alternatehistory.com
Full Sends Only
If anything could be said in regard to the war on the west coast of North America, it would be that engagements were largely decided before they even began. Lieutenant Hartkopf had been ordered to take SMS Seelöwe ahead of Leipzig to act as a scout as it was thought that any merchant or military vessels would not be immediately suspicious of a vessel commonly sighted in the area. Leipzig held back at the edge of her visible range, also flying the White Ensign and if required, would identify herself as HMCS Rainbow. Such a strategy would have quickly fell apart under scrutiny from a knowledgeable party however, such things seemed to be rather rare in this theatre. The freshly applied paint on their prize had not even fully dried before this strategy payed dividends. As Seelöwe approached the western tip of Washington state in the afternoon of August 14, she sighted a pair of ships anchored together a few miles off the coast. It was initially thought that the vessels were a three masted barquentine and a cargo ship but when the barquentine identified herself as HMS Algerine and ordered Seelöwe to identify herself, Lieutenant Hartkopf found himself in a difficult situation. At this range, they could very likely conceal their identity and simply continue on the set course towards British Columbia, although this would leave one of the few purpose built combatants on the coast operational and free to rear their ugly head at a later time. Engaging Algerine direct combat was also possible if Leipzig could be brought up to assist but risking further damage to her in exchange for sinking a sloop would be a poor outcome. Hartkopf made a very risky decision and answered the calls of the British sloop, under the guise of HMCS Prince George, he would attempt to close the range as much as possible to engage the enemy. SMS Seelöwe currently had 62 dedicated crew members aboard alongside 30 armed sailors for a prearranged prize crew, at the detriment of Leipzig’s overall combat capacity. If Algerine was stopped and taking on supplies, the cannons and machine guns of Seelöwe could easily clear the unsuspecting crews from their decks to allow a prearranged boarding party to seize the ship. Just to be sure, Seelöwe jammed any wireless sets in the area so the nearby cargo vessel could not signal for help once the engagement begun.
Such an outcome was simply the best course of action though as even if Seelöwe could disable or destroy the sloop at the cost of herself, Leipzig could still pick up survivors and continue on her mission. Obviously not the ideal situation but a workable outcome. Luck would have it that such actions were not necessary as Algerine’s crew on duty were more than hospitable to assistance from a friendly ship and from their observations upon closer inspection, she was ripe for the picking. The majority of her crew was engaged in painting the starboard side and assisting the coaling effort from either on deck or in the boats, meaning the decks were clear of any potential resistance, or so the Germans thought. The gun crews were kept as hidden as possible and Hartkopf swore having minimal crews on deck would be a dead giveaway, but the ruse worked perfectly. As they pulled up alongside Algerine, the cargo bay doors were swung open and the boarding party swarmed out onto the deck of the British vessel. A lone sailor attempted to fight back with a mounted machine gun but was quickly cut down by his cotemporary aboard Seelöwe. Fortunately, he would be the only fatality of the boarding. A second wave of the boarding party came aboard and held the men on deck and around them in boats prisoner while the remainder of the party descended into the bowels of the ship. The machinery spaces were seized successfully minus one engineer colliding with one of the boarding party with a bucket full of clinker, covering the German from the chest down in ash. The cadre of officers aboard had been preparing for their evening meal when the boarding had occurred and quickly rushed topside when the sound of gunfire was heard, only to be met with glimmering bayonets when they arrived. Lieutenant Hartkopf's famous apology to Captain Corbett regarding the death of one of his men was one of the few highlights of the day for the British, punctuating a bittersweet reunion for the crews of the ships as merely weeks before when they had been operating as allies off the coast of Mexico. Good company would be found amidst the Canadian prisoners aboard Seelöwe, atleast after the initial shock of that days actions had died down somewhat. The action would be remembered after the fact as one of the great embarrassments suffered by the Royal Navy in the First World War, one of the many that piled high directly under the eyes of the vulnerable Canadian public.
By this point in the engagement, Leipzig had made her way into visual range and began to approach the area, eventually being signaled in regard to the situation by lamp. She would provide more men to secure the newly acquired vessels, alongside coming in to likely survey the prizes for herself. It was an arduous process to retrieve all of the small boats and round up their inhabitants, especially as a fair portion of the boarding party quickly clambered into their own boats in order to board the nearby SS River Forth. The Germans already had one merchant scuttle themselves right out from under their noses, another would be incredibly demoralizing. Boarding the vessel was not particularly difficult and the crew offered little resistance once the Germans arrived, save for the destroyed wireless system and attempted opening of the seacocks. The flooding that had occurred was taken under control rather quickly and did not heavily impair the function of the vessel, which was found to be carrying around 2,600 tons of high quality Welsh steaming coal bound for Esquimalt. The engagement itself if one could call it such, was a complete and utter success. Leipzig had grown her flotilla to include another warship alongside a collier loaded with a sizable amount of coal, able to easily extend their raiding mission significantly, potentially allowing her to reconvene with the rest of the East Asia Squadron if she could ride out the coming days in largely one piece. Yet another discussion would be required however as this sudden change to their overall situation again complicated the Germans plans even further, potentially for the better or the worst.
Such an outcome was simply the best course of action though as even if Seelöwe could disable or destroy the sloop at the cost of herself, Leipzig could still pick up survivors and continue on her mission. Obviously not the ideal situation but a workable outcome. Luck would have it that such actions were not necessary as Algerine’s crew on duty were more than hospitable to assistance from a friendly ship and from their observations upon closer inspection, she was ripe for the picking. The majority of her crew was engaged in painting the starboard side and assisting the coaling effort from either on deck or in the boats, meaning the decks were clear of any potential resistance, or so the Germans thought. The gun crews were kept as hidden as possible and Hartkopf swore having minimal crews on deck would be a dead giveaway, but the ruse worked perfectly. As they pulled up alongside Algerine, the cargo bay doors were swung open and the boarding party swarmed out onto the deck of the British vessel. A lone sailor attempted to fight back with a mounted machine gun but was quickly cut down by his cotemporary aboard Seelöwe. Fortunately, he would be the only fatality of the boarding. A second wave of the boarding party came aboard and held the men on deck and around them in boats prisoner while the remainder of the party descended into the bowels of the ship. The machinery spaces were seized successfully minus one engineer colliding with one of the boarding party with a bucket full of clinker, covering the German from the chest down in ash. The cadre of officers aboard had been preparing for their evening meal when the boarding had occurred and quickly rushed topside when the sound of gunfire was heard, only to be met with glimmering bayonets when they arrived. Lieutenant Hartkopf's famous apology to Captain Corbett regarding the death of one of his men was one of the few highlights of the day for the British, punctuating a bittersweet reunion for the crews of the ships as merely weeks before when they had been operating as allies off the coast of Mexico. Good company would be found amidst the Canadian prisoners aboard Seelöwe, atleast after the initial shock of that days actions had died down somewhat. The action would be remembered after the fact as one of the great embarrassments suffered by the Royal Navy in the First World War, one of the many that piled high directly under the eyes of the vulnerable Canadian public.
By this point in the engagement, Leipzig had made her way into visual range and began to approach the area, eventually being signaled in regard to the situation by lamp. She would provide more men to secure the newly acquired vessels, alongside coming in to likely survey the prizes for herself. It was an arduous process to retrieve all of the small boats and round up their inhabitants, especially as a fair portion of the boarding party quickly clambered into their own boats in order to board the nearby SS River Forth. The Germans already had one merchant scuttle themselves right out from under their noses, another would be incredibly demoralizing. Boarding the vessel was not particularly difficult and the crew offered little resistance once the Germans arrived, save for the destroyed wireless system and attempted opening of the seacocks. The flooding that had occurred was taken under control rather quickly and did not heavily impair the function of the vessel, which was found to be carrying around 2,600 tons of high quality Welsh steaming coal bound for Esquimalt. The engagement itself if one could call it such, was a complete and utter success. Leipzig had grown her flotilla to include another warship alongside a collier loaded with a sizable amount of coal, able to easily extend their raiding mission significantly, potentially allowing her to reconvene with the rest of the East Asia Squadron if she could ride out the coming days in largely one piece. Yet another discussion would be required however as this sudden change to their overall situation again complicated the Germans plans even further, potentially for the better or the worst.
- RelativeGalaxy7
- Word Count: 1.1k