The Imperial German light cruiser SMS Dresden "..at first...sank very slowly, going down by the bows." She was a rusty hulk with water lines running down her side, and she sat high in the pristine waters of Cumberland Bay, Chile. Her valves were open and she was taking on water when suddenly a small charge detonated. Members of the crew hoisted the German naval ensign and abandoned the ship. Dresden slipped faster into the water, listed to the side and sank with her naval ensign flying above a white flag.For the German crew that cheered from the shores of the bay it was a noble end to an honorable ship, as well as to a long and arduous cruise. Dresden had steamed nearly 21,000 miles from August 1, 1914 to March 15, 1915, farther than any other German cruiser that fought in the early months of World War One. At the time of her demise, Dresden had been serving continuously since her commission in 1909. A work horse for the Fatherland, this ship has been too long considered merely an addition to Admiral Graf von Spee's, East Asia Squadron. It is true that Dresden fought at both Coronel and the Falklands with Spee, but Dresden was a cruiserwarrior in her own right. She was not the last cruiser to be sunk, nor was she the most productive, but her exploits ranked her as a significant menace to British control of the world's oceans in the first half year of war.
July 1914, found Dresden patrolling the Caribbean Sea, protecting vital German investments and watching over German immigrants and citizens. The hot spot in the region was Mexico which was embroiled in a harsh civil war. Mexican President Victoriano Huerta led a police state that terrorized citizens to the point that he was deposed. On July 20, Huerta found safe passage on Dresde just hours before rebel soldiers arrived at his villa in Vera Cruz. Dresden transported Huerta, his family and staff to Jamaica where the British government gave him asylum. Dresden's swashbuckling captain, Erich Kohler was a celebrity in the Caribbean. He worked well with both native residents and German immigrants. He also befriended the officers of British ships stationed in North America. The information he gained from his experience with those men, as well as his natural leadership abilities would make him famous as captain of the cruiser Karlsruhe.
While in Jamaica Kohler received orders to take his ship to Port-au-Prince, Haiti and there exchange commands with Fregattenkapitan (commander) Fritz Emil von Luedecke who was sailing from Germany with the new light cruiser Karlsruhe (armament: 10, 4.1"guns). Luedecke's orders were to deliver Karlsruhe to her new captain and return to Kiel, Germany with Dresden in order for her to have a refit. The commands were exchanged on July 26, and the two German crews socialized. News from Europe arrived on July 28, of the Austrian ultimatum to Serbia and the Admiralty put the fleet on alert. The next day Dresden steamed to St. Thomas, Dutch West Indies.
Dresden was a 3,600 ton light cruiser, the sister ship of Emden, which would gain fame in East Asia. Her hold could carry 860 tons of coal and her berths held a complement of 360 men. The ship was rated at a top speed of 24.5 knots. The British Royal Navy did possess faster ships, but Dresden had the luck of never facing one. Dresden was one of the first German ships to be built with modern steam turbine engines to drive her propellers, as opposed to her sister, Emden which was the last German piston-engine cruiser. She was armed with 10, 4.1" guns each possessing a range of 10,500 yards, but she was not afforded the luxury of armor. Dresden's new commander, Luedecke was not of the daring character that made the German fleet famous. A Prussian by birth, he was a man of gentle character who was not really cut out to be a warrior, but he put his heart into it and carried on with honor. He served as artillery commander of the High Sees Fleet First Squadron for two years before becoming a staff officer in 1911
On July 29, the German Admiralty wired Luedecke that war was eminent with Russia, France, and possibly Great Britain. If word reached Dresden that Germany had mobilized for war, Luedecke was ordered to take his ship to a position off the Brazilian port of Pernambuco and pray on British shipping in the Amazon delta. By August 4, the Germans and British were at war. The British cruisers Essex and Berwick were in the Caribbean looking for Dresden, but Luedecke was already nearing the coast of South America where he found a German steamer Baden with 6,000 tons of coal. He took her on as his personal coalier. On August 6, the second day of war with Britain Dresden captured three cargo ships, Drumcliffe, Lynton Grange, and Hostilius. Drumcliffe was sailing with women and children, and the other two were carrying neutral cargoes. With "incredible gallantry" uniquely Luedecke's, the captain turned the ships loose because he did not have enough accommodations aboard his own vessel in order to house all the passengers, especially the women and children. He also saw no point in destroying ships with neutral cargo. Two days later Dresden caught and sank the British cargo ship Hyades, carrying a shipment of corn to Britain. Following this attack Dresden anchored at the island of Fernando Noronha and coaled from Baden. Island. On the 26th she caught and sank the steamer Holmwood carrying 6,000 tons of coal. Later the same day Dresden caught the cargo ship Katherine Park, but on learning she was a neutral turned her loose. Germany's military threat to the French channel ports in Europe forced the British to reroute their South American trade through the port of St. Naziere on the French, Atlantic coast. This shifted British-South American shipping channels further south and opened up a totally undefended shipping region to Dresden's guns. That made commerce raiding easy, and this lucky break added to British naval weakness in South America gave Luedecke control of South American waters below the Equator. German captains continued to trade in the Plate River basin of Argentina, while, "Within weeks of the outbreak of war the mere rumor of... Dresden was enough to stop up (British) ships in South American ports..." Thus, for a precious few weeks, German merchants thrived.
Knowing Dresden could not take on the entire Royal Navy by herself Luedecke took her down through Cayetano Bay before the month was over. Dresden steamed through the Straits of Magellan, passed the port of Punta Arenas, Chile and arrived at Orange Bay, near Tierra del Fuego on September 4. The British Admiralty appointed Rear Admiral Sir Christopher Cradock commander of Royal Naval forces in the Atlantic coast of North and Central America. Included in this assignment was the capture, and/or destruction of both Dresden and Karlsruhe. When news reached the Admiralty that Dresden had crossed the Equator, Cradock's command was extended to include the coast of South America as well. Cradock divided his forces, taking four ships, the armored cruisers, Good Hope (armament: 2, 9.2" and 16, 6" guns), and Monmouth (armament: 14, 6" guns), the light cruiser, Glasgow (armament: 2, 6" and 10, 4" guns), and the auxiliary cruiser, Otranto with him in search of Dresden. The remaining five ships in his command were stationed in the Caribbean and ordered to find Karlsruhe. Cradock's force arrived at Trinidada Island one week after Dresden had left. With little information arriving as to Dresden's whereabouts, Cradock investigated every port, bay, and inlet that his maps showed in order to find the illusive ship.
Meanwhile, Dresden spent 12 unmolested days at Orange Bay. German agents in Punta Arenas sent the supply ship Santa Isabel to Dresden in order to restock her. Until that ship arrived on the 16th Luedecke allowed his men to go ashore to hunt for game and forage for whatever provisions they could find. During one of these occasions a few daring men carved a plaque to the memory of their visit. They left their signboard nailed to a tree on shore visible to all, listing the name of the ship, several crew members and the date, September 11, 1914. Perhaps even more daring was the fact that Luedecke allowed the sign to remain. On the 18th, Luedecke received an admiralty wire suggesting he operate in conjunction with the light cruiser, Leipzig (armament: 10, 4.1" guns) off the west coast of South America. Dresden steamed north into the Pacific Ocean that same day.
Cradock arrived at Punta Arenas on September 28 and made extensive contact with the Admiralty. He learned of Leipzig, and the German East Asia Squadron's voyage east. Cradock then learned of the signboard left by Dresden's crew. All of this led him to believe that Dresden was searching out a base for the East Asia Squadron. Orange Bay would afford the perfect place as it was a "...wide natural harbour, landlocked and completely hidden by projecting mountains, at the foot of ... Koste Island." He wanted to thwart Dresden's mission and if all information pointed to a base at Orange Bay, he would attack there. He prepared Good Hope, Monmouth and Glasgow by September 30, and dashed into the Bay that morning expecting to capture Dresden, and/or Leipzig, and perhaps their colliers. The Bay was empty. Cradock returned to Punta Arenas to await the next sighting of Dresden. While Cradock was in Punta Arenas, it became clear to the Admiralty that the German overseas fleet was congregating off the western coast of South America. They assigned Cradock the task of destroying that fleet. The slow, pre-dreadnought battleship Canopus (armament: 4, 12" and 12, 6" guns) was dispatched to strengthen Cradock's fleet but that did not make up for the fact that his command of ten ships was stretched over 10,000 miles in two oceans, searching for six German ships of war and various enemy colliers. Dresden stretched Cradock beyond his means and put him in a very vulnerable position.
As Dresden made her way up the west coast of South America she came upon the British tramp Ortega. Dresden put several shots across Ortega's bow, but the small ship refused to come-to. Luedecke tried to position Dresden in front of the tramp, but the water became increasingly shallow. Luedecke refused to sink an unarmed ship, and thus allowed his prey to escape. Within a week, Cradock was aware of Dresden's position, but he foolishly clung to the belief that he would catch Dresden alone, before she could meet up with her comrades. He sent Glasgow out to patrol the southern reaches of Chile, while he waited with the rest of the fleet in Punta Arenas for Canopus to arrive.
Dresden put in at Mas a Fuera Island, in the Juan Fernandez Islands group on the night of October 2. There she radioed to Leipzig for a rendezvous at Easter Island. At the incredible distance of 3,500 miles Dresden's message was overheard by Vice-Admiral Maxamilian Graf von Spee of the German East Asia Squadron on the heavy cruiser Scharnhorst. Three nights later on October 5, the admiral established communications with Dresden and ordered a rendezvous of all German ships in the area.
On October 12, Dresden joined the heavy cruisers, Gneisenau, and Scharnhorst (each armed: 8, 8.2" and 10, 4" guns), and the light cruiser Nurnberg (armament: 10, 4.1" guns), under Spee, at Easter Island, and thus became part of the East Asia Squadron. The next day Leipzig arrived. The Squadron coaled until the 18th. Luedecke provided Spee not only with the collier Baden and her 6,000 tons of coal but also with information he had received from German agents in Punta Arenas as to the strength of the British fleet.
Canopus arrived in the Falkland Islands in the waning weeks of October and radioed her position to Cradock in Punta Arenas. Cradock ordered his fleet to sea at once in search of Dresden ordering Glasgow to be the fleet's scout. He then ordered the battleship to follow the rest of the British fleet into the Pacific, but he prohibited radio contact, except by Glasgow, in order to conceal his position.
Spee learned of the position of Glasgow at the same time that Cradock learned of the position of a German coalier scouting for Spee. The two admirals moved in to cut off what each thought was an isolated ship, and the fleets clashed by accident, and Cradock was caught without his battleship. What followed was the Battle of Coronel. Spee ordered his ships to open fire at sunset, when Cradock's fleet became silhouetted against the falling sun. Just after 7 PM on November 1, Dresden let loose a salvo at Otranto. A shell landed on the deck of that ship and the others fell in such close proximity that Otranto fled from the scene, heading west at full steam. After scaring off Otranto; Dresden and Leipzig opened fire on Glasgow. Seven 4.1" shells landed on the British light cruiser. One shell cut a hole in the aft port waterline of the ship. A second exploded on deck with little damage, and a third failed to explode at all. It was not, however, Glasgow's day to die. She was hit four more times, but sustained little damage and escaped in the night.
The outcome of the battle is legend as the Germans sent Admiral Cradock, Good Hope, and Monmouth to the bottom of the Pacific. Cradock had not been able to find a single light cruiser for three months, and now that cruiser had taken part in the coup de grace of his career. Dresden had baited admiral Cradock and kept his fleet at bay until Spee could arrive to destroy it. Over the next several weeks Dresden performed the support tasks for which the light cruiser was built. It scouted for the main squadron, called at port for information, and guarded the fleet when at anchor. Dresden also captured the 3,600 ton British cargo ship North Wales. That ship's coal, charts, and crew were removed before she was sunk. During November, Luedecke received information that he had been promoted to Kapitan zur See (captain). Also, the Kaiser had awarded the Iron Cross Second Class to men who Spee saw worthy. Luedecke and his staff were among this group.
Spee procrastinated until December to bring his squadron into the Atlantic in order to continue the cruiser war he had started. For that reason, British Vice-Admiral Frederick Sturdee had enough time to arrive at the Falkland Islands with the battlecruisers Invincible and Inflexible (each armed: 8, 16" and 16, 4" guns). Thus, when Spee made the unwise decision to attack those islands, he was cut to pieces. The Battle of the Falkland Islands on December 8, 1914, was a massacre of the German squadron. Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, Leipzig, and Nurnberg were outgunned and slower than their opponents and all went down, along with Admiral Spee. Sub-Lieutenant Richarz on board Dresden later wrote of the battle, "Each one of us knew he would never see his comrades again- no one on board the cruiser can have had any illusions about his fate." The sacrifice of her sister ships, however, gave life to Dresden, which stoked her boiler fires and steamed away, finding safety in bad weather to the south of the Falklands. Luedecke took Dresden around Cape Horn and made his escape from the British fleet. He passed through Cockburn Channel, arriving in Sholl Bay on December 11. He knew his only hope was to get coal in Punta Arenas. He had only 160 tons of his own coal left and he knew the British would be after him with their two battlecruisers. He sent work parties ashore to cut down evergreen trees to stoke the ship's boiler fires. Sturdee had begun to search for Dresden immediately after the battle but had turned back in the bad weather that had saved Dresden. He resolved to wait until the German ship appeared again.
On December 12, Dresden boldly steamed into Punta Arenas and Luedecke arranged to receive supplies and coal. Dresden received 750 tons of coal from the steamer Turpin and Luedecke set up a rendezvous for supplies later in the week. The coaling drill was done the next day and Dresden steamed south into the Straits of Magellan. Luedecke decided that his only hope for survival was to stay in the narrow channels surrounding Tierra del Fuego, hiding right under the noses of his British hunters rather than running from them. Dresden met the collier Amasis in Hewett Bay on the 14th, and they were joined by the steamer Sierra Cordoba on the 19th. Neither of those ships had enough coal to provide Dresden for a cruiser war, and Luedecke realized he would have to wait.
While the crew of Dresden was celebrating Christmas safely in their hiding place, no less than 11 ships were at sea looking for them. The Japanese cruisers Idzumo and Hisen, the Australian battlecruiser Australia, and the British cruiser Newcastle joined Sturdee's fleet. Furthermore, shipping had all but stopped along the coasts of South America, as fear of Dresden continued unabated, no one knowing when or where she would turn up.
On January 11, Admiral Sturdee was ordered home. First Sea Lord, John Fisher had a personal animosity with Sturdee and felt he had been in the South Atlantic long enough with battlecruisers needed to strengthen the home fleet. Fisher wanted to question Sturdee in detail as to why Dresden had not been found. Despite the animosity between Fisher and Sturdee, Sturdee was named commander of the Fourth Battle Squadron of the Grand Fleet. But that is where he stayed. The month he spent searching for Dresden as well as the embarrassment of her still being at large led to his decline into obscurity.
On December 26, Dresden was discovered by French fishermen who reported the incident to the British in Punta Arenas. Unfortunately, the British did not believe them because British naval maps showed Dresden's position to be on dry land. Luedecke did not take any chances once he had been discovered and on the 27th followed his steam pinnace, which was taking soundings, into another channel for which the British had no maps. Dresden remained in the false channel throughout January. After being supplied by the steamer Esplorador, Dresden moved to a channel on the southern end of Santa Ines Island on January 28. Dresden and her crew had been in hiding for two months. The winds and severe weather of the southern tip of South America harassed Dresden unmercilessly and the constant fear of discovery slowly made the crew stir-crazy. Hopelessness and insecurity grew as the months wore on and Luedecke knew he had to make a move.
Luedecke received suggestions from the German Admiralty to return home via the sailing channels of the Atlantic Ocean no longer in use. Luedecke sent back a message that he felt there were too many ships searching for him and not enough coal to supply the long voyage home. Luedecke felt he better served the Fatherland by staying at large and attacking shipping in the Pacific. The Admiralty was not enthusiastic about those plans, but it did not order Luedecke back to Germany, and finally gave its assent. Dresden did not have enough coal to carry on a cruiserwar but Luedecke felt he had a better than average chance of finding coal on the northern coast of Chile.
Dresden steamed into the Pacific on February 14, with Sierra Cordoba as a lookout. On February 27, Dresden captured and sank the British bark Conway. For the moment, at least, it seemed as if Luedecke had made the correct choice in venturing into the Pacific, but his ship was dangerously low on coal and had to travel at half steam in order to preserve the precious commodity.
Throughout January the fleet of Allied warships that had been sent to find Dresden were slowly called back by their governments. The British recalled all of their ships except for the cruisers Kent and Glasgow, which finally discovered Dresden's maze of hide outs on March 2. Kent made a run north from Cockburn Channel on March 3 to see if Dresden was anywhere in sight and found her on the horizon by a stroke of luck. Kent gave chase until her funnels were glowing red but Dresden was too far away and at full steam was able to escape. Kent had lost her coveted prize but had placed a limit on Dresden's field of operations. The five hour pursuit that Kent gave put a huge strain on Dresden's engines and ate up most of her limited supply of coal.
Luedecke sent Sierra Cordoba into Valparaiso, Chile for coal, and took Dresden to Cumberland Bay in Mas a Fuera, arriving there on the forth. Dresden, as said, had been in constant operation from the day she was commissioned in 1909. The last seven months had by far been the most tedious and destructive for her machinery. When Luedecke put in at Mas a Fuera, Chilean authorities tried to enforce the twenty-four-hour-rule, but Luedecke contended that his ship was not fit for service and needed time for the repair of her rusty boilers, fouled bottom and failing engines. The evening of Dresden's arrival a message arrived for Luedecke from the Admiralty, "The Kaiser leaves it to your discretion to lay up." Luedecke knew it was a hard task to repair his ship but he vowed to do it. Dresden had only 80 tons of coal remaining in her bunkers and Luedecke sent out numerous pleas for coal to any collier that could hear it. Kent and Glasgow picked up one of these messages on March 13 and immediately made steam for Mas a Fuera.
Kent and Glasgow arrived at Mas a Fuera on March 14 and found Dresden at anchor with her ensign flying and smoke coming from her funnels. Dresden took no notice of the British ships that had cornered her until the Kent opened fire. Glasgow opened shortly after and Dresden replied by firing on Kent. She fired only three rounds from a single gun and then ran up a white flag and asked for a truce. Luedecke sent a young lieutenant, Wilhelm Canaris, who would be famous in the next war as head of Hitler's Abwehr, to Kent in order to work out terms of surrender. The British commander, Captain Luce said he would accept nothing short of unconditional surrender, as he knew Canaris was merely stalling for time.
Luedecke took the truce as an opportunity to evacuate the crew, open the sea valves and set charges to scuttle the ship. When Canaris returned to the ship a small charge detonated and Dresden began taking on water. "(A)t first...(she)...sank very slowly, going down by the bows." She was a rusty hulk with water lines running down her side, and she sat high in the water due to lack of coal. Members of the crew hoisted the German naval ensign and abandoned the ship. Dresden slipped faster into the water, listed to the side and sank with her naval ensign flying above a white flag. Both the German crew on shore and the British crews on their respective ships began to cheer wildly. According to those present it was a truly unique sight. The Germans were interned by the Chilean government and the 21,000 mile cruise of Dresden was over. The ship, herself, was a threat to British control of the seas, as has been shown. She was only briefly considered a member of Spee's squadron, and benefited the Fatherland more as a commerce raider, hiding from her enemies and showing up when least expected, as a good cruiserwarrior should.
BibliographyBennett, Geoffrey. Naval Battles of the First World War. New York:
Charles Scribner's Sons, 1968.Hoehling, A. A. The Great War At Sea, A History of Naval Action 1914-18.
New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1965.Hough, Richard. The Great War At Sea, 1914-1918
-----------The Long Pursuit: A gallant enemy meets the Royal Navy
at the end of a classic sea chase. New York: Harper and Row, 1969.Hoyt, Edwin P. kreuzerkrieg. Cleveland: The World Publishing Company, 1968.
Middlemas, Keith. Command The Far Seas, A Naval Campaign of the
First World War. London: Hutchinson, 1961.
© Robert F. Smith 2000.
Robert Smith, from Lansdale, PA., has an MA in history from Villanova University. He will be starting work on his Doctorate in the fall of 2001.
stfinnian@yayoo.com
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