ne hundred years ago, the Great War of the sea. At the outbreak of hostilities between France and Germany (03/08/2014), there was a division German naval battle group, including the Goeben and Breslau in the Mediterranean by the light. The two German ships were located north of Sicily, proceeding with route west .Lammiraglio Wilhelm Souchon commander of the German squadron headed in Algeria, wanting to bomb the French naval bases of Bona and Philippeville being aware that the war would be declared the same evening. The French admiral De Lapeyrère was concerned that it lacked precise information about the Goeben and Breslau and had the need to protect convoys of troops directed North Africa.Nel the meantime, the English squadron in the Mediterranean under the command of amm.Milne was ordered to search for the two German ships. So amm.Milne did prepare, under the command of Rear Admiral Troubridge the battle cruisers Indomitable and Indefatigable three armored cruisers, the light cruiser Gloucester and 8 destroyers. On the evening of August 3, 1914 a part of the British fleet was sailing in the Strait of Sicily, to the west in order to block the Strait of Gibraltar where the two German ships had tried the exit from the Mediterranean to rejoin the fleet Germanic Sea North, other ships on their way to the Adriatic. The bombing of Bona and Philippeville began in the early hours of August 4. Breslau and Goeben, respectively, 60 and 43 shots fired by the maximum distances without getting big results. Having received orders from Berlin on the night of conduct of Constantinople, Souchon, the ships then made their way to Messina, crossing the English team. Britain had not declared war on Germany. Crossing north of Pantelleria, the two teams are not saluted. The two German ships arrived in Messina on August 5 for supplies of coal, but in the meantime Italy had declared its neutrality, and then ordered him to leave the port in 24 hours. While negotiations were underway with the Italian authorities, all the crew were loading coal from some German merchant ships that were in port, boarded an insufficient quantity of coal to arrive in Constantinople but the crews were exhausted. The German ships sailed from Messina on the evening of August 6, heading to the east, English followed by the cruiser Gloucester that keeps the contact. The inner circle narrows the German ships, the Austrians believe that the time has come to rescue in some way the allies. Therefore come out from Pula three battleships of the Viribus Unitis and three old battleships of the Radetzky, escorted by a dozen torpedo heading toward the Strait of Otranto: directing the rescue of the German ships, although, in that day Austria had not yet declared war on Great Britain. After having held within the territorial waters of Italian as if he had the intention to enter in the Adriatic Souchon, around 23 suddenly put his bow on Cape Matapan. The Gloucester it signals the team Troubridge (4 armored cruisers and eight destroyers) which was located off the coast of Kefalonia, with en route to the Adriatic Sea. Troubridge directs his ships south to intercept the Germans, and from Malta is converging on the area light cruiser Dublin 2 destroyers. The contact between THE Dublin who attempted an attack with torpedoes and German ships came in the dark of night. The lookouts spotted the attackers of Breslau and in the darkness, managed to escape the attack without being discovered. The group of Troubridge would set the contact to 6 am on August 7, but in view of the clear superiority of the gauges of the Goeben (10 guns, 280/50) against its cruisers armed with pieces of 233 mm, gave the order to desist from the pursuit, crossing in the area with the hope of receiving reinforcements from the group of Milne. The Gloucester he continued to follow the German ships. Souchon to get rid of this annoying hound, ordered the Breslau to remove him. After a brief exchange of shots between the two cruisers, a subsequent order of Milne imposed to the Gloucester to stop the contact. Meanwhile, the Austro-Hungarian fleet had arrived at the height of Sibenik, where he received a radio message that no assistance was no longer necessary because Souchon was liberated by the British. Ships Germanic after carbonate near the island of Denusa headed toward the Dardanelles, where they arrived on August 10. They were received by an escort of honor, who led them into the Sea of Marmara. To overcome the limitations of the status of nation neutral Ottoman Empire, Germany moved the two ships the Navy Ottoman August 16. On 23 September, Souchon accepted the command of the Ottoman Navy. The Goeben was renamed Yavuz Sultan Selim and Breslau, Midilli; German crews donned their uniforms and the Ottoman fez. Turkey will take the field at the side of the Central Powers November 5, 1914. Admiral Troubridge who had sighted the German ships at dawn on 7 August and had not attacked, a month later will be court-martialed, which exonerated him. (5 photos)
Posted on: Wed, 17 Sep 2014 12:30:26 +0000
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