Lerwick Action 1917

17th October 1917 Lerwick Action 1917 The Action off Lerwick was a small naval battle on the 17th October 1917 fought in the North Sea. Two German light cruisers attacked a convoy of coal-carrying ships and their escort. In the course of the battle the two escorting destroyers and nine neutral Scandinavian ships were sunk off Shetland.
Background
The British regularly shipped coal across the North Sea from Norway in 1917. These convoys were lightly defended so the Kaiserliche Marine took advantage of the situation. At first submarines were deployed to sink the merchantmen, but after these attacks failed the German Admiral Reinhard Scheer ordered an attack with surface vessels. U-boats informed Admiral Scheer that a fleet of nine Scandinavian, one Belgian and two British steamers laden with coal were headed west from Lerwick. The two light cruisers Brummer and Bremse, each armed with four 5.9 inch naval guns and two 3.5 inch anti-aircraft guns, were sent to ambush to convoy on 17 October, 65 miles off Lerwick. Escorting the convoy were two British destroyers, Mary Rose and Strongbow with two naval trawlers, HMS Elise and P. Fannon. The destroyers had complements of about 80 men and armament of three 4 inch guns, three 2-pounders and two 21 inch torpedo tubes. Lieutenant Commander Charles Fox led the Allies convoy in his flagship Mary Rose and Lieutenant Commander Edward Brooke skippered Strongbow.
Action
At about 0600, lookouts on Strongbow spotted the two German light cruisers approaching their ship at a distance of over 4,000 yards. They were mistaken for British cruisers and signaled to identify themselves but no response was received. The Germans mistook the destroyers for cruisers themselves and they began signaling the British to come out and fight. Eventually the range closed to within 3,000 yds, so the German ships opened fire with their 5.9-inch guns. The two destroyers turned to attack and opened up with their 4-inch guns. They were followed by Elise while P. Fannon was ordered to continue west with the convoy. HMS Strongbow was struck first, shells damaged her main steam pipe and others knocked out her radio communications. After a few more minutes of firing, Strongbow was heavily damaged so the Germans turned their attention to Mary Rose and quickly sank her. The Germans then opened fire on Strongbow again and damaged her further while Elise was maneuvering to rescue her crew. Elise opened fire and her shots missed but she drew German fire which was now being concentrated on the merchant ships. Both of the light cruisers fired on Elise and forced her to flee out of range. The convoy was then attacked again and all nine of the Scandinavian vessels were sunk. All together, about 250 Allies and Scandinavians were killed, at least 50 others were wounded. Lieutenant Commander Fox was killed along with about 70 others from Mary Rose with only two officers and eight enlisted men surviving. Strongbow lost half of her complement and four officers and 44 men were rescued. She sank hours later at around 0930. The German forces were accused of shelling survivors in the water but they later denied the accusation.
Aftermath
When the action was over the German ships returned to base without damage or loss of life. Other British naval forces in the area were unaware of the engagement until almost 1600, so Brummer and Bremse could not be intercepted. The event was regarded as an outrage by the Allies who protested that the attack on neutral ships was illegal and that the Germans gave the crews of the merchant vessels no time to evacuate. This resulted in a large loss of civilian lives. Both of the British destroyer commanders received credit for bravery though some members of the Admiralty felt that by leaving the convoy to engage a superior enemy force, they left the merchant steamers open for attack.
Order of Battle
Royal Navy HMS Mary Rose, destroyer, flagship HMS Strongbow, destroyer HMS Elise, naval trawler HMS P. Fannon, naval trawler Kaiserliche Marine SMS Bremse, light cruiser, flagship SMS Brummer, light cruiser
John Doran

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