The SMS Nurnberg & SMS Leipzig in 1914

You folks seem to have a vast storehouse of knowledge about stuff like this..I live in Mexico for 9 months a year and there is a story about a German warship that took refuge in a sleepy Mexican anchorage called Conception Bay, now a bustling resort area on the east coast of the Baja peninsula in the Gulf of California (Sea of Cortez). The story has it that a German warship hid out there for a period of time 1913-1914(?) awaiting orders..

On my own, I have discovered that first the SMS Nurnberg and then the Leipzig, light cruisers, were stationed off the west coast of Mexico during this time period, so it would seem it is possible this story is true..

However, Conception Bay could have become a trap if the ship was discovered. Just 30 miles north up the coast was the French copper mining town of Santa Rosalia, a very important piece of property during this time period that generated a fair amount of shipping traffic..

Can any of you folks fill in the blanks here? Is there any record of any German warships ever hiding out in Conception Bay, Baja California?
 
Huh, I never knew that. Any idea why the German ships chose to anchor at a Mexican port in the first place? I know you said they were waiting for orders, but perhaps they were there to deal with protecting German investments and interests during the turmoil of the Mexican civil war that was brewing at the time?

Surely there are other ports along the Pacific Coast of South America that are farther from the prying eyes of the British and French. Central America would be off limits though due to the heavy US-British presence centered around British Honduras and Panama.
 
The Germans sent the cruiser Leipzig to Mexico in 1914 to show the flag and protect German lives and property during the revolution. She came from the Far East Squadron based at Tsingtao. She relieved the light cruiser Nuremberg, which had the same duty the previous year. Leipzig was in Mexican waters when WW I broke out, went to San Francisco to get orders from the German Consul there (and put the ship's mascot-a brown bear cub-ashore), as well as coal. Then she went to Central American and South American waters, where she rejoined the Squadron, which had left East Asia for the West Coast of South America. She sank one British merchantman, and fought at the Battle of Coronel. Sunk at the Battle of the Falkland Islands, 8 Dec 1914.
 
Yes indeed, Germany had "interests" in Mexico that needed to be protected during the Mexican Revolution..When investigating the history of the Nurnberg and Leipzig, you find they were posted to the west coast of Mexico before being sent to Easter Island to re-fuel (coal) and then around the horn into the South Atlantic to engage the British near the Falkland Islands where they both were sunk with few survivors..

But it's that pre-war interval when this Conception Bay layover may have happened..
 
There were U.S., British, and Japanese warships on that same station as well. The meet at the bay you mention was probably just Leipzig relieving Nuremberg, which went to Truk in then-German Micronesia, and then Pagan in the Marianas-which was where the Squadron reformed after the outbreak of war. The USN had the Armored Cruiser California, the British had the light cruiser Rainbow, and the Japanese armored cruiser Idzumo were all there at the same time. These were the days when the term "gunboat diplomacy" was taken literally, and one false move by local belligerents could get one's locale bombarded and a party of sailors and Marines landed to "teach the natives a lesson."
 
Somewhere, I was hoping, there might be a picture of either the Nurnberg or Leipzig in Conception bay..But that is probably asking too much.

In 1913, the Baja was a road-less wilderness, isolated uninhabited desert with a few settlements along the coast. Santa Rosalia, where the French had a virtual colony centered on a large copper mine and smelter is 30 miles north of Conception Bay which is a fine, protected anchorage..The harbor at Santa Rosalia, then and now, is a small sheltered cove formed by man-made breakwaters and is otherwise open to the sea..

While reading a history of The Sea Of Cortez written for sailors, the author mentioned that Conception Bay once provided shelter for a German Battleship during the First World War..I have since misplaced or lost the book or gave it away. Anyway, I have decided to see if this fable has any legs or is it just one of those things authors add to provide a little color to a story..
 
There were U.S., British, and Japanese warships on that same station as well. The meet at the bay you mention was probably just Leipzig relieving Nuremberg, which went to Truk in then-German Micronesia, and then Pagan in the Marianas-which was where the Squadron reformed after the outbreak of war. The USN had the Armored Cruiser California, the British had the light cruiser Rainbow, and the Japanese armored cruiser Idzumo were all there at the same time. These were the days when the term "gunboat diplomacy" was taken literally, and one false move by local belligerents could get one's locale bombarded and a party of sailors and Marines landed to "teach the natives a lesson."

Very interestingly there are a few stories, in newspapers, that in the 1910s a Japanese armoured cruiser ran aground in Baja California. It may have been Conception Bay, tho I've always thought it was Turtle Bay and I could complete wrong. There was fear in the West Coast papers that the Japanese were negotiating with the Mexicans about obtaining the rights to a naval base.

There are photos of Leipzig (or Nuremburg) replenishing in Honolulu Harbor.
 
Turtle Bay, on the Pacific coast of Baja, would have been a complete roadless wilderness 1910-1930, accessible only by sea or horse path.. Today it is used as a sheltered anchorage by yachts cruising between the U.S. and Mexico..

Conception Bay is on the Gulf of California side (east coast) of the Baja peninsula and is a favorite yacht anchorage and beach camping area served by a paved road..But it was also wilderness in 1900-1940..The old Spanish Mission town of Mulege guards the entrance to the bay today as it did in 1680 so trying to slip in there with a light cruiser undiscovered in shoal water would be quite a feat..

As a sidebar to all this, steamships during this period were just beginning to be equipped with radio transmitters and receivers. The working range of this equipment was still limited and could not be relied on for long-range communications (over 2000 miles)...
 
Turtle Bay, on the Pacific coast of Baja, would have been a complete roadless wilderness 1910-1930, accessible only by sea or horse path.. Today it is used as a sheltered anchorage by yachts cruising between the U.S. and Mexico.

Terrific! Thanks, I was wondering I had gotten the correct name for the bay.
 
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