[31] Seven soldiers were killed and 14 injured. [9], The shore batteries remained confused about the approaching ships until shells began to fall. Visibility was now poor through rain and not all the British battleships had seen the enemy. [26] At first, blame for the light cruisers disengaging from the German ships fell upon the commander, Goodenough but the action was contrary to his record. The Raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby on 16 December 1914 was an attack by the Imperial German Navy on the British ports of Scarborough, Hartlepool, West Hartlepool and Whitby. The Hartlepool and Teesside area is a prime target for the Germans because it makes munitions, bridges and other resources for the war effort. An order was promulgated to captains to double-check any orders to disengage if in an advantageous position. Ingenohl took the 85 ships of the High Seas Fleet to a position just east of the Dogger Bank where they could assist, if Hipper's ships came under attack from larger forces but were still close to Germany for safety, as standing orders from the Kaiser instructed. The German High Seas Fleet had been seeking opportunities to isolate small sections of the Grand Fleet of the Royal Navy to cut off, trap and destroy. Inhabitants gazing at their wrecked dwellings . The Gunners of the RGA engaged the German Warships, and it was the only time coastal artillery in the UK were involved in enemy action. Over 100 people died as more than 1,000 shells rained down on the town for about 40 minutes from the three heavy cruisers Blucher, Seydlitz and Moltke which emerged from the mist shortly after 8am on 16 December 1914. One fell in Lumley Square, killing twelve people, including all the members of one family. [22], Beatty received the news that Warrender had sighted the ships and assumed that the battlecruisers would be following on behind the lighter vessels. HMS Hardy came under heavy fire from the cruiser SMS Hamburg, suffering severe damage and catching fire but managed to fire a torpedo. The Kaiser reprimanded his admirals for their failure to capitalise upon an opportunity but made no changes to the orders restricting the fleet, which were largely responsible for Ingenohl's decisions. The guns were manned by 11 officers and 155 local men of the Durham Royal Garrison Artillery. The two remaining British light cruisers moved off to assist but Beatty, not having been informed of the larger force, called one of them back. ", Battles: Raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby, 1914 FirstWorldWar.net, Armistice between Russia and the Central Powers, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Raid_on_Scarborough,_Hartlepool_and_Whitby&oldid=998881878, Naval battles of World War I involving the United Kingdom, Naval battles of World War I involving Germany, Germany–United Kingdom military relations, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, 86 civilians killed and 424 wounded; 7 soldiers killed and 14 wounded, This page was last edited on 7 January 2021, at 13:11. Jellicoe resolved that the entire Grand Fleet would be involved from the start in similar operations and the battlecruisers were moved to Rosyth to be closer. Hartlepool was the first place on mainland Britain to be bombed by the Germans. [11] The ships had already departed when Patrol was clear of the harbour; Commodore Roger Keyes commented afterwards, that a target of three stationary cruisers was exactly what the submarine had been intended to attack. The captain reported little onshore defence, no mines within 12 miles (10 nmi) of the shore and a steady stream of shipping. 'German Warfare on the British East Coast: how many of the houses suffered in Hartlepool on December 16, 1914'. Scarborough and Whitby have also been shelled. The weather was cloudy, and the airship was travelling at a height of about two miles. The destroyer squadron went to investigate and an engagement began with a force of German destroyers and cruisers; Lynx was hit, damaging a propeller. [28], In 2010 archaeologist Bob Clarke, a local to Scarborough, wrote that at the time Scarborough was noted in maritime literature as a defended town due primarily to the castle site. Read about our approach to external linking. As the senior admiral, Warrender had command of the force, which sailed toward its ambush position at Dogger Bank. Two shore guns fired at the leading ship, while the third fired at the last, smaller, vessel. At approximately 8.10 on the morning of 16 December 1914 the First High Seas Fleet Scouting Group, commanded by Admiral Franz von Hipper, unleashed a bombardment of the North Sea English seaports of Hartlepool, West Hartlepool, Whitby and Scarborough. At 08:00, Derfflinger and Von der Tann began to bombard the town. The Bombardment of the Hartlepools shows a … Previously unseen footage of a World War One attack which killed 130 people has been revealed after being found at a market. This ultimatum was ignored and on Sunday, 3rdSeptember 1939, Britain and France declared war on Germany. This risked giving away the presence of the ships and the destroyer was ordered to be silent. The two forces rendezvoused at 11:00 near Moray Firth. On 16 December, 1914, the German Navy bombarded the town of Hartlepool, in north-east England, killing 130 people and injuring hundreds more. During the following night, SMS S33, one of the escorting destroyers, became separated and broke wireless silence to ask for direction. It was found in a box of broken cameras at Tynemouth Market by Mark Simmons, Hartlepool Council's museums curator. Hartlepool was a more significant target than the resort town of Scarborough. On 2nd May 1916, L20 began its second bombing raid on Britain with the intention of attacking factories and railways in Middlesborough, Stockton-on-Tees and Hartlepool, and targeting enemy warships near Edinburgh. On 12 th May 1941 a “stick” of bombs fell across the Headland. Bombardment of Hartlepool . Blame eventually settled on the confused signals, which had been drafted by Lieutenant Commander Ralph Seymour, who remained flag officer to Beatty, making similar costly mistakes at the Battle of Dogger Bank and at the Battle of Jutland. At 06:35 on 16 December, the destroyers and three light cruisers were ordered to return to Germany. Sound of Music star Christopher Plummer dies at 911, Russia expels diplomats over Navalny protests2, Woman, 95, accused over 10,000 Nazi camp murders3, Actress shares story of 'nightmare' nose surgery4, US congresswoman who supported QAnon loses key post6, Parish council Zoom host 'surprised' by reaction7, BBC team threatened after Boxing and the Mob probe8, What Biden's foreign policy 'reset' really means9, Look back at Christopher Plummer's film highlights10. Still lost, it headed for home but on the way, sighted four British destroyers which it reported by wireless. Around 1,150 shells were fired at the town. ApproximateApprox overall page size including page number where appropriate for Mounting or Mat Board purposes - 22.5cm x 26.8cm. His destroyers were about 50 mi (43 nmi) ahead, still moving slowly in bad weather. [5], Admiral Hipper left the Jade Bight at 03:00 on 15 December. Weekly quiz: Know about these history-making directors? Attack by the Imperial German Navy on 16 December 1914, The difference between the two was less at this period than later in the war when Britain increased its lead in, Raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool and Whitby, Stranton Grange Cemetery burials 1912–1919, "German Bombardment of Hartlepool, Whitby and Scarborough on 15th and 16th December 1914. The Imperial German Navy made major attacks on Scarborough, Hartlepool, West Hartlepool, and Whitby on 16 December 1914. The German ships gave chase but could not keep up and shortly returned to their fleet. They found their shells had no effect on the armoured sides of the ships, so instead aimed at masts and rigging. Jellicoe with the Grand Fleet continued the search on 17 December, to engage the High Seas Fleet but it was safely in harbour. [6], The remaining ships divided, Seydlitz, Blücher and Moltke proceeded towards Hartlepool, while Derfflinger, Von der Tann and Kolberg approached Scarborough. ‘Completely unfiltered’: How Arlo Parks found her voice, The race to create the world's next super-app, Africa's top shots: Rainy days and racetracks. It had extensive civilian docks and factories and was defended by three BL 6 inch Mk VII naval guns on the seafront: two at Heugh Battery and one at Lighthouse Battery. The shell patterns suggest that these were the targets for the raid on 16 December 1914, not civilians as reported at the time and since. The weather had started clear with good visibility, deteriorated again. He abandoned the northern exit of the minefield and moved east and then south, attempting to position his ships to catch the German battlecruisers, should they slip past the slower British battleships. No warning had been given to naval standing patrols in the area and the poor weather just before the raid meant that only four destroyers were on patrol, two light cruisers and a submarine remained in Hartlepool harbour. Several months after the declaration of war in August 1914, wear on the British ships reached the point where repairs could not be postponed and several ships were withdrawn from the Grand Fleet. This is a list of 1,747 Hartlepool men who were killed in WWI, compiled by Bert Wilson from various sources (newspapers, death records, cemetery registers, monument inscriptions, etc.) UNSEEN footage of the bombardment of Hartlepool during the First World War has been discovered in a box of broken cameras. Kolberg remained, as she had 100 mines to lay. The captain reported his sightings at 07:25, the signal being received by Warrender and also by New Zealand in Beatty's squadron but the information was not passed on to Beatty. Damage to The Grand Hotel in Scarborough. Over 100 people died as more than 1,000 shells rained down on the town for about 40 minutes from the three heavy cruisers Blucher, Seydlitz and Moltke which emerged from the mist shortly after 8am on December 16 1914. News of a torpedo attack was passed to Ingenohl, whose outlying destroyers were the ones involved in the fighting. Churchill later defended the situation, arguing that the British ships were faster and could have turned about and run. The larger force suggested that bigger German ships would be following. Hartlepool Hartlepool Cleveland England OS Grid Ref: NZ 506 320 Denomination: Undefined. The Admiralty ordered Keyes to take his two destroyers and attempt to torpedo Hipper as he returned home around 02:00; Keyes had considered this and wanted to try but the message was delayed and failed to reach him until too late. Jellicoe chose the point for this fleet to assemble, 25 mi (22 nmi) south-east of the Dogger Bank. Destroyers HMS Doon, Test, Waveney and HMS Moy were on patrol when Doon saw three large vessels approaching at 07:45, which opened fire shortly after. 'Mosul is healing': Rebuilding the historic city. Two German warships fired more than 1,000 shells on the town during the 40-minute dawn attack. Had he continued, he would shortly have engaged the four British battlecruisers and six battleships with his much larger force, which included 22 battleships. What happens to your body in extreme heat? The engagement was broken off after a couple of hours in the dark but at 06:03 the following morning one of the four destroyers still able to fight, HMS Shark, again came in contact with five enemy destroyers and the British destroyers attacked. On 2nd May 1916, L20 began its second bombing raid on Britain with the intention of attacking factories and railways in Middlesborough, Stockton-on-Tees and Hartlepool, and targeting enemy warships near Edinburgh. Dozens of … Bombardment of Hartlepool . [16] Others, such as Jellicoe, felt there was a risk that an admiral such as Beatty would have insisted upon engaging the enemy once contact was established. The German ships were at such short range that the shell fuzes did not have time to set and many failed to explode or ricocheted into the town, because they were travelling horizontally, rather than plunging. "In the bottom of the box, wrapped in sheets of old greaseproof paper, was an old film reel and the title card on the first frames - The Attack on the Hartlepools - was just visible.". [7], Hartlepool was a more significant target than the resort town of Scarborough. [a] The Grand Fleet had to patrol continuously, whereas the ships of the High Seas Fleet could remain in port; the German navy could choose when to concentrate its ships and the British would always be dispersed. Stralsund flashed the recognition signal, which had been sent to her shortly before, when she encountered Southampton, gaining a little time. 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