Tales of the Sea: The Goeben, Part II

Part I

Goeben was completed in August of 1912. It displaced 19000 tons, was 526' long, could make 26 knots, and had an armament of 10 11" guns. For some comparison:

USS Arizona: 31400 tons, 608', 21 knots, 12 14" guns
USS Missouri: 45000 tons, 888', 33 knots, 9 16" guns
HMS Titanic: 46000 tons, 883', 23 knots
USS Nimitz: 91300 tons, 1088', 33 knots



Goeben was a battlecruiser, which is a subtype of "dreadnought" battleship. Battlecruisers have the same armament as battleships, but are faster and carry less armor. Battlecruisers went out of style with the development of the fast battleship, which was capable of high speeds without sacrificing armor, but several states continued to construct battlecruisers well into the interwar period. The French and Germans both built pairs of battlecruisers in the 1930s, and the United States, oddly enough, commissioned its first two battlecruisers in 1945. Battlecruisers tended to fare poorly against their more modern kin; fast battleships destroyed battlecruisers at Denmark Straights (Bismarck vs. Hood), Guadalcanal (Washington vs. Kirishima), and North Cape (Duke of York vs. Scharnhorst).

German battlecruisers, like most other German ships, were tough nuts to crack. British battlecruisers tended to explode when bumped or nudged. Invincible and Queen Mary both blew up at the Battle of Jutland, Hood blew up at Denmark Straights, and the British built Kongo blew up for no particular reason in 1944. German ships, on the other hand, were capable of taking a tremendous amount of punishment without sinking. Several German ships survived the worst that British fire could offer at the Battle of Jutland. Goeben was, therefore, a ship to be reckoned with.

In July of 1914, Goeben was posted to the Mediterranean along with a light cruiser, the Breslau. Formally, Italy and Austria-Hungary were allied with Germany, but most everyone knew that the Italians would not honor that alliance in case of war. When hostilities broke out, the Goeben and Breslau were given a cold shoulder by the Italians and asked to leave Italian territorial waters. The German commander, Rear Admiral Wilhelm Souchon, had no desire to serve under an Austrian admiral, and in any case the Austrians initially hoped to avoid war with Great Britain. Souchon could expect no support from Italy and little support from Austria.

Souchon thus faced a dilemma. He had no home, but many targets. French transports were already beginning to take French troops from Algeria to France. British battlecruisers and French battleships guarded the transports. Although Goeben was a powerful ship, it could not contend with superior British and French numbers. Goeben's crew was tired, and its engines were in need of repair. There was no chance whatsoever that Goeben would be able to escape the Mediterranean. Lacking anything better to do, Souchon ordered his ships to bombard the French harbor at Phillipeville, then turned to the east. Two British battlecruisers caught Goeben shortly after the bombardment, but could not attack because war had not yet formally been declared between Germany and Great Britain. Souchon dodged the British, coaled from a waiting German merchant vessel, and made for Constantinople. He had no idea whether the Turks would welcome Goeben or fire upon it, but had no other place to go.

The British did not immediately realize the importance of the Goeben's actions. The initial reaction to the eastward course of Goeben was relief, as the German ship would no longer threaten French transports. The Royal Navy would have, however, one more chance to stop Goeben before it reached Turkey.

To be continued.