Cruiser squadron of the Imperial Navy
A cruiser squadron is generally used to denote associations of warships , primarily cruisers , in squadron strength . Their tasks included securing the trade routes by sea, operations on enemy coasts and tracking down and fighting enemy convoys and warship formations.
In the German Imperial Navy , cruiser squadrons were sent to support the colonial policy of the empire in order to pacify uprisings , unrest and disputes in the colonies . There were several East Asian, East African and West African cruiser squadrons, as well as two East Asian and one East American cruiser divisions.
The first permanent cruiser squadron was formed in Tschifu (China) in early 1881 under the sea captain and Commodore Louis von Blanc . The usual name was therefore East Asian Cruiser Squadron , although it also appeared off Australia, in the South Seas and finally off East Africa. From 1886 to 1893, the Imperial Navy set up a permanent cruiser squadron that commuted in the region between the east coast of Africa, Australia and the west coast of South America. This squadron was to be given up in 1893 for cost reasons. The Sino-Japanese War (1894), however, forced all the great powers to increase their units in East Asia.
East Asian Cruiser Squadron 1881–1915
West African Squadron 1884–1885
On July 14, 1884, Gustav Nachtigal concluded protection treaties with headmen of the Duala in Bellstadt ( Douala ) in the presence of the gunboat Möwe , hoisted the German flag and took possession of Cameroon as a colony of German West Africa for the German Empire . Then the seagull left its station area in front of Cameroon and raised flags in the coastal areas of Gabon, Togo and Angola. Then she participated in the founding of the colony German South West Africa .
In the meantime, German economic interests in Cameroon, especially the branches of the Hamburg shipping company Carl Woermann and the Jantzen & Thormählen company , have been jeopardized by annexation measures by other European powers on the west coast of Africa. Soon there were revolts among the local population, fueled by English colonialists. On September 30, 1884, Kaiser Wilhelm I issued the order to set up a West African squadron under the command of the Chief of Staff of the Admiralty , Rear Admiral Eduard von Knorr . He set his flag on the cruiser frigate Bismarck on October 15th .
- Cruiser frigate Bismarck - flagship September 1884 to July 1885
- Cruiser corvette Ariadne ; October 1884
- Cruiser frigate Gneisenau ; October to December 1884
- Cruiser corvette Olga ; October 1884 to April 1885
- Tender steamer Adler
First squadron deployment off West Africa
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The squadron began its journey to Cameroon on October 30th. In the Cape Verde Islands , the Ariadne were released to Liberia and French Guinea and the Gneisenau to East Africa. On December 17th, the Bismarck and the Olga anchored in the Cameroon River behind the Suellaba point.
Shortly before, the settlement of Ndumbe Bell , king of the Duala , had been burned down and the German flag removed. Admiral Knorr decided to intervene immediately. The landing corps of the two ships were set down to destroy the rebel towns and to arrest their chiefs. Two coastal steamer, fan and Dualla were used as landing craft and put on 20 December together 307 soldiers, three 8.7-cm naval guns and a 3.7-cm machine gun at Hickorytown ashore. The resistance of the rioters was broken around noon; they fled into the mangrove forests .
In the meantime, the landing corps received the news that rebels had attacked the Jantzen & Thormählen factory on the opposite bank and kidnapped its chief. The troops crossed over and captured the tenaciously defended Joß-Platte jutting out into the river and the town of Joßtown. Towards evening the murder of the head of the factories became known. The next morning some ringleaders were arrested. In the afternoon the Olga , which after previous explorations had dared the trip upriver at high tide, appeared with Admiral Knorr on board. After further searches and shelling of villages with mortar fire , the landing party returned to their ships on 22 December. The company had cost one dead and eight wounded, and malaria broke out in many of the participants .
The Olga with Rear Admiral Knorr remained in the unrest area, the Bismarck could not follow because of her depth . After the state of siege and the declaration of a trade blockade and the rejection of the presumptuous behavior of the British consul Edward H. Hewett, who had appeared on the gunboat Watchful , the unrest subsided. By January 1885 there was final calm among the population, by March the chiefs also bowed to the violence and even handed over the murderer of the factor leader Pantaenius for execution. The arguments among them also stopped.
On December 31, 1884, the gunboat Möwe returned to Cameroon. She was commissioned to bring the seriously ill Reich Commissioner Nachtigal to a better climate in the Canary Islands , but Gustav Nachtigal died on April 21 on board. The gunboat then drove through the Mediterranean to East Africa. The Olga caused by the as stationary provided, arrived on March 23, 1885 gunship hawk was replaced, could together with the Tender eagles return to their homeland. The Bismarck initially undertook trips along the coast and hoisted the German flag in several places in the Cameroon area, and also had explorations carried out in the hinterland. The order to go via South West Africa to East Africa could not be carried out until July 7th after the arrival of the first Imperial Governor for Cameroon, Baron von Soden . In the meantime, she carried out surveying work in the Cameroon River and intervened on the coast of Togo in local delimitation differences with France. The gunboat Cyclop arrived in Cameroon as the second stationary .
After tribal feuds and unrest in the colonial area were pacified, the West African cruiser squadron was disbanded in July 1885. New tasks awaited off the coast of East Africa.
Second squadron deployment off West Africa
In September 1885, Captain Karl Paschen received the order to form an independent squadron from the cruiser frigates Stosch , Prince Adalbert and Gneisenau , which were under the command of Rear Admiral Knorr in the squadron operation in front of East Africa, and to move them to West Africa. On October 11, the Stosch first went into dock in Cape Town . The long repair time caused Paschen, who had been promoted to Rear Admiral on October 1, to transfer to the Prinz Adalbert in order to get to his area of operations more quickly. However, the political situation had calmed down so much that the Gneisenau could return to East Africa, while Prince Adalbert and Stosch received the order to return home.
A special assignment took Rear Admiral Paschen to Cameroon to investigate the political situation there. At the end of November, Stosch and Prince Adalbert met again outside Freetown . Paschen switched back to the Stosch and now took on the task of waiting for the development of the Caroline dispute between Spain and Germany off the Cape Verde Islands. Only when this through an arbitration ruling by Pope Leo XIII. was settled, the journey home was continued and the West African squadron disbanded in December 1885.
East African Cruiser Squadron 1885–1886
Carl Peters founded the " Society for German Colonization " in 1884 and received an order from them to acquire territory in East Africa. However, the Reich government had refused to place Peters' expedition under the protection of the Reich. Nevertheless, he began to sign “ protection treaties ” with Zanzibar on the mainland . The conclusion of the contract consisted in Peters visiting local chiefs and - often after having had a lot of alcohol - presented them in German-language documents, on which they then drew crosses as signatures. In it they were promised protection from enemies, and conversely the rights of the colonization society were described as follows: the sole and unrestricted right to levy duties and taxes, to set up a judiciary and administration, to bring armed troops into the country and to settle the mountains, rivers, lakes and To leave forests for any use. A check was made to see whether the African contracting parties understood what they were presented with or whether they even had a power of attorney to dispose of the abovementioned powers.
The Sultan of Zanzibar , Barghasch ibn Said , protested in vain, who for generations had claimed the East African coastline as the domain of his family. By 1870, the East African territory of the Sultanate of Zanzibar had spread inland to beyond Lake Tanganyika . Now a conflict of interest arose with the German-East African Society , which began in 1884 to acquire rulership rights on the continent. Wilhelm I gave Peters an imperial letter of protection over the landscapes of Usagara, Nguru, Useguha and Ukami and on May 9, by cabinet order, formally issued the order to set up a cruiser squadron and at the same time ordered its composition.
Four days earlier, Wilhelm I had again appointed Admiral Knorr, who at that time was still in West African waters after the dissolution of the West African squadron on SMS Bismarck , as squadron chief.
Like the Bismarck , the ships intended for the squadron were widely dispersed. In June 1885, the Stosch , which was reclassified as a cruiser frigate , left Australia with Commodore Karl Paschen on board. Together with the Gneisenau , she arrived in Port Louis ( Mauritius ) on July 5 to await the warships assigned to the new cruiser squadron. As a result, Paschen acted as Knorr's deputy and leader of the squadron's 2nd division. Knorr himself reached Cape Town on July 28 with Bismarck and Möwe and then continued the journey to the East African coast. The original plan was that Knorr should also go to Mauritius to the squadron's meeting point. However , the onward journey was delayed by the Bismarck's stay in the shipyard in Cape Town, so that Knorr received the order from Chancellor Leo von Caprivi to go directly to Zanzibar to meet the other ships of the squadron coming from Mauritius. These should be taken there from Paschen on an interim basis.
- Cruiser frigate Stosch - flagship July to 17 August 1885
- Cruiser frigate Bismarck - flagship August 17, 1885 to January 1886
First German squadron deployment off East Africa
On July 31st, the East African cruiser squadron assembled so far left Mauritius under Paschen heading for Zanzibar, where it arrived on August 7th. On the same day, in a show of force action , Paschen had the ships of the squadron set up in Kiellinie northwest of the city of Zanzibar, from where projectiles of the East African squadron could have reached the sultan's palace in support of the German demands, if necessary. On August 8, Commodore Paschen and Consul General Travers had an official audience with Sultan Barghasch ibn Said. On August 11, negotiations began on the recognition of the German protectorate over all land acquired by Germans on the African mainland between Southeast Africa and the Somali coast . On August 13, Sultan Said Bargasch signed the agreement that gave the Germans all the sovereign rights they wanted on the mainland .
On August 19, Rear Admiral Knorr arrived with the Bismarck as the new squadron commander off Zanzibar. Under his leadership, on behalf of the Foreign Office, a friendship, trade and shipping agreement with the Sultan of Zanzibar was negotiated in a friendly manner without further military provocation. The treaty, which was coordinated with the British Consul General in Zanzibar, was ratified on December 20, 1885 on board the Bismarck . With that, Knorr had fulfilled his mandate.
At the turn of the year 1885/86 the squadron consisted of Bismarck , Gneisenau , Möwe as well as Olga , who had arrived from West Africa, and the gunboat Hyäne, who had arrived from the South Seas . Cruises off the coast, including an official visit by the Gneisenau to the Sultan of Witu , ended with orders from home that seagulls and hyenas had to remain as station ships in East Africa, and Admiral Knorr to go to Australia with Bismarck , Gneisenau and Olga , what with the departure of the ships on January 9th. The East African cruiser squadron, considered by the naval command as a temporary instrument for locally limited local intervention, was thus initially dissolved.
Permanent cruiser squadron 1886–1891
After operations in the South Seas , the remaining ships of the Bismarck , Gneisenau and Olga squadron met again on July 23 under KAdm Knorr in Hong Kong . There they also met the Nautilus , the gunboat Wolf and the corvette Carola, who had arrived to replace the Gneisenau . During a stay in Nagasaki , Knorr received the order to return to East Africa with the ships, now reunited as a "permanent cruiser squadron", in order to settle new border disputes with the Sultan of Zanzibar on the basis of the London Treaty of October 29, 1886.
Second German squadron deployment off East Africa
With the treaty, a British-German commission set the limits of the Zanzibari mainland holdings. They should therefore encompass a coastal strip on the Mrima ten nautical miles wide from Cape Delgado (today Mozambique ) to Kipini (today Kenya ) with all the offshore islands. The squadron was supposed to ensure the transition of individual Zanzibarian "coastal windows" to German administration and the entry into force of a trade agreement concluded in the previous year. That was in December 1886. From March to May 1887 the squadron relocated to Cape Town due to colonial disputes between the German Empire and France and thus closer to the disputed West African possessions. On April 15, Knorr handed over his command to Captain Karl Eduard Heusner , who in turn made the Bismarck his flagship.
- Cruiser frigate Bismarck - flagship December 1886 to April 1887
- Cruiser corvette Olga ;
- Cruiser corvette Carola ;
- Cruiser corvette Sophie ; November 1886 to June 1892
- Cruiser IV class seagull ; August 1885 to August 1889 (temporarily)
- Gunboat Hyena (temporarily)
- Gunboat Adler (temporarily)
In 1887 Carl Peters finally reached an agreement with Barghash ibn Said, the Sultan of Zanzibar, who placed the Zanzibari coastal strip from Umba to Rovuma under the administration of his company. The southern stretch of coast was leased to the Germans in 1888.
German squadron deployment in Samoa and East Asia
When tensions with France subsided, Heusner received orders to return to the Central Pacific. On June 9, the ships reached Sydney, where they met the gunboat Albatross , which was unable to make its way back to Germany due to propulsion problems. In Sydney, the Adler gunboat joined the squadron that took part in the city's celebrations to mark the 40th anniversary of Queen Victoria's reign . The German squadron left Sydney on August 3 for Apia , where they arrived 16 days later. The Samoan civil war continued there and attacks on German nationals by the supporters of Malietoa Laupepa, who had been deported by the Germans to Jaluit shortly before , escalated the situation. On August 25, Heusner sent a 500-man landing corps ashore to occupy the government buildings on the island.
After the conflict ended, Bismarck , Carola and Sophie drove to Kaiser-Wilhelms-Land , while Olga and Adler stayed in Apia to prevent further unrest. Later in 1887, the squadron cruised in East Asian waters and on January 6, 1888, the ships met in Hong Kong with the stationary there, the gunboats Wolf and Iltis . On March 7, after three and a half years of service abroad , the Bismarck was ordered back to Nagasaki for overhaul as the flagship of the squadron and then to Germany. Meanwhile, Heusner received the order to bring the squadron back to East Africa.
Third German squadron deployment off East Africa
The uprising of the East African coastal population (in German sources also called "Arabs uprising") in the years 1888–1890 was a resistance movement against the attempt by the German East African Society (DOAG) to extend their rule over the Zanzibar coastal strip of today's Tanzania . The leader of the uprising was Buschiri bin Salim . The uprising quickly led to the collapse of the DOAG, which sought help from the German Reich and ceded its claims to the German state in October 1890. Then the colony German East Africa was founded .
- Cruiser frigate Leipzig - flagship July 1888 to January 1891
- Cruiser corvette Olga ;
- Cruiser corvette Sophie ; November 1886 to June 1892
- Cruiser corvette Carola ;
- Cruiser IV class seagull ; August 1885 to August 1889
- Cruiser IV. Class Schwalbe ; December 1888 to May 1893
- Aviso arrow ; November 1888 to September 1889
- Cruiser IV class Sparrowhawk ; October 1889 to April 1890 - not directly subordinated
Since 1885, Carl Peters had concluded agreements with local rulers on the East African mainland for the DOAG and thus established colonial claims. On April 28, 1888, the DOAG signed a contract with Sultan Chalifa ibn Said of Zanzibar, according to which the company took over the administration of the Zanzibari mainland and the collection of the coastal tariffs in the name of the Sultan for an annual rent. Company employees took up positions in the port towns. When the treaty was supposed to come into force on August 16, 1888, the uprising broke out and quickly spread from Pangani over the entire coast.
The trigger was the hoisting of the flag of the German-East African Society at 18 stations; in Tanga and Kilwa Kiwinje this was stopped by the local population. On August 19, the cruiser corvette Carola pushed forward to Pangani and landed a division of German marines. Similar scenes took place in Tanga, where DOAG personnel were arrested after attempting to take power. After the station was bombarded several times by the cruiser Möwe on September 5 and 6, Leipzig , Olga and Möwe brought naval troops ashore on September 8, which freed the colonialists from custody. A military operation was also necessary in Bagamoyo to enforce the hoisting of the DOAG flag. On September 22nd, the Leipzig fired its guns at the station, as did the seagull in front of Kilwa Kiwinje, killing the two German DOAG employees, and the Sophie in front of Mikindani and Lindi . There the DOAG employees managed to escape on boats. At the end of September only Bagamoyo and Dar es Salaam were held with the help of marines, all other stations were initially given up by the DOAG.
Despite the deployment of the East African Squadron, the DOAG was unable to effectively counter the local resistance to colonial submission. Thereupon there was an official request for help from the Reich government. At the beginning of November 1888 this concluded an agreement with Great Britain and Portugal in order to be able to block the east coast against sea trade, the import of war material and the export of slaves . With the beginning of the blockade in December 1888, Buschiri bin Salim intensified his troops' attacks, initially on Bagamoyo. On 5th / 6th December there were heavy fighting with the Leipzig , on December 24th and December 27th with the Carola . On December 31, the Leipzig brought the fourth gunfire attack on Bagamojo to failure.
At the beginning of January, the squadron was reinforced by the cruiser Schwalbe and the Aviso Pfeil . The swallow shelled a Swahili camp near Bagamoyo on January 3rd . After that, Buschiri shifted the focus of his attacks to Dar es Salaam. Between January 11th and 16th there was an uninterrupted chain of attacks, which were repulsed with gunfire by the Leipzig and the Möwe . On January 25, the Sophie got into a heavy battle in an attempt to drop a detachment of marines off Dar es Salaam. In February, Bagamojo again became the focus of the Swahili attacks. On February 3rd the Leipzig and on February 15th the Schwalbe successfully repelled attacks on the city. On March 3, there was a skirmish between the cruisers Leipzig and Sophie in Bagamojo. A guard department under Lt.zS Meier ( Leipzig ) captured two guns. Lt.zS von Bredow ( Sophie ) captured the Wālī von Lindi.
In February 1889 the Reich government sent the African-experienced officer Hermann von Wissmann to East Africa as Reich Commissioner, who in April 1889 set up a force of German officers and African mercenaries (" Askari "), the so-called " Wissmann Troop ", with which he African resistance put down. Several thousand African men, women and children were killed here - in addition to a few German soldiers. The Landing Corps of the East African Cruiser Squadron continued to play an important role. On May 8th the Buschiri camp near Bagamojo was stormed with the participation of the Leipzig , Carola and Schwalbe landing corps . Two days later, an operation against Mbegani and Mwangotini was carried out by the Leipzig landing corps . On June 6th, Saadani was bombarded with the participation of the Leipzig Landing Corps , Arrow , Swallow and Seagull . Then came the occupation of Uvindji by the Seagull Landing Corps . On July 8th, with the participation of the Landungskorps von Leipzig , Carola , Schwalbe , Möwe and Pfeil Pangani was captured, two days later Tanga was captured with the help of the same naval troops. On 10/11 On August 1st , an arrow landing corps took part in the advance against Chongoliani and Timbiani .
In mid-July 1890, the blockade of the Swahili sea trade was practically abandoned. The formal termination took place on September 29th. In October, the German-British spheres of interest on the Umba River were delimited with a tour by the Schwalbe and the British gunboat Mariner . On October 22, the East African coast from Witu to the southern border with Portuguese East Africa (now Mozambique ) was placed under German protection. With this, the German Reich took over the DOAG's claims to power, which was then limited to the role of operator of plantations and trading companies. The protectorate declaration was issued on October 29th on the cruiser Sperber . On the same occasion, the Sultanate of Zanzibar was declared a British protectorate and incorporated into the British colonial empire. This did not end the mission of the cruiser squadron in East Africa. On November 8th Saadani was captured, with the participation of the landing corps of Carola , Swallow and Sparrowhawk , and on 11/12. November the sparrowhawk supported the Wissman troops in the occupation of Mkwaja and Kipumbwe on the north coast.
With the successes in the summer of 1890, the resistance of the indigenous population to the German colonial rule in the northern and central section of German East Africa was essentially broken. This resulted in a considerable reduction in the number of tasks for the cruiser squadron, so that the swallow could go to Mauritius for a recreational stay in July and the seagull could start its journey home in August. The squadron flagship Leipzig moved to Cape Town for a repair and recovery stay. In the absence of the squadron commander, Korvettenkapitän Valette (Commander of the Carola ) took over his duties off East Africa. While the Leipzig was still in dock, Rear Admiral Deinhard and his ship were ordered to report to Kaiser Wilhelm II , who was in the eastern Mediterranean with his yacht Hohenzollern . On November 6th, the squadron chief reported to the emperor off Mytilene (Aegean Sea) to report. This honored the achievements of the East African cruiser squadron in a special cabinet order . Then the Leipzig docked in Venice to continue the repair work that had been started. Only on December 15, on that day, Buschiri was sentenced to death by a German court martial and executed, was the cruiser frigate able to undock again and ran via Malta and Port Said to Aden. There, Rear Admiral Deinhard had been ordered not to return to East Africa, but to march on to East Asia . On January 13, 1891, the squadron chief released the remaining ships Carola , Schwalbe and Sperber from his association and began the march to East Asia. There he was recalled to his home country on March 16, and in May 1890 Rear Admiral Victor Valois took over the squadron for him . From May 18, the Leipzig and Sophie cruised along the southern Chinese coast to Singapore. From there the journey was continued from July 21st to Sydney, where the cruiser corvette Alexandrine joined the formation, which had been in the station area there for a while. On October 18, the German ships continued to New Zealand and from there to Samoa until December 19, 1890. The squadron stayed in front of Apia over Christmas and the turn of the year, and then returned to Hong Kong via the Marshall Islands in January 1891 . In Nanking the squadron received orders to sail to Chile.
Permanent cruiser squadron 1891–1893
In Chile at the end of 1890 there was a revolution against President Balmaceda . A strong opposition under Colonel Canto (with the German military instructor and former Prussian captain Körner as chief of staff), to which the Chilean Navy under Kpt.zS Jorge Montt Álvarez had defected , achieved victory with the help of their warships. North of Valparaíso they landed a large unit of troops that should seek the decisive battle. International sea trade was severely affected by these processes and the sea powers, especially Great Britain, sent stronger naval forces, only the German Reich was missing. Chancellor Caprivi had initially refused to send German ships, but after a heated debate in the Reichstag changed his mind and in May 1891 issued an order to immediately march off to the cruiser squadron.
- Cruiser frigate Leipzig - flagship July 1888 to March 1893
- Cruiser corvette Sophie ; November 1886 to June 1892
- Cruiser corvette Alexandrine ; July 1889 to March 1893
- Cruiser corvette Arcona ; March 1892 to March 1893
- Cruiser corvette Marie ; January to March 1893
- Cruiser IV class seagull ; March to May 1892, February to March 1893
- Cruiser IV. Class Schwalbe ; March to May 1892, February to March 1893
Logically, Valois set out on May 4, 1891 with the Leipzig , the Alexandrine and the Sophie from Yokohama on the voyage across the Pacific, albeit without replenishing the coal reserves. The flagship Leipzig had used up its supplies during the crossing and had to be towed over 1217 nautical miles by the Sophie and the Alexandrine for 97 hours on the way to San Francisco . Via ports on the west coast of America, the association reached Valparaíso on July 6, 1891 , where the squadron arrived on the 9th.
The calm that still prevailed in the port city at that time made it possible for KAdm. Valois to visit the northern Chilean ports of Iquique and Coquimbo . When he returned to Valparaíso on August 20, the situation there came to a head. The rebels' conquest of the city was imminent. In coordination with the Intendant of the Chilean Navy, Vice Admiral Oscar Viel Toro , under the command of the First Officer of Leipzig , KK Koellner, a landing corps of all German ships with a strength of 9 officers and 291 men was disembarked on August 28 to - together with one Landing Corps of the British Corvette Champion - mainly to protect the districts inhabited by British and Germans. In addition, under the direction of the squadron doctor Dr. Prince set up a German military hospital for everyone involved in the fighting.
When the insurgents marched into the port city, they shot at and stormed the Chilean torpedo cannon boat Almirante Lynch , which was located near Leipzig and , as one of the few government-loyal naval units , sank the rebels' flagship, the armored frigate Blanco Encalada , on April 22, 1891 . Three lynch men died when the ship was stormed. The commander, Juan Fuentes, who succeeded in sinking a warship for the first time with a self-propelled torpedo , fled with most of the crew to the Leipzig . A total of 82 Chileans loyal to the government took the German ships to safety. The Germans negotiated with the insurgents the free withdrawal of Chilean NCOs and men from the ships of the squadron. The officers, including the last commander of the government-loyal Chilean naval units, Vice Admiral Oscar Viel y Toro, came to the Sophie , who took them into exile in Mollendo / Peru . The rapid victory of the insurgents and the rapid stabilization of the situation led to the withdrawal of the landed men on the German ships at the beginning of September, some of which were visiting other Chilean ports alone. At the beginning of November, the head of the fleet, Kpt.zS Jorge Montt Álvarez , was elected president as the successor to Balmaceda, who had died of suicide.
In mid-December the squadron was ordered to continue its journey from Berlin, which passed the Magellan Strait on New Year's Day 1891/92 and reached Montevideo on January 6, 1892 . After visiting some southern Brazilian ports with a strong population of German descent , the association reached Cape Town on February 21, where necessary repairs were carried out and Rear Admiral Friedrich von Pawelsz replaced the previous squadron chief. After repairs to SMS Leipzig , the association began its onward journey to East Africa on March 22nd. On the way there, the Delagoa Bay was called on March 22 , from where Pawels and some officers visited President Kruger of the Boer Republic of the Transvaal . Before East Africa the swallow and seagull stationed there joined the squadron at times. Since the situation in the colony was calm, the Leipzig and the Alexandrine moved on to East Asia on May 5th, and only the Sophie remained with the stationary, who returned home in June. Formally, the gap was made up by the Arcona cruiser corvette , which left Wilhelmshaven at the beginning of May, but first sailed to the West Indies .
With only two ships, Leipzig and Alexandrine , KAdm von Pawelsz continued the march, first to Colombo , where the replacement teams for the East Asia stationary Iltis and Wolf were taken on board. The usual cruises on the east China coast began from Hong Kong . In October 1892, outside Shanghai , the squadron chief unexpectedly received the order to return to East Africa as quickly as possible, where there seemed to be unrest over the successor to the seriously ill Sultan Said Ali of Zanzibar . After approaching Alexandrine , who was just on a recreational stay in Japan, the squadron began the march from Hong Kong on November 16.
On January 5, 1893, Leipzig and Alexandrine arrived at Zanzibar . They were joined by the cruiser corvette Arcona , coming from Central America . By assigning the cruiser corvette Marie , which had also been detached to Central America, the number of the association increased to 4 ships. In addition, the East Africa stationary swallow and seagull appeared again temporarily . The dispatch of the squadron to East Africa turned out to be superfluous, because despite all the British intrigues during the accession of Sultan Hamid ben Tuwain to the throne, things remained quiet on the East African coast.
After repair work on Leipzig , Alexandrine and Arcona in Cape Town, the cruiser squadron was to return to the South Seas and East Asia. But the bad state of preservation of the flagship no longer allowed the planned transfer. On March 29, 1893, the Leipzig was called back home and on April 6, the permanent cruiser squadron was disbanded.
East American Cruiser Division 1900–1905
Because of the continuing unrest in Venezuela , the German government felt compelled in 1900 to permanently occupy the East American station, which had only been visited temporarily. First the cruiser Vineta arrived, later other warships.
In 1902 Venezuela's refusal to pay off foreign debts in various European countries forced the use of British and German warships to enforce national interests ( Venezuela crisis ). After an ultimatum to the government of Venezuelan President Cipriano Castro went unanswered, the German ships, reinforced by retribution and quail , began to seize Venezuelan warships on December 10, including the gunboat Restaurador . Four days later this action was completed. An arrest of the German consul in La Guaira could be prevented by a landing corps of the Vineta , to which the British put the retribution to the side without being asked . In return, the German landing corps helped protect British nationals.
On December 16, 1902, they were combined to form the East American Cruiser Division for the tighter management of the ships of the East American Station lying in front of Venezuela. Captain of the sea and commodore Georg Scheder were appointed head of division.
On December 20th, the British government blocked the Venezuelan ports. Germany and Italy followed suit. Vice-Admiral Douglas took over command of the ships of the three countries on the Ariadne . On the German side, in addition to the confiscated Venezuelan gunboat Restaurador, the following ships were involved:
- Large cruiser Vineta (1897) - flagship June 1900 to March 1905
- Training ship Moltke ; September to December 1901
- School ship stone ; October 1901 to January 1902
- Small cruiser falcon ; November 1901 to March 1905
- Small cruiser Gazelle ; February 1902 to June 1904
- Gunboat Panther ; August 1902 to March 1905
- Training ship Charlotte ; November 1902 to January 1903
- Training ship Stosch ; November 1902 to January 1903
- Small cruiser Sparrowhawk ; February to March 1903
- Coal steamer Sibiria ( Hapag )
On January 4, 1903, German landing corps occupied the port of Puerto Cabello and the ships lying in the roadstead . After the Panther was shot at from Fort San Carlos on January 17 when entering Maracaibo and had to break off the fight because its gun jammed, the Vineta moved up and shot the fort with heavy artillery fire. There was no resistance because the fort had been hastily abandoned by its crew.
This was the only combat mission of the East American Division in the conflict, because a diplomatic solution had meanwhile been found. At a peace conference in Washington , Venezuela received back all the ships seized and in return paid off the debt to Great Britain and Germany. The aim of the military operation was thus achieved. On February 14, 1903, the blockade was lifted. The squadron remained together even after the blockade and the Vineta , Gazelle , Panther and Falcon were routinely overhauled in Halifax , Newport News and Bermuda in the months that followed. The sparrowhawk was released to Africa on March 24th. After that, the first three units visited Canadian waters extensively while Falke kept the actual station occupied. It was not until October that the ships met again in Saint Thomas in the Danish West Indies . There on November 15, commodore and sea captain Ludwig von Schröder became the new head of division. In December 1903 and January 1904, the division cruised the Caribbean, visited Veracruz from February 4 to 13, and then called at various ports in the Caribbean. In the spring of 1904 the ships of the division separated.
Although the East American Division continued to exist - the Gazelle was released from the association on June 19, 1904, the Bremen joined it on September 25 - the ships received individual orders. The Vineta ran from Saint Thomas along the east coast of South America, visited several Brazilian ports and started on October 5th from Rio de Janeiro to German South West Africa, where the Herero uprising was to be fought. However, it was not used there, but stayed for four weeks in Angolan waters to prevent suspected arms deliveries to the rebellious Herero . After staying in the area of tension - the Vineta was temporarily shadowed by the British cruiser Barrosa and the Portuguese gunboat Cacongo - she started her voyage home in January 1905. The flagship arrived in Wilhelmshaven on March 14th. The next day the East American Cruiser Division was officially disbanded.
See also
- Reichsgeschwader
- Chiefs of the East Asia Squadron
- Marine stations: foreign stations
- Detached division
- Mediterranean Division
literature
- Carl Dick: The cruiser squadron. His becoming, victory and destruction . Ernst Siegfried Mittler and Son, Berlin 1917. (Digitized: [1] )
- Hans H. Hildebrand, Albert Röhr, Hans-Otto Steinmetz: The German warships. Biographies - a mirror of naval history from 1815 to the present . Hamburg 1973 ff.
- Georg Scheder-Beschien: The Blockade of Venezuela . In: Marine-Rundschau , vol. 32, 1927, no. 12, pp. 542-558
- Heiko Herold: The flying cruiser squadron of the Imperial Navy as an instrument of German colonial policy 1886-1893 , in: Tanja Bührer / Christian Stachelbeck / Dierk Walter (eds.): Imperial wars from 1500 to today. Structures, actors, learning processes , Paderborn etc. a. 2011, pp. 383-400. ISBN 978-3-506-77337-1
- Heiko Herold: Imperial violence means sea violence. The cruiser squadron of the Imperial Navy as an instrument of German colonial and world politics 1885 to 1901 (Contributions to military history, vol. 74, also Phil. Diss. Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf), Munich (Oldenbourg Verlag) 2012. ISBN 978-3- 486-71297-1
- CF Sperling: A trip around the world under the German flag: 51,000 nautical miles with the German cruiser squadron through the oceans , Leipzig (Weicher) 1907.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Heiko Herold: Imperial power means sea power. The cruiser squadron of the Imperial Navy as an instrument of German colonial and world politics 1885 to 1901 (Contributions to Military History, Vol. 74, also Phil. Diss. Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf), Munich (Oldenbourg Verlag) 2012. ISBN 978-3- 486-71297-1 . Page 25. In note 37, Herold specifies that the term "squadron" was not "cruiser squadron".
- ↑ Wilhelm I to Caprivi (Cabinet Order), May 9, 1885, BArch, RM 1/2845, p. 113.
- ↑ Heiko Herold: Imperial power means sea power. The cruiser squadron of the Imperial Navy as an instrument of German colonial and world politics 1885 to 1901 (Contributions to Military History, Vol. 74, also Phil. Diss. Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf), Munich (Oldenbourg Verlag) 2012. ISBN 978-3- 486-71297-1 . Page 57.
- ↑ Heiko Herold: Imperial power means sea power. The cruiser squadron of the Imperial Navy as an instrument of German colonial and world politics 1885 to 1901 (Contributions to Military History, Vol. 74, also Phil. Diss. Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf), Munich (Oldenbourg Verlag) 2012. ISBN 978-3- 486-71297-1 . Page 70.
- ↑ Heiko Herold: Imperial power means sea power. The cruiser squadron of the Imperial Navy as an instrument of German colonial and world politics 1885 to 1901 (Contributions to Military History, Vol. 74, also Phil. Diss. Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf), Munich (Oldenbourg Verlag) 2012. ISBN 978-3- 486-71297-1 . Page 75–76.
- ↑ Hermann Joseph Hiery: On the historical significance of a German world traveler. An afterword to Otto Ehlers by Hermann Joseph Hiery. In: Otto E. Ehlers: Samoa. The pearl of the South Seas. (PDF; 1.6 MB) Lilienfeld Verlag, Düsseldorf 2008, ISBN 978-3-940357-04-5 .
- ↑ a b c d Hans H. Hildebrand, Albert Röhr & Hans-Otto Steinmetz: The German warships: Biographies: a mirror of naval history from 1815 to the present. Mundus publishing house. Ratingen. 1993. Volume 4. Page 72. ISBN 3-7822-0237-6 .
- ↑ a b Hildebrand u. a., Volume 4, p. 73
- ↑ Hildebrand et al. a., Volume 6, p. 127.
- ^ Gerhard Wiechmann: The Prussian-German Navy in Latin America 1866 - 1914: a study of German gunboat policy. Dissertation, University of Oldenburg, 2000. Page 351. ( online ).
- ^ Gerhard Wiechmann: The Prussian-German Navy in Latin America 1866-1914: a study of German gunboat policy. Dissertation, University of Oldenburg, 2000. Pages 351–352. ( online ).