Sea battle in front of Hiddensee
The naval battle off Hiddensee took place in the course of the Franco-German War on August 17, 1870 between North German and French naval units off Hiddensee .
Course of events
Since August 1870, the French Baltic Sea Squadron ( Escadre de la mer Baltic ) under Vice Admiral Bouët-Willaumez has been cruising with the flagship Surveillante off the north-east German coasts to cut off the ports from Kiel to Memel from foreign trade by means of a sea blockade . However, the squadron consisted mainly of ironclad ships , which were unsuitable for this task due to their great draft and their clumsiness. Their ability to operate was also severely restricted due to a lack of coal .
Since the Baltic Squadron used the Kjöge Bay on Zealand as a base, with the permission of the Danish government, Corvette Captain Count Franz von Waldersee, as commander of the so-called Flotilla Division in Stralsund , decided to advance into the Danish bay with his flagship Grille for reconnaissance purposes. The Commander of the Grille was Lieutenant Captain Christian Donner (1839–1904). The Grille left on the morning of 17 August, the inland roads of Wittow post house on Ruegen and hit around 9:00 am, ten nautical miles south-east of Moen on a French Aviso , the Cape Arkona headed for. Waldersee held the Aviso for the Hirondelle , but according to French information it was the Jérôme Napoléon yacht .
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Waldersee took a southerly course to include his three steam cannon boats, Drache , Blitz and Salamander, in a battle. This failed, however, as the French ship turned and took off at high speed. Although the cricket reached a top speed of over 14 knots , it was unable to catch up. A fired shot did not reach the enemy, who was now pointing towards the Gedser lightship. After 11 a.m., the Grille spotted the smoke from five ships in the west, which Waldersee identified as four tank frigates and one unarmored corvette , including the French flagship Surveillante and the tank frigate Océan , the most powerful unit of the French squadron. While the flagship and two other armored frigates turned away , the Océan and a corvette - according to the French version the armored corvette Thétis and the corvette Hermite - began to pursue the cricket , which was heading east towards Dornbusch .
At around 2 p.m. Waldersee noticed that the three gunboats were coming out under the command of Kapitänleutnant (Originally: Captain-Lieutenant) Georg Heinrich Rodenacker (1840–1922) to support the cricket . At 2.30 p.m., the two French ships opened fire, which was well aimed at Waldersee, but partly overran the Grille . The gunboats entered the battle at around 3 p.m. in Dwarslinie . In the meantime the French squadron had re-formed and Bouët-Willaumez intervened with three tank frigates. At 3:45 p.m., the squadron closed fire on the North German units. The cricket and the three gunboats slowly retreated into shallow waters by 5:30 p.m., as projectiles were not expected to hit the ironclad.
Neither the French nor the north German side had scored, so the battle ended without loss or damage. Due to its draft, the French units could not pursue the Waldersee flotilla any further. Waldersee suspected that there were Danish pilots on board the French ships who were familiar with the area, as otherwise they would not have operated in coastal waters. In his battle report, Waldersee praised both its own teams and its own pilots. Waldersee was awarded the Iron Cross 2nd class for his work.
Until the withdrawal of the Baltic squadron in September 1870, the gunboats and the crickets were monitored by the armored corvette Jeanne d'Arc .
literature
- Graf von Waldersee, Corvetten-Capitain: Report on the battle of the flotilla division near Hiddensee on August 17, 1870. In: The campaign of 1870 in the North and Baltic Seas. From the French by René de Pont-Jest. With corrections and additions by a German naval officer. Along with a map of the Jade, Weser and Elbe estuaries , Bremen (JG Heyse) 1871, p. 51ff. Digitized version of the Munich State Library
- Clas Broder Hansen: Germany will become a sea power. The establishment of the Imperial Navy 1867–1880. Graefelfing before Munich 1991. ISBN 3-924896-23-2
- Hans Otto Steinmetz: In the shadow of the army and big politics. A consideration of the use of the Prussian-German Navy in the war of 1870/71. In: Marine-Rundschau . Volume 70, vol. 1973, pp. 212-229.
- Hans-Justus Kreker: The French Navy in the war of 1870/71. In: Marine-Rundschau. Volume 70, vol. 1973, pp. 276-286.