Bombardment of Papeete
Part of World War I
captured freighter Walkure sunk at Papeete
Date 22 September 1914 Location off Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia, Pacific Ocean Result minor German victory
Belligerents
France	Germany
Commanders
Lieutenant Maxime Destremeau	Admiral Maximilian von Spee
Strength
1 gunboat, 1 freighter, shore batteries 160 men	2 armoured cruisers
Casualties and losses
1 gunboat sunk, 1 freighter sunk, fortifications destroyed	none
2 civilians killed

v • d • e The Command of the Oceans, 1914-1915 Battle of Papeete – Bombardment of Madras - Bombardment of Fanning - Battle of Penang – Battle of Coronel – Battle of Cocos – Battle of Rufiji Delta – Battle of the Falkland Islands - Battle of Más a Tierra – Lake Tanganyika

The Bombardment of Papeete in French Polynesia by German warships took place on 22 September 1914. The German cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau entered the port of Papeete and bombarded it sinking the French gunboat Zelee and damaging the town's fortifications. French land batteries and a gunboat resisted the German intrusion, but were greatly outgunned by their foes. The main German objective was to seize the coal piles stored on the island, but these were destroyed by the French at the start of the action.

Virtually no damage was received by the two German cruisers, but the French forces suffered the loss of their gunboat as well as significant destruction of Papeete itself. The engagement had little direct effect on the outcome of the War, although it did help set the stage for the Battle of Coronel fought by the German squadron later on. The battle also helped shape the later Battle of the Falklands where the German squadron was largely destroyed, as much of the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau's ammunition had been depleted by then.

Contents 1 Background 2 Bombardment 3 Aftermath 4 Citations 5 References 6 Further Reading

[edit] Background

By September 1914 the German East Asia Squadron under Admiral Maximilian von Spee had split up to avoid being caught in transit to the Chilean coast. Having seen no action at all since leaving Tsingtao, the crews of von Spee's cruisers were anxious to meet the enemy in battle.^[1] Admiral von Spee, who had with him the cruisers SMS Scharnhorst and SMS Gneisenau, decided to raid Papeete on his way to rendezvousing with the rest of his squadron at Easter Island. There were significant stocks of coal at the French port, and von Spee hoped to refuel using them and raise the moral of his men by destroying what shipping could be found there. The French had no heavy defenses at Papeete but had been warned that von Spees squadron might raid Tahiti. In response to the threat the French commander had several of the cannons from the old gunboat Zelee removed and placed ashore to reinforce the land batteries. Several Ford trucks were also armed and 160 sailors and marines drilled in anticipation of a German attempt at landing.^[2] In addition to the gunboat and harbor fortifications, the French also had at Papeete a captured German freighter, the Walkure, which had been captured by the Zelee at the start of the war.

[edit] Bombardment

At 7 A.M. two unidentified cruisers were sighted by the French entering the harbour of Papeete. The alarm was raised and two warning shots fired by the French batteries to signal the approaching cruisers that they must identify themselves. The cruisers replied with a shot of their own and raised the German colours, signalling the town to surrender. A French refusal was returned with shelling of the batteries and the town by the Germans.^[3] The French land batteries and the gunboat in the harbor attempted to return fire, but scored no hits on the German cruisers. The German cruisers soon turned their attention to the French shipping in the harbour. The French commander, Commandant Destremeau, ordered the coal piles burned and smoke began billowing over the town. The Zelee and the Walkure were sighted and fired upon by the Germans. The French had begun to scuttle them when the action had begun, but they were still afloat when the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau sighted them and finished them off. By now the town had caught fire from the German shelling, with two blocks of the city set alight.^[4] With the coal piles destroyed, von Spee saw no meaningful purpose in making a landing. After seeing that the town had caught fire and the two French ships destroyed, the German admiral withdrew his ships from Papeete's harbour and steamed out towards Nukuhiva.^[5]

[edit] Aftermath

By the time von Spee withdrew his ships large portions of the city had been destroyed. Two entire blocks of Papeete had been burnt to the ground, before the fires were finally put out. A copra store, market, as well as several other buildings and residences were among those destroyed by the shellfire and resulting inferno. Although the majority of the civilians fled the area as soon as the fighting began, two civilians were killed from German gunfire. Although the two French vessels in the harbor had been sunk, there were no military casualties on either side and the German vessels took no damage. Overall the destruction caused by the bombardment was estimated in 1915 to have caused over 2 millions francs worth of property damage, some of which was repaid through the seizure of a German store on the island.^[6] In addition to the seizure of property, several local Germans were interned and forced to repair the damage their compatriots had caused. Perhaps the most lasting effect of the bombardment on the French was the dramatic fall of copra prices in the region, as local suppliers had previously sold a majority of their produce to German merchants in the area who were now interned.^[7]

After withdrawing the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau rendezvoused with the SMS Nurnberg at Nukuhiva where they resupplied and took shore leave before moving on to meet the rest of the squadron at Easter Island.^[8] Although the Germans had destroyed the shipping at Papeete and wreaked havoc among the town, they had been denied their primary objective of seizing the French coal piles and replenishing their own stocks. Von Spee's raid allowed the British admiralty to receive word on his position and heading, allowing them to inform Rear Admiral Christopher Cradock of the German intentions thus leading to the Battle of Coronel.^[9] Another effect was the reduction of ammunition available to the two German cruisers. The hundreds of shells fired by Spee's ships at Papeete were irreplaceable. Effects of the ammunition depleted as a result of the action at Papeete possibly had some effect on the outcome of the German East Asia Squadron's failure to adequately defend itself at the Battle of the Falkland Islands.^[10]

[edit] Citations

[edit] References

• "Bombardment of Papeete". American Forestry (Washington, D.C.: The American Forestry Association) XXI. 1915. http://books.google.com/books?id=Ex0CAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA553&dq=bombardment+of+papeete&lr=#v=onepage&q=bombardment%20of%20papeete&f=false. Retrieved November 21, 2009. 
• Davis, W. M. (1918). "The Reef-Encircled Islands of the Pacific". The Journal of Geography (Appleton, Wisconsin: The Post Publishing Co.) XVII. http://books.google.com/books?id=ILmfAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA1&dq=bombardment+papeete#v=onepage&q=bombardment%20papeete&f=false. Retrieved November 22, 2009. 
• Freeman, Lewis R. (1918). "The Story of the Cornwall". The Worlds Work (New York: Doubleday, Page & Company) XXXVI. http://books.google.com/books?id=faLNAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA374&dq=bombardment+of+papeete&lr=#v=onepage&q=bombardment%20of%20papeete&f=false. Retrieved November 21, 2009. 
• Hough, Richard (2003). Falklands 1914: The Pursuit of Admiral Von Spee. Penzance, Cornwall: Periscope Publishing Ltd.. http://books.google.com/books?id=ARLc4b8ff88C&pg=PA71&dq=bombardment+of+papeete&lr=#v=onepage&q=bombardment%20of%20papeete&f=false. 
• Gudmundsson, Bruce I. (2004). On Armor. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers. http://books.google.com/books?id=uSivaTC7tSgC&pg=PA2&dq=Destremau+zelee#v=onepage&q=Destremau%20zelee&f=false. 

• Strachan, Hew (2001). The First World War: To Arms. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0198208774. http://books.google.com/books?id=zv8Zrrt6vqgC&pg=PA472&dq=bombardment+papeete&lr=#v=onepage&q=&f=false. 

[edit] Further Reading

• Gasse, Michel (2009). Tahiti 1914 - Le vent de guerre. Lardy, France: A la frontière. pp. 352. ISBN 978-2-918665-00-7.