Posted by: Desdinova
« on: March 30, 2020, 08:17:58 PM »Action of 8/19/1909
An engagement takes place between a flotilla of German and French destroyers off the Dutch coast; the Germans are able to sink the French Hallebarde, Epee, and Rapiere; S24 and Flamberge are badly damaged.
9/24/1909 - Battle of North Sea
0623: Prinz Heinrich and Hertha, screened by Gefion and Gazelle and a number of destroyers, are conducting a patrol in the North Sea when Gefion spots a possible enemy light cruiser. The sighted ship turns away to the west.
0723: The Germans have identified the opposition as the 10,900-ton cruiser Gueydon, two 5,500-ton Coetlogon-class protected cruisers, a Gazelle-class protected cruiser, and several supporting destroyers. The Germans decide to press the attack, quickly overwhelming the French cruiser with a fusillade of 6" and 9" shells.
0807: Gueydon has already been reduced to a flaming wreck. A counterattack by a pair of French destroyers is quickly repulsed, and when both ships are blasted apart, the German cruiser shift their attention to the Coetlogon-class cruiser Lalande.
1014: The Germans leave Lalande, satisfied that she is sinking, and double back to recover survivors.
1422: The Germans head south towards port, and find Gueydon is not quite as dead they had believed. She is still under power, but making less than 10 knots. Unfortunately, the French ship is helpless to resist the Germans, and one of her escorting destroyers is sunk as the Germans finish her off.
In addition to two cruisers, they have sunk the destroyers Fauconneau, Francisque, and Flamberge. 72 survivors are rescued.
The battle is the last surface action of the war, as an exhausted France surrenders days later. France cedes no territory, but Germany extracts considerable war reparations. The naval campaign has been completely one-sided: In 8 months of war, Germany has lost only 3 destroyers, while France has lost the bulk of their fleet: 6 battleships, 7 armoured cruisers, 2 protected cruisers, and a dozen destroyers have all been lost. The sustained German blockade has caused considerable material shortages across France, and by the end of the war mutinies were taking place among the remaining French warships - while France accepted humiliating terms, the alternative was total collapse. French submarines and raiders made a minor impact on German shipping, sinking 34 merchants, while 10 French submarines have been sunk. Despite the budget cuts following the end of the war, the completion of the Arcona-class cruisers allows for the ordering of a second Deutschland-class battleship, Schlesien, in November 1909.
An engagement takes place between a flotilla of German and French destroyers off the Dutch coast; the Germans are able to sink the French Hallebarde, Epee, and Rapiere; S24 and Flamberge are badly damaged.
9/24/1909 - Battle of North Sea
0623: Prinz Heinrich and Hertha, screened by Gefion and Gazelle and a number of destroyers, are conducting a patrol in the North Sea when Gefion spots a possible enemy light cruiser. The sighted ship turns away to the west.
0723: The Germans have identified the opposition as the 10,900-ton cruiser Gueydon, two 5,500-ton Coetlogon-class protected cruisers, a Gazelle-class protected cruiser, and several supporting destroyers. The Germans decide to press the attack, quickly overwhelming the French cruiser with a fusillade of 6" and 9" shells.
0807: Gueydon has already been reduced to a flaming wreck. A counterattack by a pair of French destroyers is quickly repulsed, and when both ships are blasted apart, the German cruiser shift their attention to the Coetlogon-class cruiser Lalande.
1014: The Germans leave Lalande, satisfied that she is sinking, and double back to recover survivors.
1422: The Germans head south towards port, and find Gueydon is not quite as dead they had believed. She is still under power, but making less than 10 knots. Unfortunately, the French ship is helpless to resist the Germans, and one of her escorting destroyers is sunk as the Germans finish her off.
In addition to two cruisers, they have sunk the destroyers Fauconneau, Francisque, and Flamberge. 72 survivors are rescued.
The battle is the last surface action of the war, as an exhausted France surrenders days later. France cedes no territory, but Germany extracts considerable war reparations. The naval campaign has been completely one-sided: In 8 months of war, Germany has lost only 3 destroyers, while France has lost the bulk of their fleet: 6 battleships, 7 armoured cruisers, 2 protected cruisers, and a dozen destroyers have all been lost. The sustained German blockade has caused considerable material shortages across France, and by the end of the war mutinies were taking place among the remaining French warships - while France accepted humiliating terms, the alternative was total collapse. French submarines and raiders made a minor impact on German shipping, sinking 34 merchants, while 10 French submarines have been sunk. Despite the budget cuts following the end of the war, the completion of the Arcona-class cruisers allows for the ordering of a second Deutschland-class battleship, Schlesien, in November 1909.