page_title: Battle of Rufiji Delta
section_title: Blockade
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of Rufiji Delta / Blockade
caption_attribution_description: For documentary purposes the German Federal Archive often retained the original image captions, which may be erroneous, biased, obsolete or politically extreme. Unterstand
context_page_description: The Battle of the Rufiji Delta was fought in German East Africa from October 1914 – July 1915 during the First World War, between the German Navy's light cruiser SMS Königsberg, and a powerful group of British warships. The battle was a series of attempts, ultimately successful, to sink the blockaded German cruiser.
context_section_description: The British made several attempts to sink Königsberg including one to slip a shallow-draught torpedo boat (with escorts) within range, an operation easily repulsed by the force in the delta. A blockship, the Newbridge, was sunk by the British across one of the delta mouths to prevent her escape; however, it was soon realized that Königsberg could still escape through one of the delta's other channels. Dummy mines were laid in some of these alternatives, but they were considered a doubtful deterrent. A civilian pilot named Cutler was hired to bring his Curtiss seaplane for reconnaissance; his plane was shot down, although the presence of the elusive cruiser was verified. A pair of Royal Naval Air Service Sopwith seaplanes were brought up with the intention of scouting and even bombing the ship, but they soon fell apart in the tropical conditions. A trio of Short seaplanes fared a little better, managing to take photographs of the ship before they were grounded by the glue-melting tropical heat and German fire.
  Attempts to use the 12 in (300 mm) guns of the old battleship HMS Goliath to sink the cruiser were unsuccessful, once again because the shallow waters prevented the battleship getting within range.
  However, by March 1915 Königsberg's food supplies were low, and many crew members had died from malaria and other tropical diseases. Generally cut off from the outside world, the morale of the sailors fell. However, the situation was marginally improved with a scheme to resupply the ship and give her a fighting chance to return home. A captured British merchant ship, Rubens, was renamed Kronborg and given a Danish flag, papers, and a crew of German sailors specially selected for their ability to speak Danish. She was then loaded with coal, field guns, ammunition, fresh water, and supplies. After successfully infiltrating the waters of East Africa, she was intercepted by the alerted HMS Hyacinth, which chased her to Manza Bay. The trapped ship was set on fire by the crew and left. The Germans later salvaged much of her cargo, which was later used in the land campaign, and some transported to Königsberg.
caption: A German fighting position in the Delta, centered around a gun dismounted from Königsberg.
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