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Remembered Today:

SMS Dresden- hiding in Chilean fjords 1915


egbert

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Julian and we have people here that have never heard of Uruguay, although we are in Montevideo....

Gareth any pictures from near fjord Q? I'd be interested.

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I will have a look but I think I will fail. I took a good number of photographs of the fjords, inlets, islands and the like but they all look very similar. And I only have slides, not prints, and no slide projector, so I fear I can't help.

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Alright, the Dresden now arrived in fjord Quintupeu, her final lair.

I found this story from SMS Dresden :


From : http://hubpages.com/education/A-World-War-One-Naval-Action-Capturing-the-SMS-Dresden

Hiding in Quintupeu Fjord!
The Dresden managed to meet up with a commercial ship, the Sierra Cordoba, which had been trying to contact the fugitive warship in order to provide coal and provisions. The two ships played hide-and-seek with the British ships, in and out of the channels until at last, on the 6th of February, 1915, the Dresden entered the Quintupeu Fjord, much further North. This beautiful inlet is located in the area of Puerto Montt, on the mainland coast just south of present day Hornopiren. The mouth is extremely narrow, so much so that the Dresden was barely able to get through. The Fjord then widens out into the most beautiful surroundings, with high sides rising steeply above the water, covered with all sorts of vegetation, including trees that are more than a thousand years old. An added attraction is the fact that crystalline waterfalls cascade down the surface of the abrupt walls, falling straight into the salt water below. This water is very pure, and was a great help to the Dresden and her crew.
In this new hiding place, the German warship received help from local German families from Puerto Montt, notably some members of the Oelkers family, who owned a shipping company. The first activity was a welcome party, celebrated with good home-made sausages and beer, while a band played lively music. There was even some dancing, as several small boats carrying more German residents joined the party.
At this secluded spot, various damaged engine parts were dismantled and then taken in secret to Puerto Montt to be repaired.

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Gareth,

Not many of us around who have been that way! And I do know what you mean, ever-changing but at the same time hardly-ever-changing landscape - trees down to waterline, stopping at about 300 m asl, if I remember rightly, low clouds, etc..

Egbert

Greatly enjoying your track of the Dresden! A Dutch mate of mine told me today he thinks he has somewhere at home a Dutch book on the travails of the Dresden from the 1920's. I'll try and check it out. Now, Egbert, go on, a request: ask the pilots about traversing the Angostora Kirke into Bahia Desengago for Puerto Natales - not that you will be going there, but having done it a few times between 1984/5-1995, it will be interesting to learn what they have to say!

Julian

EDIT: Not the Dresden but the Emden, and a book published (in Dutch) in 1917...

post-69449-0-70345400-1460035909_thumb.j

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I won't grot up Egberts wonderful thread with other photos, but he was asking for photos, so I will include links - if you have been there it is interesting to see what others saw

We went from Puerto Montt south to Puerto Natales last year. My photos are here - click - which include the Kirke Narrows, which as Julian knows are spectacularly narrow and where the Navimag Ferry was wrecked 2 years ago and it had Chilean pilots. I am afraid though that I do not name the fjords - its a bit like the American tourist with castles - when you have seen one fjord....

And on from Puerto Natales to Ushuaia - photos click

And we did it in the Navimag ferry earlier in 2007

I will have to get round to adding a page on the Dresden with all the info that Egbert has put on here

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... so I will include links - if you have been there it is interesting to see what others saw ...

Thank you! Those photographs - like Egbert's - really make the point about traversing the Straits of Magellan! I remember at school learning about this passage and how good old Sir F,Drake found a better and easier way - the Drake Passage: the SofMagellan are really not the best place to be in a caravel or even any later sail ship, with all those down gusts. And as Egbert and you remind us, it is still not that easy with steam or modern ships - and some parts still even less so today. OK, Angostura Kirke are a real challenge, but there is many a spot on that passage that needs really excellent navigational skills. On the Angostura Kirke, by the way, I once saw the on-duty pilot freeze when a down gust caught us - Captain ran to the wheel and wrenched it around himself... This on a ship with no bow or other thrusters...

Julian

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I enjoyed the linked images very much, sorry- especially the two,wrecks which reminds all seafarers how dangerous navigation is down here.

Julian, I chatted quite a while with the Chilean pilots. It took a while until they understood that I am not a naval spy. When they started talking of their German-built subs the ban was broken. They told me of a lot of still today restricted areas in the fjord region, only accesible for their navy Angostura obviously only belongs in the drinks, as the pilots left us in Puerto Madryn already.

Back to the Dresden.

This is an aerial from the narrow fjord mouth of said Q. Fjord. From the main fjord it is absolutely not visible what actual hides behind the bend. The ideal lair for our light cruiser.

post-80-0-27380000-1460048419_thumb.jpg

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This unfinished? painting from a local Puerto Montt resident (bridge wing missing) depicts the Emden entering the Quintupeu fjord

post-80-0-03428200-1460118515_thumb.jpg

Source: internet upaulsen

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  • 2 months later...

Last - the grave of the brave pilot, still there in Punta Arenas.

Albert Pagels, bearer of Iron Cross ! and II

 

 

Albert Pagels.jpg

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His grave was placed next to the memorial to the fallen sailors from the Battle of Falkland

 

 

Denkmal_G.jpg

source: Wiki

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  • 4 weeks later...
On 4/2/2016 at 21:53, egbert said:

Ready for replenishment.

httpswww.flickr.comphotos28047774@N048845151520 santiagonostalgico.jpg

Source: httpswww.flickr.comphotos28047774@N048845151520 santiagonostalgico

 

Egbert,

A recent acquisition allows me to add to your fascinating thread.

'Ruhmestage der Deutschen Marine' by von Baumbach (1933) is beyond my reading capabilities, but thankfully, half of the book is made up of photographs, some of which may be new to readers here.

The Dresden with what may be the same replenishment vessel as seen in the above painting

3af49127-c658-4a69-864a-42267e85a4c6_zps

 

The end

dd7ab6b9-4e93-44fc-8198-781301705ca7_zps

 

From the Naval Review articled previously referenced in this thread

“At 12.16 she sank, flying both the white flag and the German ensign. The doctors of the squadron were sent on shore to attend the wounded immediately after the action, and as far as could be ascertained there were about 40 killed, wounded and missing. Fifteen badly wounded were conveyed to Valparaiso by the Orama, and the remaining Germans were removed later by Chilian cruisers.”

968df498-be13-4021-8c48-465e032f1cf2_zps

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Excellent new pictures. Especially the 2 top ones are of interest. Could the supply ship be the Sierra Cordoba?

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3 hours ago, michaeldr said:

Sorry Egbert, but in this case it is not the Sierra Cordoba, but the Baden

Do we know where the Baden was meeting the Dresden down in the Land of Fires?

 

P.S. I just checked the naval history. According to the history the supply ship "Baden" was sunk by HMS Bristol and Macedonia during the preceding battle of Falklands. So the Baden never made it to the land of fire and the Magellan Straights. The picture with the Baden must have been taken before the battle of the Falklands

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16 hours ago, egbert said:

The picture with the Baden must have been taken before the battle of the Falklands

You must be correct there Egbert

The backdrop to the left hand picture certainly does not suggest a wild and mountainous coast

The caption must refer to the right hand picture only

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The group below includes Lüdecke of the SMS Dresden together with Graf Spee and the rest of the victors of Coronel.

The caption suggests that this was the last occasion on which all of this group were assembled together.

 

9ba5b2c5-6f04-4b9d-98fa-50b318e55fcd_zps

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  • 1 year later...

Hi All, I've been doing some research trying to find out the exact  locations of the Dresden hideouts in Tierra del Fuego. The best reference I've found so far is a original sketch of the route:
WieblitzkarteFeuerland03.jpg.6c0be6d1ff28f8ab1e45b62aae5a96c5.jpg

I got it from: http://www.kleiner-kreuzer-dresden.de/html/biographie.html

 

However, in particular AP4 that should correspond to Christmas bay is not so easy to locate from this rudimentary map. I've placed these same red points with red markers in a modern map HERE (https://easyzoom.com/imageaccess/8ab76718135145d38457e3ab118b7e83)

 

So to confirm locations I was very interested in the logs mentioned by Michel here:
 

On 22/03/2016 at 09:25, michaeldr said:

pages 412 to 438 for extracts from the Dresden's log plus comments


But I can't access to the documents. Can anyone share them again or help confirming correcting the locations??

Thanks

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10 hours ago, Camilo said:

So to confirm locations I was very interested in the logs mentioned by Michel here:
 

On 22/03/2016 at 18:25, michaeldr said:

pages 412 to 438 for extracts from the Dresden's log plus comments


But I can't access to the documents. Can anyone share them again or help confirming correcting the locations??

 

Camilo,

 

Welcome to the GWF.

The website of The Naval Review is being updated and they have had a few problems with the new setup 

[see this thread here -

 

The latest information from our member 'Wallace2' is that they are working on it and hope to have it all back on line very soon, including their valuable archive.

 

Good Luck

Michael

Edited by michaeldr
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  • 2 years later...

Just found by pure luck:

This documentary video about the SMS Dresden complements the whole story told in this thread.

SMS Dresden from Coronel via Cape Horn to Falklands, back to the icy lairs in the Chilean fjords:

Well worth to watch (German language)

 

Unter kaiserlicher Flagge (2/2) - Hetzjagd vor Kap Horn | Doku-Serie über die deutsche Marine - YouTube

 

 

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Great thread

Great photos

Great storytelling

Great video

Danke!

:-) M

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  • 4 months later...
On 22/03/2016 at 17:25, michaeldr said:

Egbert,

I could not open the doc which you posted above and therefore cannot comment

I can however offer the following links which may be useful

see http://www.naval-review.com/issues/1910s/1915-3.pdf#Page%3D68&View%3DFit

and in particular

pages 412 to 438 for extracts from the Dresden's log plus comments

pages 439/440 for the sinking of the Dresden

see http://www.naval-review.com/issues/1910s/1916-1.pdf#Page%3D77&View%3DFit

and in particular

pages 77 to 84 for an account of the search for and destruction of the Dresden

 

Good luck

Michael

 

Michael, could you point me to the new links of above mentioned Dresden logs? Your original links do not work any more

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5 hours ago, egbert said:

Michael, could you point me to the new links of above mentioned Dresden logs? Your original links do not work any more

 

Egbert,

 

The Naval Review is alas, now only available to members, however I have sent you a PM detailing what info I have managed to retain.

 

All the best

Michael

Edited by michaeldr
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  • 2 years later...

I was recently on Robinson Crusoe Island, the final resting place of the Dresden

There are a couple of naval guns there, which are said to be from the Dresden - not much else seems to have survived the years

Someone with more knowledge than I could perhaps say if they could have come from the Dresden, as is the local belief

dresden2.jpg.1a362df74e0c01e3fe9e01299c572fbc.jpg

dresden1.jpg.27b85fe4a2cc4f1fa59be99007ef893f.jpg

Afraid the bears travel with me as well

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Looks to me that there’s a strong resemblance to the 15 cm SK L/40 German naval gun - so bearing in mind the location, I wouldn’t necessarily doubt the local belief that they were off the DRESDEN (although unclear as yet how and when the guns would have been recovered from the seabed)

MB

Edited by KizmeRD
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