U Boat attack on Coastal town

[Alan Peacock]

Has anyone any info. on the shelling by a German submarine

of a Lancashire coastal town in WW1. I remember reading

about this incident when researching info. on the German Naval

bombardment North East coastal towns.

Alan.

[historydavid]

Hello Alan,

From "The German Submarine War" by Gibson & Prendergast:

'Hersing was selected to extend the zone of the submarine menace into the western waters of England. Leaving Wilhelmshavern on 21st January (1915) and passing through the Straits of Dover, he appeared off Walney Island on the 29th and shelled Barrow, causing insignificant damage before being driven off by the Walney Island batteries.'

Hope this helps.

Best wishes

David

[BeppoSapone]

Is Hersing the guy that got through the Straits of Gibraltar and went up to the Dardenelles?

I used to know the grandson of a crew member of an British MTB or similar that tried to ram him. This was soon after he got into the Med', near a small island that starts with the letter A.

[Michael Lowrey]

Same Otto Hersing, same submarine (U 21) -- also the same commander and submarine that sank HMS Pathfinder on September 5, 1914, the first ship sunk by a U-boat.

Best wishes,

Michael

[Alan Peacock]

David,

Thanks for the info. very helpful,

Many thanks

Alan.

[Northern Soul]

Alan,

The local newspaper makes much of this incident............and also claims a "kill" for the coastal battery.

U-21 was apparently trying to attack the airship shed on Walney. At about 14:25 on the 29th it fired two rounds at it from about a mile and a half off shore, both falling short. It was more of less immediately engaged by the (two) coastal defence guns of Fort Walney, manned by No. 7 Company of the Lancashire and Cheshire R.G.A. (T.F.). They fired a half-dozen shots at the submarine before it disappeared.

I'm really busy at the moment but when I get time I'll type out the account for you.

Fort Walney has now vanished - under a golf course. Progress for you!

Best wishes.

Andy.

(Photo dates from 1940 but I don't think it had changed much from WW1.)

[PhilB]

Same Otto Hersing, same submarine (U 21) -- also the same commander and submarine that sank HMS Pathfinder on September 5, 1914, the first ship sunk by a U-boat.

Best wishes,

Michael

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Amazingly, this was the first torpedo ever fired in anger. Pathfinder was the first ship sunk by submarine since the Housatonic in the USCW. Hersing also sank the battleships Triumph and Majestic, was awarded the Blue Max and survived the war. Phil B

[Alan Peacock]

The local newspaper makes much of this incident............and also claims a "kill" for the coastal battery.

Andy,

Many thanks for your reply and photo, I have just read

your reply. Very helpful, thanks for the offer of further

info.

Cheers !

ALAN.

[Jim_Grundy]

There's a brief account of what took place in E. Keeble Chatterton's, "Danger Zone. The Story of the Queenstown Command" (p.27):

"U21... set out from Germany, came through the Dover Straits by night, thence proceeded the whole length of the English Channel, turned north, and passed the Welsh coast into the Irish Sea, being the first enemy submarine ever to have done so.

"Off Bardsley Island (northern end of Cardigan Bay) she was sighted by an armed drifter, but carried on past Holyhead and Liverpool, next up the Lancashire coast till she had reached Walney Island. This is a narrow eight-mile stretch of land fronting Barrow-in-Furness, where existed not merely an airship shed, but some of the most important shipbuilding works and munition factories in Great Britain. It was shortly before two o'clock in the afternoon of January 29 that Walney Fort sighted a submarine to seaward, travelling south on the surface. The German was having a thorough good luck round and taking her time, yet the ridiculous situation was that the soldiers on shore had no definite knowledge as to her nationality, Barrow was a place where numbers of British submarines had been built, or came to be repaired. Was this one of the latter?

"Forty minutes passed before her hostility could be determined, but Hersing now opened fire on the airship shed; the Walney guns replied, but no damage was done by either side. U21 quickly submerged, carried on south, and begain operations off the Mersey."

Hope this is of interest.

Cheers,

Jim

[Northern Soul]

Alan,

As promised - the report on the shelling of Walney from the Barrow News. A rather trite and often contradictory style of reporting, but make of it what you will !

Can't help musing what the impact of U21 actually having been sunk, as claimed in the article, would have been. If the bold and able Otto Hersching had, in fact been killed off Walney, then would H.M.S. Triumph and H.M.S. Majestic lived to fight another day instead of being sunk and would the naval operations at Gallipoli have taken a different course?

Best wishes.

Andy.

ATTACK ON WALNEY.

Appearance of Supposed Enemy Submarine.

FORT GUNS BROUGHT INTO ACTION.

AIRSHIP SHED AS ENEMY’S TARGET.

TWO SHOTS FIRED BUT FALL SHORT.

INTRUDER SUNK EYE-WITNESS NARRATIVES.

Some sensation was created in Barrow yesterday afternoon, when it became known that a German submarine had been sighted off Walney.

It was reported that a German submarine was observed in the Irish Sea opposite the airship shed at Walney.

The artillerymen of the fort opened fire and after discharging about a dozen rounds sunk the enemy’s craft.

Later inquiries go to show that the hostile craft was plainly visible from the airship shed at Walney, and the incident caused a good deal of commotion among the employees there.

Two men who had been working at the airship shed told one of our reporters that the fort broke into action about 3.0

The men employed around them in the shed ran out to see the cause, and out on the sea, they said, they could plainly see the submarine.

They stated that two shots were fired from a gun which she had aboard, but both missiles fell short.

They took it that the airship shed was the object of their fire. A dull report followed both shots.

In all the fort guns fired about six or eight times, and in the course of the firing the submarine disappeared from sight. The general impression is that she had been sunk by the guns of the fort.

The action of the batteries, they said, fairly shook the place, and the vibration could be distinctly heard.

The affair occasioned quite an amount of excitement.

It was approaching five o’clock when our reporter was in conversation with these informants, but they said that after the “sub” disappeared the fort guns ceased fire, and nothing more was seen of the mysterious craft.

Workmen coming from Walney to commence work at Messrs. Vickers at 5 p.m., stated the shock of the firing could be felt in the houses on the island, which, of course, are a good distance away from the fort.

THE GARRISON MEN.

The fort at Walney was manned by No. 7 Company of the Lancashire and Cheshire R.G.A., a company which has distinguished itself for accurate firing, for which they have earned the merit badge of the “cross guns.”

BATTERY COMMANDER SAYS NOTHING.

When asked if he would confirm the report of the sinking of the vessel, the commander of the Walney Battery replied to a “Mail” reporter, “I would rather say nothing about it.”

EYE-WITNESS NARRATIVES,

MAGNIFICENT FIRE FROM WALNEY FORT.

An eye-witness, who was on the golf course in close proximity of the Walney Fort, states that his attention was first attracted by the report of a gun out at sea, and, looking in the direction from whence the noise came, he at once observed a submarine of a large type. At the same time he saw a splash in the water about a half mile from the shore, this being the shot from the submarine. This was about 25 minutes past two o’clock. The Walney Fort at once opened fire. Two shots went bang simultaneously, both being very close. In a twinkling, two further shots were discharged from the fort guns, and these went dead into the submarine. “It was really magnificent practice,” he remarked, with evident satisfaction.

Asked if he had any doubt that it was a submarine, the gentleman interviewed was quite emphatic on the point that it was one. “There is no doubt about it,” he said, and he was equally convinced that the craft was sunk by the firing from the forts, and did not submerge of her own account. “She went down too rapidly for that,” he added. After the vessel disappeared the guns fired several further rounds right on the spot where she had been. About a dozen shots altogether were fired, and the exiting and somewhat sensational incident was all over in about five minutes. During the firing several Vickers’ officials were present.

It is stated that the submarine had been under observation for some time. How she got so far away from her base is somewhat of a mystery, and her objective in coming into these waters can only be surmised. It is stated that she hoped to put a shot or two into the airship shed. It was high water at the time of the incident. Another theory is that the submarine was here for observation purposes, but on getting so close to the airship shed could not resist the temptation of having a shot.

The military authorities are reticent, and prefer to say nothing. The fact remains that a submarine was fired at, although there may be some room for doubt as to whether the vessel really was sunk by gunfire or submerged herself. The mystery may soon be cleared. It will be possible to locate the spot, and at low water divers should have no difficulty in finding traces of the sunken craft – if sunk she really is.

Needless to say, the men of the R.G.A. were overjoyed at the thought of having engaged in actual warfare, with such, presumably, notable success.

SO HARD-FACED.

THOUGHT IT WAS BRITISH AT FIRST.

Another narrative from the lips of one who was on the spot, is to the effect that the presence of the submarine was discovered by one of the men at the Fort, who went up on to one of the grassy mounds to have a look round, it being such a clear and beautiful afternoon. Casting his eyes seaward, he was somewhat surprised to see a submarine some two or three miles out. He at once reported the matter, and in a twinkling the forts were manned ready for any emergency. At first, remarked our informant, it was though it might be a British submarine, as it was so hard–faced for the vessel to be proceeding to and fro on the surface in broad daylight, and so comparatively close in. The Coastguards signalled to the vessel, but received no reply. It soon became evident that the vessel belonged to the German Navy, and the guns were trained on her, and the men awaited orders to fire. The first shots, however, came from the submarine. There were two shots, and both fell some distance short. That, if nothing else, settled the nationality of this impudent intruder, and at once the guns of the fort hurled shell after shell at the craft, 11 in all being fired. The first two just missed but the third and fourth shots both hit the target, and down went the submarine. Other shots were then fired at the spot. Before the firing men were actually observed, through glasses, standing on the deck of the doomed ship.

SURPRISE ON WALNEY.

As soon as the first shot rang out from the guns of the fort there was some excitement among the residents of Walney Island.

Heretofore, under ordinary circumstances when any firing practice was contemplated at the fort, the inhabitants of the Island were invariably informed in order that they might open windows etc. to obviate any damage in that direction, also to allay any possible alarm.

Consequently the unheralded fire of guns brought the conclusion that something was amiss, but evidence of the true cause was early afloat.

CONNING TOWER SHOWING.

Another eye-witness corroborates the statement that the submarine fired twice. Her conning tower was visible and the craft was about a mile and a half from the shore. The tide was on the ebb, and judging by the above, the submarine must have been operating in fairly shallow water.

Last night a search was made for any bodies or wreckage.

-: Barrow News, Saturday, January 30, 1915; page 12.

[jeffbubble]

Alan.

On Monday, August 16, 1915, the German U-boat, U24, surfaced at 4:50 am off Lowca, a small village, on the West Cumberland coast.

The Commander Kapitanleutnant Rudolf Schneider; was a 33-year-old veteran who had been in the Kaisers navy for 14 years and had already sunk HMS Formidable. He would later nearly bring America into WW1 when he torpedoed the Arabic with the loss of 44 lives, some American.

In his career as captain of the U24 and U 87 he sank 130,00 tons of allied ships and was the 18th ranked U-boat ace when he died. He was washed overboard from the U-87 in a force 10 gale, in the Atlantic during December 1917,1

That morning the Mittel Class U-boat entered Parton bay, fired some ranging shots and stopped the engines, about a mile off

Lowca, opposite Micklam point. The Captain directed the boats Gunners to bombard the Harrington Coke & By – Product, Works, at Lowca, with its 88mm Gun.

These works with 50 coke ovens, were started in 1911, and enlarged to include another 50 ovens in 1913. The ovens & accessory plant for the recovery of by-products, tar, ammonia & Benzol had been built by the firm of Koppers, a firm registered in England but operated under licence from the parent company in Germany, indeed some Germans had actually worked as supervisors on the plant and lodged with the villagers!2

The ‘top secret’ plant was on the brow, below the modern coke ovens. It was one of the few in Britain producing synthetic ‘Toluene’ from Benzol, an essential constituent of the powerful explosive T.N.T, for the Ministry of Munitions

German Warships had already attacked the only other plant at South Shields and severely damaged it, so production at Lowca had recently been increased.

A total of 55 shells out of the submarine’s magazine of 300,were aimed at the works in the short time of 55 minutes. But for such a daring effort the rewards were small. 30 hits were recorded on the works, but only four did any damage. A 50-gallon drum of Benzol was set ablaze, which spread to the loading tanks and there were holes in two 11,000-gallon Naphtha tanks, which did not ignite. The powerhouse had also been hit with a ‘Dud’ shell and its chimney had a hole in it. 900 windows were also broken.3

However the works owners had a well rehearsed wartime plan in force, so that if it came under attack from Zeppelins or Warships, certain valves and steam traps were to be fully opened, and six blasts given on the steam whistle - warning the villagers to flee.

The Engineer on duty, Oscar Ohlson, along with his valve-man Dan Thompson had remained on duty under shellfire and bravely carried out the wartime emergency plans.

From the sea, the dense clouds of dense yellow smoke, flames and gas, plus the effects of the Benzol fire, must have given the impression that the Chemical Works had been destroyed.