Battle of Trindade

Battle of Trindade Part of World War I War at Sea The Battle of Trindade in September 1914. Date September 14, 1914 Location Off the coast of the island of Trindade Brazil, South Atlantic Ocean 20°29′S 29°18′W Result British victory Belligerents German Empire United Kingdom Commanders and leaders Julius Wirth Noel Grant. Strength 1 auxiliary cruiser 1 auxiliary cruiser Casualties and losses 16-51 killed, unknown wounded, 279 captured, 1 auxiliary cruiser sunk 9 killed, unknown wounded, 1 auxiliary cruiser damaged

The Battle of Trindade was a single-ship action fought during the First World War on 14 September 1914 off the coast of the Brazilian island of Trindade between the Imperial German Navy and the British Royal Navy.

Battle

The German auxiliary cruiser Cap Trafalgar was steaming in South American waters on her commerce raiding mission when she came across several German colliers, trapped in the region by the allied navies in the Western approaches. Cap Trafalgar, in need of supplies, was led to the Trindade and Martim Vaz islands where the Germans had established a small, hidden supply base. Cap Trafalgar arrived at the base on September 14, giving away her position early that morning by smoke from her steam engines. The British auxiliary cruiser Carmania, a former ocean liner which was designed to fight merchant vessels and small enemy warships, noticed the smoke and moved to engage. Coincidentally, each cruiser had disguised herself as the other, hoping to gain an advantage when approaching ships of the other country's merchant fleet.^{[citation needed]}

Carmania moved into Trindade's only sheltered anchorage, surprising Cap Trafalgar and two enemy colliers. Both the British and German commanders believed that in order to obtain a decisive victory, they would need more space to maneuver their ships. They steamed several miles into open sea before turning into each other and commencing hostilities. Carmania fired the first shots, which fell short, thus allowing Cap Trafalgar to give out the first hit. For some ninety minutes the two ships fought a gunnery duel, they also used machine guns to target each others' crew. At first the German fire was more effective.

The shattered bridge of the Carmania after her victory over the Cap Trafalgar

Eventually, as the two ships closed to within a few hundred yards of each other, British shots became more accurate and fires began to spread aboard the German raider. Carmania received most of the hits during the fight, 73 hits in total. Her bridge was completely destroyed and she had taken hits below the waterline. However, just when things began to look dire for the British, the Cap Trafalgar turned away and began lowering life rafts. She had received her own hole beneath the waterline and was taking on water. She soon sank.

The German colliers were able to pull 279 German sailors from the sea and rafts but some German crew (numbers are disputed, 16-51 in different sources) were either killed in action or went down with the ship. Carmania's crew also suffered casualties, 9 dead and several more wounded, and the ship was severely damaged.

Aftermath

After receiving Cap Trafalgar's distress call, the SMS Kronprinz Wilhelm arrived near the battle scene. Fearing a British attack, assuming the Cap Trafalgar had already been sunk, and not knowing the poor condition of Carmania, she turned around and steamed away. The day after the battle, Carmania was rescued and escorted to the port of Pernambuco. The surviving Germans were dropped off by the colliers in Montevideo.

See also

• Battle of Rio de Oro

References

• Edwards, Bernard, Salvo! Epic Naval Gun Actions, Cassell, Great Britain: 1995. ISBN 0-304-35171-7.
• Simpson, Colin. The Ship That Hunted Itself - Penguin Books, 1977. ISBN 0-140-04823-5.
• Alfred von Niezychowski: The Cruise of the Kronprinz Wilhelm, 1928

External links

• WWI Raiders
• Cunard: The Most Famous Ocean Liners in the World
• Cap Trafalgar
• Images at Greatships.net
• Account of battle