Five Armoured Cruisers
13th September 1914, Off Nieuwpoort.
HMS Cressy was steaming at 6 knots in company with her sisters of 7th Cruiser Squadron HMS Aboukir, HMS Hogue, HMS Euryalus and HMS Bacchante, the latter two ships having joined the squadron on completion of coaling and some vital maintenance on worn out boilers. The ships were old before their time, and they had failed to play any effective role in the recent naval battle off Thornton Bank, but they were all that was available, and they and their generally green crews would have to do until more modern ships became available.
The advance of the German cavalry had been being communicated back to the ships both by semaphore and radio from the harbour master’s office. In addition, one of the ports lighthouses was also being used as a backup if communications with the main mast was lost, this lighthouse had flags and lights with which to signal.
Each of the five cruisers were equipped with 2 9.2” guns in single gun turrets fore and aft with a nominal range of 15500 yards. Additionally, they had 12 6” guns apiece, casement mounted along the hull, their firing arcs were necessarily limited and likewise they were virtually unusable in bad weather. But thanks to the efforts of Scott and Field Marshal Lord Roberts some shrapnel shells were available for the 6” guns, the 9.2” guns had high explosive common shells which could be used although of limited value and armour piercing rounds which would be even less useful.
The commander of 7th Cruiser Squadron Rear Admiral Henry Campbell had been ashore that morning and had met with Major General Aston, they had agreed that the Squadron would undertake to provide gunfire support. The 9.2” guns outranged the 6” guns by a mere 900 yards and so it was decided that both the 9.2” and the 6” guns would fire on each target, in addition it was decided to only bring fire onto targets within 10,000 yards of the coast, this would allow the ships to stand further off and reduce any risk of grounding.
As such the squadron was slowly steaming in an oval pattern 2000 yards off Nieuwpoort, the forward observers were reporting the position of a German Artillery Battery that was firing on Ramskapelle, the battery had done little damage, but they were a good target that was in range of the ships.
The crews were already at action stations with the guns loaded and trained out over Neiuwpoort, the gunnery officers each had a map of the port and its approaches and they quickly calculated the bearing and elevation required, as none of the ships were equipped for director firing it was not a stunning broadside when they fired but rather a swelling roar as a total of 10 9.2” guns and 30 6” guns spread across 5 ships sailing in line astern spoke.
The shells ripped over the town and began to fall on the target area. The majority of the 9.2” shells were useless missing the artillery battery by upwards of 1200 yards, most short and all bar two burying themselves in the heavy Belgian soil before expoloding with most of their explosive effort limited to fountaining soil into the air. The two that did damage were devastating to whatever they struck, one shell struck on a maxim gun belonging to a cavalry machine gun section obliterating the gun and its crew, one other shell struck a farmhouse which was being used by a regimental commander as his headquarters, killing the commander and five other men, wounding another twelve.
The more numerous 6” guns were more devastating, individually nothing like as heavy as a 9.2” shell the 6” rounds being fired were shrapnel fused to explode above the German Artillery position. More tightly clustered they were centred on the guns, devastating the battery killing or wounding many man and more importantly killing a third of the battery’s horses which had been positioned only 100 yards to the rear of the batteries firing position. One shell exploded almost directly in line with a Troop of Cavalry moving up on foot, most of the 453 balls were wasted merely chewing up the ground, but 38 found human flesh leaving 27 men dead or wounded. The firing continued for another 2 not quite salvos, the observers aloft in the signal masts could make out the scatter of the 9.2” shells no ship could tell who was firing where and in the confusion any attempt at accuracy was futile.
Admiral Campbell ordered the signal flags hoisted to cease fire and following a discussion with his Flag Captain, the signal for HMS Cressy to fire her only her 9.2” guns on the Artillery Battery was hoisted. She complied firing her shell landing 400 yards short of the target, the gunnery officer who was aloft looking at the target with one of the ships best telescopes gave the range correction and she fired again, missing 100 yards long but adding considerably to the misery of the battery horse handlers when the two rounds impacted.
The third salvo utterly demolished the battery, one round hit a gun on the breach exploding into a pattern of razer sharp splinters with the other overturning a caisson. Another two salvos were fired before the ship had moved out of range and the next ship in the racetrack was to fire, but again from the flag ship came the order to cease fire in response to signals from shore.
Whilst the five armoured cruisers continued to sail in circles of Nieuwpoort it appeared that the initial German attack had failed. The German Cavalry commander would have to either push much harder into the town accepting casualties from the Marines ashore and the ships offshore or screen the town and attempt to reach the coast closer to the French border. His objective to cut direct communications between the the forces in Belgium defending Antwerp and Ghent and the forces defending Namur and the Franco Belgian frontier.
HMS Cressy was steaming at 6 knots in company with her sisters of 7th Cruiser Squadron HMS Aboukir, HMS Hogue, HMS Euryalus and HMS Bacchante, the latter two ships having joined the squadron on completion of coaling and some vital maintenance on worn out boilers. The ships were old before their time, and they had failed to play any effective role in the recent naval battle off Thornton Bank, but they were all that was available, and they and their generally green crews would have to do until more modern ships became available.
The advance of the German cavalry had been being communicated back to the ships both by semaphore and radio from the harbour master’s office. In addition, one of the ports lighthouses was also being used as a backup if communications with the main mast was lost, this lighthouse had flags and lights with which to signal.
Each of the five cruisers were equipped with 2 9.2” guns in single gun turrets fore and aft with a nominal range of 15500 yards. Additionally, they had 12 6” guns apiece, casement mounted along the hull, their firing arcs were necessarily limited and likewise they were virtually unusable in bad weather. But thanks to the efforts of Scott and Field Marshal Lord Roberts some shrapnel shells were available for the 6” guns, the 9.2” guns had high explosive common shells which could be used although of limited value and armour piercing rounds which would be even less useful.
The commander of 7th Cruiser Squadron Rear Admiral Henry Campbell had been ashore that morning and had met with Major General Aston, they had agreed that the Squadron would undertake to provide gunfire support. The 9.2” guns outranged the 6” guns by a mere 900 yards and so it was decided that both the 9.2” and the 6” guns would fire on each target, in addition it was decided to only bring fire onto targets within 10,000 yards of the coast, this would allow the ships to stand further off and reduce any risk of grounding.
As such the squadron was slowly steaming in an oval pattern 2000 yards off Nieuwpoort, the forward observers were reporting the position of a German Artillery Battery that was firing on Ramskapelle, the battery had done little damage, but they were a good target that was in range of the ships.
The crews were already at action stations with the guns loaded and trained out over Neiuwpoort, the gunnery officers each had a map of the port and its approaches and they quickly calculated the bearing and elevation required, as none of the ships were equipped for director firing it was not a stunning broadside when they fired but rather a swelling roar as a total of 10 9.2” guns and 30 6” guns spread across 5 ships sailing in line astern spoke.
The shells ripped over the town and began to fall on the target area. The majority of the 9.2” shells were useless missing the artillery battery by upwards of 1200 yards, most short and all bar two burying themselves in the heavy Belgian soil before expoloding with most of their explosive effort limited to fountaining soil into the air. The two that did damage were devastating to whatever they struck, one shell struck on a maxim gun belonging to a cavalry machine gun section obliterating the gun and its crew, one other shell struck a farmhouse which was being used by a regimental commander as his headquarters, killing the commander and five other men, wounding another twelve.
The more numerous 6” guns were more devastating, individually nothing like as heavy as a 9.2” shell the 6” rounds being fired were shrapnel fused to explode above the German Artillery position. More tightly clustered they were centred on the guns, devastating the battery killing or wounding many man and more importantly killing a third of the battery’s horses which had been positioned only 100 yards to the rear of the batteries firing position. One shell exploded almost directly in line with a Troop of Cavalry moving up on foot, most of the 453 balls were wasted merely chewing up the ground, but 38 found human flesh leaving 27 men dead or wounded. The firing continued for another 2 not quite salvos, the observers aloft in the signal masts could make out the scatter of the 9.2” shells no ship could tell who was firing where and in the confusion any attempt at accuracy was futile.
Admiral Campbell ordered the signal flags hoisted to cease fire and following a discussion with his Flag Captain, the signal for HMS Cressy to fire her only her 9.2” guns on the Artillery Battery was hoisted. She complied firing her shell landing 400 yards short of the target, the gunnery officer who was aloft looking at the target with one of the ships best telescopes gave the range correction and she fired again, missing 100 yards long but adding considerably to the misery of the battery horse handlers when the two rounds impacted.
The third salvo utterly demolished the battery, one round hit a gun on the breach exploding into a pattern of razer sharp splinters with the other overturning a caisson. Another two salvos were fired before the ship had moved out of range and the next ship in the racetrack was to fire, but again from the flag ship came the order to cease fire in response to signals from shore.
Whilst the five armoured cruisers continued to sail in circles of Nieuwpoort it appeared that the initial German attack had failed. The German Cavalry commander would have to either push much harder into the town accepting casualties from the Marines ashore and the ships offshore or screen the town and attempt to reach the coast closer to the French border. His objective to cut direct communications between the the forces in Belgium defending Antwerp and Ghent and the forces defending Namur and the Franco Belgian frontier.
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