The Action off Noordhinder Bank on 1 May 1915 was a
naval engagement
Naval warfare is combat in and on the sea, the ocean, or any other battlespace involving a major body of water such as a large lake or wide river. Mankind has fought battles on the sea for more than 3,000 years. Even in the interior of large la ...
between four British
naval trawler
Naval trawlers are vessels built along the lines of a fishing trawler but fitted out for naval purposes; they were widely used during the First and Second World Wars. Some—known in the Royal Navy as "Admiralty trawlers"— were purpose-built ...
s, supported by a
flotilla
A flotilla (from Spanish, meaning a small ''flota'' ( fleet) of ships), or naval flotilla, is a formation of small warships that may be part of a larger fleet.
Composition
A flotilla is usually composed of a homogeneous group of the same clas ...
of four
destroyers and a pair of German
torpedo boat
A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs were steam-powered craft dedicated to ramming enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes. Later evolutions launched variants of ...
s from the
Flanders Flotilla. The action began when the two torpedo boats were sent to rescue the crew of a
reconnaissance
In military operations, reconnaissance or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, terrain, and other activities.
Examples of reconnaissance include patrolling by troops (skirmisher ...
seaplane
A seaplane is a powered fixed-wing aircraft capable of taking off and landing (alighting) on water.Gunston, "The Cambridge Aerospace Dictionary", 2009. Seaplanes are usually divided into two categories based on their technological characteri ...
that had been forced to alight by engine trouble and to attack the trawlers. The Germans engaged the trawlers; British destroyers from the
Harwich Force
The Harwich Force originally called Harwich Striking Force was a squadron of the Royal Navy, formed during the First World War and based in Harwich. It played a significant role in the war.
History
After the outbreak of the First World War, a ...
appeared; the German ships tried to escape but were sunk.
The loss of the two torpedo boats greatly demoralised the German flotilla at
Flanders
Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to cultu ...
, as they were new. The loss of the two s showed the commanders of the
Imperial German Navy
The Imperial German Navy or the Imperial Navy () was the navy of the German Empire, which existed between 1871 and 1919. It grew out of the small Prussian Navy (from 1867 the North German Federal Navy), which was mainly for coast defence. Kaise ...
() that the Flanders Flotilla was inadequately armed to protect the coast, let alone harass British shipping in the
English Channel
The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...
. After similar defeats, the A-class torpedo boats were relegated to coastal patrol and heavier s were transferred to the flotilla.
Background
After the 7th Torpedo Boat Half Flotilla was lost during the
Battle off Texel
The Battle off Texel, also known as the Action off Texel or the Action of 17 October 1914, was a naval battle off the coast of the Dutch island of Texel during the First World War. A British squadron, comprising one light cruiser and four destr ...
(17 October 1914) German naval authorities were reluctant to commit forces for offensive operations off the coast of Flanders. Admiral
Ludwig von Schröder
Ludwig von Schröder (17 July 1854 Hintzenkamp near Eggesin – 23 July 1933 in Berlin-Halensee) was an Imperial German Navy officer and Admiral during the First World War and a recipient of the ''Pour le Mérite'' with Oak Leaves.
Schröder e ...
, the commander of
Marine Corps Flanders (), kept pressure on the German naval command for the transfer of a force of submarines and
torpedo boats
A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs were steam-powered craft dedicated to ramming enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes. Later evolutions launched variants of s ...
to his command. After several months, the (Imperial German Navy) relented and decided to send him a force of new
coastal submarine
A coastal submarine or littoral submarine is a small, maneuverable submarine with shallow draft well suited to navigation of coastal channels and harbors. Although size is not precisely defined, coastal submarines are larger than midget submarine ...
s of the
UB and
UC (minelayer) types and new s.
The torpedo boats had been designed in late 1914, built at
Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
, timezone1 = Central (CET)
, utc_offset1 = +1
, timezone1_DST = Central (CEST)
, utc_offset1_DST = +2
, postal ...
and transported, in sections, overland to
Antwerp, like the UB and UC coastal submarines. The new A-class boats displaced a little over , had a speed of about , carried two torpedoes, a
5 cm SK L/40 gun
The 5 cm SK L/40 gunSK - ''Schnelladekanone'' (quick loading cannon); ''L - Länge in Kaliber'' ( length in caliber) was a German naval gun used in World War I and World War II.
Service
The 5 cm SK L/40 gun was primarily used as an an ...
and could stow four
naval mine
A naval mine is a self-contained explosive device placed in water to damage or destroy surface ships or submarines. Unlike depth charges, mines are deposited and left to wait until they are triggered by the approach of, or contact with, any ...
s. The Flanders Torpedo Boat Flotilla, based in
Zeebrugge
Zeebrugge (, from: ''Brugge aan zee'' meaning "Bruges at Sea", french: Zeebruges) is a village on the coast of Belgium and a subdivision of Bruges, for which it is the modern port. Zeebrugge serves as both the international port of Bruges-Zee ...
, was formed on 28 April 1915. Comprising 15 of the A-class boats, rather than the anticipated 50, the flotilla was put under the command of Hermann Schoemann.
Prelude
Loss of HMS ''Recruit''
Operations of the
U-boat
U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare ro ...
s based at Zeebrugge began with a sortie by which sank four ships and returned during a storm, allaying concerns that the UB coastal submarines lacked seaworthiness; the coastal submarine sailed on 1 May 1915. That day, two British
destroyers, and of the
Nore Local Defence Flotilla were patrolling off the
Galloper lightship, which marked the Galloper
shoal, the most distant maritime hazards of the
Thames estuary
The Thames Estuary is where the River Thames meets the waters of the North Sea, in the south-east of Great Britain.
Limits
An estuary can be defined according to different criteria (e.g. tidal, geographical, navigational or in terms of salini ...
. The shoal was about to the south-west of the Noordhinder light vessel. At ''Recruit'' was hit by a torpedo from the ''UB-6''. The destroyer broke in two and sank at once; only 26 members of the crew were rescued by a Dutch ship. ''Brazen'' and one of the
Harwich trawlers began an abortive search for the submarine until by when they had returned to the Noordhinder light.
Four trawlers from
Great Yarmouth were searching for a U-boat reported in the area the day before. ''Miura'' (Sub-Lieutenant L. W. Kersley, RNR) was north-east of the Noordhinder lightship, ''Chirsit'' (Sub-Lieutenant A. Stablefold, RNR) was to the south-east of the lightship and ''Columbia'' (Lieutenant-Commander W. H. Hawthorne, RNR) about to the west-north-west of the light. The trawler ''Barbados'' which carried the flotilla commander, Lieutenant Sir James Domville RN, the senior ship of the four, was to the west-north-west, beyond ''Columbia''. At about the same time that ''Recruit'' was torpedoed, ''Columbia'' was attacked by another U-boat at Thornton Ridge off the Scheldt estuary but the torpedo missed.
German sortie
Early on 1 May 1915, two German
seaplane
A seaplane is a powered fixed-wing aircraft capable of taking off and landing (alighting) on water.Gunston, "The Cambridge Aerospace Dictionary", 2009. Seaplanes are usually divided into two categories based on their technological characteri ...
s departed Zeebrugge to reconnoitre the Thames but one of the aircraft had engine trouble and made a
forced landing
A forced landing is a landing by an aircraft made under factors outside the pilot's control, such as the failure of engines, systems, components, or weather which makes continued flight impossible. For a full description of these, see article on ' ...
. The other seaplane crew reported four British trawlers off
Noordhinder Bank, north of
Ostend
Ostend ( nl, Oostende, ; french: link=no, Ostende ; german: link=no, Ostende ; vls, Ostende) is a coastal city and municipality, located in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerk ...
. Schoemann sailed with the torpedo boats and to rescue the crew and destroy the trawlers. The crew of the seaplane were rescued by a Dutch freighter and taken to the Noordhinder lightship, whence they were returned to land by a U-boat.
Action
At about the two torpedo boats, ''A2'' and ''A6'', were seen heading towards the British trawlers from the west-south-west, with no flags visible. At about range they ran up German flags and the foremost ship launched a torpedo at ''Columbia'' but missed. ''Barbados'' opened fire and soon afterwards another torpedo hit ''Columbia'' on the port side below the wheelhouse and ''Columbia'' sank. Two torpedoes passed close to ''Barbados'' and the trawlers were engaged by machine-gun and artillery fire. ''Chirsit'' and ''Miura'' opened fire at long range and one of the torpedo boats turned towards ''Chirsit''. Despite being slower and outgunned the trawler crews fought on; the captain of ''Barbados'' was wounded early in the action and Domville took over in the wheelhouse. The Germans fired at the wheelhouse, wounding Domville with splinters and knocked him down several times. After exchanging fire for about twenty minutes, the nearest of the two torpedo boats moved off to about , began to lose steam and came to a stop. ''Barbados'' steamed closer but the Germans got the engine going and both torpedo-boats withdrew to the south-south-east.
When the loss of ''Recruit'' had been reported,
Harwich Force
The Harwich Force originally called Harwich Striking Force was a squadron of the Royal Navy, formed during the First World War and based in Harwich. It played a significant role in the war.
History
After the outbreak of the First World War, a ...
had sent the s, , , and to hunt for the U-boat that had sunk the destroyer. Thirty minutes after the German ships moved off, ''Barbados'', with its gun and siren, attracted the attention of the destroyer ''Leonidas'', which arrived from the south-west and with the other three destroyers promptly began to chase the two German torpedo boats. ''Barbados'' began a search for survivors from ''Columbia'' to find that ''Miura'' had rescued the only survivor, a deckhand. The survivor reported that ''Columbia'' had broken in two when torpedoed and sank almost immediately, the Germans continuing to fire at men in the water. The four British destroyers began to fire on the German torpedo-boats at long range and sank them about an hour after opening fire. The destroyers rescued 46 survivors from the German ships of 59 crewmen, who related how they had taken three men from ''Columbia''s crew and locked them away, failing to release them as the ship sank. Schoemann was one of the casualties and the British destroyers suffered no damage.
Aftermath
Analysis
The loss of the torpedo boats showed Schroeder the severe limitations of the A-class torpedo boats; they were too poorly armed for raiding and the boats were relegated to coastal patrols. The defeat at Noordhinder allowed Schroeder's pleas for reinforcements finally to be heard by the German Admiralty and on 22 May another six A-class torpedo boats were placed on order for Flanders. Kurt Assman was transferred to command of the Flanders Flotilla torpedo boats which was split into two half-flotillas. The next engagement involving an A-class torpedo boat on 22 August against two French destroyers in which ''A15'' damaged one destroyer but was sunk with the loss of fifteen of the crew of 27, reinforced the perception that the class was too slow and under-gunned. Several new boats were put in reserve to provide crews for s , and transferred from the III Torpedo Boat Flotilla that November.
![Hmsleonidas](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/Hmsleonidas.jpg)
The British took the incident to be a hit-and-run attack, assuming that the seaplane patrol that morning had alerted Zeebrugge and had led to the German sortie against the trawlers. The 3-pounder gun on ''Barbados'' had been well handled by Petty Officer A. H. Hallett and that the deck and engine-room crews had shown great courage. ''Miura'' and ''Chirsit'' were commended for the effectiveness of their long-range fire, which had been of great support to ''Barbados'' and forced the Germans to retire. The Admiralty passed on its appreciation to the trawlers for fighting a superior force so vigorously.
Casualties
British losses included ''Columbia'' sunk and ''Barbados'' damaged; ''Columbia'' suffered 16 killed with only a deckhand being rescued after the action. The Germans lost ''A2'' and ''A6'' along with 13 men killed (including Schoemann) and 46 rescued and taken prisoner. A scandal ensued after it was discovered from the captured Germans that the three men taken from the sinking ''Columbia'' had been locked away below decks on one of the torpedo boats and were abandoned when the German vessel started to sink. The Germans reported that they did not have enough time to get to the British prisoners and were barely able to escape themselves.
Notes
Citations
References
*
*
*
*
Further reading
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Noordhinder
North Sea operations of World War I
Naval battles of World War I involving the United Kingdom
Naval battles of World War I involving Germany
Conflicts in 1915
May 1915 events