Now! Then! The Imperial German Navy’s official report on the bombardment today of Scarborough by the southern cruiser group under Rear Admiral Tapken

16 December 1914: The Imperial German Navy’s official report on the bombardment today of Scarborough by the southern cruiser group under Rear Admiral Tapken

“Remember Scarborough! Enlist now!” A (colour-corrected) poster produced by the UK Parliamentary Recruiting Committee following the attack on Scarborough (Parliamentary Recruiting Committee 1915).

Otto Groos. 1923. Der Krieg in der Nordsee. Ed. Eberhard von Manten. Berlin: E.S. Mittler und Sohn. Get it:

Excerpt

Almost alongside them on the high shore ran a brightly lit southbound train, and shortly after its arrival at Scarborough the ships also drew up short of the town. As planned, at 8 a.m. GMT they passed Scarborough Rock, which towered up out of the sea like a fortress, and then the shelling began there too. Wire entanglements in front of the redoubt and the barracks on the cliffs were clearly visible from the ships, but, contrary to expectations, their fire was not returned from the land. Nor did the airmen, who were expected from the town or from Filey Bay, where there was a flight shed, make an appearance, although it was later reported in English newspapers that after the bombardment English flyers had been fished out of the sea by destroyers. The first medium- and light-artillery salvo from the Derfflinger, fired from 25 km, shattered on the cliffs. The second, however, reached over them as if with predatory claws and hit the middle of the military installations. Simultaneously, the impacts of the 15 cm grenades from the Von der Tann, located a little further south, were visible on the ridge of the 150 m high Oliver’s Mount as high columns of black smoke. According to the map, the waterworks were supposed to be there, but there nothing was to be seen of them, so that they could only be hit indirectly using auxiliary targets. At 8:10 a.m. the two ships turned onto the opposite course, the Von der Tann in the lead, in order not to get too close to the coastal cliffs. The main target of the medium artillery of the latter was now the gasworks located 550 m behind Oliver’s Mount. Across a wood which prevented a direct view, it was shelled from 4.5 km using indirect fire – successfully, judging by the impacts that appeared, at least in part, behind the foot of the ridge. Neither could the target of the light artillery, the railway station, be identified directly in the haze that lay over the town, despite the short distance, but could only be reached by relying on auxiliary targets. It was nevertheless bombarded for about 18 minutes at 4.2 to 3.8 km, receiving a number of direct hits, as the officer observing in the foremast could clearly see. The coastguard station next to the Grand Hotel, the signal station on Scarborough Rock and the other installations on the cliffs received meanwhile effective fire from the Derfflinger. A few short salvos went over the pier and into the harbour, which was filled with fishing vessels. By the time the ships ceased shelling at 8:23 a.m., they had fired 333 15 cm and 443 8.8 cm high explosive shells. According to English reports, the effect of the bombardment was indescribable. The population, hitherto spared the horrors of war, was suddenly startled out of a feeling of complete security. People left ships and houses and stormed the railway station in order to leave this place of terror as quickly as possible with the train that had just arrived.

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To facilitate reading, the spelling and punctuation of elderly excerpts have generally been modernised, and distracting excision scars concealed. My selections, translations, and editions are copyright.

Abbreviations

Comment

This is one of the relatively few passages about Yorkshire written by foreigners. See also George Rowntree’s Reminiscences (Rowntree 1936) and English press reports. There’s a poor translation of this passage and the rest of the chapter here by someone regarded as an authority in this field.

With some characteristic bluster, Winston Churchill, in an open letter to Scarborough’s mayor, Christopher Colbourne Graham, avoided direct comment on the failure to intercept on the part of the Royal Navy, for which he was responsible:

Admiralty, S.W., Dec. 20, 1914.

My Dear Mr. Mayor,

I send you a message of sympathy, not only on my own account, but on behalf of the Navy, in the losses Scarborough has sustained. We mourn with you the peaceful inhabitants who have been killed or maimed, and particularly the women and children. We admire the dignity and fortitude with which Scarborough, Whitby, and the Hartlepools have confronted outrage. We share your disappointment that the miscreants escaped unpunished. We await with patience the opportunity that will surely come.

But viewed in its larger aspect, the incident is one of the most instructive and encouraging that have happened in the war. Nothing proves more plainly the effectiveness of British naval pressure than the frenzy of hatred aroused against us in the breasts of the enemy. This hatred has already passed the frontiers of reason. It clouds their vision, it darkens their counsels, it convulses their movements. We see a nation of military calculators throwing calculation to the winds; of strategists who have lost their sense of proportion; of schemers, who have ceased to balance loss and gain.

Practically the whole fast cruiser force of the German Navy, including some great ships vital to their fleet and utterly irreplaceable, has been risked for the passing pleasure of killing as many English people as possible, irrespective of sex, age, or condition, in the limited time available. To this act of military and political folly they were impelled by the violence of feelings which could find no other vent. This is very satisfactory, and should confirm us in our courses. Their hate is the measure of their fear. Its senseless expression is the proof of their impotence and the seal of their dishonour. Whatever feats of arms the German Navy may hereafter perform, the stigma of the baby-killers of Scarborough will brand its officers and men while sailors sail the seas.

Believe me, dear Mr. Mayor,
Yours faithfully,
WINSTON S. CHURCHILL.
(Churchill 1914/12/21)

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Original

Inzwischen war es auch der südlichen Kreuzergruppe unter Kontreadmiral Tapken gelungen, ihre Aufgabe mit Erfolg durchzuführen. Auf dem Wege nach Süden fand sie zwar auch dort sämtliche Leuchtfeuer gelöscht. Aber die Höhen, welche die Robin Hoods Bay einrahmten, erleichterten die Bestimmung des Schiffsortes, so daß die Kreuzer trotz dem unsichtigen Wetter ihren Abstand von der Küste allmählich bis auf 1 sm verringern konnten. (Karte 10.) Fast neben ihnen her lief auf dem hohen Ufer ein hell erleuchteter Eisenbahnzug nach Süden, und kurz nach seiner Ankunft in Scarborough trafen auch die Schiffe vor der Stadt ein. Planmäßig passierten sie um 9 Uhr Vm. den wie eine Festung aus der See aufragenden Scarborough Rock, dann begann auch dort die Beschießung. Von den Schiffen aus waren Drahtverhaue vor der Schanze und den Baracken auf dem Felsen deutlich zu erkennen, jedoch wurde das Feuer wider Erwarten von Land nicht erwidert. Auch Flieger, die man von der Stadt wie von der Filey-Bucht her erwartete, wo sich ein Flugschuppen befand, traten nicht in Erscheinung, obgleich später in englischen Zeitungen berichtet wurde, daß nach der Beschießung englische Flieger in See von Zerstörern aufgefischt worden wären.

Die erste Salve der Mittel- und Leichten Artillerie von „Derfflinger”, auf 25 km gefeuert, zerschellte an dem Felsen. Die zweite aber faßte wie mit Raubtierkrallen über diesen hinweg und schlug mitten in den militärischen Anlagen ein. Gleichzeitig wurden die Aufschläge der 15 cm-Granaten des etwas südlicher stehenden „von der Tann” auf dem Bergrücken des 150 m hohen Oliver Mount als hohe schwarze Rauchsäulen sichtbar. Dort sollte nach der Karte das Wasserwerk liegen, jedoch war von diesem selbst nichts zu sehen, so daß es nur indirekt unter Benutzung von Hilfszielen erreicht werden konnte.

Schon um 9.10 Uhr wendeten die beiden Schiffe nach Vorgang des „von der Tann” auf Gegenkurs, um den der Küste vorgelagerten Klippen nicht zu nahe zu kommen. Hauptziel der Mittelartillerie des letzteren Schiffes war nunmehr das 550 m hinter dem Oliver Mount gelegene Gaswerk. Über einen Wald hinweg, der den unmittelbaren Einblick verhinderte, wurde es auf 45 hm im indirekten Schießverfahren unter Feuer genommen; nach den Aufschlägen zu urteilen, die, zum Teil wenigstens, hinter dem Fuß des Bergrückens sichtbar wurden, mit gutem Erfolg. Auch das Ziel der Leichten Artillerie, die Bahnstation, konnte bei dem über der Stadt liegenden Dunst trotz der kurzen Entfernung nicht unmittelbar ausgemacht, sondern nur in Anlehnung an Hilfsziele erreicht werden. Dennoch erhielt sie, auf 42 bis 38 hm etwa 18 Minuten lang beschossen, eine ganze Anzahl direkter Treffer, wie der im Vormars beobachtende Offizier deutlich erkennen tonnte. Die neben dem Grand Hotel gelegene Küstenwachstation, die Signalstation auf dem Scarborough-Rock und die sonstigen Anlagen auf dem Felsen lagen inzwischen unter dem wirksamen Feuer des „Derfflinger”. Einige Kurz-Salven schlugen über die Mole hinweg in den mit Fischerfahrzeugen gefüllten Hafen. Als die Schiffe um 9.23 Uhr die Beschießung einstellten, hatten sie 333 15 cm- und 443 8,8 cm-Sprenggranaten verschossen.

Nach den englischen Berichten war die Wirkung der Beschießung unbeschreiblich. Aus dem Gefühl vollständiger Sicherheit wurde die bisher von dem Entsetzen des Krieges verschonte Einwohnerschaft jäh emporgeschreckt. Die Menschen verliehen Schiffe und Häuser und stürmten die Eisenbahnstation, um mit dem gerade eingelaufenen Zug so schnell wie möglich den Ort des Grauens zu verlassen.

Translation:

Meanwhile, the southern cruiser group under Rear Admiral Tapken had also succeeded in carrying out its task. On its way south it, too, found all the navigational lights extinguished. But the heights that framed Robin Hood’s Bay made it easier to determine the ship’s position, so that the cruisers, in spite of the hazy weather, were gradually able to reduce their distance from the coast to one sea mile. (Map 10.) Almost alongside them on the high shore ran a brightly lit southbound train, and shortly after its arrival at Scarborough the ships also drew up short of the town. As planned, at 8 a.m. GMT they passed Scarborough Rock, which towered up out of the sea like a fortress, and then the shelling began there too. Wire entanglements in front of the redoubt and the barracks on the cliffs were clearly visible from the ships, but, contrary to expectations, their fire was not returned from the land. Nor did the airmen, who were expected from the town or from Filey Bay, where there was a flight shed, make an appearance, although it was later reported in English newspapers that after the bombardment English flyers had been fished out of the sea by destroyers. The first medium- and light-artillery salvo from the Derfflinger, fired from 25 km, shattered on the cliffs. The second, however, reached over them as if with predatory claws and hit the middle of the military installations. Simultaneously, the impacts of the 15 cm grenades from the Von der Tann, located a little further south, were visible on the ridge of the 150 m high Oliver’s Mount as high columns of black smoke. According to the map, the waterworks were supposed to be there, but there nothing was to be seen of them, so that they could only be hit indirectly using auxiliary targets. At 8:10 a.m. the two ships turned onto the opposite course, the Von der Tann in the lead, in order not to get too close to the coastal cliffs. The main target of the medium artillery of the latter was now the gasworks located 550m behind Oliver’s Mount. Across a wood which prevented a direct view, it was shelled from 4.5km using indirect fire – successfully, judging by the impacts that appeared, at least in part, behind the foot of the ridge. Neither could the target of the light artillery, the railway station, be identified directly in the haze that lay over the town, despite the short distance, but could only be reached by relying on auxiliary targets. It was nevertheless bombarded for about 18 minutes at 4.2 to 3.8km, receiving a number of direct hits, as the officer observing in the foremast could clearly see. The coastguard station next to the Grand Hotel, the signal station on Scarborough Rock and the other installations on the cliffs received meanwhile effective fire from the Derfflinger. A few short salvos went over the pier and into the harbour, which was filled with fishing vessels. By the time the ships ceased shelling at 8:23 a.m., they had fired 333 15cm and 443 8.8cm high explosive shells. According to English reports, the effect of the bombardment was indescribable. The population, hitherto spared the horrors of war, was suddenly startled out of a feeling of complete security. People left ships and houses and stormed the railway station in order to leave this place of terror as quickly as possible with the train that had just arrived.

1137 words.