Crête-à-Pierrot
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The Crête-à-Pierrot was a Haitian gunboat that served as the flagship of the Haitian Navy from 1896 until its sinking in 1902 . It was blown up by its own crew on September 6th as part of the Markomannia incident in the port of Gonaïves and then finally sunk by gunfire by the German gunboat SMS Panther .
period of service
After its completion in Hull , the Crête was fully equipped and armed in France and in the course of 1896 it was put into service in Haiti, where it served as the flagship of the Navy, which consisted of only a few gunboats. The first in command was a Scottish mercenary , Captain Gilmour. In this era, numerous Scots and English served as machinists or engineers in Latin American navies, as these often did not have enough technically qualified personnel. The function of the Haitian navy at this time was not so much the defense against external opponents, but rather it served as an internal political instrument of the respective government to control the coastal area in order to repel landing attempts by opposing parties from the sea side.
In mid-1902 the gunboat was commanded by the British Captain Reed (other spelling Read), about whom no further information is available. Also, the first officer Oxley and the chief engineer Cree were British nationals. Since the Crête served as the flagship, Admiral Hammerton Killick (1856-1902) was also on board. He and the Navy had joined the Revolutionary Party under Anténor Firmin in June of that year and tried to intercept any support for the Provisional President Pierre Nord Alexis . As part of this discussion, he blocked the Crête the port of Cap Haitien and stopped the HAPAG - steamer Markomannia , the u. a. Carrying weapons for the Alexis government, from which the Marcomannia incident developed.
Both the Alexis government and the German government viewed Killick's actions as an act of piracy . The gunboat SMS Panther , operating in the Caribbean , and Commander Korvettenkapitän Richard Eckermann , then received an order from the Admiral's staff to either board the Crête and hand it over to the Alexis government or to sink it.
On September 6, 1902, the Crête was found in the port of La Gonaives. Eckermann gave Killick an ultimatum , whereupon the 150-strong crew left the ship. When a boarding party under the Panther's chief officer wanted to cross over, there were several explosions on the crête , which set the stern on fire. Eckermann then ordered the fire to be opened. After several hits, the crête broke apart and sank to the bottom of the harbor basin. It was later found that Killick had stayed aboard and blew up the ship so as not to let it fall into the hands of the Provisional Government.
Killick's body was recovered and buried the next day. Apparently three other crew members were also killed. It is not known whether the wreck was later recovered. The former Italian cruiser Umbria was later bought to replace the Crête .
On September 20, 1902 interviewed reporter of the Daily Mail in Gonaives, the two British officers of the sunken gunboat. After that, the British Killick had before application of Markomannia warned because its blockade of Cap Haitien not effective and therefore international law was not recognized. However, Killick pushed these concerns aside. On September 4, the Crete entered Gonaïves and put out the boiler, as the ship had been in continuous use for three months and the engine urgently needed maintenance. The captain, Reed (or Read), had fallen ill and had been disembarked the day before the attack. Killick was not informed of the presence of the German gunboat in Haitian waters. He wanted to take up the fight first, but decided to sink the ship himself in order not to create international entanglements with the German Reich. The German commander then immediately left the port without bothering about the German residents, although an angry crowd had gathered in the meantime. However, General Firmin immediately dispatched police officers to protect the German consulate, so that there were no riots.
literature
- NN: The destruction of the Haitian rebel cruiser "Crête à Pierrot" by SMKbt. "Panther" , in: Marine-Rundschau , 13th year, 1902, pp. 1189–97.
- Robert L. Scheina: Latin America. A Naval History 1810-1987 , Annapolis, MD (Naval Institute Press) 1987. ISBN 0-87021-295-8
- THE SUNKEN GUNBOAT, in: Timaru Herald, December 12, 1902, based on a report in the Daily Mail of Port-au-Prince of September 20, 1902, online version
- Robert Gardiner (Ed.): Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships: 1860-1905 , London (Conway Maritime Press) 1979. ISBN 0-85177-133-5 .
- Killick went down with his warship . New York Times report ofSeptember 11, 1902 on the sinking of the gunboat (PDF)