HMS Bristol clashes with the cruiser Karlsruhe in the West Indies

On 6 August 1914, in the waters of the West Indies, one of the first naval engagements of the war took place. The British light cruiser HMS Bristol exchanged fire with the German cruiser SMS Karlsruhe. The German ship, faster than her opponent, slipped away from the pursuit.

Meeting at sea

At the outbreak of war Karlsruhe was in American waters. Her task was to wage commerce warfare, that is, to attack British ships on the Atlantic routes. On 6 August she met the German liner Kronprinz Wilhelm on the open sea to transfer guns and men to her. The liner was to become an auxiliary cruiser and also hunt Allied ships.

During the transfer both vessels were spotted by the British armoured cruiser HMS Suffolk of Admiral Christopher Cradock’s squadron. The Germans broke off the operation and separated. In the evening Karlsruhe ran into HMS Bristol, which opened fire. After a brief exchange of shots the German cruiser, making use of her speed, drew away and vanished into the darkness.

Later fortunes

The escape allowed Karlsruhe to begin a raid that made her one of the most successful German warships of this phase of the war. Operating mainly on the routes between South America and Europe, she sank or captured more than a dozen British merchant ships. Her career ended unexpectedly: on 4 November 1914 the ship was destroyed by an internal explosion in the Atlantic, probably caused by spontaneous combustion of ammunition. Most of the crew were killed.

Kronprinz Wilhelm, armed that day by Karlsruhe, also waged commerce warfare in the Atlantic for several months, until in April 1915, for lack of fuel and supplies, she put into a neutral port in the United States and was interned.