SMS ''Dresden'' ("His Majesty's Ship ''Dresden''") was a German
light cruiser
A light cruiser is a type of small or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck. Prior to th ...
built for the ''
Kaiserliche Marine
{{italic title
The adjective ''kaiserlich'' means "imperial" and was used in the German-speaking countries to refer to those institutions and establishments over which the ''Kaiser'' ("emperor") had immediate personal power of control.
The term wa ...
'' (Imperial Navy). The
lead ship
The lead ship, name ship, or class leader is the first of a series or class of ships all constructed according to the same general design. The term is applicable to naval ships and large civilian vessels.
Large ships are very complex and may ...
of
her class, she was laid down at the
Blohm & Voss shipyard in
Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
, timezone1 = Central (CET)
, utc_offset1 = +1
, timezone1_DST = Central (CEST)
, utc_offset1_DST = +2
, postal ...
in 1906, launched in October 1907, and completed in November 1908. Her entrance into service was delayed by accidents during
sea trial
A sea trial is the testing phase of a watercraft (including boats, ships, and submarines). It is also referred to as a " shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on open water, and ...
s, including a collision with another vessel which necessitated major repairs. Like the preceding cruisers upon which her design was based, ''Dresden'' was armed with ten
SK L/40 guns and two
torpedo tube
A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes.
There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed aboa ...
s.
''Dresden'' spent much of her career overseas. After commissioning, she visited the United States in 1909 during the
Hudson–Fulton Celebration
The Hudson–Fulton Celebration from September 25 to October 9, 1909 in New York and New Jersey was an elaborate commemoration of the 300th anniversary of Henry Hudson’s discovery of the Hudson River and the 100th anniversary of Robert Fulton's ...
, before returning to Germany to serve in the reconnaissance force of the
High Seas Fleet
The High Seas Fleet (''Hochseeflotte'') was the battle fleet of the German Imperial Navy and saw action during the First World War. The formation was created in February 1907, when the Home Fleet (''Heimatflotte'') was renamed as the High Seas ...
for three years. In 1913, she was assigned to the Mediterranean Division. She was then sent to the
Caribbean to protect German nationals during the
Mexican Revolution. In mid-1914, she carried the former dictator
Victoriano Huerta
José Victoriano Huerta Márquez (; 22 December 1854 – 13 January 1916) was a general in the Mexican Federal Army and 39th President of Mexico, who came to power by coup against the democratically elected government of Francisco I. Madero wit ...
to Jamaica, where the British had granted him asylum. She was due to return to Germany in July 1914, but was prevented from doing so by the outbreak of
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. At the onset of hostilities, ''Dresden'' operated as a
commerce raider
Commerce raiding (french: guerre de course, "war of the chase"; german: Handelskrieg, "trade war") is a form of naval warfare used to destroy or disrupt logistics of the enemy on the open sea by attacking its merchant shipping, rather than enga ...
in South American waters in the Atlantic, then moved to the Pacific Ocean in September and joined
Maximilian von Spee
Maximilian Johannes Maria Hubert Reichsgraf von Spee (22 June 1861 – 8 December 1914) was a naval officer of the German ''Kaiserliche Marine'' (Imperial Navy), who commanded the East Asia Squadron during World War I. Spee entered the navy in ...
's
East Asia Squadron
The German East Asia Squadron (german: Kreuzergeschwader / Ostasiengeschwader) was an Imperial German Navy cruiser squadron which operated mainly in the Pacific Ocean between the mid-1890s until 1914, when it was destroyed at the Battle of the ...
.
''Dresden'' saw action in the
Battle of Coronel
The Battle of Coronel was a First World War Imperial German Navy victory over the Royal Navy on 1 November 1914, off the coast of central Chile near the city of Coronel. The East Asia Squadron (''Ostasiengeschwader'' or ''Kreuzergeschwader'') ...
in November, where she engaged the British cruiser , and at the
Battle of the Falkland Islands
The Battle of the Falkland Islands was a First World War naval action between the British Royal Navy and Imperial German Navy on 8 December 1914 in the South Atlantic. The British, after their defeat at the Battle of Coronel on 1 November, s ...
in December, where she was the only German warship to escape destruction. She eluded her British pursuers for several more months, until she put into
Robinson Crusoe Island
Robinson Crusoe Island ( es, Isla Róbinson Crusoe, ), formerly known as Más a Tierra (), is the second largest of the Juan Fernández Islands, situated 670 km (362 nmi; 416 mi) west of San Antonio, Chile, in the South Pacific Oc ...
in March 1915. Her engines were worn out and she had almost no coal left for her boilers, so the ship's captain contacted the local Chilean authorities to have ''Dresden'' interned. She was trapped by British cruisers, including her old opponent ''Glasgow''. The British violated Chilean neutrality and opened fire on the ship in the
Battle of Más a Tierra
The Battle of Más a Tierra was a World War I sea battle fought on 14 March 1915, near the Chilean island of Más a Tierra, between a British squadron and a German light cruiser. The battle saw the last remnant of the German East Asia Squadro ...
. The Germans
scuttled
Scuttling is the deliberate sinking of a ship. Scuttling may be performed to dispose of an abandoned, old, or captured vessel; to prevent the vessel from becoming a navigation hazard; as an act of self-destruction to prevent the ship from being ...
''Dresden'' and the majority of the crew escaped to be interned in Chile for the duration of the war. The wreck remains in the harbor; several artifacts, including her bell and compass, have been returned to Germany.
Design
![Dresden class cruiser diagrams Janes 1914](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a8/Dresden_class_cruiser_diagrams_Janes_1914.jpg)
The
1898 Naval Law authorized the construction of thirty new
light cruiser
A light cruiser is a type of small or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck. Prior to th ...
s; the program began with the , which was developed into the and es, both of which incorporated incremental improvements over the course of construction. The primary alteration for the two ''Dresden''-class cruisers, assigned to the 1906 fiscal year, consisted of an additional boiler for the propulsion system to increase engine power.
''Dresden'' was
long overall
__NOTOC__
Length overall (LOA, o/a, o.a. or oa) is the maximum length of a vessel's hull measured parallel to the waterline. This length is important while docking the ship. It is the most commonly used way of expressing the size of a ship, an ...
with a
beam of and a
draft
Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to:
Watercraft dimensions
* Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel
* Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail
* Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vesse ...
of forward. She
displaced as designed and up to at
full load
The displacement or displacement tonnage of a ship is its weight. As the term indicates, it is measured indirectly, using Archimedes' principle, by first calculating the volume of water displaced by the ship, then converting that value into wei ...
. She had a crew of 18 officers and 343 enlisted men.
Her propulsion system consisted of two
Parsons
Parsons may refer to:
Places
In the United States:
* Parsons, Kansas, a city
* Parsons, Missouri, an unincorporated community
* Parsons, Tennessee, a city
* Parsons, West Virginia, a town
* Camp Parsons, a Boy Scout camp in the state of Washingt ...
steam turbines, designed to give for a top speed of . The engines were powered by twelve coal-fired
water-tube boiler
A high pressure watertube boiler (also spelled water-tube and water tube) is a type of boiler in which water circulates in tubes heated externally by the fire. Fuel is burned inside the furnace, creating hot gas which boils water in the steam-gen ...
s. ''Dresden'' carried up to of coal, which gave her a range of at .
The ship was armed with a
main battery
A main battery is the primary weapon or group of weapons around which a warship is designed. As such, a main battery was historically a gun or group of guns, as in the broadsides of cannon on a ship of the line. Later, this came to be turreted ...
of ten
SK L/40 guns in single mounts. Two were placed side by side forward on the
forecastle
The forecastle ( ; contracted as fo'c'sle or fo'c's'le) is the upper deck of a sailing ship forward of the foremast, or, historically, the forward part of a ship with the sailors' living quarters. Related to the latter meaning is the phrase " be ...
, six were located amidships, three on either side, and two were placed side by side aft. The guns could engage targets out to . They were supplied with 1,500 rounds of ammunition, for 150 shells per gun. The secondary battery comprised
eight SK L/55 guns, with 4,000 rounds of ammunition. She was also equipped with two
torpedo tube
A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes.
There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed aboa ...
s with four
torpedo
A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, s ...
es, mounted on the deck.
The ship was protected by an armored deck that was up to thick. The
conning tower had thick sides, and the guns were protected by thick shields.
Service history
![SMS Dresden 1909 LOC det 4a16116](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8c/SMS_Dresden_1909_LOC_det_4a16116.jpg)
''Dresden'' was ordered under the contract name ''
Ersatz
An ersatz good () is a substitute good, especially one that is considered inferior to the good it replaces. It has particular connotations of wartime usage.
Etymology
''Ersatz'' is a German word literally meaning ''substitute'' or ''replaceme ...
'' . She was laid down at the
Blohm & Voss shipyard in
Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
, timezone1 = Central (CET)
, utc_offset1 = +1
, timezone1_DST = Central (CEST)
, utc_offset1_DST = +2
, postal ...
in 1906 and
launched on 5 October 1907. The
Oberbürgermeister of
her namesake city,
Otto Beutler, christened the ship.
Fitting-out
Fitting out, or outfitting, is the process in shipbuilding that follows the float-out/launching of a vessel and precedes sea trials. It is the period when all the remaining construction of the ship is completed and readied for delivery to her o ...
work then commenced, and ''Dresden'' was commissioned into the
High Seas Fleet
The High Seas Fleet (''Hochseeflotte'') was the battle fleet of the German Imperial Navy and saw action during the First World War. The formation was created in February 1907, when the Home Fleet (''Heimatflotte'') was renamed as the High Seas ...
on 14 November 1908. Following her commissioning, ''Dresden'' began her
sea trials
A sea trial is the testing phase of a watercraft (including boats, ships, and submarines). It is also referred to as a "shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on open water, and i ...
. On 28 November she accidentally collided with and sank the Swedish
galeas
A galeas is a type of small trade vessel that was common in the Baltic Sea and North Sea from the 17th to the early 20th centuries. The characteristics of the ships depend somewhat from where the ship originated. Swedish variants had two masts and ...
''Cäcilie'' outside
Kiel
Kiel () is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 246,243 (2021).
Kiel lies approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the southeast of the Jutland ...
. ''Dresden''s starboard propeller shaft was shoved in , and she required six months of repair work. She resumed sea trials in 1909, but a turbine accident necessitated further repairs, which lasted until September.
Although ''Dresden'' had not completed the required testing, her trials were declared over on 7 September, as she had been ordered to visit the United States. The purpose of the voyage was to represent Germany at the
Hudson–Fulton Celebration
The Hudson–Fulton Celebration from September 25 to October 9, 1909 in New York and New Jersey was an elaborate commemoration of the 300th anniversary of Henry Hudson’s discovery of the Hudson River and the 100th anniversary of Robert Fulton's ...
in New York; ''Dresden'' was joined by the
protected cruiser
Protected cruisers, a type of naval cruiser of the late-19th century, gained their description because an armoured deck offered protection for vital machine-spaces from fragments caused by shells exploding above them. Protected cruisers re ...
s and and the light cruiser . ''Dresden'' left
Wilhelmshaven
Wilhelmshaven (, ''Wilhelm's Harbour''; Northern Low Saxon: ''Willemshaven'') is a coastal town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the western side of the Jade Bight, a bay of the North Sea, and has a population of 76,089. Wilhelmsh ...
on 11 September and stopped in
Newport, where she met the rest of the ships of the squadron. The ships arrived in New York on 24 September, remained there until 9 October, and arrived back in Germany on 22 October.
![SMS Dresden German Cruiser LOC 04281](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e1/SMS_Dresden_German_Cruiser_LOC_04281.jpg)
''Dresden'' then joined the reconnaissance force for the High Seas Fleet; the following two years consisted of the peacetime routine of squadron exercises, training cruises, and annual fleet exercises. On 16 February 1910, she collided with the light cruiser . The collision caused significant damage to ''Dresden'', though no one on either vessel was injured. She made it back to Kiel for repairs, which lasted eight days. ''Dresden'' visited Hamburg on 13–17 May that year. From 14 to 20 April 1912, she was temporarily transferred to the Training Squadron, along with the
armored cruiser
The armored cruiser was a type of warship of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was designed like other types of cruisers to operate as a long-range, independent warship, capable of defeating any ship apart from a battleship and fast eno ...
and the light cruiser . For the year 1911–12, ''Dresden'' won the Kaiser's Schießpreis (Shooting Prize) for excellent gunnery amongst the light cruisers of the High Seas Fleet. From September 1912 through September 1913, she was commanded by ''
Fregattenkapitän
Fregattenkapitän, short: FKpt / in lists: FK, () is the middle field officer rank () in the German Navy.
Address
In line with ZDv 10/8, the official manner of formally addressing military personnel holding the rank of ''Fregattenkapitän'' ...
'' (Frigate Captain)
Fritz Lüdecke, who would command the ship again during
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
.
On 6 April 1913, she and the cruiser were sent from Kiel to the
Adriatic Sea
The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Sea) to t ...
, where she joined the ''
Mittelmeer-Division'' (Mediterranean Division), centered on the
battlecruiser and commanded by ''
Konteradmiral
''Konteradmiral'', abbreviated KAdm or KADM, is the second lowest naval flag officer rank in the German Navy. It is equivalent to ''Generalmajor'' in the '' Heer'' and ''Luftwaffe'' or to '' Admiralstabsarzt'' and '' Generalstabsarzt'' in the ' ...
'' (Rear Admiral)
Konrad Trummler. The ships cruised the eastern Mediterranean for several months, and in late August, ''Dresden'' was ordered to return to Germany. After arriving in Kiel on 23 September, she was taken into the
''Kaiserliche Werft'' (Imperial Shipyard) for an overhaul that lasted until the end of December. She was scheduled to return to the Mediterranean Division, but the ''
Admiralstab'' (Admiralty Staff) reassigned ''Dresden'' to the North American station to protect German interests in the
Mexican Revolution. The cruiser ''Bremen'', then in North American waters, was also due to return to Germany, but her intended replacement, , had not yet entered service. On 27 December 1913, ''Dresden'' departed Germany and arrived off
Vera Cruz on 21 January 1914, under the command of ''Fregattenkapitän''
Erich Köhler. The United States had already sent a squadron of warships to the city, as had several other countries.
![Bundesarchiv DVM 10 Bild-23-61-30, Kleiner Kreuzer](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dc/Bundesarchiv_DVM_10_Bild-23-61-30%2C_Kleiner_Kreuzer_%22SMS_Dresden_I%22.jpg)
The ''Admiralstab'' ordered ''Hertha'', which had been on a training cruise for
naval cadet
Officer Cadet is a rank held by military cadets during their training to become commissioned officers. In the United Kingdom, the rank is also used by members of University Royal Naval Units, University Officer Training Corps and University A ...
s, to join ''Dresden'' off Mexico. ''Bremen'' was also recalled to reinforce the German naval contingent; after arriving, she was tasked with transferring European nationals to German
HAPAG
The Hamburg-Amerikanische Packetfahrt-Aktien-Gesellschaft (HAPAG), known in English as the Hamburg America Line, was a transatlantic shipping enterprise established in Hamburg, in 1847. Among those involved in its development were prominent citi ...
liners. ''Dresden'' and the British cruiser rescued 900 American citizens trapped in a hotel in Vera Cruz and transferred them to American warships. The German consul in
Mexico City
Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...
requested additional forces, and so ''Dresden'' provided a landing party of a
''maat'' (Junior Petty Officer) and ten sailors, armed with two
MG 08
The ''Maschinengewehr'' 08, or MG 08, was the German Army's standard machine gun in World War I and is an adaptation of Hiram S. Maxim's original 1884 Maxim gun. It was produced in a number of variants during the war. The MG 08 served during Wo ...
machine gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) ar ...
s. On 15 April 1914, ''Dresden'' steamed to
Tampico
Tampico is a city and port in the southeastern part of the state of Tamaulipas, Mexico. It is located on the north bank of the Pánuco River, about inland from the Gulf of Mexico, and directly north of the state of Veracruz. Tampico is the fifth ...
on Mexico's Gulf coast.
That month, the German-flagged merchant ship arrived in Mexico, carrying a load of small arms for the regime of Mexican dictator
Victoriano Huerta
José Victoriano Huerta Márquez (; 22 December 1854 – 13 January 1916) was a general in the Mexican Federal Army and 39th President of Mexico, who came to power by coup against the democratically elected government of Francisco I. Madero wit ...
. The United States had put an arms embargo into effect in an attempt to reduce the violence of the civil war. The US Navy
intercepted ''Ypiranga'' on 21 April. ''Dresden'' arrived, confiscated the merchantman, and pressed her into naval service to transport German refugees out of Mexico. Despite the American embargo, the Germans delivered the weapons and ammunition to the Mexican government on 28 May.
On 20 July, after the Huerta regime was toppled, ''Dresden'' carried Huerta, his vice president,
Aureliano Blanquet Aureliano, equivalent to Aurelian and Aurelianus, is both a given name and a surname which can refer to:
; Given name
* Aureliano Blanquet (1849-1919), general of the Federal Army during the Mexican Civil War
*Aureliano Bolognesi (1930–2018), Ita ...
, and their families to
Kingston, Jamaica, where Britain had granted them asylum. Upon arriving in Kingston on the 25th, Köhler learned of the rising political tensions in Europe during the
July Crisis
The July Crisis was a series of interrelated diplomatic and military escalations among the major powers of Europe in the summer of 1914, which led to the outbreak of World War I (1914–1918). The crisis began on 28 June 1914, when Gavrilo Pri ...
that followed the
assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his wife, Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg, were assassinated on 28 June 1914 by Bosnian Serb student Gavrilo Princip. They were shot at close range whil ...
. By this time, the ship was in need of a refit in Germany, and met with her replacement, ''Karlsruhe'', in
Port-au-Prince, Haiti, the following day. Lüdecke, who had arrived in command of ''Karlsruhe'', traded places with Köhler aboard ''Dresden''. The ''Admiralstab'' initially ordered ''Dresden'' to return to Germany for overhaul, but the heightened threat of war by the 31st led the staff to countermand the order, instead instructing Lüdecke to prepare to conduct
''Handelskrieg'' (trade war) in the Atlantic.
World War I
After receiving the order to remain in the Atlantic, Lüdecke turned his ship south while maintaining radio silence to prevent hostile warships from discovering his vessel. On the night of 4–5 August, he received a radio report informing him of Britain's declaration of war on Germany. He chose the South Atlantic as ''Dresden''s operational area, and steamed to the Brazilian coast. Off the mouth of the
Amazon River, he stopped a British merchant ship on 6 August. The ship, , whose captain professed to know nothing of Britain's entry into the war, was permitted to proceed unmolested in accordance with the rules set forth in the
Hague Convention of 1907
The Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 are a series of international treaties and declarations negotiated at two international peace conferences at The Hague in the Netherlands. Along with the Geneva Conventions, the Hague Conventions were amo ...
. ''Dresden'' rendezvoused with the German
collier , a converted
HSDG vessel. The cruiser moved to the
Rocas Atoll
The Rocas Atoll ( pt, Atol das Rocas ) is the only atoll in the South Atlantic Ocean. It belongs to the Brazilian State of Rio Grande do Norte. It is located approximately northeast of Natal and west of the Fernando de Noronha archipelago. The ...
on the 12th, along with the HAPAG steamers , , and . After departing the atoll, en route to
Trinidade, ''Dresden'' caught the British steamer ; Lüdecke took off the ship's crew and then sank the merchantman. ''Dresden'' captured the British collier on 24 August and sank her after evacuating her crew. After arriving in Trinidade, she rendezvoused with the
gunboat
A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies.
History Pre-ste ...
and several steamers.
![The German East Asia Squadron 1914 1915-en](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/10/The_German_East_Asia_Squadron_1914_1915-en.svg)
On 26 August, while steaming off the mouth of the
Río de la Plata
The Río de la Plata (, "river of silver"), also called the River Plate or La Plata River in English, is the estuary formed by the confluence of the Uruguay River and the Paraná River at Punta Gorda. It empties into the Atlantic Ocean and fo ...
, she caught two more British steamers, but the poor condition of ''Dresden''s engines curtailed further operations. On 5 September, ''Dresden'' put into
Hoste Island
Hoste Island () is one of the southernmost islands in Chile, lying south, across the Beagle Channel, from Isla Grande de Tierra del Fuego and west of Navarino Island, from which it is separated by the Murray Channel. Hoste Island has the souther ...
for engine maintenance until the 16th. While the ship was there, the HAPAG steamer arrived from
Punta Arenas
Punta Arenas (; historically Sandy Point in English) is the capital city of Chile's southernmost region, Magallanes and Antarctica Chilena. The city was officially renamed as Magallanes in 1927, but in 1938 it was changed back to "Punta Are ...
with news of the war, and the heavy merchant traffic off the western coast of South America. Lüdecke decided to steam there, and on 18 September ''Dresden'' passed the
Strait of Magellan. While en route, ''Dresden'' encountered the French steamer ; Lüdecke refrained from attacking the transport ship, since she had fled into neutral waters. After steaming up the Chilean coast, she stopped in the
Juan Fernández Islands
The Juan Fernández Islands ( es, Archipiélago Juan Fernández) are a sparsely inhabited series of islands in the South Pacific Ocean reliant on tourism and fishing. Situated off the coast of Chile, they are composed of three main volcanic i ...
, where she made radio contact with the light cruiser , which was operating on the Pacific coast of South America. ''Dresden'' saw no further success against British shipping, and on 12 October, she joined ''
Vizeadmiral
(abbreviated VAdm) is a senior naval flag officer rank in several German (language), German-speaking countries, equivalent to Vice admiral.
Austria-Hungary
In the Austro-Hungarian Navy there were the flag-officer ranks ''Kontreadmiral'' (al ...
'' (Vice Admiral)
Maximilian von Spee
Maximilian Johannes Maria Hubert Reichsgraf von Spee (22 June 1861 – 8 December 1914) was a naval officer of the German ''Kaiserliche Marine'' (Imperial Navy), who commanded the East Asia Squadron during World War I. Spee entered the navy in ...
's
East Asia Squadron
The German East Asia Squadron (german: Kreuzergeschwader / Ostasiengeschwader) was an Imperial German Navy cruiser squadron which operated mainly in the Pacific Ocean between the mid-1890s until 1914, when it was destroyed at the Battle of the ...
, which had crossed the Pacific and was coaling at
Easter Island
Easter Island ( rap, Rapa Nui; es, Isla de Pascua) is an island and special territory of Chile in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian Triangle in Oceania. The island is most famous for its ne ...
. The following day, Lüdecke was promoted to ''
Kapitän zur See
Captain is the name most often given in English-speaking navies to the rank corresponding to command of the largest ships. The rank is equal to the army rank of colonel and air force rank of group captain.
Equivalent ranks worldwide include ...
'' (Captain at Sea).
On 18 October, ''Dresden'' and the East Asia Squadron, centered on the armored cruisers and , departed Easter Island for the South American coast. They arrived at
Más a Fuera island on 26 October. The following evening, the German cruisers escorted the
auxiliary cruiser
An armed merchantman is a merchant ship equipped with guns, usually for defensive purposes, either by design or after the fact. In the days of sail, piracy and privateers, many merchantmen would be routinely armed, especially those engaging in ...
and the merchant ships and to Chile. The flotilla arrived off
Valparaiso on 30 October, and the following evening, Spee received intelligence that a British cruiser was at the Chilean port of
Coronel. Spee decided his squadron should ambush the cruiser——when it was forced to leave port due to Chile's neutral status, which required belligerent warships to leave after twenty-four hours. Spee did not realize ''Glasgow'' was in the company of
Rear Admiral Christopher Craddock's
4th Cruiser Squadron
The 4th Cruiser Squadron and (also known as Cruiser Force H) was a formation of cruisers of the British Royal Navy from 1907 to 1914 and then again from 1919 to 1946.
The squadron was first established in 1907, replacing the North America and ...
, which also included the armored cruisers and and the auxiliary cruiser .
Battle of Coronel
![Battle of Coronel map](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/86/Battle_of_Coronel_map.svg)
Early on the morning of 1 November, Spee took his squadron out of Valparaiso, steaming at south toward Coronel. At around 16:00, ''Leipzig'' spotted the smoke column from the leading British cruiser. By 16:25, the other two ships had been spotted. The two squadrons slowly closed the distance, until the Germans opened fire at 18:34, at a range of . The German ships engaged their opposite numbers, with ''Dresden'' firing on ''Otranto''. After ''Dresden''s third salvo, ''Otranto'' turned away; the Germans claimed a hit that caused a fire, though ''Otranto'' reported taking no damage. Following ''Otranto''s departure, ''Dresden'' shifted her fire to ''Glasgow'', which was also targeted by ''Leipzig''. The two German cruisers hit their British opponent five times.
At around 19:30, Spee ordered ''Dresden'' and ''Leipzig'' to launch a torpedo attack against the damaged British armored cruisers. ''Dresden'' increased speed to position herself off the British bows, and briefly spotted ''Glasgow'' as she was withdrawing, but the British cruiser disappeared in the haze and gathering darkness. ''Dresden'' then encountered ''Leipzig''; both ships initially thought the other was hostile. ''Dresden''s crew was loading a torpedo when the two ships confirmed each other's identity. By 22:00, ''Dresden'' and the other two light cruisers were deployed in a line that searched unsuccessfully for the British cruisers. ''Dresden'' had emerged from the battle completely unscathed.
On 3 November, Spee took ''Scharnhorst'', ''Gneisenau'', and ''Nürnberg'' back to Valparaiso for provisioning and to consult with the ''Admiralstab''. Neutrality laws permitted only three belligerent warships in a port at a given time. ''Dresden'' and ''Leipzig'' remained with the squadron's colliers in Más a Fuera. Spee returned to Más a Fuera on 6 November, and detached ''Dresden'' and ''Leipzig'' for a visit to Valparaiso, where they also restocked their supplies. The two cruisers arrived on 12 November, left the following day, and met the rest of the squadron at sea on 18 November. Three days later, the squadron anchored in
St. Quentin Bay in the
Gulf of Penas The Gulf of Penas (''Golfo de Penas'' in Spanish, meaning "gulf of distress") is a body of water located south of the Taitao Peninsula, Chile.
Geography
It is open to the westerly storms of the Pacific Ocean, but it affords entrance to several nat ...
, where they coaled. The Royal Navy had deployed Vice Admiral
Doveton Sturdee
Admiral of the Fleet Sir Frederick Charles Doveton Sturdee, 1st Baronet (9 June 18597 May 1925) was a Royal Navy officer. After training as a torpedo officer, he commanded two different cruisers and then three different battleships before becomi ...
's pair of battlecruisers, and , to hunt down the German squadron. They left Britain on 11 November, and arrived in the
Falkland Islands
The Falkland Islands (; es, Islas Malvinas, link=no ) is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and about from Cape Dubouze ...
on 7 December. There, they joined the armored cruisers , , and , and the light cruisers ''Glasgow'' and .
On 26 November, the German East Asia Squadron left St. Quentin Bay, bound for the Atlantic. On 2 December, they caught the Canadian sailing ship ''Drummuir'', which was carrying of high-grade Cardiff coal. The following morning, the Germans anchored off
Picton Island, where they unloaded the coal from ''Drummuir'' into their own auxiliaries. On the morning of 6 December, Spee held a council aboard ''Scharnhorst'' to discuss their next moves. With the support of the captains of ''Scharnhorst'' and ''Gneisenau'', he successfully argued for an attack on the Falklands to destroy the British wireless station and coal stocks there. Lüdecke and the captains of ''Leipzig'' and ''Nürnberg'' all opposed the plan, and were in favor of bypassing the Falklands and proceeding to the
La Plata area to continue to raid British shipping.
Battle of the Falkland Islands
![Battle of the Falklands Islands 1914](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0d/Battle_of_the_Falklands_Islands_1914.svg)
On the afternoon of 6 December, the German ships departed Picton Island, bound for the Falklands. On 7 December, they rounded
Tierra del Fuego
Tierra del Fuego (, ; Spanish for "Land of the Fire", rarely also Fireland in English) is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan. The archipelago consists of the main island, Isla ...
and turned north into the Atlantic. They arrived off the Falklands at around 02:00; three hours later, Spee detached ''Gneisenau'' and ''Nürnberg'' to land a party ashore. By 08:30, the ships were approaching
Port Stanley
Stanley (; also known as Port Stanley) is the capital city of the Falkland Islands. It is located on the island of East Falkland, on a north-facing slope in one of the wettest parts of the islands. At the 2016 census, the city had a popula ...
, when they noticed thick columns of smoke rising from the harbor. After closing to the harbor entrance, they quickly realized they were confronted by a much more powerful squadron, which was just getting up steam. Spee immediately broke off the operation and turned east to flee before the British ships could catch his squadron. By 10:45, ''Gneisenau'' and ''Nürnberg'' had rejoined the fleet, and the German auxiliaries were detached to seek shelter in the maze of islands off
Cape Horn
Cape Horn ( es, Cabo de Hornos, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which are the Diego Ramí ...
.
The British ships set off in pursuit, and by 12:50, Sturdee's two battlecruisers had overtaken the Germans. A minute later, he gave the order to open fire at the trailing German ship, ''Leipzig''. Spee ordered the three small cruisers to try to escape to the south, while he turned back with ''Scharnhorst'' and ''Gneisenau'' in an attempt to hold off the British squadron. Sturdee had foreseen this possibility, and so had ordered his armored and light cruisers to pursue the German light cruisers. The battlecruisers quickly overwhelmed Spee's armored cruisers, and destroyed them with heavy loss of life. ''Dresden'', with her turbine engines, was able to outpace her pursuers, and was the only German warship to escape destruction. Lüdecke decided to take his ship into the islands off South America to keep a steady supply of coal available.
On 9 December, she passed back around Cape Horn to return to the Pacific. That day, she anchored in
Sholl Bay, with only of coal remaining. ''
Oberleutnant zur See
''Oberleutnant zur See'' (''OLt zS'' or ''OLZS'' in the German Navy, ''Oblt.z.S.'' in the '' Kriegsmarine'') is traditionally the highest rank of Lieutenant in the German Navy. It is grouped as OF-1 in NATO.
The rank was introduced in the Imp ...
'' (lieutenant at sea)
Wilhelm Canaris
Wilhelm Franz Canaris (1 January 1887 – 9 April 1945) was a German admiral and the chief of the ''Abwehr'' (the German military-intelligence service) from 1935 to 1944. Canaris was initially a supporter of Adolf Hitler, and the Nazi re ...
convinced the Chilean naval representative for the region to permit ''Dresden'' to remain in the area for an extra twenty-four hours so enough coal could be taken aboard to reach Punta Arenas. She arrived there on 12 December, and received of coal from a German steamer. The ''Admiralstab'' hoped ''Dresden'' would be able to break through to the Atlantic and return to Germany, but the poor condition of her engines precluded this. Lüdecke instead decided to attempt to cross the Pacific via Easter Island, the
Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capit ...
, and the
Dutch East Indies and raid commerce in the
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by t ...
. ''Dresden'' took on another of coal on 19 January. On 14 February, ''Dresden'' left the islands off the South American coast for the South Pacific. On 27 February, the cruiser captured the British
barque
A barque, barc, or bark is a type of sailing vessel with three or more masts having the fore- and mainmasts rigged square and only the mizzen (the aftmost mast) rigged fore and aft. Sometimes, the mizzen is only partly fore-and-aft rigged, b ...
''Conway Castle'' south of
Más a Tierra. From December to February, the German liner had supplied ''Dresden'' and had accompanied her northward to a final coaling at Juan Fernández Islands just before the cruiser was scuttled.
On 8 March, ''Dresden'' was drifting in dense fog when lookouts spotted ''Kent'', which also had her engines off, about away. Both ships immediately raised steam, and ''Dresden'' escaped after a five-hour chase. The strenuous effort depleted her coal stocks and overtaxed her engines. Lüdecke decided his ship was no longer operational, and determined to have his ship interned to preserve it. The following morning, she put into Más a Fuera, dropping anchor in Cumberland Bay at 8:30. The following day, Lüdecke received by wireless the German Admiralty's permission to let ''Dresden'' be interned, and so Lüdecke informed the local Chilean official of his intention to do so.
Battle of Más a Tierra
On the morning of 14 March, ''Kent'' and ''Glasgow'' approached Cumberland Bay; their appearance was relayed back to ''Dresden'' by one of her
pinnaces
Pinnace may refer to:
* Pinnace (ship's boat), a small vessel used as a tender to larger vessels among other things
* Full-rigged pinnace
The full-rigged pinnace was the larger of two types of vessel called a pinnace in use from the sixteenth c ...
, which had been sent to patrol the entrance to the bay. ''Dresden'' was unable to maneuver, owing to her fuel shortage, and Lüdecke signaled that his ship was no longer a combatant. The British disregarded this message, as well as a Chilean vessel that approached them as they entered the bay. ''Glasgow'' opened fire, in violation of Chile's neutrality; Britain had already informed Chile that British warships would disregard international law if they located ''Dresden'' in Chilean territorial waters. Shortly thereafter, ''Kent'' joined in the bombardment as well. The German gunners fired off three shots in response, but the guns were quickly knocked out by British gunfire.
Lüdecke sent the signal "Am sending negotiator" to the British warships, and dispatched Canaris in a pinnace; ''Glasgow'' continued to bombard the defenseless cruiser. In another attempt to stop the attack, Lüdecke raised the
white flag
White flags have had different meanings throughout history and depending on the locale.
Contemporary use
The white flag is an internationally recognized protective sign of truce or ceasefire, and for negotiation. It is also used to symbolize ...
, which prompted ''Glasgow'' to cease fire. Canaris came aboard to speak with Captain
John Luce; the former strongly protested the latter's violation of Chile's neutrality. Luce simply replied that he had his orders, and demanded an unconditional surrender. Canaris explained that ''Dresden'' had already been interned by Chile, and thereafter returned to his ship, which had in the meantime been prepared for scuttling.
At 10:45, the scuttling charge detonated in the bow and exploded the forward ammunition magazines. The bow was badly mangled; in about half an hour, the ship had taken on enough water to sink. As it struck the sea floor, the bow was torn from the rest of the ship, which rolled over to starboard. As the rest of the hull settled below the waves, a second scuttling charge exploded in the ship's engine rooms.
Aftermath
![Schiffsglockesmsdd](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1c/Schiffsglockesmsdd.jpg)
Most of the ship's crew managed to escape; only eight men were killed in the attack, with another twenty-nine wounded. The British auxiliary cruiser took fifteen severely wounded men to Valparaiso; four of them died. The destruction of his ship had left Lüdecke in shock, and so Canaris took responsibility for the fate of the ship's crew. They remained on the island for five days until two Chilean warships brought a German passenger ship to take the men to
Quiriquina Island
Quiriquina Island, Chile is located at the entrance to the Bay of Concepción, 11 km north of Talcahuano. (''Quiriquina'' is a Mapuche word meaning "many True thrushes").
In April, 1557, Don Garcia de Mendoza, Spanish governor of the Capta ...
, where they were interned for the duration of the war. Canaris escaped from the internment camp on 5 August 1915 and reached Germany exactly two months later. On 31 March 1917, a small group of men escaped on the Chilean barque ''Tinto''; the voyage back to Germany lasted 120 days. The rest of the crew did not return to Germany until 1920.
The wreck lies at a depth of .
[ In 2002, the first survey of the wreck was done by a team led by ]James P. Delgado
James Preston Delgado (born January 11, 1958) is a maritime archaeologist, historian, maritime preservation expert, author, television host, and explorer.
Delgado is a maritime archaeologist who has spent over four decades in underwater explora ...
for the '' Sea Hunters'' documentary produced by the National Underwater and Marine Agency
The National Underwater and Marine Agency (NUMA) is a private non-profit organization in the United States founded in 1979. Originally it was a fictional US government organization in the novels of author Clive Cussler. Cussler later created and, ...
. The team included the archaeologist Dr. Willi Kramer, the first German to visit the wreck since she sank 88 years before. ''Dresden'' lies on her starboard side pointed north, toward the beach. The wreck is heavily damaged; much of the upper works, including the bridge, the masts, the funnels, and many of the guns have been torn from the ship. The bow was cut off by the scuttling charges detonated by the ship's crew, and sits upright on the sea floor. The stern is also badly damaged, with the main deck blasted away and many shell holes in the ship's side. Some of the damage to the aft of the ship appears to have been done by an undocumented salvage operation before Delgado's survey. According to German records, ''Dresden'' was carrying gold coins from their colony at Tsingtau
Qingdao (, also spelled Tsingtao; , Mandarin: ) is a major city in eastern Shandong Province. The city's name in Chinese characters literally means " azure island". Located on China's Yellow Sea coast, it is a major nodal city of the One Belt ...
; Delgado speculated that this salvage work was an attempt to retrieve these.
In 1965, the ship's compass and several flags were recovered and returned to Germany, where they are held at the German Naval Academy Mürwik
A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It includ ...
in Flensburg-Mürwik
Mürwik ( da, Mørvig) is a community of Flensburg in the north of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. Situated on the east side of the Flensburg Firth, it is on the Angeln peninsula. Mürwik is the location of the Naval Academy at Mürwik, w ...
. In 2006, Chilean and German divers found and recovered ''Dresden''s bell
A bell is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be made by an inte ...
, which is now in Germany. C. S. Forester's 1929 novel '' Brown on Resolution'', and two subsequent movies, were inspired by the ''Dresden''s escape and subsequent destruction.
Notes
Footnotes
Citations
References
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Further reading
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dresden
1907 ships
1915 in Chile
Dresden-class cruisers
Scuttled vessels of Germany
Ships built in Hamburg
Shipwrecks in the Chilean Sea
World War I cruisers of Germany
World War I commerce raiders
World War I shipwrecks in the Pacific Ocean
es:SMS Dresden
fr:Classe Dresden