HMS Amphion - first casualties of WW1

[Shona]

Over the past few days, with the 100th anniversary of the UK declaring the country was at war with Germany, there has - rightly - been much reporting and discussion about the experience of soldiers in the First Word War.

Growing up in ports, however, I was brought up with stories about the war sea as well as the war on land.

Today - 6 August 2014 - is the 100th anniversary of the sinking of HMS Amphion and the loss of 150 lives...the first military casualties of the war.

As a tribute, here is an account of the fate of the Amphion.

The cruiser, HMS Amphion, captained by Cecil Fox, was one of the lead ships of the Harwich Force. Her task, and that of the other vessels of the Third Destroyer Flotilla, was to patrol the North Sea in defence of the eastern approaches to the English Channel.

Unknown to the British, on the night of 4 August, a converted former ferry, the Konigin Luise, left her home port of Emden in north-west German and sailed south to lay mines off the Thames estuary. As the vessel was similar in size and shape to the Great Eastern Railways ferries which steamed between Harwich and Hook of Holland, the Konigin Luise was painted black, buff and yellow to resemble that of the British Ferries.

Amphion and her sister vessels set sail from Harwich in the early hours of the morning of 4 August for routine patrol work. By daybreak on the 5 August, they were heading towards the Heligoland Bight. In the afternoon, the crew of a trawler provided information that a suspicious ship had been 'throwing things overboard' about 20 miles north of the Outer Gabbard.

The trawler and Amphion led the flotilla to investigate. Shortly afterwards, the Konigin Luise was sighted steering east. An attempt to flee from the approaching fleet aroused suspicions, so four destroyers gave chase. Only lightly armed, the ferry turned mine-layer offered little resistance. After receiving numerous hits, Commander Biermann gave the order abandon ship to avoid any further loss of life.

In this exchange, the destroyer Lance fired the first British shots of the war.

Of Konigin Luise’s100 crew, 46 were rescued with Amphion picking up a number of the survivors.

Following the incident, the ships continued with patrol work. However, the destroyers sighted a ship painted in the same colours as the Konigin Luise and flying a large German flag. The destroyers opened fire.

HMS Amphion, however, recognised the ship as the St Petersburg which was ferrying the German ambassador, Karl Max von Lichnowsky back to Germany from England.

Amphion signalled to the destroyers that they should immediately cease fire, but they continued to attack. HMS Amphion then placed herself between the destroyers and the St Petersburg which allowed the vessel carrying the ambassador to proceeded to safety.

The ships then returned to their work without further incident.

In the early hours of 6 August, Amphion headed home to Harwich. The course, however, took them to the area where the Konigin Luise has been laying mines hours earlier.

At 6:30am, Amphion struck one of the mines.

Cpt Fox was rendered unconscious and all but one of the forecastle gun crew were killed. Many of the remaining crew, who were at breakfast, were killed or suffocated in the forward messes – including 19 of the 21 German survivors picked up by Amphion.

On gaining consciousness, the captain gave the order for the engines to be stopped.

Meanwhile, the destroyers were nearing the stricken cruiser to rescue the survivors.

Although the engines had been stopped, momentum carried the ship back into the minefield and, at 7.03pm, just three minutes after the last boatload of survivors were taken off, Amphion struck the same row of mines again.

The munitions on the ship exploded with debris striking the rescue boats and destroyers. One of Amphion’s shells burst on the deck of the Lark, killing two of Amphion’s men and a German prisoner rescued from the cruiser.

Amphion sank within 15 minutes of the explosion.

Around 150 British sailors were killed in the sinking, as well as 18 of the crew rescued from Konigin Luise.

A list of the casualties and survivors can be found on the Naval History website.

http://www.naval-history.net/xDKCas1914-08Aug.htm

[Olde Crone]

Can I add some detail here please?

Sons of Cornwall who died on the Amphion:

Carl Harry Bowden Adams, shipwright, from Tuckingmill.
Jerome Cann from Tintagel.
Walter Edgcumbe from Saltash.
Charles Grainger from Dobwalls.
Charles Richard Hender from Torpoint.
William john Knight from Saltash.
Robert Henry Garner Macey from Antony.
Fred Charles Michell from Madron.
William Mullen from Pensilva.
Charles Henry Oliver from Landrake.
Thomas Tancock from Lostwithiel.
Edward Albert Kelly Williams from Anthony.
George Bearne from Lostwithiel.

Lest we forget.

OC