Battle of Heligoland Bight
Encyclopedia : B : BA : BAT : Battle of Heligoland Bight
| North Sea 1914-1918 |
|---|
| 1st Heligoland Bight – Dogger Bank – Jutland – 2nd Heligoland Bight |
The First Battle of Heligoland Bight was a naval battle of the First World War, fought on 28 August 1914. The British planned to attack German patrols off the north-west German coast.
The Harwich Force of two light cruisers, HMS Arethusa and HMS Fearless, and 31 destroyers, under the command of Commodore Reginald Tyrwhitt, made a raid upon the German navy patrols west of the German naval base at Heligoland. Its actions were to be coordinated with a submarine force commanded by Commodore Roger Keyes. Providing cover for the Harwich Force were Cruiser Force C with five old armored cruisers and Cruiser Force K under Rear Admiral Moore with the battlecruisers HMS Invincible and HMS New Zealand. The Admiralty did not consider more support necessary, but Admiral Jellicoe, Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Fleet, subsequently sent the First Battlecruiser Squadron under Vice Admiral Beatty and the First Light Cruiser Squadron under Commodore William Goodenough to provide cover and support. The Admiralty's failure to inform Tyrwhitt and Keyes of this change in plans later caused considerable confusion on the battlefield.
In the early hours on 28 August, the Harwich Force encountered the first German torpedo boats west of Heligoland. Not entirely surprised by the attack, the Germans hastily deployed the light cruisers SMS Frauenlob and SMS Stettin, joined shortly afterwards by four more light cruisers, including Rear Admiral Leberecht Maass' flagship, SMS Cöln.
Finding his force outgunned and under heavy fire, with Arethusa badly damaged by Frauenlob, Tyrwhitt received initial assistance from Commodore Goodenough's squadron of six modern Southampton-class light cruisers: HMS Southampton, HMS Birmingham, HMS Falmouth, HMS Liverpool, HMS Lowestoft and HMS Nottingham. SMS Frauenlob suffered severe damage herself and retreated to Heligoland, but SMS Mainz, arriving on the battlefield from Emden, found herself between Tyrwhitt's and Goodenough's forces and was sunk after a long and valiant battle.
With more German cruisers careening about in the fog and smoke and much confusion on both sides, Tyrwhitt requested assistance from Beatty's battlecruisers at 11.25 am. Beatty, with the battlecruisers HMS Lion, HMS Queen Mary and HMS Princess Royal, had by then linked up with Rear Admiral Moore's Force K and was some 25 miles to the north. The five battlecruisers arrived at about 12.40pm and sank SMS Cöln and SMS Ariadne, leaving the scene before the Germans, impeded by low tide, could get their own battlecruisers out of Wilhelmshaven.
The battle was a clear British victory. Germany had lost three light cruisers and one torpedo boat, 712 men killed and 336 prisoners of war. The Royal Navy had lost no ships and only 35 men killed.
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