SMS Königsberg (1905)

SMS "Königsberg" was the lead ship of her class of light cruisers of the Imperial German Navy, most notable for her activities in and around German East Africa during World War I. After threatening British shipping, she was blockaded for months and eventually sunk in the delta of the Rufiji River.

Before World War I

Commissioned in 1906, "Königsberg" was then one of the German navy's most modern ships. Soon after her commissioning, she was tasked for to escort the Royal Yacht "Hohenzollern" when the Kaiser made a state visit to Britain. In 1914, captained by Commander Max Looff, she arrived in German East Africa via the Suez Canal on a mission to show the flag. She was considered quite impressive by the colonial subjects in Africa, who were stunned by the gleaming surfaces and incredible broadsides of the ship, the likes of which had not been seen before. Most notable were her three funnels, as the Africans equated funnels with naval power, and three was an unprecedented number. The ship acquired the nickname "Manowari na bomba tatu", or "the man of war with three pipes." [Miller, "Battle for the Bundu", p. 31-32]

As tensions rose immediately preceding the Great War, cruisers of the British Cape Squadron (HMS "Astraea", HMS "Hyacinth", HMS "Pegasus") arrived with the intention of bottling up "Königsberg" at the colony’s capital Dar es Salaam. Captain Looff got his ship ready to sail and left port on 1 August 1914, with the apprehensive German population watching the ship depart, not knowing if they would ever see her again – and with the British in hot pursuit determined not to let her out of sight. Looff was able to give the Cape Squadron the slip. When war was declared, "Königsberg" was a thousand miles away from Dar es Salaam in the Indian Ocean. His high speed sprint away from the British cruisers emptied his bunkers and he had only two options for coal: to have it brought to him by colliers from Dar es Salaam, or take it from ships at sea, “whether they be friendly or unfriendly, whether it be good German or Cardiff coal.” [Hoyt, "The Germans who never lost", p. 31]

Offensive career

"Königsberg" now embarked on a brief and frustrating career as a commerce raider, intercepting a then neutral Japanese liner whose captain was convinced his ship, manifest and cargo had been examined by a British cruiser, [Hoyt, p. 38; Japan declared war on Germany on 23 August 1914 in accordance with the Anglo-Japanese Alliance] then stopped the German steamers "Zieten" and "Hansa" from heading to the Suez Canal (and certain confiscation), chased after the German freighter "Goldenfels" whose officers mistook "Königsberg" also for a British cruiser. Then, finally a British ship, the "City of Winchester" off the coast of Oman, to get at her coal. A boarding party discovered that "City of Winchester" carried poor quality Indian coal (“Bombay dust”) and Captain Looff certainly did not want to clog his boilers with this inferior product. A demolition team then opened the sea cocks, placed charges and "Königsberg’s" main battery got in some firing practice. [Hoyt, p. 40] The collier "Somali" rendezvoused with the raider and positioned itself at predetermined points around the Indian Ocean. “The specter of the cold hearth began to haunt Captain Looff, as days went by without seeing a funnel that could supply him with coal.” [Hoyt, p. 54] "Königsberg" met "Somali" again and took on coal for four days of cruising. "Somali’s" young captain, a knowledgeable local pilot, suggested the Rufiji Delta as a hiding place; he had been part of a survey team and had charted that area of the colony and found the river unexpectedly deep. [in short order the naval reserve commission of the "Somali" captain was activated and he was appointed "Königsberg’s" pilot [Hoyt, p. 59] ] On 3 September 1914 at high tide, "Königsberg" passed over the bar at the mouth of the Rufiji and slowly made her way up the river to the settlement of Salele. The villagers watched the ship with concern, thinking "Königsberg" to be British and having heard of the bombardment of Dar es Salaam by British ships.

On 19 September 1914 Captain Looff learned from “coast watchers” that a 2-funnel warship had entered the harbor of Zanzibar; he assumed it was either "Astraea" or "Pegasus". [Hoyt, p. 58; it was "Pegasus" as "Astraea" had been recalled to South Africa for convoy duty] "Königsberg" had again full bunkers thanks to lighters from Dar es Salaam and Looff decided to act immediately. With the afternoon tide the ship left the delta and started her run to Zanzibar. At dawn the next day "Königsberg" fired salvos for 20 minutes into the stationary "Pegasus". With the British cruiser capsized at the bottom of Zanzibar harbor, "Königsberg", that very day was back at her anchorage at Salele in the delta, the morale of the crew immeasurably enhanced. [Hoyt, p. 59]

Rufiji Delta Refuge

Captain Looff had chosen as his next target the shipping lanes off South Africa, hoping to get at sufficient coal to eventually make the long journey up the Atlantic to reach Germany. [Hoyt, p. 68] “But a ship is only as good as its machinery,” and it was the machinery rather than her captain or crew that caused "Königsberg" complications. [Hoyt, p. 69] The long cruises, the intermittent high speed dashes, the lack of dockyard attention, all had taken their toll on the ship’s boilers, “and one of them broke down altogether.” Anchored at Salele, the engineering staff began to disassemble the affected boilers and Looff had these heavy parts taken to the workshops at Dar es Salaam some 100 miles away (160 km), placed on wooden sledges for dragging them there and back. [Miller, p. 78-80] During this time, an avenging British squadron spent its time tracking down leads to the cruiser's whereabouts. Eventually, the search bore fruit when the German East Africa Line ship "Präsident", rumored to be supplying "Königsberg" and "Somali", was discovered at Lindi. Although the "Präsident" was converted to a hospital ship, the British ignored protests and boarded; their investigation uncovered suspicious documentation of the delivery of supplies to the Rufiji Delta. There "Königsberg" was discovered by the Royal Navy cruiser HMS "Chatham" at the end of October.

Meanwhile, Looff fortified the water approaches to the ship, dismounting the ship's 47 mm secondary armament, and emplacing them on the delta's water approaches, along with observers and troops, nicknamed the "Delta Force." [Miller, p. 79]

Just before the repaired boilers were returned and installed, two additional British cruisers had arrived, HMS "Dartmouth" and HMS "Weymouth" to assist with the blockade. While "Königsberg" might have been able to escape from the superior "Chatham", the infusion of strength meant that the German cruiser was now trapped. On the other hand, the bigger British ships had too much of a draft to navigate the delta, meaning that they could not get within effective range of the German ship. This was not for lack of trying, however. On one occasion in early November, "Chatham" came close to scoring long-range hits; while the "Somali" was sunk, the "Königsberg" simply moved further up the river. [to conserve the coal he had left, Captain Looff used coal only to heat the boilers for moving "Königsberg" in the delta. All other uses, to make fresh water, to heat water, to cook in the galleys, were converted from coal to wood. Crew details cut three thousand pounds of mangrove daily for that purpose [Hoyt, p. 83] ] The situation was at an impasse.

Blockade and Sinking

The British now employed grab-bag of methods to sink or render useless the "Königsberg". An attempt was made to slip a shallow-draft torpedo boat (with escorts) within range, an operation easily repulsed by the force in the delta. A blockship, the "Newbridge", was successfully sunk by the British across one of the delta mouths to prevent her escape; it was soon realized that the "Königsberg" could still escape through the delta's other channels, however. Dummy mines were laid in some of these alternates, but they were considered a doubtful deterrent. [Miller, p. 86] A civilian pilot named Cutler at Durban, South Africa, was commissioned into the Royal Marines and convinced to make his private Curtiss seaplane available for the British Empire. Lieutenant Cutler, and the mechanic he hired on the ship transporting the airplane, arrived 15 November 1914 to report to the captain of "Chatham". On 19 November Cutler flew his first reconnaissance mission and was able to verify the presence of the elusive cruiser. [Hoyt, p. 97; on 10 December 1914 Cutler’s airplane was hit by rifle fire; he managed to crash land at the mouth of the river, swam ashore, was captured by Delta Force and made a Prisoner of War [Hoyt, p. 102] ] A pair of Royal Naval Air Service Sopwiths were brought up with the intention of scouting and even bombing the ship. They soon fell apart in the tropical conditions. A trio of Short seaplanes [Barnes & James, "Shorts Aircraft since 1900", p. 97; one of the Short aircraft, "Short Admiralty Type 81 'Folder'" bearing the RNAS serial number "119", had taken part in the Cuxhaven Raid on 25 December 1914] fared a little better, managing even to take photographs of the ship before they were grounded by the glue-melting tropical heat and German fire. [Miller, p. 114]

Attempts to use the convert|12|in|mm|0|sing=on guns of the old battleship HMS "Goliath" to sink the cruiser were unsuccessful, once again because the shallow waters prevented the battleship from getting within range.

In the meantime, conditions were deteriorating on the "Königsberg". There were shortages of coal, ammunition, food, and medical supplies. Although safe from the British, the crew was ravaged by malaria and other tropical ailments. Generally cut off from the outside world, the morale of the sailors fell. However, the situation was marginally improved with a scheme to resupply the ship and give her a fighting chance to return home. A captured British merchant ship, "Rubens", was renamed "Kronborg". It was given a Danish flag, papers, and a crew of German sailors selected for their ability to speak Danish. It was then packed with coal, field guns, ammunition, fresh water, and the like. After successfully infiltrating the waters of East Africa, it was intercepted by the alerted "Hyacinth", which chased it to Manza Bay. The trapped ship was eventually sunk, burnt, and left for scrap. Astonishingly, upon investigation by the Germans, much of her cargo was deemed salvageable, and made its way to "Königsberg" on the backs of African porters. [Miller, p. 112]

Finally, in late May 1915, the equipment necessary for a successful attack was brought together by the British. Two shallow draft monitors, HMS "Mersey" and HMS "Severn", were towed to the Rufiji from Britain by way of Malta and the Red Sea. With non-essential items removed, added armour bolted on, and a full bombardment by the rest of the fleet, they ran the gauntlet. Aided by a squadron of 4 land planes (two Caudrons and two Henry Farmans [Miller, p. 116] ) based at Mafia Island to spot the fall of shells, they engaged in a long-range duel with "Königsberg", which was assisted by shore-based spotters. Although "Mersey" was hit and the monitors were unable to score on the first day, they returned again on 11 July. Finally, their convert|6|in|mm|0|sing=on guns seriously knocked out "Königsberg"'s armament. By 13:30 the ship was down to two guns, each with two rounds left. One of these last rounds was shrapnel and the gunners hit the British spotter plane, causing it to crash in the river. [Hoyt, p. 149] With fires burning below decks, Captain Looff, now wounded as were many of his crew, ordered the magazines flooded. Two torpedo heads were rigged with fuses to blow out the ship’s bottom. With the British still firing, the charges went off and with cheers [from the crew] for the Good Ship, the "Kaiser" and the Fatherland, "Königsberg" settled into the river just after 14:00, her flag still flying. [Hoyt, p. 150]

Afterword

The next day 33 German sailors were buried by the 188 remaining crewmen. A plaque was placed near the graves, reading "Beim Untergang S.M.S. Königsberg am 11.7.15 gefallen..." ["fallen during the sinking of SMS "Königsberg" on 11 July 1915..."] followed by a list of the dead. The armament and all other useful equipment and material were removed from the wreck and, together with the ship's crew, went on to see service in the East African land campaign under Lt.Col. Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck. [after the news of "Königsberg’s" struggle reached the German admiralty, Max Looff was promoted to "Kapitän zur See" (full captain); he thus technically outranked Lettow at that time, but Looff fully recognized that Lettow was commander of the forces in German East Africa [Holt, p. 168] ; Looff was made a Vice Admiral in the "Reichsmarine" during the Weimar Republic] The "Königsberg" convert|4.2|in|mm|sing=on guns especially played prominent roles for the Germans for the rest of the war, acting as the theater's heaviest field artillery, used in harbor fortifications (at Dar es Salaam, for instance), and even remounted on the "Götzen", the German "capital ship" of the inland Lake Tanganyika fleet. [Miller, p. 124] The wreck itself, submerged to the main deck, lay in the river for fifty years and eventually disappeared into the mud in 1966. One of the "Königsberg's" guns is on display outside Fort Jesus at Mombasa, Kenya, complete with its improvised gun carriage.

A new light cruiser built in 1916 was also named SMS "Königsberg" to honor her predecessor. A third light cruiser "Königsberg", commissioned in 1929, was sunk in World War II during the German invasion of Norway (Operation Weserübung).

Captain Max Looff and 15 crew members of "Königsberg" were left of a complement of 322 to participate in (now) General von Lettow-Vorbeck's parade through the Brandenburg Gate after their return to Germany in 1919.

Footnotes

Bibliography

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