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| Salvo from the Worth |
The superior French fleet had successfully blockaded the German fleets in their Baltic and North Sea bases for the whole previous part of the war, as they had in 1870, and no battle was expected before the peace treaty. As always in war, chance took a hand. A great gale blew up, and drove the French blockading squadron away from the mouth of the River Jade. Several French ships were so damaged that they had to return to France, one aging coast-defense ship sank without trace, and the remaining ships were scattered. The Germans, too, were unprepared, and while they were sheltered in Jade Bay from the worst of the weather, their fleet was unprepared for a sortie. Only two battleships, the Weissenburg and the Worth, moved out. Vizedmiral von Berdinkhoff (with his flag in Weissenburg) was under strict order to engage some French force - any force - to ensure the future of the German navy's budget. Even a loss would be better than to return to harbor unblooded.
The French, as I have said, were badly scattered by the storm. Amiral Guillaumes, in his flagship the Jaureguiberry, had rejoined with the Charles Martel (Captain de Vasseau Ronne) and was headed back south towards their blockade position, hoping to meet up with the other ships of the squadron, especially Carnot and Brennus. Sighting smoke, Amiral Guillaumes ordered full speed and formed line, ready for any eventuality. Unfortunately, as the masts, then the stacks and superstructure of the approaching vessels rose above the horizon, it became apparent that these were not the hoped-for French ships, but two German battleships. Nevertheless, confident in his modern ships and on fire to avenge the wrongs done to France by the arrogance of Germany, Guillaumes pressed forwards.
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| French Battleship Jaureguiberry |
As the two sides approached each other, both admirals turned gradually more West, until they were approaching each other at only a shallow angle. Fire was opened by a test shot from the Weissenburg at 1411. As the two sides exchanged a rather ineffectual fire the French turned several points towards their enemies to close the range, while the Germans turned away slightly. The reasons for this (given that the French would seem to have been in a better position at longer range) have been discussed at length; for a detailed exposition on the subject see von Grosskleinoberschwarzwaldberghausensteingruberfeld's magisterial book, Der Gross Kampf. Let's just say that the reasons for this remain debated in Naval Staffs to this day.
The single most important event of the battle took place early in the fight, when a single 11" round from the Worth struck the Jaureguiberry near the aft port above-water torpedo tube. The powerful detonation, in an unarmored part of the hull, set off the warhead of the torpedo, and the combined effect started a very large fire in the aft hull. This fire spread slowly forwards, in spite of the uttermost efforts of the damage-control parties, and might have resulted in the loss of the ship even if no further damage had been inflicted on her. The ship gradually slowed and the fires quickly began to interfere with gunnery.
This set the pace for the rest of the battle. Luck seemed to desert the French and hover over the German warships, which combined with the greater number of German guns (12x11" guns in broadside as opposed to 2x10.8" and 4x12") quickly beat down the French fire. Captain de Vasseau Ronne closed gallantly in the effort to distract the Germans from the flagship, but without effect. He came within 6 cables to fire two torpedoes, but scored no hits.
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| German Battleships in Line |
At about the same time, the Worth landed a spectacular broadside on the Jaureguiberry, at least four 11" shells landing together in the already flaming aft hull. The last 25 meters of the hull broke off almost immediately and the ship rapidly slowed to a halt, aflame from the now abbreviated stern to the forward superstructure. Amiral Guillaumes, severely wounded, ordered the ship abandoned, which was done with great discipline, and in spite of the conflagration nearly half of the crew left the ship and were rescued by the Germans.
Unfortunately, the Charles Martel was too badly damaged by this point to escape, and Captain de Vasseau Ronne surrendered his command rather than cause the unneccessary deaths of his crew. Of his 638 man crew, 65 were killed and 187 were wounded. Jaureguiberry lost 255 dead or missing out of 628, 143 wounded.
German losses were, naturally, much less. Both battleships were somewhat damaged, and the Weissenburg was in dock for four months before being completely restored to service. Weissenburg 38 dead (mostly in the forward turret) and 37 wounded, while Worth had 19 dead and 43 wounded.
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| French Battleships |
Vizedmiral von Berdinkhoff was, of course, the Toast of Berlin for many weeks therafter and was swiftly promoted to Admiral. He made a great deal of money in retirement in speaking engagements and through the sale of his memoirs, The Memoirs of Admiral von Berdinkhoff, which were long and tedious, but beautifully bound in rich corinthian leather.
Amiral Guillaumes, in spite of some ill-informed criticisms in the press, was generally absolved of blame for the defeat. The superior firepower of the German ships, and the unfortunate explosion of the torpedo warhead were held in French naval circles to be the chief cause. His courage in leading the fight against the fire was well remarked on and within the year he was nominated Grand Commander of the Legion of Honor. He moved on to command of the French navy's Bureau of Construction where he lead a long and eventually successful fight against abovewater torpedo tubes.
Captain de Vasseau Ronne eventually rose to the rank of Amiral, retiring in 1913, returning to service in the Great War where he served as commander of Naval Ship Recycling Activities, Toulon.
The End
