page_title: Battle off Noordhinder Bank
section_title: Aftermath
hierarchical_section_title: Battle off Noordhinder Bank / Aftermath
caption_attribution_description: English: HMS Leonidas
context_page_description: The Battle off Noordhinder Bank on 1 May 1915 was a naval action between a squadron of four British naval trawlers supported by a flotilla of four destroyers and a pair of German torpedo boats from the Flanders Flotilla. The battle began when the two torpedo boats were sent on a rescue mission and ran into a British patrol. The Germans fought with the patrolling trawlers until British destroyers from Harwich Force came to their aid and sank the vessels.
  The battle greatly demoralized the German flotilla at Flanders, as the boats that were sunk had been launched shortly before the battle. The action off Noordhinder Bank helped bring to the attention of the German high command that the Flanders Flotilla was inadequately armed to protect the coast it was assigned to defend, let alone harass British shipping in the English Channel. After similar defeats, the small torpedo boats such as those used off Noordhinder Bank were relegated to coastal patrol and heavier units were transferred to even the balance of power in the channel.
context_section_description: When the battle ended, British losses included Columbia sunk, Barbados damaged. Columbia suffered 16 dead, with only a deckhand being recovered after the action. The Germans lost A2 and A6 along with 13 men killed (including Schoemann) and 46 rescued and taken prisoner. Controversy erupted after it was discovered from the captured Germans that the three men taken from the sinking Columbia had been locked away below decks on one of the torpedo boats and left to die when the German vessel started to sink. The Germans reported that they did not have enough time to get to the British prisoners and barely were able to escape  themselves.
  The battle showed Schroeder the severe limitations of the "A"-class torpedo boats; they were too poorly armed for raiding and the boats were relegated to coastal patrols. The defeat at Noordhinder allowed Schroeder's pleas for reinforcements finally to be heard by the German Admiralty and he was reinforced by heavier vessels. The next engagement involving an "A"-class torpedo boat reinforced the perception that the class was too weak for service and several new boats were put in reserve when larger and more capable boats were transferred to the Flanders Flotilla.
caption: HMS Leonidas
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