SMS Königsberg
Encyclopedia
SMS Königsberg was the lead ship
of her class
of light cruiser
s built by the Imperial German Navy
. She was laid down in early 1905, launched in December 1905, and completed by June 1906. Her sisters included , , and . The ship was armed with a main battery of ten 10.5 cm (4.1 in) guns and had a top speed of 24.1 kn (13.1 m/s). After her commissioning, Königsberg escorted Kaiser Wilhelm II on a state visit to Britain. In April 1914, the ship was sent on what was to have been a two-year deployment to German East Africa
, but this was interrupted by the outbreak of World War I
in August of that year.
Königsberg initially attempted to raid British and French commercial traffic in the region, but only destroyed one merchant ship in the course of her career. Coal shortages hampered her ability to attack shipping. On 20 September 1914, she surprised and sank the British protected cruiser
in the Battle of Zanzibar. She then retreated into the Rufiji River
to repair her engines. Before the repairs could be completed, British cruisers located Königsberg, and, unable to steam into the river to destroy her, set up a blockade. After several attempts to sink the ship, the British sent two monitor
s, and , to destroy the German cruiser. On 11 July 1915, the two monitors successfully forced the delta and severely damaged Königsberg, forcing her crew to scuttle the ship. The surviving crew salvaged all ten of her main guns and joined Lieutenant Colonel Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck's guerrilla campaign. Königsberg was ultimately broken up in 1963–1965 for scrap.
" and was laid down at the Imperial Dockyard
in Kiel
in 1905. She was launched on 12 December 1905, after which fitting-out
work commenced. She was commissioned into the High Seas Fleet
on 6 April 1907. The ship was 115.3 metres (378.3 ft) long overall and had a beam
of 13.2 m (43.3 ft) and a draft
of 5.29 m (17.4 ft) forward. She displaced 3814 MT (3,753.8 LT) at full combat load. Her propulsion system consisted of two 3-cylinder triple expansion engines powered by eleven coal-fired Marine-type boilers. These provided a top speed of 24.1 kn (13.1 m/s) and a range of approximately 5750 nautical miles (10,649 km) at 12 kn (6.5 m/s). Königsberg had a crew of 14 officers and 308 enlisted men.
The ship was armed with ten 10.5 cm SK L/45 guns
in single pedestal mounts. Two were placed side by side forward on the forecastle
, six were located amidships, three on either side, and two were side by side aft. The guns had a maximum elevation of 30 degrees, which allowed them to engage targets out to 12700 m (41,666.7 ft). They were supplied with 1,500 rounds of ammunition, for 150 shells per gun. A pair of 8.8 cm (3.5 in) guns were later installed. She was also equipped with a pair of 45 cm (17.7 in) torpedo tube
s with five torpedo
es submerged in the hull on the broadside
. The ship was protected by an armored deck that was 80 mm (3.1 in) thick amidships. The conning tower
had 100 mm (3.9 in) thick sides.
Shortly after her commissioning in 1906, Königsberg was tasked with escorting Kaiser Wilhelm II's yacht Hohenzollern
during a state visit
to Britain. On 1 April 1914, Fregattenkapitän Max Looff took command of the ship. Three and a half weeks later, on 25 April, the ship left Kiel
for a two-year deployment to German East Africa. She steamed into the Mediterranean Sea and stopped in Spanish and Italian ports before entering the Suez Canal
. The African colonial subjects considered the ship to be quite impressive. Most notable were her three funnels, as the Africans equated funnels with naval power, and three was an unprecedented number. The ship acquired the nickname Manowari na bomba tatu, or "the man of war with three pipes."
As tensions rose immediately preceding the Great War, the cruisers of the British Cape Squadron, , , and , arrived with the intention of bottling up Königsberg at the colony's capital Dar es Salaam
. Captain Looff got his ship ready to sail and left port on the afternoon of 31 July 1914, with the three slower British ships shadowing him. Looff used a rain squall and his ship's superior speed to break contact with his British pursuers the following day. Königsberg steamed off Aden
until 5 August, when word of the outbreak of hostilities between Britain and Germany belatedly reached the ship. The following day in Dar es Salaam, the collier Somalia was stocked with coal to resupply Königsberg; she left port shortly before British ships arrived on 8 August.
, Königsberg was ordered to attack British commerce around the entrance to the Red Sea
. A lack of coal hampered Looff's efforts; the British prevented his collier Koenig from leaving Dar es Salaam and purchased all of the coal in Portuguese East Africa to deny it to Königsberg. She intercepted a then-neutral Japanese liner whose captain was convinced his ship, manifest and cargo had been examined by a British cruiser, then stopped the German steamers Zieten and Hansa from heading to the Suez Canal where they would be confiscated. Königsberg chased after the German freighter Goldenfels whose officers also mistook the ship for a British cruiser.
On 6 August, Königsberg found a British ship off the coast of Oman
, the freighter City of Winchester. A boarding party discovered that City of Winchester carried poor quality Indian coal ("Bombay dust") and Captain Looff did not want to foul his boilers with this inferior coal. A demolition team therefore placed charges in the boiler and engine room and Königsbergs main battery got in some firing practice before the ship was sunk. By the time Looff rendezvoused with Somalia later that day, his ship was down at a mere 14 tons of coal. Somalia transferred some 850 tons of coal to the cruiser, which permitted a sweep to Madagascar. No British or French ships were found, however, and so Königsberg met Somalia again on 23 August and took on coal for four days of cruising.
In the meantime, British warships bombarded Dar es Salaam and destroyed the German wireless station there. Somalias captain, a knowledgeable local pilot, suggested the Rufiji
Delta as a hiding place; he had been part of a survey team and had charted that area of the colony and found the river unexpectedly deep. The Navy activated the Somalia captain's reserve commission and he was appointed Königsbergs pilot. On 3 September 1914 at high tide, Königsberg passed over the bar at the mouth of the Rufiji and slowly made her way up the river. Coast watchers were stationed at the mouth of the river and telegraph lines were run to ensure the Germans would not be surprised by British ships searching for them.
When, on 19 September 1914, Captain Looff learned from the coast watchers that a 2-funnel warship had entered the harbor of Zanzibar
, he assumed that it was either Astraea or Pegasus; it was in fact the latter. Pegasus had put in to Zanzibar to repair problems with its engines. Königsberg had again full bunkers thanks to transports from Dar es Salaam and Looff decided to act immediately. With the afternoon tide the ship left the delta and started her run north to Zanzibar. At dawn the next day Königsberg fired salvos for 20 minutes into the stationary Pegasus in what came to be known as the Battle of Zanzibar. Pegasus had been hit some 200 times, and had suffered 31 fatalities and 55 injuries. While leaving the harbor, Königsberg spotted the picket ship Helmut and sank her with three shells.
Captain Looff had chosen as his next target the shipping lanes off South Africa, hoping to get at sufficient coal to eventually make the long journey up the Atlantic to reach Germany. Königsberg was suffering from machinery problems, however, which prevented the journey. The long cruises, the intermittent high speed dashes, and the lack of dockyard attention, all had taken their toll on the ship’s boilers. Instead, Looff returned to the Rufiji and proceeded to the town of Salele. There the ship was heavily camouflaged and defensive arrangements, including landing soldiers and field guns along with the network of coast watchers and telegraph lines, were effected. The engineering staff began to disassemble the affected boilers and Looff had these heavy parts dragged on wooden sledges to the workshops at Dar es Salaam some 100 miles (160.9 km) away. An improvised minefield was also laid in the Delta to keep the British ships from entering the river.
During this time, the British reinforced the ships tasked with tracking down the elusive German raider, and placed the ships under the command of Captain Sidney R. Drury-Lowe. On 19 October, the cruiser found the German East Africa Line ship Präsident at Lindi
. A boarding party searched the ship and discovered documents indicating she had supplied Königsberg with coal the previous month. On 30 October, the cruiser located Königsberg and Somalia in the Delta. Chatham, Dartmouth, and blockaded the Rufiji Delta to ensure Königsberg could not escape.
Königsberg was protected by the thick mangrove
swamps, which concealed the ship and offered a degree of cover from British shellfire, especially while the British ships remained outside of the river. A collier, Newbridge, was converted into a blockship
to be sunk in the main channel of the delta to prevent Königsbergs escape. Despite heavy German fire from both sides of the river, the British successfully sank Newbridge across one of the delta mouths. The German raider could still put to sea via other channels, and so dummy mines were laid in some of these alternates, but they were considered a doubtful deterrent. Looff decided to move his ship as far up the river as possible, to make it more difficult for the British to destroy her. In doing so, his ship would occupy a disproportionate number of British vessels that could otherwise be employed elsewhere.
A civilian pilot, Denis Cutler of Durban, South Africa, was commissioned into the Royal Marines and convinced to make his private Curtiss
seaplane
available for the British Empire. Lieutenant Cutler and the mechanic he hired on the ship transporting the airplane, arrived 15 November 1914 to report to the captain of Chatham. On 19 November Cutler flew his first reconnaissance mission and was able to verify the presence of the elusive cruiser. A pair of Royal Naval Air Service
Sopwiths were brought up with the intention of scouting and even bombing the ship. They soon fell apart in the tropical conditions. A trio of Short
seaplanes fared a little better, managing even to take photographs of the ship before they were grounded by the glue-melting tropical heat and German fire.
In November, the British sought to use the 12 inches (305 mm) guns of the old battleship to sink the cruiser. The attempt was unsuccessful, once again because the shallow waters prevented the battleship from getting within range. In December, Lieutenant Colonel Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck requested as many crew members from the ship as possible for his guerrilla campaign; a total of 220 men were left aboard to keep the ship in fighting condition. This was not enough, however, to permit the ship to go to sea. On 23 December, the British attempted to force the delta with a pair of shallow-draft ships. They scored a single hit on Somalia before German defensive fire forced them to retreat.
In the meantime, conditions were deteriorating on Königsberg. There were shortages of coal, ammunition, food, and medical supplies. Although safe from the British, the crew was ravaged by malaria
and other tropical ailments. Generally cut off from the outside world, the morale of the sailors fell. However, the situation was marginally improved with a scheme to resupply the ship and give her a fighting chance to return home. A captured British merchant ship, Rubens, was renamed Kronborg. It was given a Danish
flag, papers, and a crew of German sailors selected for their ability to speak Danish
. It was then packed with coal, field guns, ammunition, fresh water, and the like. After successfully infiltrating the waters of East Africa, it was intercepted by the alerted , which chased it to Manza Bay
. The trapped ship was eventually sunk, burnt, and left for scrap. Astonishingly, upon investigation by the Germans, much of her cargo was deemed salvageable, and made its way to Königsberg partially by rail, and for the remainder on the backs of African porters.
Finally, in April 1915, the British Admiralty
agreed to a plan submitted by Drury-Lowe the previous November, which envisioned attacking the German cruiser with shallow-draft monitor
s, capable of navigating the Rufiji River. Two of the warships, and , armed with a pair of 6 in (15.2 cm) guns each, were brought from Britain. On 6 July 1915, the two monitors crossed the outer sandbar and steamed up the river, despite heavy fire from German positions on the river banks. They stopped at a point they thought to be 10000 yd (9,144 m) from Königsberg, which would be in range of their own guns but farther than the smaller German guns could reply. Aircraft were used to spot the fall of shot. The monitors' navigation was faulty, however, and after opening fire, found themselves to be within range of Königsbergs guns as well. In the span of three hours, Königsberg had forced both British ships to withdraw.
They returned again on 11 July, after having repaired the damage sustained in the first attempt. The two monitors conducted a five-hour bombardment that destroyed the cruiser. By 13:30, Königsberg was down to two operational guns, each with two rounds left. One of these last rounds was shrapnel and the gunners hit the British spotter plane, causing it to crash in the river. With fires burning below decks, Captain Looff, now wounded along with many of his crew, ordered the magazines flooded. Two torpedo heads were rigged with fuses to blow out the ship’s bottom. With the British still firing, the charges went off and with cheers from the crew for their ship, the Kaiser, and the Fatherland, Königsberg settled into the river just after 14:00, her flag still flying.
The next day 33 German sailors were buried by the 188 remaining crewmen. A plaque was placed near the graves, reading "Beim Untergang S.M.S. Königsberg am 11.7.15 gefallen..." ("fallen during the sinking of SMS Königsberg on 11 July 1915...") followed by a list of the dead. The armament and all other useful equipment and material were removed from the wreck and, together with the ship's crew, went on to see service in the East African land campaign under Lieutenant Colonel Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck
. Königsbergs 10.5 cm guns played especially prominent roles for the Germans for the rest of the war, acting as the theater's heaviest field artillery, used in harbor fortifications, and even remounted on the converted ferry Götzen
, the German "capital ship" of the inland Lake Tanganyika
fleet. The surviving sailors, organized as the Königsberg-Abteilung, eventually surrendered on 26 November 1917 and were interned in British Egypt. In 1919, after the war, the men took park in a parade through the Brandenburg Gate
to celebrate them and their ship. The wreck of Königsberg was eventually broken up for scrap in 1963–1965.
Lead ship
The lead ship or class leader is the first of a series or class of ships all constructed according to the same general design. The term is applicable military ships and larger civilian craft.-Overview:...
of her class
Königsberg class light cruiser (1905)
The Königsberg class was a group of four light cruisers built for the German Imperial Navy. The class was composed of the lead ship, Königsberg, Stettin, Stuttgart, and Nürnberg...
of light cruiser
Light cruiser
A light cruiser is a type of small- or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck...
s built by the Imperial German Navy
Kaiserliche Marine
The Imperial German Navy was the German Navy created at the time of the formation of the German Empire. It existed between 1871 and 1919, growing out of the small Prussian Navy and Norddeutsche Bundesmarine, which primarily had the mission of coastal defense. Kaiser Wilhelm II greatly expanded...
. She was laid down in early 1905, launched in December 1905, and completed by June 1906. Her sisters included , , and . The ship was armed with a main battery of ten 10.5 cm (4.1 in) guns and had a top speed of 24.1 kn (13.1 m/s). After her commissioning, Königsberg escorted Kaiser Wilhelm II on a state visit to Britain. In April 1914, the ship was sent on what was to have been a two-year deployment to German East Africa
German East Africa
German East Africa was a German colony in East Africa, which included what are now :Burundi, :Rwanda and Tanganyika . Its area was , nearly three times the size of Germany today....
, but this was interrupted by the outbreak of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
in August of that year.
Königsberg initially attempted to raid British and French commercial traffic in the region, but only destroyed one merchant ship in the course of her career. Coal shortages hampered her ability to attack shipping. On 20 September 1914, she surprised and sank the British protected cruiser
Protected cruiser
The protected cruiser is a type of naval cruiser of the late 19th century, so known because its armoured deck offered protection for vital machine spaces from shrapnel caused by exploding shells above...
in the Battle of Zanzibar. She then retreated into the Rufiji River
Rufiji River
The Rufiji River lies entirely within the African nation of Tanzania. The river is formed by the convergence of the Kilombero and Luwegu rivers. It is approximately 600 km long, with its source in southwestern Tanzania and its mouth on the Indian Ocean at a point between Mafia Island called Mafia...
to repair her engines. Before the repairs could be completed, British cruisers located Königsberg, and, unable to steam into the river to destroy her, set up a blockade. After several attempts to sink the ship, the British sent two monitor
Monitor (warship)
A monitor was a class of relatively small warship which was neither fast nor strongly armoured but carried disproportionately large guns. They were used by some navies from the 1860s until the end of World War II, and saw their final use by the United States Navy during the Vietnam War.The monitors...
s, and , to destroy the German cruiser. On 11 July 1915, the two monitors successfully forced the delta and severely damaged Königsberg, forcing her crew to scuttle the ship. The surviving crew salvaged all ten of her main guns and joined Lieutenant Colonel Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck's guerrilla campaign. Königsberg was ultimately broken up in 1963–1965 for scrap.
Construction
Königsberg was ordered under the contract name "ErsatzErsatz
Ersatz means 'substituting for, and typically inferior in quality to', e.g. 'chicory is ersatz coffee'. It is a German word literally meaning substitute or replacement...
" and was laid down at the Imperial Dockyard
Kaiserliche Werft Kiel
Kaiserliche Werft Kiel was a German shipbuilding company founded in 1867, first as Königliche Werft Kiel but renamed in 1871 with the proclamation of the German Empire...
in Kiel
Kiel
Kiel is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 238,049 .Kiel is approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the north of Germany, the southeast of the Jutland peninsula, and the southwestern shore of the...
in 1905. She was launched on 12 December 1905, after which fitting-out
Fitting-out
Fitting-out, or "outfitting”, is the process in modern shipbuilding that follows the float-out of a vessel and precedes sea trials. It is the period when all the remaining construction of the ship is completed and readied for delivery to her owners...
work commenced. She was commissioned into the High Seas Fleet
High Seas Fleet
The High Seas Fleet was the battle fleet of the German Empire and saw action during World War I. The formation was created in February 1907, when the Home Fleet was renamed as the High Seas Fleet. Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz was the architect of the fleet; he envisioned a force powerful enough to...
on 6 April 1907. The ship was 115.3 metres (378.3 ft) long overall and had a beam
Beam (nautical)
The beam of a ship is its width at the widest point. Generally speaking, the wider the beam of a ship , the more initial stability it has, at expense of reserve stability in the event of a capsize, where more energy is required to right the vessel from its inverted position...
of 13.2 m (43.3 ft) and a draft
Draft (hull)
The draft of a ship's hull is the vertical distance between the waterline and the bottom of the hull , with the thickness of the hull included; in the case of not being included the draft outline would be obtained...
of 5.29 m (17.4 ft) forward. She displaced 3814 MT (3,753.8 LT) at full combat load. Her propulsion system consisted of two 3-cylinder triple expansion engines powered by eleven coal-fired Marine-type boilers. These provided a top speed of 24.1 kn (13.1 m/s) and a range of approximately 5750 nautical miles (10,649 km) at 12 kn (6.5 m/s). Königsberg had a crew of 14 officers and 308 enlisted men.
The ship was armed with ten 10.5 cm SK L/45 guns
10.5 cm SK L/45 naval gun
The 10.5 cm SK L/45 The 10.5 cm SK L/45 The 10.5 cm SK L/45 (SK - Schnelladekanone (quick-loading cannon) L - Länge (with a 45-caliber barrel) was a German naval gun that was used in World War I and World War II.-Description:...
in single pedestal mounts. Two were placed side by side forward on the forecastle
Forecastle
Forecastle refers to the upper deck of a sailing ship forward of the foremast, or the forward part of a ship with the sailors' living quarters...
, six were located amidships, three on either side, and two were side by side aft. The guns had a maximum elevation of 30 degrees, which allowed them to engage targets out to 12700 m (41,666.7 ft). They were supplied with 1,500 rounds of ammunition, for 150 shells per gun. A pair of 8.8 cm (3.5 in) guns were later installed. She was also equipped with a pair of 45 cm (17.7 in) torpedo tube
Torpedo tube
A torpedo tube is a device for launching torpedoes. There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units installed aboard surface vessels...
s with five torpedo
Torpedo
The modern torpedo is a self-propelled missile weapon with an explosive warhead, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater towards a target, and designed to detonate either on contact with it or in proximity to it.The term torpedo was originally employed for...
es submerged in the hull on the broadside
Broadside
A broadside is the side of a ship; the battery of cannon on one side of a warship; or their simultaneous fire in naval warfare.-Age of Sail:...
. The ship was protected by an armored deck that was 80 mm (3.1 in) thick amidships. The conning tower
Conning tower
A conning tower is a raised platform on a ship or submarine, often armored, from which an officer can con the vessel; i.e., give directions to the helmsman. It is usually located as high on the ship as practical, to give the conning team good visibility....
had 100 mm (3.9 in) thick sides.
Service history
SMY Hohenzollern
SMY Hohenzollern was the name of several Yachts used by the German Emperors between 1878 and 1918, named after their House of Hohenzollern.- SMY Hohenzollern I :...
during a state visit
State visit
A state visit is a formal visit by a foreign head of state to another nation, at the invitation of that nation's head of state. State visits are the highest form of diplomatic contact between two nations, and are marked by ceremonial pomp and diplomatic protocol. In parliamentary democracies, heads...
to Britain. On 1 April 1914, Fregattenkapitän Max Looff took command of the ship. Three and a half weeks later, on 25 April, the ship left Kiel
Kiel
Kiel is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 238,049 .Kiel is approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the north of Germany, the southeast of the Jutland peninsula, and the southwestern shore of the...
for a two-year deployment to German East Africa. She steamed into the Mediterranean Sea and stopped in Spanish and Italian ports before entering the Suez Canal
Suez Canal
The Suez Canal , also known by the nickname "The Highway to India", is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. Opened in November 1869 after 10 years of construction work, it allows water transportation between Europe and Asia without navigation...
. The African colonial subjects considered the ship to be quite impressive. Most notable were her three funnels, as the Africans equated funnels with naval power, and three was an unprecedented number. The ship acquired the nickname Manowari na bomba tatu, or "the man of war with three pipes."
As tensions rose immediately preceding the Great War, the cruisers of the British Cape Squadron, , , and , arrived with the intention of bottling up Königsberg at the colony's capital Dar es Salaam
Dar es Salaam
Dar es Salaam , formerly Mzizima, is the largest city in Tanzania. It is also the country's richest city and a regionally important economic centre. Dar es Salaam is actually an administrative province within Tanzania, and consists of three local government areas or administrative districts: ...
. Captain Looff got his ship ready to sail and left port on the afternoon of 31 July 1914, with the three slower British ships shadowing him. Looff used a rain squall and his ship's superior speed to break contact with his British pursuers the following day. Königsberg steamed off Aden
Aden
Aden is a seaport city in Yemen, located by the eastern approach to the Red Sea , some 170 kilometres east of Bab-el-Mandeb. Its population is approximately 800,000. Aden's ancient, natural harbour lies in the crater of an extinct volcano which now forms a peninsula, joined to the mainland by a...
until 5 August, when word of the outbreak of hostilities between Britain and Germany belatedly reached the ship. The following day in Dar es Salaam, the collier Somalia was stocked with coal to resupply Königsberg; she left port shortly before British ships arrived on 8 August.
World War I
At the outbreak of World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, Königsberg was ordered to attack British commerce around the entrance to the Red Sea
Red Sea
The Red Sea is a seawater inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. The connection to the ocean is in the south through the Bab el Mandeb strait and the Gulf of Aden. In the north, there is the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and the Gulf of Suez...
. A lack of coal hampered Looff's efforts; the British prevented his collier Koenig from leaving Dar es Salaam and purchased all of the coal in Portuguese East Africa to deny it to Königsberg. She intercepted a then-neutral Japanese liner whose captain was convinced his ship, manifest and cargo had been examined by a British cruiser, then stopped the German steamers Zieten and Hansa from heading to the Suez Canal where they would be confiscated. Königsberg chased after the German freighter Goldenfels whose officers also mistook the ship for a British cruiser.
On 6 August, Königsberg found a British ship off the coast of Oman
Oman
Oman , officially called the Sultanate of Oman , is an Arab state in southwest Asia on the southeast coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by the United Arab Emirates to the northwest, Saudi Arabia to the west, and Yemen to the southwest. The coast is formed by the Arabian Sea on the...
, the freighter City of Winchester. A boarding party discovered that City of Winchester carried poor quality Indian coal ("Bombay dust") and Captain Looff did not want to foul his boilers with this inferior coal. A demolition team therefore placed charges in the boiler and engine room and Königsbergs main battery got in some firing practice before the ship was sunk. By the time Looff rendezvoused with Somalia later that day, his ship was down at a mere 14 tons of coal. Somalia transferred some 850 tons of coal to the cruiser, which permitted a sweep to Madagascar. No British or French ships were found, however, and so Königsberg met Somalia again on 23 August and took on coal for four days of cruising.
In the meantime, British warships bombarded Dar es Salaam and destroyed the German wireless station there. Somalias captain, a knowledgeable local pilot, suggested the Rufiji
Rufiji River
The Rufiji River lies entirely within the African nation of Tanzania. The river is formed by the convergence of the Kilombero and Luwegu rivers. It is approximately 600 km long, with its source in southwestern Tanzania and its mouth on the Indian Ocean at a point between Mafia Island called Mafia...
Delta as a hiding place; he had been part of a survey team and had charted that area of the colony and found the river unexpectedly deep. The Navy activated the Somalia captain's reserve commission and he was appointed Königsbergs pilot. On 3 September 1914 at high tide, Königsberg passed over the bar at the mouth of the Rufiji and slowly made her way up the river. Coast watchers were stationed at the mouth of the river and telegraph lines were run to ensure the Germans would not be surprised by British ships searching for them.
When, on 19 September 1914, Captain Looff learned from the coast watchers that a 2-funnel warship had entered the harbor of Zanzibar
Zanzibar
Zanzibar ,Persian: زنگبار, from suffix bār: "coast" and Zangi: "bruin" ; is a semi-autonomous part of Tanzania, in East Africa. It comprises the Zanzibar Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of numerous small islands and two large ones: Unguja , and Pemba...
, he assumed that it was either Astraea or Pegasus; it was in fact the latter. Pegasus had put in to Zanzibar to repair problems with its engines. Königsberg had again full bunkers thanks to transports from Dar es Salaam and Looff decided to act immediately. With the afternoon tide the ship left the delta and started her run north to Zanzibar. At dawn the next day Königsberg fired salvos for 20 minutes into the stationary Pegasus in what came to be known as the Battle of Zanzibar. Pegasus had been hit some 200 times, and had suffered 31 fatalities and 55 injuries. While leaving the harbor, Königsberg spotted the picket ship Helmut and sank her with three shells.
Battle of Rufiji Delta
During this time, the British reinforced the ships tasked with tracking down the elusive German raider, and placed the ships under the command of Captain Sidney R. Drury-Lowe. On 19 October, the cruiser found the German East Africa Line ship Präsident at Lindi
Lindi
Lindi is a coastal town located at the far end of the Lindi Bay, on the Indian Ocean in southeastern Tanzania. The town is 450 kilometers south of Dar es Salaam and 105 kilometers north of Mtwara, the southernmost coastal town in Tanzania, and gives its name to the surrounding Lindi Region, one...
. A boarding party searched the ship and discovered documents indicating she had supplied Königsberg with coal the previous month. On 30 October, the cruiser located Königsberg and Somalia in the Delta. Chatham, Dartmouth, and blockaded the Rufiji Delta to ensure Königsberg could not escape.
Mangrove
Mangroves are various kinds of trees up to medium height and shrubs that grow in saline coastal sediment habitats in the tropics and subtropics – mainly between latitudes N and S...
swamps, which concealed the ship and offered a degree of cover from British shellfire, especially while the British ships remained outside of the river. A collier, Newbridge, was converted into a blockship
Blockship
A blockship is a ship deliberately sunk to prevent a river, channel, or canal from being used.It may either be sunk by a navy defending the waterway to prevent the ingress of attacking enemy forces, as in the case of HMS Hood at Portland Harbour; or it may be brought by enemy raiders and used to...
to be sunk in the main channel of the delta to prevent Königsbergs escape. Despite heavy German fire from both sides of the river, the British successfully sank Newbridge across one of the delta mouths. The German raider could still put to sea via other channels, and so dummy mines were laid in some of these alternates, but they were considered a doubtful deterrent. Looff decided to move his ship as far up the river as possible, to make it more difficult for the British to destroy her. In doing so, his ship would occupy a disproportionate number of British vessels that could otherwise be employed elsewhere.
A civilian pilot, Denis Cutler of Durban, South Africa, was commissioned into the Royal Marines and convinced to make his private Curtiss
Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company
Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company was an American aircraft manufacturer that went public in 1916 with Glenn Hammond Curtiss as president. Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, the company was the largest aircraft manufacturer in the United States...
seaplane
Seaplane
A seaplane is a fixed-wing aircraft capable of taking off and landing on water. Seaplanes that can also take off and land on airfields are a subclass called amphibian aircraft...
available for the British Empire. Lieutenant Cutler and the mechanic he hired on the ship transporting the airplane, arrived 15 November 1914 to report to the captain of Chatham. On 19 November Cutler flew his first reconnaissance mission and was able to verify the presence of the elusive cruiser. A pair of Royal Naval Air Service
Royal Naval Air Service
The Royal Naval Air Service or RNAS was the air arm of the Royal Navy until near the end of the First World War, when it merged with the British Army's Royal Flying Corps to form a new service , the Royal Air Force...
Sopwiths were brought up with the intention of scouting and even bombing the ship. They soon fell apart in the tropical conditions. A trio of Short
Short Brothers
Short Brothers plc is a British aerospace company, usually referred to simply as Shorts, that is now based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Founded in 1908, Shorts was the first company in the world to make production aircraft and was a manufacturer of flying boats during the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s...
seaplanes fared a little better, managing even to take photographs of the ship before they were grounded by the glue-melting tropical heat and German fire.
In November, the British sought to use the 12 inches (305 mm) guns of the old battleship to sink the cruiser. The attempt was unsuccessful, once again because the shallow waters prevented the battleship from getting within range. In December, Lieutenant Colonel Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck requested as many crew members from the ship as possible for his guerrilla campaign; a total of 220 men were left aboard to keep the ship in fighting condition. This was not enough, however, to permit the ship to go to sea. On 23 December, the British attempted to force the delta with a pair of shallow-draft ships. They scored a single hit on Somalia before German defensive fire forced them to retreat.
In the meantime, conditions were deteriorating on Königsberg. There were shortages of coal, ammunition, food, and medical supplies. Although safe from the British, the crew was ravaged by malaria
Malaria
Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease of humans and other animals caused by eukaryotic protists of the genus Plasmodium. The disease results from the multiplication of Plasmodium parasites within red blood cells, causing symptoms that typically include fever and headache, in severe cases...
and other tropical ailments. Generally cut off from the outside world, the morale of the sailors fell. However, the situation was marginally improved with a scheme to resupply the ship and give her a fighting chance to return home. A captured British merchant ship, Rubens, was renamed Kronborg. It was given a Danish
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
flag, papers, and a crew of German sailors selected for their ability to speak Danish
Danish language
Danish is a North Germanic language spoken by around six million people, principally in the country of Denmark. It is also spoken by 50,000 Germans of Danish ethnicity in the northern parts of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, where it holds the status of minority language...
. It was then packed with coal, field guns, ammunition, fresh water, and the like. After successfully infiltrating the waters of East Africa, it was intercepted by the alerted , which chased it to Manza Bay
Manza Bay
Manza Bay is located on the coast of Tanzania, some north of the town of Tanga.- History :During World War I a German vessel called the Kronborg , on a mission to resupply the besieged SMS Königsberg, was sunk by the British ship HMS Hyacinth.During World War II the Royal Navy laid indicator loops...
. The trapped ship was eventually sunk, burnt, and left for scrap. Astonishingly, upon investigation by the Germans, much of her cargo was deemed salvageable, and made its way to Königsberg partially by rail, and for the remainder on the backs of African porters.
Finally, in April 1915, the British Admiralty
Admiralty
The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...
agreed to a plan submitted by Drury-Lowe the previous November, which envisioned attacking the German cruiser with shallow-draft monitor
Monitor (warship)
A monitor was a class of relatively small warship which was neither fast nor strongly armoured but carried disproportionately large guns. They were used by some navies from the 1860s until the end of World War II, and saw their final use by the United States Navy during the Vietnam War.The monitors...
s, capable of navigating the Rufiji River. Two of the warships, and , armed with a pair of 6 in (15.2 cm) guns each, were brought from Britain. On 6 July 1915, the two monitors crossed the outer sandbar and steamed up the river, despite heavy fire from German positions on the river banks. They stopped at a point they thought to be 10000 yd (9,144 m) from Königsberg, which would be in range of their own guns but farther than the smaller German guns could reply. Aircraft were used to spot the fall of shot. The monitors' navigation was faulty, however, and after opening fire, found themselves to be within range of Königsbergs guns as well. In the span of three hours, Königsberg had forced both British ships to withdraw.
The next day 33 German sailors were buried by the 188 remaining crewmen. A plaque was placed near the graves, reading "Beim Untergang S.M.S. Königsberg am 11.7.15 gefallen..." ("fallen during the sinking of SMS Königsberg on 11 July 1915...") followed by a list of the dead. The armament and all other useful equipment and material were removed from the wreck and, together with the ship's crew, went on to see service in the East African land campaign under Lieutenant Colonel Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck
Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck
Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck was a general in the Imperial German Army and the commander of the German East Africa campaign. For four years, with a force that never exceeded about 14,000 , he held in check a much larger force of 300,000 British, Belgian, and Portuguese troops...
. Königsbergs 10.5 cm guns played especially prominent roles for the Germans for the rest of the war, acting as the theater's heaviest field artillery, used in harbor fortifications, and even remounted on the converted ferry Götzen
MV Liemba
The MV Liemba, formerly the Graf von Götzen, is a passenger and cargo ferry that runs along the eastern shore of Lake Tanganyika...
, the German "capital ship" of the inland Lake Tanganyika
Lake Tanganyika
Lake Tanganyika is an African Great Lake. It is estimated to be the second largest freshwater lake in the world by volume, and the second deepest, after Lake Baikal in Siberia; it is also the world's longest freshwater lake...
fleet. The surviving sailors, organized as the Königsberg-Abteilung, eventually surrendered on 26 November 1917 and were interned in British Egypt. In 1919, after the war, the men took park in a parade through the Brandenburg Gate
Brandenburg Gate
The Brandenburg Gate is a former city gate and one of the most well-known landmarks of Berlin and Germany. It is located west of the city centre at the junction of Unter den Linden and Ebertstraße, immediately west of the Pariser Platz. It is the only remaining gate of a series through which...
to celebrate them and their ship. The wreck of Königsberg was eventually broken up for scrap in 1963–1965.