The North Sea and Channel 1914

The news of the Coronel defeat created consternation in Eng land and immediate steps were taken to retrieve the position. The battlecruisers "Invincible" and "Inflexible," from the Grand Fleet, were placed under the orders of Admiral Sturdee, who was given a wide commission to seek out and destroy von Spee, wherever he might be, in the South Atlantic or Pacific Oceans. Sturdee left Plymouth on Nov. 11 and concentrated his force at the Abrolhos Rocks on Nov. 26, the same day that von Spee left St. Quintin Bay for the Falkland Islands. Now that von Spee's position was better known four other squadrons were quickly concentrated in order to deal with him. Patey, in the battlecruiser "Aus tralia," with a squadron of British and Japanese ships watched the middle Pacific ; a Japanese squadron was concentrated at the Galapagos Islands and the Battlecruiser "Princess Royal" was sent to the West Indies, in case von Spee should attempt to pass the Panama Canal. De Robeck on the African Coast and Stoddart off Montevideo were reinforced with armoured ships, in case von Spee should escape Sturdee, who, after searching the South American Coast, arrived at Port Stanley on Dec. 7 Von Spee rounded the Horn on Dec. 2, delayed for three days to coal from a prize in the Beagle Channel, and arrived off Port Stanley on the morning of Dec. 8. Sturdee put to sea and there followed the battle of the Falkland Islands (q.v.) in which the German squadron was destroyed, only one ship, the "Dresden," escaping.

The End of t1it Cruiser Campaign.

Despite the incessant demands for the protection of troop convoys and support for military expeditions that had so hampered the Admirals in their first duty of commerce protection, the British Navy in the first eight months of the war cleared the German flag from the outer seas. By the end of 1914, only one of the thirteen German cruisers abroad was unaccounted for and of the five armed merchantships only two remained at large. The "Dresden," escaping from the Falkland Islands battle, was hunted and helpless until she was sunk by the "Glasgow" and "Kent" at Juan Fernandez on Mar. 14. The "Kronprinz Wilhelm" (April 8) and "Prinz Eitel Fried rich" (Mar. 12) were interned at Newport News, and the "Konigs berg," having been discovered in hiding in the Rufiji River was destroyed on July 11. By the end of Mar. 1915, the Canadian, Australian, New Zealand and Indian armies had been carried overseas, garrisons abroad had been replaced by territorial troops, without the loss of a troopship and naval support had been given to six considerable military operations. This was accomplished with the loss to the Navy upon the outer seas of three cruisers ("Good Hope," "Monmouth" and "Pegasus") and of 62 merchant ships. The German cruisers had caused a loss amounting to less than two thirds of 1% of British seaborne commerce during the period.

The Goeben and Breslau.

The first duty of the British Med iterranean squadron was to watch the movements of the German cruisers "Goeben" and "Breslau." On Aug. 3, their whereabouts being unknown, Admiral Milne stationed the 1st Cruiser squadron. (Troubridge) with destroyers to prevent them entering the Adri atic and sent the battlecruisers "Indomitable" and "Indefatigable" towards Gibraltar to stop them interfering with the transport of Algerian troops or escaping into the Atlantic. At 10.30 A.M. on

Aug. 4 the German cruisers, who that morning had bombarded Phillipville, were sighted by the British battlecruisers and were shadowed by them into Messina. On Aug. 5; the situation was complicated by the Italian declaration of neutrality and by Austria not yet being at war with Britain, while the information received by Milne was conflicting. Expecting the Germans to break west ward, he placed his force to prevent them escaping from the north of Messina, leaving Troubridge to deny them the Adriatic. On the evening of Aug. 6th the Germans sailed from the south of the Straits, gallantly and skilfully shadowed by the "Gloucester." Troubridge did not bring them to action and when they passed Cape Matapan, the "Gloucester" was recalled from her pre carious position. Milne followed into the Aegean on the 9th but was too late to prevent the two German ships entering the Darda nelles on Aug. 1o. Their escape was unfortunate as it had a far reaching effect upon subsequent events in the Near East.

Af ter the safe passage of the Algerian troops the security of the Mediterranean was undertaken by the French fleet, which, using Malta as its base from Aug. 16, established a blockade of the Adriatic. Admiral Carden was appointed to command the reduced British force in the Mediterranean and with it he established a blockade of the Dardanelles. On Nov. 3rd, on Turkey declaring war, he bombarded the outer forts of the Dardanelles as a demon stration. The watch upon the Dardanelles was kept with few ships for the cruisers were called upon to guard the Malta–Port Said route during the passage of troop convoys. It was uneventful, except for the daring exploit of Submarine "B. II," which on Dec. 13 dived through five rows of mines in the Dardanelles, torpedoed and sank the Turkish battleship "Messudieh" and returned safely.

Togoland and the Cameroons.

A stroke by the Gold Coast forces on the outbreak of war led to the occupation of Togoland and the destruction of the important German wireless station at Kanima. Before the end of August the colony had surrendered and an attack was launched upon the German Cameroons. On Aug. 25 the British cruiser "Cumberland" and the gunboat "Dwarf" left Sierra Leone to attack Duala, followed by the cruiser "Challenger" and the Niger flotilla with a British and French military force. A base was established in the Cameroon estuary and after a month of flotilla warfare, in which the "Dwarf" played a prominent part, the river was cleared of mines and obstructions. The "Challenger" then entered and on Sept. 27 Duala surrendered to a combined naval and military attack. Nine large German steamers, a floating dock and two railway termini were captured. River warfare in support of the military advance inland then developed. The "Cumberland," "Challenger" and French cruiser "Bruix," being required elsewhere, were relieved by the cruiser "Astraea" from the Cape and with the arrival of the old cruiser "Sirius" and the sloop "Rinaldo" in April 1915 a blockade was established to prevent supplies reaching the enemy from the Spanish island of Fernando Po. The colony was, by this time, in Allied hands, but fighting in the hinterland continued for two years.