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| Appendix: The Ship | 301 | (8) | |||
| Bibliography | 309 |
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A NEW HONG KONG OR
PORT ARTHUR?
The city, a green island in the Chinese province of Shantung, could not have been more carefree, more optimistic, more picturesque than it was at this moment. The beaches, the business opportunities, the outstanding harbor facilities on the Chinese coast, a location that was perfect for a naval base-all made it an ideal foreign foothold. The city had not been developed until after 13 November 1897, when three cruisers occupied it after the murder of two missionaries. In less than twenty years this inhospitable, neglected fishing village on the broad and sheltered Bay of Kiaochow had been transformed into a modern trade center and tourist paradise. It had attracted a massive influx of job seekers. The new Shantung Railway had been constructed and coal and mineral mines were operating at full capacity. A true pioneer spirit prevailed. On the heels of such basic economic developments came hospitals and schools; even a high school had been founded. Impressive government buildings with European villas clustered around them rose from the friendly hills. Friedrichstrasse descended from there. It led to the Tsingtao bridge, where the boats of the gray cruisers anchored off the green coastal promenade were tied up. One of them, SMS Emden , was a light cruiser under the command of Karl von Müller, who had just returned to his home base from an arduous assignment in China and Japan. Over this whole scene, over the landing bridges and the government buildings, flew the black, white, and red flag of Germany. It was May in the German base of Tsingtao on the China Sea. The year was 1914.
May 1914
The men of the Emden were disappointed. Their cruiser was scheduled for a trip to either the South Seas or the Dutch East Indies. Then, because of civil disturbance in Mexico, they were to sail to the west coast of America. After much hemming and hawing, the navy accounting office decided instead to send the cruiser Nürnberg , which was several hundred nautical miles farther east in Japanese waters. Coal was expensive and the navy had to economize. Later the Nürnberg would be relieved by the Leipzig .
So the crew of the Emden made themselves at home in Tsingtao. For the old hands these were the last few weeks of work. Their relief was due to arrive at the beginning of June. The order of the day was routine duty, which had been largely neglected during the last voyage. The Emden conducted landing maneuvers with an emphasis on target practice. They usually ended with a cookout at the beach and a parade homeward through the streets of Tsingtao.
On 23 May 1914 Admiral Graf Spee combined the available ships Scharnhorst, Gneisenau , and Emden in a squadron exercise in the Bay of Tsingtao. On 24 May, a Sunday, there was a horse race on a track nearby. Some of the best jockeys on the east Asian coast, many of them familiar to the officers of the Emden , participated. A number of officers themselves took part. The event drew all the ranks of Tsingtao's high society into the stands. The following day, 25 May, saw the yearly tug-of-war competition and the squadron's sailing races. Lieutenant Robert Witthoeft of the Emden , in spite of a break in his mast fitting, emerged the winner.
From 28 to 30 May Ensign Erich Fikentscher, the sports officer of the Emden , led the crew's old hands on a three-day excursion into the Lauchou Mountains. It was quite an event, financed by a petty cash fund that had been enriched when the Emden earned a salvage fee for towing the steamer Deike Rickmers . No expenses were spared. Even the ship's band was taken along. The goal was to reach the Mecklenburg House. A wagon with all sorts of provisions was dispatched ahead. Then, by train, the excursionists went by way of Syphan to the Lizun Valley. There the real march to Mecklenburg House began. They divided themselves into five groups and, though well briefed, became utterly lost on the way. At the time of the evening rendezvous all 160 of them had managed, miraculously, to find their way. For two days the sailors wandered about the beautiful countryside, infused with a holiday spirit. The orchestra played tirelessly in front of Mecklenburg House, once even for the entertainment of a Chinese prince. In the evening the musicians divided themselves among the jagged cliffs surrounding the resort and, with the conductor placed strategically before them, filled the air with inspiring music. The return trip to Tsingtao was accompanied by the sound of stirring marches. Tired and footsore though the sailors were, they delighted in their adventurous outing. A few more days on land and they would be able to board the relief ship at Tsingtao.
On Sunday, 31 May, the old crew members attended their last church service. Those officers who were off duty took one more trip on horseback to the forests of the Iltis Mountains. So ended May 1914.
June 1914
On 2 June the departing crewmen left the Emden and settled with their seabags in one of the barracks on the wharf. The following morning, at 0600, the HAPAG (Hamburg-America Line) steamship Patricia made her majestic entry into the inner harbor. She brought fifteen hundred men to the squadron on change-of-duty orders. For the next few days the detailing officer had his hands full with berthing assignments, fire drills, bulkhead inspections, and other shipboard tasks. Lieutenant Hellmuth von Mücke, the navigator, relieved Lieutenant Peucer as first officer. It was Mücke who directed the assignment of the relief crew. The young officers liked working with him, and they appreciated his acknowledgment of their efforts. Ensign Albert von Guérard inherited the post of the homeward-bound adjutant. Ensign Fritz Karl Zimmermann arrived ill on the relief ship and remained temporarily unassigned. As signals officer, Ensign Fikentscher took charge of the division composed of specialists, radiomen, signalmen, and artisans.
The Patricia stayed in the harbor only long enough to take on coal. The moment of departure drew closer and the farewell to comrades was at hand. Slowly the ocean giant pulled away from the pier with pennants flying from masthead to water. To the strains of Samoan melodies she glided between the warships and out of the harbor. The ship's orchestra played "How Beautiful Is the World When One Is Homeward Bound." The other ships' bands were also caught up in the excitement of the departure. Left and right they started harmonizing with the traditional melody of "Now That I Must Leave Thee, My Fair City." This was accompanied by shouts of farewell and fluttering waves of goodbye.
The following weeks were most strenuous. The new half of the ship's company had to be hastily drilled and coordinated in the various shipboard duties. Old hands had to do double duty so that new arrivals could be integrated as smoothly as possible. There was also a request from the first officer for a revision of duty assignments and watch bills for the technical personnel. All this had to be done in the space of two days. No one could complain about a shortage of work.
After the change of personnel and the flurry of activity accompanying it, an atmosphere of normalcy descended on the Emden . Now she had the more enjoyable task of preparing to receive an important warship. On 13 June the English armored cruiser Minotaur visited Tsingtao. For the officers there were banquets, balls, and excursions. For the crew, a sports meet stood high on the list of priorities. The recreation officer of the Emden functioned as umpire in many of the events. Attention focused on the soccer game between the German and English teams. At the end of the second half the score stood 2:2. In the twenty-minute overtime the English showed what a well-trained team could do, driving three more goals into the German net. The German sailors had to be satisfied with their awards in gymnastics and high jumping.
During the warship's visit the German and English seamen became so friendly that at the point of farewell there were joking assurances that they would never fight one another. Even in a climate of political tension, who could possibly imagine armed conflict between the German navy and its admirable British counterpart?
On 15 June Ensign Fikentscher, like so many others, counted the days until his return to Germany. Along with Ensign von Guérard, he was to begin his journey home in the mail boat Bülow .
During these June weeks the captain of the HAPAG liner Staatssekretär Krätke , Julius Lauterbach, took part in a reserve officers' exercise in the Emden . He held the rank of lieutenant (j.g.) in the reserve. Ensign Fikentscher knew him to be an extraordinarily efficient and knowledgeable seaman. Lauterbach had sailed over east Asian waters without interruption for five years and knew most of the traders plying these waters. Fikentscher had befriended him while sailing from Shanghai in the Staatssekretär Krätke on his way to the Emden at Tsingtao. It was a trying time. Fikentscher had a bout with dysentery, and several other officers and men were on board and in the infirmary in Tsingtao with the disease. The attending doctors had recommended the greatest precaution to keep it from spreading, particularly as the Emden was scheduled to sail for Shanghai, Hangkow, and then up the Yangtze River. The invalids were anxious to get back on their feet and board the ship, which was scheduled to depart the beginning of July.
Admiral Graf Spee sailed on 20 June with the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau on a cruise to the South Sea islands of Samoa. He would not return from this voyage until September. The Emden was ordered to lay in a supply of coal and provisions for three months and to be prepared for instant departure if necessary. And so her schedule was delayed. Because of the considerably healthier climate in Tsingtao the men were delighted. Shanghai, as all old hands knew, was a hellhole of heat at that time of year.
The off-duty officers spent their time in various ways: on the beaches, hiking, riding horseback in the Prinz Heinrich Mountains. Some visited the casino or held forth in the German Club. No one thought of the dreaded summer trip to Shanghai. But at the time even Tsingtao was hot. The inhabitants complained that for ten years they had not suffered such an unbearable heat. The gunboat Luchs radioed the Emden from Shanghai with a plea to relieve her.
The otherwise peaceful midsummer mood was shattered with the arrival of a shocking report. On 28 June the heir to the throne of Austria and his wife had been murdered at Sarajevo. According to the report, sharp notes had been exchanged between the Austrian and Serbian governments.
July 1914
In far-off Germany Kaiser Wilhelm II canceled the festivities of the Kieler Woche-the week-long celebration of German naval activities which this year included the unprecedented visit of a British battleship squadron under Admiral Warrander. By 6 July, however, the situation seemed to have stabilized, and in his yacht the Hohenzollern , accompanied by the greater part of the High Seas Fleet, the kaiser set sail for his yearly summer cruise to Norway.
From the South Seas Graf Spee ordered the Emden to remain in Tsingtao. There began a period of watch and wait. The Far East echoed with rumors in the rising humidity and heat.
On 8 July the orders for the Emden 's Shanghai deployment were finally canceled. The next day a warning came from the Admiralty in Berlin about a possible outbreak of war between Austria and Serbia. If that happened, it was certain that other powers would join in. On 11 July the Admiralty sent another warning, this time about possible confrontation with Great Britain. The radio room of the Emden filled with the intercepted messages of foreign warships.
On the night of the twenty-second and into the twenty-third, a storm of hurricane force hit Tsingtao. The midwatch duty officer observed that in a short time the wind turned 180 degrees, whipping up until ships lay sideways under the pressure. In the deluge all boats had to be tightly secured, and as a precaution the ships dropped their second anchors. High-pressure steam was raised in two of the Emden 's boilers. But the tempest blew over as quickly as it had come. The Emden had ridden it out. Once more Tsingtao presented the usual picture of peace.
On 24 July the Austrian cruiser Kaiserin Elizabeth arrived in Tsingtao. Everyone was aware of the ominous meaning of this arrival. Several officers from the Emden knew the Austrian officers from Pola and invited them to mess. The Germans admired the calm with which their Austrian comrades approached mobilization. For an entire week they seemed to do nothing but entertain on board and on shore. Perhaps the situation was exaggerated.
Soon the following news overtook them: Austria-Hungary had presented Serbia with an ultimatum on 25 July but on 26 July they received the reassuring message that Germany regarded the problem as an internal one, concerning only the nations directly involved. Naturally, should Russia take a hand in the affair, Germany would support Austria. Russia was allied with France, which was allied with Great Britain, which was allied with Japan. Still, the crew of the Emden hardly believed that war was imminent, even when they received word that the German High Seas Fleet had canceled its Norwegian summer maneuvers and headed back to home ports.
On 27 July the Admiralty Staff in Berlin reported that Austria-Hungary had broken diplomatic relations with Serbia. A declaration of war followed on the twenty-eighth. It would seem that, all things considered, political developments in Europe were serious indeed.
Continue...
Excerpted from The Last Gentleman-of-War by R.K. Lochner Copyright © 1988 by United States Naval Institute
Excerpted by permission. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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