent Oberleutnant Wilhelm Canaris drives the cruiser's steam pinnace to "Glasgow" and protests against the attack in neutral waters.

The response from Commander John Luce, in command of the British Forces...:



He has orders to sink "Dresden" wherever he meets them and he will do so; the question of neutrality would later have to be settled between the British and Chilean governments.

When Canaris returns with his pinnace, the commander of "Dresden" has used the ceasefire and has already sent large parts of the crew ashore with dinghies.

Meanwhile, fireworkers have installed explosive charges in the front ammunition chamber.

While the British were still waiting for the order to fire, the explosive charges on "Dresden" went off at 11.15 a.m. and "Dresden went into the depths with a waving flag and cheers for HM the Kaiser", as it says in the cruiser's salvaged logbook.





Eight of the Dresden crew, including two officers, are killed by the British shells and about 20 more or less seriously injured.

The British ship's doctors have to take care of them because the German ship's doctor, Dr. Koch...



...has been badly wounded in both arms.

After the British left, the Chileans interned officers and crew until the end of the war - although a few of the ship's officers, including Wilhelm Canaris, preferred to make their way home the 18,000 kilometers on their own and on adventurous routes halfway around the world take part in the war...

SMS "Dresden" is still lying on the ground in the same place - only the ship's bell was recovered...:

 

[lightbob]

Very interesting. I was aware of this battle that took place after the earlier success of of Maximilian von Spee and his squadron at the Battle of Coronel 1st Nov. 1914.
Sturdee's career was not that adversely affected being created a baronet, with the title "Baronet of the Falkland Islands".

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Sturdee became commander of the 4th Battle Squadron of the Grand Fleet, with his flag in the battleship HMS Benbow,. He was advanced to Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George on 31 May 1916,, and subsequently being promoted to full Admiral and Commander in Chief the Nore, who was in former times the operational commander of the Home Fleet. finally Admiral of the Fleet on retirement.

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Frederick Charles Doveton Sturdee, 1918, by Glyn Philpott

 

[Nap]

Hi Martín

WOW! ......what a story , sea warfare at its worse , said many lives lost from start to finish

That ships bell is very moving to say the least

Thanks again for all details

Nap