August 1915 On this day:  HMS India sunk  Brigade Boxing Tournament  Push Ordered  Battleship Sunk  Ship Lost  Ships Lost  Fishing Smack Sunk   Church parade & baths  Ship sunk Battle of the Gulf of Riga 1915   The Battle of the Gulf of Riga was a World War I naval operation of the German High Seas Fleet against the Russian Baltic Fleet in the Gulf of Riga in the Baltic Sea in August 1915.The operation's objective was to destroy the Russian naval forces in the Gulf and facilitate the fall of Riga to the German army on the Eastern Front in 1915. The German fleet, however, failed to achieve its objective and was forced to return to its bases. Riga remained in Russian hands until it fell to the German Army on 1st of September 1917. In early August 1915, several powerful units of the German High Seas Fleet were transferred to the Baltic to participate in the foray into the Riga Gulf. The intention was to destroy the Russian naval forces in the area, including the pre-dreadnought battleship Slava, and to use the minelayer Deutschland to block the entrance to the Moon Sound with mines. The German naval forces, under the command of Vice Admiral Hipper, included the four Nassau-class and four Helgoland-class battleships, the battlecruisers SMS Moltke, Von der Tann, and Seydlitz, and a number of smaller craft. Battle On 8th of August, the first attempt to clear the gulf was made. The old battleships SMS Braunschweig and Elsass kept Slava at bay while minesweepers cleared a path through the inner belt of mines. During this period, the rest of the German fleet remained in the Baltic and provided protection against other units of the Russian fleet. However, the approach of nightfall meant that Deutschland would be unable to mine the entrance to the Suur Strait in time and so the operation was broken off. In the meantime, the German armored cruisers SMS Roon and Prinz Heinrich were detached to shell the Russian positions at the Sõrve Peninsula in the Saaremaa island. Several Russian destroyers were anchored at Sõrve and one was slightly damaged during the bombardment. The battlecruiser Von der Tann and the light cruiser SMS Kolberg were sent to shell the island of Utö. On 16th of August, a second attempt was made to enter the gulf. The dreadnoughts SMS Nassau and Posen, four light cruisers and 31 torpedo boats breached the defenses to the gulf. On the first day of the assault, the German minesweeper T46 was sunk, as was the destroyer V99. On 17th of August, Nassau and Posen engaged in an artillery duel with Slava, resulting in three hits on the Russian ship that prompted her withdrawal. After three days, the Russian minefields had been cleared and the flotilla entered the gulf on 19 August, but reports of Allied submarines in the area prompted a German withdrawal from the gulf the following day. Throughout the operation, the German battlecruisers remained in the Baltic and provided cover for the assault into the Gulf of Riga. On the morning of the 19th, Moltke was torpedoed by the British E-class submarine HMS E1. The torpedo was not spotted until it was approximately 200 yd away. Without time to manoeuver, the ship was struck in the bow torpedo room. The explosion damaged several torpedoes in the ship, but they did not detonate themselves. Eight men were killed and 480 short tons of water entered the ship. The ship was repaired at Blohm & Voss in Hamburg between 23 August and 20 September. Order of battle Russia Battleship: Slava Gunboats: Grozyashchiy, Khrabry, Sivuch, Korietz Minelayer: Amur Flotilla of 16 destroyers Germany Battleships: SMS Nassau, SMS Posen, SMS Braunschweig, SMS Elsass Battlecruiser: SMS Moltke, SMS Seydlitz, SMS Von der Tann Cruisers: SMS Augsburg, SMS Bremen, SMS Graudenz, SMS Pillau, SMS Roon, SMS Prinz Heinrich Flotilla of 56 destroyers John Doran 7th Gloucester lead the Attack   7th (service) Battalion Gloucestershire Regiment lead the others over the top of Chunuk Bair early on the Sunday morning.  Working Parties  On Leave  Trench Work  Change of Billets  On the March  Reliefs Completed  Artillery In Action  Artillery In Action  In the Trenches  Counter Attack  Holding the Line    Bivouacs  Forwards  Working Parties and Training  Intermittent Shelling  In the trenches  Cambrin  Into Positions  Orders  Working Parties  Working Parties  Aircraft Lost  Advance Party  On the Move  On the Move  On the Move  Quiet  Reliefs  Working Parties  In the Trenches  Enemy Aircraft  Wounded and Sick  Dressing Station Moves  Quiet  Inspection  On the March  Two Batteries Join Division  Orders  Attack Made  Men resting.  Instruction  On the Move  In Corps. reserve.  Posting  Wet Day  At Rest  Trench Work  Casualties  Training  Church Parade  Company arrangements. Can you add to this factual information? Do you know the whereabouts of a unit on a particular day? Do you have a copy of an official war diary entry? Details of an an incident? The loss of a ship? A letter, postcard, photo or any other interesting snipts? If your information relates only to an individual, eg. enlistment, award of a medal or death, please use this form: Add a story.

Killed, Wounded, Missing, Prisoner and Patient Reports published this day. This section is under construction.

Want to know more about of August 1915? There are:62 items tagged of August 1915 available in our Library   These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Great War.

Remembering those who died this day, of August 1915. Leading Boatswain Frank Ernest Aers. H.M.S. India. Read their Story. Able Seaman Thomas James Allen. H.M.S. Ramsey. Read their Story. Greaser Thomas Allison. H.M.S. India Read their Story. Storekeeper Thomas Robert Anthony. H.M.S. India Read their Story. Able Seaman Ash. Nelson Btn. Royal Naval Division Read their Story. Officers Cook 1st Class Atkinson. H.M.S. Ramsey. Read their Story. L/Cpl. Albert Henry Bailey. Auckland Mounted Rifles Read their Story. 2nd Lt. Francis Evans Bennett. 7th Btn. Royal Munster Fusiliers Pte. Alfred Campbell. 8th Btn. A Coy Manchester Regiment Read their Story. Pte. Charles Clayton. 7th Btn. Gloucestershire Regiment Read their Story. Capt. Robert Hornidge Cullinan. 7th Btn. Royal Munster Fusiliers Read their Story. William Deeprose. 15th Btn. 4th Brigade Pte. George Fredrick Dethridge. 8th Battalion Welsh Regiment Read their Story. Sgt. Frank Doughty. 24th Bde, 107 Bty. Royal Field Artillery Read their Story. Pte. P. Guy. 6th Btn., D Coy. Sherwood Foresters Read their Story. Lt. Ernest Lawrence Julian. 7th Btn. Royal Dublin Fusiliers Read their Story. Pte. Harold Keers. 15th Btn. Read their Story. L/Cpl. John Joseph Lamey. 7th Btn. Gloucestershire Regiment L/Cpl. Alfred Law. 7th Battalion Gloucestershire Regiment Read their Story. L/Cpl. Alfred Law. 7th Btn. Gloucestershire Regiment Read their Story. L/Cpl. Alfred Law. 7th Btn. Gloucestershire Regiment Read their Story. Pte Frank Niblett. 9th Btn Royal Warwickshire Regiment Sgt. Archibald Stanley Pamplin. 7th Battalion Gloucestershire Regiment Pte. E. Pollitt. 8th Btn. Cheshire Regiment Pte. Richard Seccombe. 8th Btn. Welsh Regiment Read their Story. Pte William John Spencer. 1/7th Btn. Lancashire Fusiliers ERA. Robert Benjamin Stone. HMS India Read their Story. Pte. John Thomas Walters. 7th Btn. Gloucester Regment Read their Story. Pte. John Thomas "Slipper Tommy" Walters. 7th Btn. Gloucestershire Sgt. Edward Samuel Lloyd Williams. 8th Btn. Royal Welsh Fusiliers Read their Story. Add a name to this list.

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