While killing off those cruisers is probably a good thing, doing one in while in neutral waters sure isn't. The Dutch are highly sympathetic to the Germans at this point and while unlikely to actively declare war they'll now be even more inclined to let the German's use their ports for blockade busting.
Agreed. That was a huge mistake on the part of the British. The location of the wreck will prove where the battle took place regardless of the fact that Dutch forces weren't there to witness it. The UK is screwed on that. The Dutch will not be happy that the RN blatantly ignored their neutrality and entered their territorial waters to start a battle.
The Germans ship was flouting that Neutrality to its own ends therefore.....are the Germans not equally screwed?
As the Dutch had not the means to enforce said Neutrality and the German Vessel despite being given the opportunity to abandon ship and an offer to be transported to a Dutch port refused to strike colors it was fair game.
Had the roles been reversed the German Admiral would have done the same thing. Hell A Dutch Admiral in the same situation would have done the same thing.
Unless it's only the British who have to obey international law?
Just checking like.
The German ship was in Port less than 24 hours, which was allowed under International Maritime Law. Warships of belligerent nations could enter neutral ports for a period not to exceed 24 hours or such time as needed to effect the minimum repairs necessary to make the vessel seaworthy. What you were not allowed to do is pursue an enemy vessel into the territorial waters of a neutral power and engage them. By law, the British should have waited just outside the 12 mile limit, then fired upon von Spee when he exited the harbor
No-one is screwed here. The Dutch will kick up a fuss and the British government will apologise and make some cursory reparation. The Admiralty will publicly reprimand Patey and secretly congratulate him. The Dutch will move a little closer to Germany but won't enter the war. The German squadron is gone, the RN goes home, and we await an interesting North Sea battle.
Lots of excellent points here, I'm glad you've all picked up on them.
As JamesHunter and KingAugeas say, it might well increase Dutch sympathy for the Germans. However, they can't and won't do anything immediately...
Legally, it's a somewhat grey area:
-Blucher entered Dutch waters and may have been making repairs to ensure she was seaworthy. Nothing illegal about that.
-She could have stayed 24 hours (the time permitted, as SsgtC says).
-She was under no legal obligation to accept Patey's demands.
However:
-The British believe (but can't prove) that Goeben entered Dutch waters while engaging the Bacchante, so this is just 'returning the favour'. Not a legal argument, but a possible diplomatic one.
-They could argue the Blucher was making repairs to improve her combat effectiveness (which would be illegal), and that Patey's demands were made to ensure neutrality. Can't be proved either way, but it's a nice argument.
-As Cryhavoc says, the Dutch had no forces in the area to enforce either Blucher's ejection or internment. The British might therefore claim hot pursuit. This does allow enemy vessels into neutral waters to engage, if the locals lack the means or the willingness to enforce the 24 hour rule. It's a pretty remote coast, so they might claim that Blucher could outstay her 24hrs without the Dutch even knowing about it.
-The flaw in this argument is that Patey didn't wait 24 hours, so Blucher hadn't yet violated neutrality (although he might believe she intended to, as she didn't respond to his offer).
Under these circumstances, I don't doubt von Spee would have been seeking internment, which the British would regard as less than ideal. However, he wouldn't have had the chance to make that clear to Dutch authorities before Patey acted - so legally that's a hypothetical too.
Ultimately, of course:
Man with battlecruiser gets to decide where the grey areas are.