Crazy War Classified Files

On August 4, 1914, four cruisers fiercely ripped open the calm surface of the Mediterranean Sea west of Sicily: the German Geben (under the flag of the rear commander of the German division of German cruisers Rear Admiral Souchon) and the Breslau and the British battlecruiser Indomitable and Indefatigable. Clubs of heavy coal smoke abundantly stained the clear sky - the ships were in full swing, squeezing out of their cars everything that they were capable of.

The Germans marched in the middle, and the ships of His Majesty's fleet followed them in parallel courses, keeping aboard the German cruisers. The construction of the wedge, which was formed by the four rushing to the east, slowly sharpened - the British gradually lost the race. The shells were already crowded in the gun barrels, but the guns were silent for now: officially, the two empires were not yet at war. Although the German gunners had already stretched their arms: at dawn, German ships fired at the Algerian ports of Philipville and Bon. The hundreds of shells fired by the cruisers did not cause much harm to the French, but did a stir. So Germany has already fought with France, but not yet with England.

The commander of the French fleet, Vice Admiral Bois de Lyaperer, his main task was to ensure the timely and safe delivery of the corps of Algerian riflemen to Europe. The German divisions, realizing the Schlieffen plan, were eager for France through Belgium, and eighty thousand zouaves were very necessary at the front. Almost two dozen heavy French ships left Toulon at sea with a considerable delay (the warning system about the start of the war worked with a creak) and arrived on the shores of Algeria when the Germans left. Focusing on escorting transports, Lyaperer spat on Goeben and took no steps to organize his search. If the enemy appears, then the numerous guns guarding the caravans of French battleships will teach him a good lesson, but if not, then what to worry about? Goeben avoided meeting the French fleet, which would most likely be fatal for the German corsair.

If the French were unable to effectively use their own fleet against the Goeben, then the connection between the English and French fleets was completely useless. Despite the pre-war plans, the proper interaction of the two fleets was not established. Lyaperer and Milne (commander of British forces in the Mediterranean) had enough time to discuss all the details of more than likely joint actions long before the war began, but the admirals did not receive direct directives from their governments. As a result ...

Neither Milne nor Lyaperer knew absolutely nothing about each other's intentions. The French knew that Geben and Breslau were based on Messina (as one of the options for the German plan developed in case of conflict envisaged), but they did not inform their allies about this. On August 2, Milne received permission from the British Admiralty to contact his French counterpart and arrange with him about a raid on the Germans, but the sent radiogram reached the addressee only after 24 hours. And Milne didn’t receive a counter radiogram from Lyaperer. The whim of wireless? May be…

The news of the night bombardment by the Germans of Bon and Philipville circled half of southern Europe, and Milne found out about it only at half past eight in the morning of August 4: again, presumably, some kind of interference with radio communications! And when an hour later the "Invincible" and "Indefatigable" were met by the German cruisers heading to the northern coast of Sicily, for some reason the British did not consider it necessary to inform the French about this fact, who were eager to get even with the enemy for shelling Algerian ports.

Vice Admiral Bois de Lyaperer missed his chance, but sixteen twelve-inch guns of two British battlecruisers could very seriously damage the health of the Goeben - it was not for nothing that Souchon,