CENTENARY OF NAVAL AVIATION CAUDRON GIII.
On 5 July 1915, two aircraft of the RNAS (a Caudron GIII and a Henri Farman) attacked the German cruiser SMS KÖNIGSBERG in the Rufiji Delta, and then spotted for the guns of monitors HMS SEVERN and HMS MERSEY ultimately leading to the sinking of SMS KÖNIGSBERG.
As given on the back of the Gibraltar stamp.
Built as a light cruiser under yard No 31 by the Kaiserliche Werft, Kiel for the German Imperial Navy.
12 January 1905 laid down as METEOR but before launching renamed.
12 December 1905 launched as KÖNIGSBERG, named after the town Konigsberg in East Prussia.
Displacement; 3.390 ton standard, 3.814 full load, dim. 115.3 x 13.2 x 5.29m. (draught).
Powered by two 3-cyl triple expansion steamengines, 13.918ihp., twin screws, speed 24 knots.
Bunker capacity 820 ton coal.
Range 5.750 mile by a speed of 12 knots.
Armament 10 -10.5cm QF guns, 10 – 5.2cm QF guns, 2 – 45cm torpedo-tubes.
Crew 322.
06 April 1907 commissioned. Building cost 5.4 Milion RM (Reichs Mark).
Before World War I the KÖNIGSBERG was mainly used as escort of the Imperial yacht HOHENZOLLERN.
1907 For the Kieler Woche and for a voyage to the Nord Cape.
Together with the SCHARNHORST and the SLEIPNER she escorted the Royal Yacht to Great Britain and the Netherlands.
With Admiral Prince Heinrich von Prussia and a delegation of sea-officers she sailed to Malmo, Sweden for the burying ceremonies of King Oscar of Sweden.
1910 She escorted the Royal Yacht to Helgoland and to Great Britain for the burial of King Edward VII.
1911 Sailed to the Mediterranean.
06 June 1914 under command of Capt Max Looff she arrived at Dar es Salaam, at that time the capital of German East Africa. She received there a nickname through her tree funnels never seen before there by the natives Manowari na bomba tatu (the man of war with three pipes).
27 July the KÖNIGSBERG was informed by the German Admiralty over the imminent war and when the German steamer TABORA reported that the British Cape Squadron was at sea on 31 July and bound for Dar es Salaam to blockade this port, Captain Looff decided to proceed to sea.
1 August the KÖNIGSBERG left the port and with her greater speed she could give the British Squadron the slip.
When war was declared the KÖNIGSBERG received this message on 5 August at 22.00 hours, she was far from Dar es Salaam and headed to the Gulf of Aden.
With only 200 tons of coal left on board she was in need of replenishment
06 August she captured the British steamer CITY OF WINCHESTER in the Gulf of Aden, she was loaded with tea with a worth of 5.1 million RM. Some bunker coals were taken from the CITY OF WINCESTER where after the ship was send to Mozambique with on board a prize crew.
Later the last bunker coal were taken from the CITY OF WINCHESTER where after the CITY OF WINCHESTER was sunk by opening the sea cocks, detonating some explosives and firing some shells in her.
14 August she received bunker coals from the German steamer GOLDENFELS south of Oman, when in this area she received strong radio signals most probably from British warships searching for her, and Looff decided to leaf this area so soon as possible.
She proceeded to Ras Hafnun, on the Horn of Africa, coast of Somalia, where the coal bunkers were filled from the collier SOMALI.
The KÖNIGSBERG sailed then to the waters off Madagascar on arrival there ¾ of the coal bunkers was gone, and she had to take somewhere on board the last 250 tons still on board the SOMALI.
30 August she entered the port of Majunga, Madagascar, but not an enemy vessel was seen and she left the port without firing a gun.
Steaming North again and on 1 September she reached Aldebra Island where the SOMALI was waiting, during the transfer of the coal on the high seas both ships got hull damage when the high swell did collide the two ships.
The main engine of the KÖNIGSBERG needed maintenance, while not any port in German East Africa was open for the cruiser the decision was made to enter the Rufiji Delta as a hiding place, the delta was surveyed in 1914 by the MÖWE.
03 September 1914 at high tide she passed the bar in the mouth of the Rufiji and steamed upstream to the settlement of Salale where she dropt her anchor.
At anchor repair on the engine took place and coals and stores were taken on board which had arrived by barge from Dar es Salaam.
19 September she raised her anchor after information was received that a two funnel enemy warship was at Zanzibar and after passing the bar she headed north to Zanzibar.
20 September at 05.25 the first shots were fired at the HMS PEGASUS which was lying in the port with engine repair, she was under command of Capt. Ingles, the PEGASUS returned fire but her shots fell short, and she was soon being hit by accurate shots fired from the KÖNIGSBERG and without 8 minutes all her guns on the engaged side were disabled, the firing ceased when the PEGASUS was a complete wreck, 38 men were killed or died later of there wounds.
After the PEGASUS did not return any fire the KÖNIGSBERG steamed away and returned to her anchor place in the Rufiji Delta
At 14.15 that day The PEGASUS capsized and sank.
The British navy alarmed with the loss of the PEGASUS ordered some modern light cruiser the CHATHAM, DARTMOUTH and WEYMOUTH to the area in search for the KÖNIGSBERG who had disappeared from the seas.
At least by looking again through the ships papers of the German vessel PRÄSIDENT at Linda. Kenya it was discovered that she had coal delivered at Safale to the KÖNIGSBERG.
30 October a landings party of the HMS CHATHAM discovered the position of the KONIGSBERG and the delta was blockaded by British warships.
01 November the CHATHAM came so near that she fired long shots, which sunk the SOMALI after she got on fire, the KÖNIGSBERG steamed more upstream and was not hit.
22 November the first British airplanes made reconnaissance missions above the position of the KÖNIGSBERG.
10 January 1915 the Mafia Island was taken after a heavy fight by the British Navy, and the occupation of the island was a blow for the defence of the KÖNIGSBERG.
The KÖNIGSBERG got also problems with coal, food, ammunition and medical supplies through the blockade of the delta.
During May and June the ship came under attack of British airplanes, but without much damage.
Late May the British had two low draft monitors towed from Britain via the Suez Canal to the Rufiji Delta, the HMS MERSEY and SEVERN, when in position she commenced on 06 July a long range bombardment on the KÖNIGSBERG, while planes spotted the fall of the shells.
The MERSEY was hit by a shell of the KÖNIGSBERG; the monitors did not inflict any damage on the cruiser.
11 June with all their power of 21 warships the KÖNINGBERG came under fire and the monitors got the change to silence the heavy guns on the foredeck, Captain Looff was wounded.
13.15 The ship got on fire on the afterdeck, and on 13.40 all guns were out of action and the crew abandoned the vessel after two torpedo heads were rigged with fuses to blow out the ships bottom.
14.00 The charges went off and the ship settled into the river, with the loss of 33 crew.
When the British forces left, the salvage of all useful equipment and guns commenced and were used in the East African land campaign.
All salvage operation were finished on 18 September 1915.
03 January 1919 only 32 crew of the KÖNIGSBERG under which Captain Looff arrived in Berlin.
1963 On orders of the Tanzanian Government the wreck was scrapped but till 1966 some parts of the wreck were visible, but thereafter it had disappeared in the mud of the river.
Gibraltar 2009 42p sg?, scott?
Seychelles 1969 15c sg 264, scott 259 (The stamp depict the KONIGSBERG (II) built in 1916, which never left the North Sea or Baltic waters, the design depict the wrong vessel)
South Africa 2014 10R sg?, scott?
Source: http://www.deutsche-schutzgebiete.de/sm ... berg_1.htm http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMS_K%C3%B6nigsberg_(1905) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMS_K%C3%B6nigsberg_(1905)
British Warships Losses in the Ironclad Era 1860-1919 by David Hepper.