merchant navy

Tag

(53)

1914

August

03
- Britain authorises the requisitioning of shipsOn 3 August 1914 a royal proclamation authorised the government to requisition British merchant ships for the needs of the war.

September

10
- Emden's first prize in the Indian OceanOn 10 September 1914 the German cruiser Emden stopped the Greek collier Pontoporos in the Bay of Bengal. Captain von Müller's famous raid had begun.

November

04
- Loss of the cruiser KarlsruheOn 4 November 1914 an internal explosion tore apart the German cruiser Karlsruhe on her way to attack Barbados. About 260 men died, including her captain.

1915

January

30
- Admiralty advises neutral flagsAt the end of January 1915 the Admiralty advised British ships to fly neutral flags, or no flag at all, in the waters around the British Isles.

February

March

May

07
- Key eventSinking of the LusitaniaOn 7 May 1915 U-20 torpedoed the British liner Lusitania off Ireland. Within 18 minutes almost 1,200 people died, including more than a hundred Americans.

August

October

03
- E19 attacks the steamer SvioniaOn 3 October 1915 the British submarine E19 stopped and shelled the German steamer Svionia off Rügen. The abandoned ship ran aground on rocks near Sassnitz.

November

December

29
- Möwe sails on her first cruiseOn 29 December 1915 the auxiliary cruiser Möwe, disguised as a freighter, put to sea from Wilhelmshaven to lay mines and sink Allied ships.

1916

January

February

March

July

27
- Execution of Captain FryattOn 27 July 1916 a German court martial in Bruges sentenced Captain Charles Fryatt, who in 1915 had tried to ram a U-boat. He was shot that evening.

November

December

1917

January

06
- Inter-Allied Chartering CommitteeOn 6 January 1917 London, Paris and Rome agreed to charter neutral ships jointly, through a single office in London, instead of outbidding one another.

March

May

17
- Convoy committeeOn 17 May 1917 the Admiralty set up a committee to draw up a plan for ocean convoys. The first trial convoy from Gibraltar was then under way.

June

14
- Admiralty approves the convoy systemOn 14 June 1917 Admiral Jellicoe formally approved the plan of the Convoy Committee. Regular convoys from America did not begin, however, until early July.

July

02
- First regular convoyOn 2 July 1917 convoy HH 6 left Hampton Roads, the first of a regular series of convoys sailing every four days from Virginia to Britain.

August

02
- Seeadler wreckedOn 2 August 1917 the German sailing ship Seeadler was wrecked on the reef of Mopelia atoll in Polynesia, ending the cruise of Felix von Luckner's raider.

October

02
- Sinking of HMS DrakeOn 2 October 1917 the German U-79 torpedoed the armoured cruiser Drake off the coast of Ireland. The ship capsized in a bay of Rathlin Island. 18 men died.

November

03
- Tonnage agreement for the AlliesOn 3 November 1917 Britain, France and Italy agreed that ships to carry food for the Allies were a common burden, and divided it among themselves.

December

1918

January

04
- Demand for the surrender of Dutch shipsOn 4 January 1918 the British proposed that the Dutch charter 600,000 tons of shipping to the Allies in return for grain, fodder and coal.

February

March

July

17
- Sinking of the CarpathiaOn 17 July 1918 U-55 torpedoed the liner Carpathia in the Atlantic, the ship that saved Titanic's survivors in 1912. Five engine-room men died.