Content deleted Content added
Simon Harley (talk | contribs) Corrected spelling. Tags: Visual edit Mobile edit Mobile web edit |
Simon Harley (talk | contribs) Corrected name in 1914. Tags: Visual edit Mobile edit Mobile web edit |
||
Line 114:
{{lang|de|Blücher}} was launched on 11 April 1908 and commissioned into the fleet on 1 October 1909. She served as a training ship for naval gunners starting in 1911. In 1914, she was transferred to the [[I Scouting Group]] along with the newer battlecruisers {{lang|de|Von der Tann}}, {{SMS|Moltke||2}}, and the flagship {{SMS|Seydlitz||2}}.{{sfn|Gröner|p=53}} The first operation in which {{lang|de|Blücher}} took part was an inconclusive sweep into the Baltic Sea against Russian forces. On 3 September 1914, {{lang|de|Blücher}}, along with seven [[pre-dreadnought battleship]]s of the IV Squadron, five cruisers, and 24 destroyers sailed into the Baltic in an attempt to draw out a portion of the Russian fleet and destroy it. The light cruiser {{SMS|Augsburg||2}} encountered the armored cruisers {{ship|Russian cruiser|Bayan|1911|2}} and {{ship|Russian cruiser|Pallada|1906|2}} north of Dagö (now [[Hiiumaa]]) island. The German cruiser attempted to lure the Russian ships back towards {{lang|de|Blücher}} so that she could destroy them, but the Russians refused to take the bait and instead withdrew to the [[Gulf of Finland]]. On 9 September, the operation was terminated without any major engagements between the two fleets.{{sfn|Halpern|p=185}}
On 2 November 1914, {{lang|de|Blücher}}—along with the battlecruisers {{lang|de|Moltke}}, {{lang|de|Von der Tann}}, and {{lang|de|Seydlitz}}, and accompanied by four [[light cruiser]]s, left the [[Jade Bight]] and steamed towards the English coast.{{sfn|Tarrant|p=30}} The flotilla arrived off [[Great Yarmouth]] at daybreak the following morning and [[Raid on Yarmouth|bombarded the port]], while the light cruiser {{SMS|Stralsund||2}} laid a minefield. The British submarine {{HMS|D5||6}} responded to the bombardment, but struck one of the mines laid by {{lang|de|Stralsund}} and sank. Shortly thereafter, Rear Admiral [[Franz von Hipper|Franz Hipper]] ordered his ships to turn back to German waters. On the way, a heavy fog covered the [[Heligoland Bight]], so the ships were ordered to halt until visibility improved and they could safely navigate the defensive minefields. The armored cruiser {{SMS|Yorck||2}} made a navigational error that led her into one of the German minefields. She struck two mines and quickly sank; only 127 men out of the crew of 629 were rescued.{{sfn|Tarrant|p=30}}
=== Bombardment of Scarborough, Hartlepool, and Whitby ===
| |||