Scuttling of SMS Cormoran
Encyclopedia
The Scuttling of SMS Cormoran off Guam
on April 7, 1917 was the result of the United States
entry into World War I
and the internment of the German
merchant raider
SMS Cormoran. The incident was the only hostile encounter between United States and German military forces during the Pacific Ocean
campaign of the war.
by SMS Emden and transformed into an auxiliary cruiser. Cormoran was armed with eight 10.5 cm (4.1 in) rapid fire guns from the original SMS Cormoran
and commanded by Captain Adalbert Zuckschwerdt
. The number of crew she had on board is not known. Setting out from Tsingtao on August 10, 1914 for a commerce raiding
cruise in the South Pacific, SMS Cormoran failed to sink any enemy shipping as she spent all of her time avoiding allied warships.
Captain Zuckschwerdt pulled into Apra Harbor
, Guam on December 14 with the intention of receiving coal from the Americans on the island. The United States was a neutral power at this time so the Germans were refused the proper amount of coal needed to continue their voyage, there was little coal on the island for the Americans and Guamanians themselves. So the German sailors were interned and for about two years they lived among the Americans and Guamanians in friendship until the American entry into World War I
.
USS Supply
with the goal of capturing the auxiliary cruiser, or destroying it. Not wanting to anger the Germans they had lived with for two years and not wanting to expose the Guamanians to needless harm; the Americans resorted to first request that the Germans surrender peacefully. In case anything went wrong, the artillery battery
of three 7 inch guns on the western face of Mount Tengo was also trained on the vessel. Before Captain Zuckschwerdt refused surrender a group of United States Navy
sailors on the deck of USS Supply noticed that the Germans were preparing to scuttle their vessel instead of surrendering or attempting an escape.
The sailors notified the marines so one of the Americans fired a shot across the ships bow with his rifle. The shot was the first to be fired by the United States at the Germans after war had been declared. A similar incident occurred in 1915 at Fort San Felipe del Morro
in the Caribbean
, America's very first shot was fired, at a different German auxiliary cruiser which was also interned in a neutral American port. Despite the warning shot, which alarmed the Germans, the scuttling continued but at a faster pace. The Germans finished setting their explosives and they began to evacuate. The Cormoran exploded and sank to the bottom of the harbor where she remains today. USS Supply quickly became a hospital ship when she came to the aid of the German lifeboats.
Accounts of the event differ but what is known is that nine Germans were killed while scuttling the Cormoran, either by the explosion which crippled the ship or by the American marines who did not want the Cormoran sunk. The rest of German crew were captured by the Americans and the dead were buried on Guam with full military honors. The prisoners were sent to various American forts until finally being released after World War I in 1919.
SMS Cormoran rests 110 feet (34 m) below the water of Apra harbor on her port side. A Japan
ese cargo ship, the Tokai Maru, which was sunk during World War II
leans up against her screw. Together the ships are one of the few places where a diver can visit a sunken vessel of World War I next to a sunken vessel of World War II. The shipwreck was placed on the National Register of Historic Places
in 1975 due to its association with the First World War.
Guam
Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...
on April 7, 1917 was the result of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
entry into World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and the internment of the German
merchant raider
Merchant raider
Merchant raiders are ships which disguise themselves as non-combatant merchant vessels, whilst actually being armed and intending to attack enemy commerce. Germany used several merchant raiders early in World War I, and again early in World War II...
SMS Cormoran. The incident was the only hostile encounter between United States and German military forces during the Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
campaign of the war.
Background
SMS Cormoran was originally a passenger and cargo ship, named SS Ryaezan and built by the Germans in 1909 for the Russian merchant fleet. When the war broke out, she was captured off KoreaKorea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
by SMS Emden and transformed into an auxiliary cruiser. Cormoran was armed with eight 10.5 cm (4.1 in) rapid fire guns from the original SMS Cormoran
SMS Cormoran
SMS Cormoran or SMS Cormoran II was built at Danzig, Germany in 1909 for the Russian merchant fleet and named SS Ryazan...
and commanded by Captain Adalbert Zuckschwerdt
Adalbert Zuckschwerdt
Adalbert Zuckschwerdt was captain of the German raider, the SMS Cormoran, that sailed from the German colony of Tsingtao , China, until she was stranded and finally interned at Guam by the Americans...
. The number of crew she had on board is not known. Setting out from Tsingtao on August 10, 1914 for a commerce raiding
Commerce raiding
Commerce raiding or guerre de course is a form of naval warfare used to destroy or disrupt the logistics of an enemy on the open sea by attacking its merchant shipping, rather than engaging the combatants themselves or enforcing a blockade against them.Commerce raiding was heavily criticised by...
cruise in the South Pacific, SMS Cormoran failed to sink any enemy shipping as she spent all of her time avoiding allied warships.
Captain Zuckschwerdt pulled into Apra Harbor
Apra Harbor
Apra Harbor is a deep-water port on the western side of Guam in the Mariana Islands. The harbor is formed by Orote Peninsula in the south and Cabras Island in the north. To the south, the harbor narrows and then widens again to form an inner harbor. The southern end of the harbor is the location...
, Guam on December 14 with the intention of receiving coal from the Americans on the island. The United States was a neutral power at this time so the Germans were refused the proper amount of coal needed to continue their voyage, there was little coal on the island for the Americans and Guamanians themselves. So the German sailors were interned and for about two years they lived among the Americans and Guamanians in friendship until the American entry into World War I
American entry into World War I
American entry into World War I came in April 1917, after 2½ years of efforts by President Woodrow Wilson to keep the United States neutral. Americans had no idea that a war was approaching in 1914...
.
Scuttling
When war was declared on April 7, 1917, the United States Marines and sailors on Guam were notified and set out from their base. They embarked the old screw schoonerSchooner
A schooner is a type of sailing vessel characterized by the use of fore-and-aft sails on two or more masts with the forward mast being no taller than the rear masts....
USS Supply
USS Supply (1873)
USS Supply, ex-Illinois, was a schooner-rigged iron steamer built in 1873 by William Cramp and Sons of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Illinois was purchased by the Navy Department from the International Navigation Company on 30 April 1898 for $325,000.00 and commissioned as Supply, Lt. Comdr. R. R...
with the goal of capturing the auxiliary cruiser, or destroying it. Not wanting to anger the Germans they had lived with for two years and not wanting to expose the Guamanians to needless harm; the Americans resorted to first request that the Germans surrender peacefully. In case anything went wrong, the artillery battery
Artillery battery
In military organizations, an artillery battery is a unit of guns, mortars, rockets or missiles so grouped in order to facilitate better battlefield communication and command and control, as well as to provide dispersion for its constituent gunnery crews and their systems...
of three 7 inch guns on the western face of Mount Tengo was also trained on the vessel. Before Captain Zuckschwerdt refused surrender a group of United States Navy
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
sailors on the deck of USS Supply noticed that the Germans were preparing to scuttle their vessel instead of surrendering or attempting an escape.
Fort San Felipe del Morro
Also known as Fort San Felipe del Morro or Morro Castle, is a 16th-century citadel located in San Juan, Puerto Rico.- Rundown :Lies on the northwestern-most point of the islet of San Juan, Puerto Rico...
in the Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
, America's very first shot was fired, at a different German auxiliary cruiser which was also interned in a neutral American port. Despite the warning shot, which alarmed the Germans, the scuttling continued but at a faster pace. The Germans finished setting their explosives and they began to evacuate. The Cormoran exploded and sank to the bottom of the harbor where she remains today. USS Supply quickly became a hospital ship when she came to the aid of the German lifeboats.
Accounts of the event differ but what is known is that nine Germans were killed while scuttling the Cormoran, either by the explosion which crippled the ship or by the American marines who did not want the Cormoran sunk. The rest of German crew were captured by the Americans and the dead were buried on Guam with full military honors. The prisoners were sent to various American forts until finally being released after World War I in 1919.
SMS Cormoran rests 110 feet (34 m) below the water of Apra harbor on her port side. A Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese cargo ship, the Tokai Maru, which was sunk during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
leans up against her screw. Together the ships are one of the few places where a diver can visit a sunken vessel of World War I next to a sunken vessel of World War II. The shipwreck was placed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
in 1975 due to its association with the First World War.