{"id":416,"date":"2024-03-21T10:45:38","date_gmt":"2024-03-21T10:45:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/seswpcourse.hosted7.connect.ie\/?p=416"},"modified":"2024-03-21T10:45:38","modified_gmt":"2024-03-21T10:45:38","slug":"audacious-secret","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seswpcourse.hosted7.connect.ie\/index.php\/2024\/03\/21\/audacious-secret\/","title":{"rendered":"Audacious Secret"},"content":{"rendered":"

Audacious Secret<\/span><\/h1>\n

 <\/p>\n

Vital Secret<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

K\u00f6nigin Luise mine layer<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

27th<\/sup>\u00a0October 1914:\u00a0<\/strong>This was a fateful day for the Royal Navy. This is the kernel of this article and the date had its 100th<\/sup>\u00a0anniversary recently. I will expand on this later.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

28th<\/sup>\u00a0June 1914:<\/strong>\u00a0The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand on this day was the immediate reason given for WW1 but sabre rattling had been going on since the turn of the century and even prior to that \u201cWar Signal Stations\u201d were erected around the\u00a0British Isles<\/abbr>\u00a0to assist with communications. These were manned by Coast Guards with some in the South of Ireland defended by Marines due to subversive activity. In the phoney war books like the \u201cRiddle of the Sands<\/em>\u201d by Erskine Childers added to the intrigue.<\/span><\/p>\n

1st<\/sup>\u00a0August 1914:<\/strong>\u00a0The move to war was swift and on 1st<\/sup>\u00a0August 1914 British Naval Reserves were called up. On the 4th<\/sup>\u00a0August 1914 Britain declared war. The first naval engagement was on the 5th<\/sup>\u00a0August 1914. The\u00a0SMS K\u00f6nigin Luise\u00a0<\/em>a converted steam ferry with a capacity of 200 mines left the River Ems to lay mines off the River Thames. It was spotted by the destroyers\u00a0HMS Lance<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0HMS Landrail<\/em>. The minelayer, which was outgunned, tried to escape from these newly commissioned destroyers which had 4\u201d guns and a speed of 29 knots. The\u00a0Lance<\/em>\u00a0fired the first shot of the war at sea. The minelayer sank after its crew scuttled her and the destroyers helped rescue survivors aided by the scout cruiser\u00a0HMS Amphion<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Amphion<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Amphimon<\/p><\/div>\n

6th<\/sup>\u00a0August 1914:<\/strong>\u00a0On this morning\u00a0Amphion<\/em>\u00a0hit a mine which broke her back in the area where the\u00a0K\u00f6nigin Luise\u00a0<\/em>was first spotted on the previous day and became the first British vessel to sink during WW1. Four men from the\u00a0K\u00f6<\/em>nigin Luise\u00a0<\/em>and four from the\u00a0Amphion\u00a0<\/em>were buried side by side at a graveyard in Suffolk, with full military honours.<\/span><\/p>\n

9th<\/sup>\u00a0August 1914:<\/strong>\u00a0Another first came soon after when the German submarine\u00a0U15<\/em>\u00a0became disabled close to Scappa Flow and was found by a cruiser squadron which included\u00a0HMS Birmingham.\u00a0<\/em>The\u00a0U15<\/em>\u00a0was on the surface and was rammed amidships with the loss of all her 25 crew. This was the first submarine lost during warfare.<\/span><\/p>\n

28th<\/sup>\u00a0August 1914:<\/strong>\u00a0The battle of Heligoland Bight became the first confrontation between the British and German Navies. The German cruiser\u00a0SMS Mainz<\/em>\u00a0was sunk followed by the cruisers\u00a0Ariadne<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0K\u00f6ln\u00a0<\/em>and a further three limped back to port. No British ships were sunk though one cruiser was badly damaged. The British Admiralty were happy with this result.<\/span><\/p>\n

5th<\/sup>\u00a0September 1914:<\/strong>\u00a0Near St Abbs HMS\u00a0Pathfinder<\/em>\u00a0was found by\u00a0U21<\/em>\u00a0and became the first naval vessel to be sunk by a torpedo. It sank with the loss of 261 men.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Olympic in dazzle paint<\/p><\/div>\n

22nd<\/sup>\u00a0September 1914:<\/strong>\u00a0The Royal Navy lost three battle cruisers\u00a0HMS Hogue, HMS Aboukir<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0HMS<\/em>\u00a0Cressey<\/em>\u00a0in just over an hour to a single submarine\u00a0U9<\/em> with the loss of 1,459 men, mainly reservists, most of whom were Coast Guards called up to serve on these \u201cobsolete\u201d vessels. See the following site: 100th<\/sup> anniversary news item:\u00a0the Belfast Telegraph site which gives details of 31 Irishmen who lost their lives during these sinkings.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

11th<\/sup>\u00a0October 1914:<\/strong>\u00a0Following this\u00a0HMS Hawke\u00a0<\/em>became a casualty. The Hawke\u00a0<\/em>had been in collision with the passenger liner RMS\u00a0Olympic,\u00a0<\/em>see 3D impression of the incident<\/a>\u00a0elder sister to the ill-fated\u00a0RMS Titanic\u00a0<\/em>in 1911, necessitating repairs to the\u00a0Olympic,<\/em>\u00a0which borrowed parts from\u00a0Titanic<\/em>\u00a0and delayed her launch. On 11th<\/sup>\u00a0October the\u00a0Hawke<\/em>\u00a0was in company with\u00a0HMS Theseus<\/em>\u00a0patrolling the North Sea when\u00a0U9<\/em>\u00a0fired on both of them missing\u00a0Theseus<\/em>\u00a0but hitting\u00a0Hawke<\/em>\u00a0in the area of her magazine. She sank with the loss of 523 men and only 75 survived. Recent research has revealed that 49 of the crew who lost their lives were Ulstermen and only 6 were among the survivors.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Olympic in New York<\/p><\/div>\n