In December 1914, the German navy shelled a number of towns on the northeast coast of England, namely Scarborough, Whitby and Hartlepool. Of the three the only one able to mount a defence was Hartlepool but due to a combination of the Germans having the element of surprise, bad weather and plain old bad luck they didn't do a very good job of it. A rough breakdown of what happened is as follows
Forces:
* German:
-- SMS Seydlitz (Battlecruiser)
-- SMS Blucher (Armoured Cruiser)
-- SMS Moltke (Battlecruiser)
* British:
-- Heugh Battery (Coastal Battery, 2 BL 6-inch Mk VII naval guns)
-- Lighthouse Battery (Coastal Battery, 1 BL 6-inch Mk VII naval gun)
-- HMS Patrol (Scout Cruiser)
-- HMS Forward (Scout Cruiser)
-- HMS Doon (Destroyer)
-- HMS Test (Destroyer)
-- HMS Waveney (Destroyer)
-- HMS Moy (Destroyer)
-- HMS C9 (Submarine)
A Summary of What Happened According to Wikipedia:
What if things hadn't been quite so one sided? What if Doon's torpedo hadn't missed? What if the shore batteries had reacted a bit faster, or started aiming at the more vulnerable parts if their targets, or Blucher hadn't managed to hide behind the lighthouse? What if Patrol and C9 had been able to join the fight? Would they have been able to send the German ships packing or even sink or disable one of them (probably Blucher)? And if they had done so, would it have made much difference in the grand scheme of things, beyond the propaganda value of the whole thing?
Forces:
* German:
-- SMS Seydlitz (Battlecruiser)
-- SMS Blucher (Armoured Cruiser)
-- SMS Moltke (Battlecruiser)
* British:
-- Heugh Battery (Coastal Battery, 2 BL 6-inch Mk VII naval guns)
-- Lighthouse Battery (Coastal Battery, 1 BL 6-inch Mk VII naval gun)
-- HMS Patrol (Scout Cruiser)
-- HMS Forward (Scout Cruiser)
-- HMS Doon (Destroyer)
-- HMS Test (Destroyer)
-- HMS Waveney (Destroyer)
-- HMS Moy (Destroyer)
-- HMS C9 (Submarine)
A Summary of What Happened According to Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raid_on_Scarborough,_Hartlepool_and_Whitby#RaidHartlepool was a more significant target than the resort town of Scarborough. The port had extensive civilian docks and factories and was defended by three BL 6 inch Mk VII naval guns on the seafront. Two guns were at Heugh Battery and one at Lighthouse Battery. The guns were manned by 11 officers and 155 local men of the Durham Royal Garrison Artillery.[8] The gun crews were warned at 04:30 of the possibility of an attack and issued live ammunition. At 07:46, they received word that large ships had been sighted and at 08:10, a bombardment of the town began. No warning had been given to naval patrols in the area, which were meant to be always on duty and the poor weather just before the raid meant that only four destroyers were on patrol, while two light cruisers and a submarine, which might otherwise have been out, remained in Hartlepool harbour. The destroyers HMS Doon, Test, Waveney and HMS Moy were on patrol when—at 07:45—Doon saw three large vessels approaching, which opened fire shortly after. The only weapons the destroyers had capable of damaging a large vessel were torpedoes; they were out of torpedo range and three destroyers turned away. Doon closed to 5,000 yd (2.5 nmi; 4.6 km), fired one torpedo which missed and retreated.[9]
The shore batteries remained confused about the approaching ships, until shells began to fall. Shells from the ships were fired at such short range that their fuses did not have time to set, so many failed to explode on impact or ricochetted into the town, because they were travelling horizontally, rather than plunging. Two shore guns fired at the leading ship, while the third fired at the last, smaller, vessel. The gunners were hampered by a rising cloud of smoke and dust around them, affecting visibility. They found their shells had no effect on the armoured sides of the ships, so instead aimed at masts and rigging. The accuracy of the third gun was sufficient to oblige Blücher to move behind the lighthouse to prevent further hits. Two of her 6-inch guns were disabled, the bridge and another 8 in (200 mm) gun were damaged.[10]
In the harbour, Captain Bruce of the light cruiser HMS Patrolattempted to get his ship to sea but the ship was struck by two 8-inch shells, forcing the captain to run her aground. The second cruiser HMS Forward had no steam in her boilers, so it could not move. The submarine HMS C9 followed Patrol to sea, but had to dive when shells started falling around it. By the time she got clear of the harbour, the German ships had gone. Commodore Roger Keyes commented afterwards, that a target of three stationary cruisers was exactly what the submarine had been intended to attack.[11] At 08:50, the German ships departed.
What if things hadn't been quite so one sided? What if Doon's torpedo hadn't missed? What if the shore batteries had reacted a bit faster, or started aiming at the more vulnerable parts if their targets, or Blucher hadn't managed to hide behind the lighthouse? What if Patrol and C9 had been able to join the fight? Would they have been able to send the German ships packing or even sink or disable one of them (probably Blucher)? And if they had done so, would it have made much difference in the grand scheme of things, beyond the propaganda value of the whole thing?
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