The Loss of the Aboukir, Cressy and Hogue

How does a German Officer become a hero and get an Iron Cross ? - One heroic victory and the killer (sorry - German War Hero ) Weddigen was given one, as is celebrated on German web sites today.

It was the early days of the war yet Britain was now to experience a more serious blow than she had until now received at sea.
On September 22 the country was chilled with the news that early in the morning three of our cruisers, the Aboukir, the Hogue and the Cressy, had been torpedoed and sunk. It ultimately appeared that they had been attacked by a German submarine flotilla of five vessels, the submarine U 9 being the one responsible for the disaster. The cruisers, at the time they were assailed, were steering a certain course in the North Sea not very remote from the Dutch coast. The Aboukir was leading, and the Hogue and the Cressy were at stations about two miles in her rear. Not only were the three cruisers all lost, but nearly 6o officers and so many as 1,400 men met with sudden and unexpected death. The commander of the Aboukir, Captain John E. Drummond, was amongst those lost. The Aboukir was the vessel first attacked and torpedoed, and it was whilst the Hogue and the Cressy had closed in and were standing by to save the crew that they also were torpedoed. It was stated that the loss suffered by Germany in this attack was the sinking of two of her submarines, but of this there was no specific confirmation. A considerable number of officers and crew of the ill-fated vessels were saved by H.M.S. Lowestoft, commanded by Captain Kennedy, and by a division of destroyers, trawlers, and small boats. This affair was the more painful a blow to Britain because of the fact that hitherto the naval losses in the war had fallen so greatly upon the enemy. Germany had lost seven cruisers, including the Goben and the Breslau, and two armoured liners, whilst Britain's losses had been limited to three cruisers only. Now six British cruisers altogether had gone. Shortly afterwards the Admiralty issued the following interesting statement with reference to this tragic affair :-

"The sinking of the Aboukir was of course an ordinary hazard of patrolling duty. The Hogue and Cressy, however, were sunk because they proceeded to the assistance of their consort and remained with engines stopped endeavoring to save life, thus presenting an easy and certain target to further submarine attacks. The natural prompting's of humanity have in this case led to heavy losses which would have been avoided by a strict adherence to military considerations. Modern naval war is presenting us with so many new and strange situations that an error of judgment of this character is pardonable. But it has been necessary to point out for the future guidance of His Majesty's ships, that the conditions which prevail when one vessel of a squadron is injured in a minefield or is exposed to submarine attack are analogous to those which occur in an action, and that the rule of leaving disabled ships to their own resources is applicable, so far at any rate as large vessels are concerned. No act of humanity, whether to friend or foe, should lead to a neglect of the proper precautions and dispositions of war, and no measures can be taken to save life which prejudice the military situation. Small craft of all kinds should, however, be directed by wireless to close on the damaged ship with all speed. "

The loss of nearly 6o officers and 1,400 men would not have been grudged if it had been brought about by gunfire in an open action, but it is peculiarly distressing under the conditions which prevailed. The absence of any of the ardour and excitement of an engagement did not, however, prevent the display of discipline, cheerful courage and ready self-sacrifice among all ranks and ratings exposed to the ordeal.

The duty on which these vessels were engaged was an essential part of the arrangements by which the control of the seas and the safety of the country are maintained, and the lives lost are as usefully, as necessarily, and as gloriously devoted to the requirements of His Majesty's service as if the loss had been incurred in a general action. In view of the certainty of a proportion of misfortunes of this character occurring from time to time, it is important that this point of view should be thoroughly appreciated. The loss of these three cruisers, apart from the loss of life, is of small naval significance. Although they were large and powerful ships, they belonged to a class of cruisers whose speeds have been surpassed by many of the enemy's battleships. Before the war it had been decided that no more money should be spent in repairing any of this class, and that they should make their way to the sale list as soon as serious defects became manifest.

The facts of this affair cannot be better conveyed to the public than by the attached reports of the Senior Officers who have survived and landed in England.

REPORT BY COMMANDER BERTRAM W. L. NICHOLSON, R.N., LATE OF H.M.S. "CRESSY" September 23, 1914.
Sir, -I have the honor to submit the a following report in connection with the sinking of H.M.S. Cressy in company with H.M.S. Aboukir and Hogue on the morning of September 22.
Whilst on patrol duty Aboukir was struck at about 6.25 a.rn. on starboard beam. Hogue and Cressy closed and took up position, Hogue ahead of Aboukir and Cressy about 400 yards on port beam.
As soon as it was seen that Aboukir was in danger of sinking, all boats were sent away from Cressy and picket boat was hoisted out without steam up ; when cutters full of Aboukir's men were returning to Cressy, Hogue was struck, apparently under aft 9.2-in. magazine, as a very heavy explosion took place immediately after the first explosion. Almost directly after Hogue was hit we observed a periscope on our port bow about 300 yards off. Fire was immediately opened and engines put full speed ahead with intention of running her down Our gunner, Mr. Dogherty, positively asserts that he hit the periscope and that the submarine then showed her conning tower, which he struck, and the submarine sank. An officer standing alongside the gunner thinks that the shell struck only floating timber, of which there was much about; but it was evidently the impression of the men on deck, who cheered and clapped heartily, that the submarine had been hit. This submarine did not fire a torpedo at Cressy.

Captain Johnson then maneuvered the ship so as to render assistance to crews of Hogue and Aboukir. About five minutes later another periscope was seen on our starboard quarter. Fire was opened; the track of the torpedo she fired at range of 500 to 600 yards was plainly visible, and it struck us, starboard side, just before the after bridge; the ship listed about 10 degrees to starboard and remained steady-time 7:15 a.m. All watertight doors, dead-lights and scuttles had been securely closed before the torpedo struck ship. All mess stools and tables, shores, and all available timber below and on deck had been previously got up and thrown over the side for saving of life. A second torpedo fired by the same submarine missed and passed about 20 feet astern. About a quarter of an hour after the first torpedo had hit, a third torpedo, fired from a submarine just before starboard beam, hit us in No. 5 boiler-room-time 7.30 a.m. The tip then began to heel rapidly, and finally turned keel up, remaining so for about twenty minutes before she finally sank at 7.55 a.m. A large number of men were saved by the casting adrift of a pattern 3 target ; the steam pinnace floated out of her crutches, but filled and sank.
The second torpedo which struck Cressy passed over sinking hull of Aboukir, narrowly missing it. It is possible that the same submarine fired all three torpedoes at Cressy. The conduct of the crew was excellent throughout. I have already reported the splendid service rendered by Captain Phillips, master of the trawler L. T. Coriander and his crew, who picked up 156 officers and men.
I have the honor, etc,, etc.,
BERTRAM W L. NICHOLSON,
Commander, late H.M.S. Cressy.

REPORT BY COMMANDER REGINALD A. NORTON, R.N., LATE OF H.M.S. "HOGUE"
September 23, 1914.
Sir,~I have the honor to report as follows concerning the sinking of H.M. ships Hogue, Atoukir, and Cressy
Between 6.15 and 6.30 a.m, H.M.S. Aboukir was struck by a torpedo The Hogue closed the Aboukir, and I received orders to hoist out the launch turn out, and prepare all boats, and unlash all timber on the upper deck, The two lifeboats were sent to the Aboukir, but before the launch could get away the Hogue was struck on the starboard side amidships by two torpedoes at intervals of ten to twenty seconds. The ship at once began to heel to starboard. After ordering the men to provide themselves with wood, hammocks, etc., and to get into the boats on the booms and take off their clothes, I went, by Captain Nicholson's directions, to ascertain the damage in the engine-rooms, An artificer engineer informed me that the water was over the engine-room gratings. While endeavoring to return to the bridge the water burst open the starboard entry port doors, and the ship heeled rapidly. I told the men in the port battery to jump overboard, as the launch was close alongside; and soon afterwards the ship lurched heavily to starboard, I clung to a ringbolt for some time, but eventually dropped on to the deck, and a huge wave washed me away, I climbed up the ship's side, and was again washed off.
Eventually, after swimming about from various overladen pieces of wreckage, I was picked up by a cutter from the Hogue Coxswain L. S. Marks, which pulled about for some hours picking up men and discharging them to our picket boat and steam pinnace, and to the Dutch steamers Flora and Titan, and rescued in this way Commander Sells, Engineer-Commander Stokes, with legs broken, Fleet Paymaster Eldred, and about J20 others. Finally, about Ii a.m., when we could find no more men in the water, we were picked up by H.M.S. Lucifer, which proceeded to the Titan and took off from her all our men except about 20, who were too ill to be moved.
A Lowestoft trawler and the two Dutch ships Flora and Titan were extraordinarily kind, clothing and feeding our men. My boat's crew, consisting mainly of R.N.R. men, pulled and behaved remarkably well, I particularly wish to mention Petty Officer, 1st Class, Walton, who, by encouraging the men in the water near me, undoubtedly saved many lives.
Lieutenant-Commander Phillipps-Wolley, after hoisting out the launch, asked me if he should try to hoist out another boat, and endeavored to do so; the last I saw of him was on the after bridge doing well. Lieutenant Tillard was picked up by the launch, got tip a cutter's crew, and saved many lives, as did Midshipman Cazalet in the Cressy's gig. Lieutenant Chichester turned out the whaler very quickly.
A Dutch sailing trawler sailed close by, but went off without rendering any assistance, though we signaled to her from the Hogue to close after we were struck.
The Aboukir appeared to me to take about thirty-five minutes to sink floating bottom up for about five minutes, The Hogue turned turtle very quickly (in about five minutes) and floated bottom up for some minutes. A dense black smoke was seen in the starboard battery, whether from coal or torpedo cordite I could not say. The upper deck was not blown up, and only one other small explosion occurred as we heeled over.
The Cressy I watched heel over from the cutter : she heeled over to starboard very slowly, a dense black smoke issuing from her when she attained an angle of about 90 degrees, and she took a long time from this angle till she floated bottom up with the starboard screw slightly out of the water. I consider it was thirty-five to forty-live minutes from the time she was struck till she was bottom up. All the men in the Hogue behaved extraordinarily well, obeying orders even when in the water swimming for their lives, and 1 witnessed many cases of great self-sacrifice and gallantry.
Farmstone, able seaman R.N.R., H.M.S. Hogue, jumped overboard from the launch to make room for others, and would not avail himself of assistance until all men near by were picked up; he was in the water about half an hour. There was no panic of any sort, the men taking oft their clothes as ordered and falling in with hammock or wood. Captain Nicholson, in our other cutter, as usual, was perfectly cool, and rescued a large number of men. I last saw him alongside the Flora.
Engineer-Commander Stokes, I believe, was in the engine-room to the last, and Engineer-Lieutenant-Commander Fendick got steam on the boat-hoist and worked it in five minutes.
I have the honor to submit that I may be appointed to another ship as soon as I can get a kit.
I have the honor, etc.,
REGINALD A. NORTON,
Commander, late H.M.S. Hogue.

Words would fail to convey any idea of the effect of this tragic happening to the people of the Empire. It was not so much that three good ships had been lost: that was a matter of comparative unimportance. What struck at the hearts of the people was the fact that, as a consequence of the sinking of the ships, the gloom of a deep sorrow had descended on so many hundreds of homes. Consolation was possible only by recognizing the heroism with which our sailors behaved, going down to their watery graves doing their duty nobly to the very last. At no moment during the fighting, or in the subsequent struggle for life in the waves, was there anything like a panic. Our seamen never lost their nerve or self-command. Perhaps the best idea of the character of the occurrence and the conduct of our men can be derived from the statements of the survivors. Accordingly we set out one or two of these, the gravity of the event justifying the devotion of so much space to it. The first is an account of his experiences given by a survivor of the Aboukir to a correspondent of the Daily Telegraph:
I was on watch below at the time the ship was struck, I could not say exactly what the hour was, but I should think it was just after half- past six when our ship got her death-blow, The weather had been uncertain, and the sea was still a bit choppy. The first thing of which I was conscious was a tremendous explosion, which shook the whole ship.
The first idea that came into the heads of me and my mates "was that we had struck one of their infernal mines ; of course, we knew afterwards that it was a torpedo discharged by a submarine. After the explosion I tumbled up as quickly as possible. Some say a second torpedo was discharged. As to that I cannot say. The first certainly was enough to settle us.
when I got up I found no excitement. We had seen nothing of the submarine, and everybody believed it was a mine, Orders were given by the officers of the ship and carried out with absolute quiet.
In a few minutes-it might have been almost a few seconds-the ship heeled over till her top rail was almost touching the water. The order was then given, "http:Every man save himself,"http:I took oil my boots. there was no need to dive. I simply slid into the water.
I really could not tell you what length of time elapsed between the striking of the vital blow and the sinking of the cruiser, You don't think of time in a job of this description. It might have been five minutes, it certainly was not more than ten. I had time to glance around before touching the water, I could see the Cressy and the Hague hastening to our assistance, It was a plucky thing on their part, but, of course, only what you would expect in the British Navy.
I do not believe they had caught sight of the submarines, and naturally they would think they were in the midst of a minefield. I have learnt since that that was their opinion. Before they could get up to us our ship had disappeared.
From what has been told me by others I must say the daring of these German submarines was amazing. They must have seen us a long way off when we could not see them, and they came right up under the nose of our guns.
I believe they got a smack at us with their torpedoes at a distance of a few hundred yards. Only the Cressy caught sight of the submarines. She was not able to fire some of her guns for fear of hitting our own boats picking up survivors, but she let loose two of them. Whether the shots got home or not I cannot say. The Cressy had stopped, and had launched her boats, when she was torpedoed. Both she and the Hogue would have been able to dodge the submarines by maneuvering if they had known sooner that the enemy was in the vicinity. But I will say this, that the Germans took us by surprise, and made the most of their opportunity. I was in the water for some time before I was picked up, but what does that matter? We were out on a risky job, and we took our chance.
The next is the tale of an engineer of the Aboukir given to a correspondent of the Times

I was below [he said] when it happened. The weather was bad when the ship reeled under the shock of a tremendous explosion. At first we thought we had struck a mine, but we found that we had been torpedoed, probably between the first and second boilers. A great hole was torn out of her side.
Men on the upper deck were killed instantly. More below tumbled up as quickly as possible, but everything was quiet and orderly. As the ship was heeling over, the order was given Every man for himself."http:It was not till then that I took my boots oft. There was no question of jumping oft the ship. Her deck was almost at a right angle with the water, and I just slid into the sea. I don't know how long it all took-it might have been five minutes and it might have been ten.
When we were struck the Hogue was not far away. She and the Cressy rushed to the rescue, in spite of the fact that they thought we had been mined, For all they knew they might have been rushing through a whole bed of mines, When they stopped and lowered boats for us the submarines fired their torpedoes. The Cressy gave them two shots from her guns, but I don't know if the shots got home. If the Hogue and the Cressy had not stopped they might have escaped. lt.'s hard luck~ but it's in the day's work, and the work must be done, or you couldn't be sitting here in safety. That's all.

The third is the story of Dr. Gerald Knowles Martin, a surgeon on the Cressy, which was published in the Morning Post:
The disaster occurred about forty miles oft the Hook of Holland, Lieutenant Gabbett, the navigator, was probably the only person who could tell exactly where we were, and he is one of the officers reported missing. Captain Johnson was in command of the ship. When I last saw him he was in the water, and even then he was thinking of others, I heard him instructing the men to keep their mouths closed and breathe through their noses, Those who could not swim and were clinging to wreckage lie counseled to keep their legs in motion so as to avoid losing warmth.
At about half-past six in the morning on the day of the disaster I was awakened by the chaplain. I asked him the time, and he told me the Aboukir was sinking. I expressed my incredulity in one short word, and turned over to go to sleep again. But he persisted that what he had said was true, and I got up and dressed hastily in flannel shirt and trousers and great-coat and rubber boots, I knew that if I had to swim for it I could throw oft my clothes without difficulty. Going on deck, I found that the Aboukir was going down, The weather was fine and clear, but the sea was choppy, the waves being about ten feet high. Such a sea is very favorable for the operations of submarines, As I scanned the decks of the Aboukir I noticed with admiration the wonderful order there was maintained even at that critical time, There was absolutely no sign of panic. Our boats reached the Aboukir and took off twenty or thirty of her crew. About half an hour after being struck she turned turtle. I could see her keel above the water before she sank; there was no noise of any explosion. Before the Aboukir sank the Hogue was hit by a torpedo. By this time all the boats of the cruisers had been launched. Owing to the state of the sea it was difficult for a practiced eye and impossible for an unpracticed eye, to discern the periscope of a submarine. I cannot profess to have seen a submarine, but when our gunner fired at a submarine and the shell burst I saw two men come to the surface and swim towards us.
Within a few minutes of our firing the gun at the submarine we were struck by a torpedo on our starboard side. The effect was similar to that which would have been produced by the vessel running against a huge rock. I was rendered unsteady on my feet for the moment, although I did not actually fall. We had been getting everybody on deck, and this took some time, as the crew numbered 800 From the quarter-deck I could see that the men were throwing into the water every piece of loose timber or furniture they could find. Every one was calm and collected; the behavior of officers and men was admirable. It was before the Cressy was struck that our gunner fired at a submarine and apparently hit it. A few minutes later the first torpedo hit us. About a quarter of an hour later a submarine was said to have fired two torpedoes at us. The first missed, but the second struck us. The Cressy was struck by two torpedoes, and then the Germans saw we were not going to sink, so they sent another torpedo into us. The second torpedo struck the ship when I was standing just outside the quarterdeck, and could hear the inrush of water. The sinking may have been about ten minutes afterwards. The second submarine was seen by our gunner, and he fired at her, but he was hampered by the fact that the men of the Aboukir and the Hogue were swimming about close by.
After the Cressy was struck the second time Captain Johnson gave the order "Every man for himself! " I was washed off by a big wave. Prior to this I had stripped myself of my clothes. I went down a considerable distance under water, and as soon as I got to the surface I took a breath and struck out, so as to avoid being drawn under by suction. I saw the Cressy keel upwards ; there were perhaps fifty men clinging to her, Some men supported themselves on hammocks, but after a time the hammocks ceased to be watertight.
Luckily I am a good swimmer, and after I had gone about a hundred yards I came across a long plank to which half a dozen men were clinging. I caught hold of it, and after I had been hanging on to it for a quarter of an hour some of the men were giving out and began to sit on the wood, forcing it under the water.
Leaving the plank, therefore, I struck out and swam on for some time till I came across a man who beckoned to me. I got to him, and found he had a table under one arm and a piece of wood under the other. He gave up the table to me. I looked round for something else to swim to, and caught sight of a fishing-smack to the windward. After a long swim I found it was getting nearer and nearer. I shouted for all I was worth, swimming all the time. At last the crew spotted me and sent their small boat, which picked me up. I was taken on board the Coriander at twenty minutes past ten, after having been in the sea for two hours and a half. Fortunately the water was not so cold as might have been expected.
After the Aboukir was struck Midshipman Wykeham Musgrave, a little boy of fourteen, swam to the Cressy. We had no sooner taken him on board than our ship was struck, and he had to take to the water again. Eventually the boy was rescued after a most extraordinary experience.
The fourth is from a letter from her son Hubert to Mrs. Penny of Deal, a widow, who had three sons on board the Cressy:

Just a brief message to tell you how brother Alfred and I parted as the ship took her final plunge. The scene was terrible, After the captain gave the order "Every man for himself," the sea became literally alive with men struggling and grasping what they could to support themselves, whilst, to add to the horror and the confusion, the Germans kept firing their torpedoes at us. It was a sight I shall never forget. Before I went into the water I was granted one wish, for 1 suddenly stumbled against brother Alf; and although the decks were awash, we were just permitted to shake hands and kiss each other and tell each other that, whichever got saved, he was to tell dear mother that our last thoughts were of her, We could see nothing of brother Louis, so with a hurried goodbye we plunged into the water together, and we saw no more of each other. I shall never forget that parting. I was in the water two hours before being picked up.

The Casulty Lists :-H.M.S. Aboukir, H.M.S. Cressy, and H.M.S. Hogue
The Ships :- H.M.S. Aboukir, H.M.S. Cressy, and H.M.S. Hogue.

Other newspaper reports -A COLOURED BERMUDIAN IN THE NORTH SEA DISASTER.

Other sites:- Darren Milford's and Gordon Smith's Naval History NetFor more information.

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