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Sinking the German cruiser Konigsberg in 1915
The S.M.S Konigsberg was a cruiser in Admiral von Spey's squadron in the Pacific and was the principal worry to Admiral King-Hall on the South Africa station.

thumb|S.M.S Konigsberg taken at Dar-es-Salaam 1914 (CO 1069/153)

The Konigsberg left Dar-es-Salaam, German East Africa on 31 July 1914 and was to be tracked by a combination of three British warships: Astraea, Hyacinth and Pegasus. Correspondence shows that on 1st August 1914 the Konigsberg slipped her escort as ‘it was not possible to shadow her for any time as “Hyacinth” had very little coal, and with the fuel (patent) in use, could not get more than 16 Knots at full speed (ADM 137/8). The availability of coal and its quality would affect both the Konigsberg and the British ships, limiting operations and their effectiveness.

Within days she was off Aden and well placed in the shipping lane of freighters using the Suez Canal. Raiding the key shipping route from India to Britain, that used the Suez Canal, was seen as a way to disrupt the British war effort and destroy key supplies. Max Looff, the “Konigsberg’s” captain would need to raid merchant shipping for coal and supplies, the problem he faced was that the merchant shipping he was raiding were mainly using inferior coal and often, it could not be used. An

example of this is when Looff captured the City of Winchester near Aden on 6 August 1914, which was carrying inferior Bombay coal (ADM 137/9). More detail can be found here: Seven Bridges of Königsberg

No contact was had with the Konigsberg until 20th September 1914 when a report came in from Zanzibar at 7.30 am “Konigsberg” reported not damaged “Pegasus” sunk. The Pegasus had been in Zanzibar harbour to repair engines and for cleaning down, when the Konigsberg carried out the surprise attack. The Pegasus returned fire but fell short and was severely damaged within several minutes (ADM 137/9). Correspondence shows that there was now a realisation that the Cape squadron needed be strengthened by two or three swift light cruisers of the “Konigsberg” type so that they could protect convoys and locate and destroy the German cruiser (ADM 137/9).

No contact was had with the Konigsberg until 20th September 1914 when a report came in from Zanzibar at 7.30 am “Konigsberg” reported not damaged “Pegasus” sunk. The Pegasus had been in Zanzibar harbour to repair engines and for cleaning down, when the Konigsberg carried out the surprise attack. The Pegasus returned fire but fell short and was severely damaged within several minutes (ADM 137/9). Correspondence shows that there was now a realisation that the Cape squadron needed be strengthened by two or three swift light cruisers of the “Konigsberg” type so that they could protect convoys and locate and destroy the German cruiser (ADM 137/9).

Correspondence shows that from October 1914 that the Konigsberg was sheltering some distance up the Rufigi River in a position which rendered attack most difficult, only shallow draught ships being able to get sufficiently close to engage her (ADM 1/8402/416). The Rufigi River before entering the sea splits up in to a great number of branches forming a vast delta of some 100 square miles, the channels are in nearly every case impracticable for any but the lightest draft boats.