BATTLE OF HELIGOLAND

Evening Star, Issue 23379, 23 September 1939, Page 16

BATTLE OF HELIGOLAND

HAVAL FIGHT IN 1314 Within a radius of 100 miles to the north and east of Dutch Friesland are Wilhelmshavcn, one of Germany’s most important naval stations on the North Sea, Heligoland Bight, Hamburg, and Bremen on the Elbe and Wcscr Rivers. Heligoland, an island lying off the mouth of the Elbe and tho Wescr, was heavily fortified by Germany before the Great War and since. It was m this area that a British naval fleet, commanded by Vice-Admiral Sir David Beatty, was successful in an action which was considered to have been one of the causes of the disinclination of the German Fleet throughout tho war to bo drawn from tho protection of its bfISGS The Battle of Heligoland Bight began at daylight on August 28, 1914, and brought about the first serious contact between the opposing forces during the Great War. It lasted till 1.30 p.m., when, its object having been served, Vice-Admiral Beatty withdrew his forces. The day ended to tho distinct advantage of the British, who had one cruiser, Arethusa, and three destroyers damaged with a total casualty list of 35 killed and 40 wounded. The Germans lost 1,242 officers and men killed, wounded, and prisoners; three cruisers, Mainz, Coin, and Ariadne, and orm destroyer, V 187, were sunk; one cruiser. Frauenlob, was badly crippled, and thero was unreported damage to other cruisers and torpedo craft. Serious as was tho material loss to the German fleet, it was not comparable with tho effect on its morale. Admiral Tirpitz stated that “ August 23 was a day fateful both in after effects and in incidental results to the work of the German navy.” The object of the fortress at Heligoland was, and is, the protection of Wilhelmshaven and the mouth of tho Elbe and Weser, on which Hamburg, tho largest seaport on the Continent of Europe, with a population of more than 1,000,000, and Bremen, another important seaport with a population of 300.000 are situated. Hamburg is 178 miles north-west from Berlin. It is the chief distributing centre for the middle of Europe of the products of other parts of the world, and is also tho chief outlet for German raw products and manufactures. Its commercial prosperity was seriously affected by the Great War, and during tho troubled tjmea after the Armistice.