- Action of 16 March 1917
Warbox
conflict=Action of 16 March 1917
partof=World War I
campaign=
caption=
date=March 16, 1914
place=200 miles northeast of theFaroe Islands ,North Sea
result=Allied victory
combatant1= flag|United Kingdom
combatant2=
commander1=
commander2=KorvettenkapitanHans von Laffert
strength1=1cruiser ,
1 armed steamer
strength2=1auxiliary cruiser
casualties1= 6 KIA
casualties2= 1 auxiliary cruiser sunk,
319 KIA
notes=The Action of 16 March 1917 was a battle in which the Germanauxiliary cruiser "Leopard" was engaged and sunk by the boarding vessel SS "Dundee" and the cruiser HMS "Achilles".Background
After leaving port in March disguised as the Norwegian
freighter "Rena Norge" the "Leopard" set sail on its mission to disrupt Allied commerce. On the 17th of March it was stopped in the North Sea by the cruiser HMS "Achilles" and ordered to proceed to the boarding vessel SS "Dundee" for inspection. Heavily outgunned Captain Laffert, the raider's commander, had no option other to proceed to meet the boarding vessel.The Battle
Captain Day of the "Dundee" dispatched a launch containing a boarding party with an officer and five men to investigate the mysterious ship. Laffert realizing he was about to be discovered detained the party and after about an hour opened fire on the "Dundee" with a salvo of two torpedoes. The steamer manoeuvred out of the way barely in time and the torpedoEs missed Captain Day's ship by twenty feet. Day ordered his guncrews to open fire and a hail of shells struck the "Leopard" damaging a gun and setting fires. the "Achilles" hearing the sound of gunfire returned to the scene and opened fire on the raider as the "Dundee" withdrew. Shortly after the "Achilles's" arrival the "Leopard" sank with all 319 hands going down with the ship. Damage to the British vessels was light and the only casualties consisted of the six boarding party members who were trapped in the "Leopard" when it sank.
ources
*http://books.google.com/books?id=DSz5tSqLNSEC&pg=PA302&dq=hms+dundee+leopard&lr=&sig=ACfU3U11vA68fff-cWsS0FjJST4SGH4K0g#PPA245,M1
*http://smsmoewe.com/ships/smsms53.htm
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