SMS Dresden- hiding in Chilean fjords 1915

[michaeldr]

More on the final moments of the Dresden

From The Naval Review, Vol. IV
THE WORK OF THE GLASGOW, Part II
[Extracts from the letters of Officers (as this is the second letter, then I presume that it is by the second officer named, i.e., Paymaster Lt Lloyd Hirst, RN)]

"13th.- We are on the high seas again in warn weather and more or less hot on the trail. This will be posted in the earthquake city, and doubtless our arrival will be reported too. Our prey was chased by one of our ships, not us unfortunately, or we should have caught her. As it was she gave them the slip in the dark. Cruel bad luck, and goodness knows where we shall be able to lay hands on her again. Why won't they give us another decently fast ship. We are on our way now to the place where Robinson Crusoe spent most of his life, and shall go from there to the earthquake place after which heaven knows. We are right out of food as the Army and Navy Stores have so far not executed our orders-but we will be able to get something where we post this, though at enormous prices. 
17th.- Said I wouldn't add to this unless something special turned up. It has. As you will hear, we sank the Dresden at Juan Fernandez on Sunday 14th after an action lasting five minutes. To be strictly accurate she sank herself, after her captain had sworn that nothing should be done to her. There were three of us there Kent, Orama and ourselves. After Kent had chased her the other day she was apparently very short of coal indeed, and had to go to Juan Fernandez to wait for colliers. Kent went off afterwards and coaled at Coronel, and we arranged to come up one each side of the Island and to appear simultaneously. We didn't expect to find her there but thought we might get some of her colliers. However, we saw a little white steamboat just as we were opening up the bay, and then a long grey stem come out, and then three funnels. She saw us first, and hoisted a German ensign at her foremast head which meant she was going to fight. We were then about 14,000 yards off. Next thing she saw the Kent, We waited 30 minutes to see if she would haul down her flag but she made no move that way, so at 9.10 we fired two salvoes. Kent also opened fire. Our first went mostly just over her. Second salvo all hit and she caught fire, range 8,400. She hoisted some sort of signal so we ceased fire at 9.11, but then she fired at us, quite harmlessly, so at 9.12 we opened fire again and continued till 9.14, when she hoisted a white flag and hauled down her ensign. Quick work. We closed her, and she sent an officer on board to make what she was pleased to call her terms. Was told that the only terms were complete unconditional surrender. They engaged not to do any damage to their own ship and then blew up her magazines. She sank at 9.37. They sent a boat on board to blow her up, and hoisted an ensign under the white flag which rather spoilt the effect of it. They had all got ashore by then. She had 20 killed, 10 drowned, and 10 killed by shell fire and 30 wounded. , We knocked her all to pieces. They got off jolly cheap, though they called us vile brutes for firing on them at all. Anyhow, she's gone thank the Lord. Orama took her wounded to Valparaiso and the Chilians have sent a man-of-war to rescue her crew. "
…..............................................................................................................

This latter article is also of interest as it led to publication of the The Naval Review being suspended for the duration of the war. It was considered that comments concerning gunnery and the deciphering of German wireless messages, were of use to the enemy –  see The Irresistible Force and the Immovable Object The Naval Review, the Young Turks, and the Royal Navy, 1911-1931 by Commander James Goldrick, Royal Australian Navy [who refers to

• ADM 1/8423/157

 https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C4780342

See Typed Minute, Undated, listing the security breaches within the Glasgow article.] 

Edited 22 April , 2023 by michaeldr

[The Treasurer]

17 minutes ago, michaeldr said:

More on the final moments of the Dresden

From The Naval Review, Vol. IV
THE WORK OF THE GLASGOW, Part II
[Extracts from the letters of Officers (as this is the second letter, then I presume that it is by the second officer named, i.e., Paymaster Lt Lloyd Hirst, RN)]

"13th.- We are on the high seas again in warn weather and more or less hot on the trail. This will be posted in the earthquake city, and doubtless our arrival will be reported too. Our prey was chased by one of our ships, not us unfortunately, or we should have caught her. As it was she gave them the slip in the dark. Cruel bad luck, and goodness knows where we shall be able to lay hands on her again. Why won't they give us another decently fast ship. We are on our way now to the place where Robinson Crusoe spent most of his life, and shall go from there to the earthquake place after which heaven knows. We are right out of food as the Army and Navy Stores have so far not executed our orders-but we will be able to get something where we post this, though at enormous prices. 
17th.- Said I wouldn't add to this unless something special turned up. It has. As you will hear, we sank the Dresden at Juan Fernandez on Sunday 14th after an action lasting five minutes. To be strictly accurate she sank herself, after her captain had sworn that nothing should be done to her. There were three of us there Kent, Orama and ourselves. After Kent had chased her the other day she was apparently very short of coal indeed, and had to go to Juan Fernandez to wait for colliers. Kent went off afterwards and coaled at Coronel, and we arranged to come up one each side of the Island and to appear simultaneously. We didn't expect to find her there but thought we might get some of her colliers. However, we saw a little white steamboat just as we were opening up the bay, and then a long grey stem come out, and then three funnels. She saw us first, and hoisted a German ensign at her foremast head which meant she was going to fight. We were then about 14,000 yards off. Next thing she saw the Kent, We waited 30 minutes to see if she would haul down her flag but she made no move that way, so at 9.10 we fired two salvoes. Kent also opened fire. Our first went mostly just over her. Second salvo all hit and she caught fire, range 8,400. She hoisted some sort of signal so we ceased fire at 9.11, but then she fired at us, quite harmlessly, so at 9.12 we opened fire again and continued till 9.14, when she hoisted a white flag and hauled down her ensign. Quick work. We closed her, and she sent an officer on board to make what she was pleased to call her terms. Was told that the only terms were complete unconditional surrender. They engaged not to do any damage to their own ship and then blew up her magazines. She sank at 9.37. They sent a boat on board to blow her up, and hoisted an ensign under the white flag which rather spoilt the effect of it. They had all got ashore by then. She had 20 killed, 10 drowned, and 10 killed by shell fire and 30 wounded. , We knocked her all to pieces. They got off jolly cheap, though they called us vile brutes for firing on them at all. Anyhow, she's gone thank the Lord. Orama took her wounded to Valparaiso and the Chilians have sent a man-of-war to rescue her crew. "
…..............................................................................................................

This latter article is also of interest as it led to publication of the The Naval Review being suspended for the duration of the war. It was considered that comments concerning gunnery and the deciphering of German wireless messages, were of use to the enemy –  see The Irresistible Force and the Immovable Object The Naval Review, the Young Turks, and the Royal Navy, 191 1-1931 by Commander James Goldrick, Royal Australian Navy [who refers to ADM 1/8423: See Typed Minute, Undated, listing the security breaches within the Glasgow article.] 

Thanks for sharing that - an interesting first hand account. As your previous post noted AMC Orama was with Glasgow and also fired. It goes without saying that three ships all firing the same calibre 6" guns at the same target would have been spectacular, but would have made fire control problematic! Orama's log is on-line http://oldweather.s3.amazonaws.com/ADM53-69709/ADM53-69709-099_1.jpg:

  4.00am: In company with HMS Glasgow

  5.30am: Island of Juan Fernandez N8E

  8.40am: Observed HMS Kent approaching from E

  8.50am: Observed German cruiser Dresden

  9.15am: Opened fire with port guns at 10,100 yards range

  9.21am: Cease fire, enemy hoisting white flag

10.30am: Dresden blew up forward

11.38am: Dresden sank

  1.00pm: Commenced embarking Dresden's wounded

  2.15pm: All seriously wounded embarked

  4.00pm: Engines and helm as requisite lying off Cumberland Bay

  6.30pm: Embarked 4 wounded from Dresden; total 15 cases

  8.10pm: Turned ship and proceeded

Edited 21 April , 2023 by The Treasurer
fire control

[michaeldr]

Forgive me if I still have my doubts about the timing of the Greenwich photograph, as it does seem to me that the damage seen in that particular photograph does not match the various descriptions, both German and British, concerning that final action.

Firstly let me say however, that the background hills and ridges seen in the Greenwich photograph certainly match the location (see the video at 0.30). At this time the Dresden had already been ordered back to Germany for repairs and it was only the lack of fuel which detained her in South American waters. It is possible that included amongst those necessary repairs was shell damage already suffered in actions prior to 14^th March 1915.

The divers first examine the ship working forward along its port side (the side which we are looking at in the Greenwich photograph) and they see shell damage described as “heavy”

The cable from the Captain of the Glasgow describes Dresden as “much damaged”

[From The Treasurer's post] “Lüdecke reported … … … A serious fire aft very quickly put the four guns of the aft battery out of action. The aft magazine had to be flooded. Two more port guns quickly dropped out ....” - [see the plan below - Emden was the sister ship of the Dresden]

[From the Kent] “After a few minutes, during which the Dresden had been hit many times and set on fire in several places”

[From the Glasgow] “Second salvo all hit and she caught fire, range 8,400. She hoisted some sort of signal so we ceased fire at 9.11, but then she fired at us, quite harmlessly, so at 9.12 we opened fire again and continued till 9.14, … … … She had 20 killed, 10 drowned, and 10 killed by shell fire and 30 wounded. We knocked her all to pieces.”

None of these statements seem to agree with the Greenwich photograph.

The Dresden was at Cumberland Bay, Mas-a-Tierra island, for five days, from 9^th to 14^th March 1915, and it may be that the Greenwich photograph was taken before the 14^th and her final action.

[corisande]

1 hour ago, michaeldr said:

The Dresden was at Cumberland Bay, Mas-a-Tierra island, for five days, from 9^th to 14^th March 1915, and it may be that the Greenwich photograph was taken before the 14^th and her final action.

That would seem the most likely explanation

The modern " interpretations"  of the photo usually refer to a white flag of surrender showing on the Dresden. One could say that it is unclear from the photo whether it is a surrender flag or not

[corisande]

On 22/04/2023 at 12:26, michaeldr said:

Firstly let me say however, that the background hills and ridges seen in the Greenwich photograph certainly match the location

Let me confirm that . I have been editing the photos I took at Cumberland Bay a few weeks ago, and you can see the skylines match

[michaeldr]

Some further points worth making on the final action of the Dresden, particularly from the article
HMS KENT (1914-1915) Portsmouth to the Falkland Islands—Early Days
Capt. Vernon Howland RCN (rtd)
Warship International, Vol. 35, No. 1, our 35th YEAR (1998), pp. 18-40 (23 pages)
https://www.jstor.org/stable/44890005 

This piece has some good maps and several good photographs, including a couple taken from the Glasgow's cutter as it approached the Dresden. Also quoted are some of the semaphore signals exchanged between the commander of the cutter and the Glasgow's captain.

Regarding the question of whether or not the British breached Chilean neutrality -
Clearly they did (see the docs copied in my post of 19th April), however the prompt and complete apology gained credit with the Chileans, while the total lack of any similar response from the Germans did their reputation no good at all. It should also be noted (see Capt. Howland's article) that upon the receipt of a protest and claims by the local authority (the Maritime Governor) to the Glasgow, that same day, £522 were paid out in cash with the Paymaster of the Glasgow receiving a receipt noting that no further claims would be made.
 

Edited 5 September , 2023 by michaeldr
correction of ship's name

[The Treasurer]

A late entry. I remembered that I had the diary of Surgeon Captain Dixon of HMS Kent. Published posthumously as The enemy fought splendidly in 1983 by Blandford.

 

It is still in copyright, so I'll only quote some very brief extracts from his reasonably lengthy description of the Dresden action:

 

I came up to inspect my ambulance parties, and while at this saw Dresden again. She had run up the German flag at her fore and was getting up steam. I dived below again and shortly afterwards heard the order come through, 'Open fire'... Salvo after salvo roared out above us but in four minutes it was over.

 

He picks up again after he had left his action station:

 

She was still at anchor and between her and the shore were a stream of boats filled with half-dressed men. By and by a steam boat flying a huge white flag came towards us. This carried the captain of the Dresden [it was actually Leutnant Canaris] and we directed him to the Glasgow as the senior ship. The Glasgow had by this time got into the bay followed by the Orama, and we soon all anchored about 1,000 yards from the Dresden.

 

Later again he witnessed the explosion to scuttle her:

 

All doctors wanted to attend to wounded. Just as Burn and I were ready to leave the ship there was a big explosion on the Dresden and smoke came from her port side forward.

 

I'd recommend the diary - very readable with lots of interesting detail. His narrative confirms that the British ships closed in to the Bay only after ceasing fire and were hence reasonably close during the negotiations and subsequent explosion.