Battle for Lake Tanganyika The Battle for Lake Tanganyika was a series of naval engagements that took place between elements of the Royal Navy , " Force Publique " and the " Kaiserliche Marine " between December 1915 and February 1916 , during the First World War . The intention was to secure control of the strategically important Lake Tanganyika , which had been dominated by German naval units since the beginning of the war . The British forces — consisting of two motor boats named HMS " Mimi " and " Toutou " — were under the command of the eccentric Lieutenant - Commander Geoffrey Spicer - Simson . The boats were transported to South Africa and from there by railway , by river , and by being dragged through the African jungle , to the lake . In two short engagements , the small motor boats attacked and defeated two of their German opponents . In the first action , on 26 December 1915 the " Kingani " was damaged and captured , becoming . In the second , the small flotilla overwhelmed and sank the " Hedwig von Wissman " . The Germans maintained a third large and heavily armed craft on the lake , the " Graf von Götzen " ; this craft was attacked indecisively by Belgian aircraft and was subsequently scuttled . Developments in the land - based conflict caused the Germans to withdraw from the lake , and control of the surface of Lake Tanganyika passed to the British and Belgians . Background . Strategic situation . Lake Tanganyika lay between the Belgian Congo on the western side and German East Africa on the eastern side . By the start of the war , the Germans had two warships on Lake Tanganyika ; the " Hedwig von Wissman " , and the " Kingani " . " Hedwig von Wissman " was quickly armed with four pom - pom guns taken from the scuttled survey ship " Möwe " and sailed out to the port of Lukuga on the Belgian side of the lake , where on 22 August she attacked the Belgian steamer " Alexandre Del Commune " , sinking her after two further raids . This gave the Germans unchallenged superiority on the lake , with their position strengthened further with the sinking of the British African Lakes Corporation ′ s steamer " Cecil Rhodes " in a raid in November 1914 . The Germans used their control of the lake to launch an attack on northern Rhodesia , led by Major - General Kurt Wahle . This was beaten back , but further raids on Belgian territory and bombardments of Lukuga convinced the Belgians to support the British . Despite this undertaking , there was little the Belgians or British could do to challenge the Germans . The Belgians had the components for a large steamer , " Baron Dhanis " , which if it could be assembled would be considerably larger than either " Kingani " or " Hedwig von Wissman " , but did not dare to start construction on her while the Germans patrolled the lake for fear that she would destroyed before she could be launched . The British had sent two 12 - pounder guns to arm her with , but with little prospect of being able to launch her , the Belgians were instead using them as shore batteries to defend Lukuga . German control of the lake was significant for the whole campaign in the central African theatre . While the British could muster troops to the south of the lake , and the Belgians had troops to the north , neither could push into German East Africa because of the risk that the Germans would use their boats to transport troops across the lake , and use them to cut their supply and communications lines . Lee ' s plan . On 21 April 1915 , John R . Lee — a big game hunter and veteran of the Second Boer War — arrived at the Admiralty to meet Admiral Sir Henry Jackson . Lee had been in Eastern Africa and had personally observed the German ships on Lake Tanganyika . He also brought the news that the Germans were preparing to launch a new ship from their fortified port of Kigoma . Named the " Graf von Götzen " she had been constructed at the Meyer shipyard at Papenburg , disassembled and packed into 5 , 000 crates and transported to Dar - es - Salaam . From there , she had been brought by rail to Kigoma and assembled in secret . long and displacing , she would cement German control of the lake and allow 800 - 900 troops to be rapidly transported to any point on the lakeshore to raid into allied territory . To counter this threat , Lee proposed that motor gunboats be sent to Africa and transported through the interior to the lake . They would be small and highly manoeuvrable , and — if armed with a gun with a range of — could both outrun and outgun the larger German ships . Using small vessels that could be transported intact meant that they could be launched immediately onto the lake , without the risk of their being discovered by the Germans while they were being assembled , and being destroyed before they could be completed . Sir Henry considered the plan and approved it with the words " It is both the duty and the tradition of the Royal Navy to engage the enemy wherever there is water to float a ship . " Jackson passed the task of finalising the details of the operation to his junior , Admiral David Gamble . Gamble appointed Lee second in command of the expedition , and placed Lieutenant - Commander Geoffrey Spicer - Simson in charge . Spicer - Simson was a man described by Giles Foden as " a man court - martialled for wrecking his own ships , an inveterate liar and a wearer of skirts . " He had reached the rank of lieutenant - commander but had not progressed further owing to a number of mistakes and disasters , which left him in a small office in the Admiralty assigned to helping with the process of transferring merchant seamen into the navy . In 1905 , he had come up with the idea of stringing a cable between two destroyers to sweep for periscope s and nearly sank a submarine . He ran another ship aground while testing the defences of Portsmouth Harbour , and later collided with and sank a small boat , killing a man . By the outbreak of war , he was in command of and a small flotilla at Ramsgate . He went ashore to entertain guests at a nearby hotel , from whose windows he watched " Niger " being torpedoed and sunk . He had nevertheless commanded a survey vessel on the Gambia River and , due to a shortage of officers , was selected to take command . Lee went out to prepare the way through Africa , while Spicer - Simson assembled 27 men and two motor boats that had been built by John I . Thornycroft & Company to fulfil an order made by the Greek government before the war . The journey of " Mimi " and " Toutou " . The British naval force consisted of two - long motor boats . Spicer - Simson suggested they be named " Cat " and " Dog " , but the names were rejected by the Admiralty . Spicer - Simson then suggested " Mimi " and " Toutou " as alternatives , which were accepted . As he later explained , these meant " Miaow " and " Bow - wow " in French . Their crews were assembled from acquaintances of Spicer - Simson , or from the ranks of the Royal Naval Reserve . Spicer - Simson proposed a number of improvements to the original design ; they were cut down to improve their speed , Maxim gun s and a 3 - pounder Hotchkiss gun were fitted , though the Hotchkiss had to be fired from a kneeling position , and extra steel linings were added to the petrol tanks . The boats were tested on the Thames on 8 June , where arrangements had been made for " Mimi " to fire a practice shell from her 3 - pounder . The shell hit the target , but both gun and gunner flew into the river , as the gun had not been properly bolted to the deck . The boats were loaded aboard the on 15 June , along with special trailers and cradles to allow them to be transported by rail or overland , and the expedition ′ s equipment and supplies . Once they arrived in South Africa , they would have to be carried over inland , including the traversing of an - high mountain range . Meanwhile , on 8 June the " Graf von Götzen " was launched on Lake Tanganikya . The first leg of " Mimi " and " Toutou " ′ s journey was completed after 17 days at sea and their arrival at the Cape . From Cape Town , they and the men of the expedition travelled north by railway through Bulawayo to Elisabethville , where they arrived on 26 July . After travelling to the railhead at Fungurume , they were detrained and dragged through the bush by teams of oxen and steam tractors to the beginnings of the railway from Sankisia to Bukama . At Bukama , the boats and stores were unloaded and prepared for a voyage down the Lualaba River , where despite running aground several times and being forced to take passage on a Belgian river steamer they completed their journey after sailing through Lake Kisale and arrived at Kabalo on 22 October . From there , a small railway took them to just short of the Belgian port of Lukuga , on the shore of Lake Tanganyika . Here Spicer - Simson met the Belgian army commander , Commandant Stinghlamber , and the naval commander , Commandant Goor , and preparations were made to launch " Mimi " and " Toutou " and to seek out the Germans . Belgian and German preparations . The Germans had made use of the loss of the survey ship " Möwe " by taking some of her crew , and men from the merchant ships of the " Deutsche Ost - Afrika Linie " , and using them to man their ships . The German position on the lake had been further strengthened with the loss of the in the Rufiji River in July . Guns from " Königsberg " arrived at the German base at Kigoma , and the German naval commander on the lake , Captain Gustav Zimmer , had one of " Königsberg " ′ s autocannon mounted on " Götzen " . Members of " Königsberg " ′ s crew also made their way to join his forces , and Zimmer placed former crewmember Lieutenant Job Rosenthal in command of " Kingani " . Job Odebrecht commanded " Hedwig " , while Zimmer himself commanded " Götzen " . Against this formidable force , the Belgians could only muster a petrol - driven barge armed with two cannon named " Dix - Tonne " , a motor boat named " Netta " , and a whaler fitted with an outboard motor . Goor hoped to bring into commission the as - yet unassembled " Baron Dhanis " , and the hulk of " Alexandre del Commune " , which had been sunk early in the war by " Hedwig " . Zimmer may have been aware that the British were planning to launch ships on the lake , but he was also concerned that the " Baron Dhanis " might be assembled and launched . The " Baron Dhanis " was not necessarily a threat to " Götzen " in port , but he was determined to maintain his freedom of movement on the lake . Lacking concrete information he sent Rosenthal aboard " Kingani " to reconnoitre Lukuga . The Belgians mounted floatplane s on the lake giving them the ability to observe the German positions and to bomb them . Battle . Rosenthal investigates . Lieutenant Job Rosenthal , commanding the " Kingani " , made several passes and observed work underway on a new harbour at Kalemie , south of Lukuga , where Spicer - Simson intended to make his base . Still lacking detailed information on the enemy ' s movements , " Kingani " returned early on the morning of 1 December and attempted to approach the harbour . Rosenthal ' s vessel was spotted by the shore batteries and driven away , but returned the following night and Rosenthal himself swam to Lukuga to examine the slipways under construction . He also discovered the camps , where the British flag revealed the presence of Spicer - Simson and his expedition . Rosenthal travelled down the railway line and discovered both " Mimi " and " Toutou " , and the disassembled parts of " Baron Dhanis " . Realising that the threat actually lay in the British vessels , he attempted to return to " Kingani " , but was unable to locate her in the dark . He attempted to conceal himself and hoped that " Kingani " would return at nightfall , but was discovered by a Belgian patrol and taken prisoner . While a captive he succeeded in sending a message , with a secret addendum written in urine to Zimmer warning him of what he had seen , but the message did not reach Kigoma for several months . " Mimi " and " Toutou " are launched . The slipways at Kalemie were ready by mid - December , and on 22 December " Toutou " was launched onto Lake Tanganyika , with " Mimi " following the next day . Final preparations were made on 24 December , including the fuelling and the fitting of guns , after which brief trials were made . On 26 December , " Kingani " approached Kalemie . Rosenthal ' s successor — Sub - Lieutenant Junge — had orders to gather information on naval preparations , and at 06 : 00 in the morning — as Spicer - Simson was conducting morning prayers — she was sighted offshore . " Kingani " is captured . " Mimi " and " Toutou " set out of the harbour after " Kingani " had passed by . Unexpectedly finding himself pursued by two motor boats flying the white ensign , Junge ordered that the speed be increased . " Kingani " ′ s six - pounder gun could only fire forward , however , and the faster and more nimble motor boats were able to close the range and open fire with their three - pounder guns , while avoiding the German ′ s fire . After a short action lasting 11 minutes , " Kingani " was hit on her gun , the shell passing through the gunshield and killing Junge and two petty officers . After several more hits , her chief engineer hauled down the colours and the British took possession of her . Junge and four dead crewmembers were buried , and after a hole in " Kingani " ′ s hull had been patched , she was taken into service as HMS " Fifi " . Spicer - Simson explained that " Fifi " meant " tweet - tweet " in French , and was suggested by the wife of a Belgian officer who had a small caged bird . Her six - pounder gun was moved to her stern , while one of the 12 - pounder guns that had been mounted ashore was fixed to the bows . The Admiralty were impressed by the expedition ' s achievements , Spicer - Simson was specially promoted to commander from the date of the action , and a message was sent which read " His Majesty The King desires to express his appreciation of the wonderful work carried out by his most remote expedition " ; The Colonial Office also expressed its approbation . Zimmer did not immediately send " Hedwig " to investigate the disappearance of " Kingani " , possibly being too busy transporting troops and supplies . The storm season in January also made navigation of the lake dangerous for vessels smaller than " Götzen " , and it was not until mid - January that " Hedwig " came to Lukuga to investigate . By now , Spicer - Simson had been given the repaired Dutch vessel " Del Commune " — now renamed " Vengeur " — to add to his flotilla . Odebrecht scouted close to the shore , keeping clear of the shore batteries that were assumed to have sunk " Kingani " , but could not see anything worth reporting . He was ordered back to Lukuga on 8 February , and told to rendezvous with Zimmer on " Götzen " the following day . " Hedwig " was spotted early in the morning and the expedition ' s forces sallied forth to intercept her . The combined Anglo - Belgian flotilla consisted of " Mimi " , " Fifi " , " Dix - Tonne " , and the whaleboat , " Toutou " having been damaged and still under repair . " Hedwig " is sunk . Odebrecht spotted the approaching vessels , but continued to advance . He initially mistook them for Belgian craft , but the white ensigns revealed that they were British . He continued toward the shore until making a sharp turn to port at 09 : 30 , either attempting to lure them toward " Götzen " , or having been fooled by an optical illusion into thinking the approaching vessels were larger than he had first thought . The pursuing vessels chased " Hedwig " , with " Fifi " opening fire with her bow - mounted 12 - pounder . The recoil stopped her dead in her tracks ; Odebrecht used this situation to pull away . " Hedwig " could do to " Fifi " ′ s , but as " Fifi " fell behind , " Mimi " sped past , firing on the retreating German vessel with her three - pounder gun . The shots missed , but " Hedwig " ′ s stern guns did not have the range of " Mimi " ′ s weapon , and Odebrecht was forced to come about and try to hit her with his bow - mounted six - pounder . The two circled for a time , unable to score hits , until " Fifi " closed . Spicer - Simson , commanding aboard " Fifi " , was down to three shells on his 12 - pounder , and risked being outclassed if " Hedwig " could bring her own six - pounder to bear . At this moment , a shell jammed in " Fifi " ′ s gun , and in the 20 minutes that it took to clear it , " Hedwig " again pulled away , searching for " Götzen " . With her second to last shot , " Fifi " fired again . The shell hit " Hedwig " ′ s hull , causing flooding , while moments later her last shell hit the engine room , bursting the boiler and killing five African sailors and two Germans . As fires began to spread through the stricken craft Odebrecht gave the order to abandon ship , and set explosive charges to destroy the sinking vessel . The British picked up the survivors and captured a large German naval ensign , the first to be taken in the war . " Götzen " is scuttled . The flotilla returned to shore with their prisoners , and the following day " Götzen " appeared offshore , steaming slowly past in search of the missing " Hedwig " . Alerted , the crews rushed to man their boats , but Spicer - Simson forbade an attack . Shortly afterward , Spicer - Simson left the lake for Stanleyville , in search of a boat to rival " Götzen " . He found one such vessel — the " St George " , a steel boat belonging to the British consul at Banana — and had her dismantled , dragged to Lake Tanganyika and reassembled . By the time he returned in May , the German position on the lake had deteriorated further . The Belgians were about to capture Kigoma and a British force was pushing north toward Bismarckburg . The expedition was to support land operations from the lake , and the flotilla , consisting of " Mimi " , " Toutou " , " Fifi " and " Vengeur " arrived off Bismarckburg on 5 June . Finding the harbour defended by a fort , Spicer - Simson decided not to attack , and withdrew to Kituta . This allowed the German forces to escape in a fleet of dhow s , an act which provoked the anger of the army commander , Lieutenant - Colonel Murray . The naval expeditionary force remained at Bismarckburg , where Spicer - Simson was chastened to learn that the fort ' s guns were in fact wooden dummies . Meanwhile , the British had provided the Belgians with four Short Type 827 floatplane s to attack " Götzen " at Kigoma . Several bombing runs were made , but unbeknownst to either the British or the Belgians , Zimmer had been ordered by his commanding officer — Paul von Lettow - Vorbeck — to remove most of " Götzen " ′ s armament , including the autocannon taken from " Königsberg " , and send them to be used by the army in the field . Wooden dummies were mounted to maintain the illusion of a heavily armed ship . Kigoma fell to General Charles Tombeur ′ s forces on 28 July , but " Götzen " was already gone . The Germans had sailed the ship to the south of Kigoma Bay and , after having her engines thoroughly greased in case there should be need to make use of her again , filled her with concrete and carefully scuttled her on 26 July in a depth of 20 m near the banks of the Katabe Bay ( Belgian designation : Baie de l ’ éléphant ; British designation : Bangwe Bay ) at the Position 04° 54 ' 05 " S ; 029° 36 ' 12 " E . Aftermath . Anglo - Belgian control of Lake Tanganyika was secured by mid - 1916 , though the war in Africa dragged on for another two years . Most of the men of the naval expedition returned to Britain , where Spicer - Simson was awarded the Distinguished Service Order but was reprimanded for some of his antagonistic behaviour toward his Belgian allies and was not given another command . The Belgians for their part appointed him a Commander of the Order of the Crown , and awarded him the Croix de guerre . The exploits on Lake Tanganyika caught the public imagination , and were adapted by C . S . Forester for his book " The African Queen " , later made into the film " The African Queen " , directed by John Huston . A British naval force features in the book , consisting of two motor boats named HMS " Amelia " and HMS " Matilda " . The legacy of the Battle for Lake Tanganyika also continues in the survival of Spicer - Simson ′ s nemesis , the " Graf von Götzen " . She was raised by the Belgians and towed to Kigoma , but sank at her moorings in a storm . She was raised again by the British in 1921 under their mandate for Tanganyika , where it was found that she was so well preserved by the greasing , that little work needed to be done to repair her . She returned to service on 16 May 1927 under the name " Liemba " , and still sails Lake Tanganyika . Notes . a . Foden maintains throughout that the Admiralty were unaware of the existence of the " Götzen " , and that the expedition only became aware of her after their arrival on the lake shore . The presence of " Kingani " was also a surprise to them . Paice instead claims that Lee was aware of the " Götzen " from February , when structural work on her was nearing completion , and that he informed the Admiralty of her when he reported to them in April . < br > b . Paice records that Spicer - Simson had " Mimi " , " Toutou " , " Fifi " and ' a Belgian motor boat known only as " Vedette " . " Vedette " is presumably the whaleboat with the outboard motor , identified by Foden as being termed by Commandant Goor as " " la vedette " ( patrol boat ) " . Foden notes that " Toutou " had damaged her bows in a collision with the harbour wall , and had then sunk in a storm , before being recovered .