10 
Land & Water 
June 20, 1918 
"But Admiral Souchon," he added, with another wink, 
"will enter the Sultan's service!" 
Wangenheim had more than patriotic reasons for this 
exultation ; the arrival of these ships was the greatest day 
in his diplomatic career. .It was really the first diplomatic 
victory which Germany had won. For years the Chancellor- 
ship of the Empire had been Wangenheim's laudable ambi- 
tion, and he behaved now like a man who saw his prize 
within his grasp. Tlie voyage of the Goeben and the Breslan 
was his personal triumph ;' he had arranged with the Turkish 
Cabinrt for their 
passage through 
the Dardanelles, 
and he had 
directed their 
movements by 
wireless in the 
Mediterranean. By 
safely getting the 
Goeben and the 
Breslau into Con- 
stantinople, Wan- 
genheim had 
finally clinched 
Turkey as Ger- 
many's ally. All 
his intrigues and 
plottings for three 
years had finally 
succeeded. 
1 doubt if any 
hvo ships have 
exercised a greater 
influence upon history'than these tti'O German cruisers. Not all 
of us at that time fully realised their importance, but sub- 
sequent developments have fully justified Wangenlieim's 
exuberant satisfaction. The Goeben was a powerful battle 
cruiser of recent construction ; the Breslau was not so large a 
ship, but she, like the Goeben, had the excessive speed that 
made her extremely serviceable in those waters. These ships 
had spent the few months preceding the war cruising in the 
Mediterranean, and when the declaration finally came they 
were taking supplies at Messina. I have always regarded 
it as more than a 
coincidence that 
these two vessels, 
both of them 
having a greater 
speed than any 
French or English 
ships in the Med- 
iterranean, should 
have been lying 
O'ot far from 
Turkey when war 
broke out. The 
selection of the 
Goeben was partic- 
ularly fortunate, 
as she had twice 
before visited Con- 
stantinople, and 
her officers and 
men knew the 
Dardanelles per- 
fectly. The 
behaviour of these 
crews, when the 
news of war was 
received, indicated 
the spirit with which the German Navy began hostilities ; 
the men broke out into song and shouting, lifted their 
admiral upon their shoulders, artd held a real German 
jollification. It is said that Admiral Souchon preserved, as 
a touching souvenir of this occasion, his white uniform 
bearing the finger-prints of his grimy sailors ! 
For all their joy at the prospect of battle, the 
situation of these ships was a precarious one. They formed 
no match for the large British and French naval forces 
which were roaming through the Mediterranean. The Goeben 
and the Breslau were far from their native bases ; with the 
coaling problem such an acute one, and with England in 
possession of all important stations, where could they flee 
for safety ? Several Italian destroyers were circling around 
the German ships at Messina, enforcing neutrality and 
occasionally reminding them that they could remain in port 
only twenty-four hours. England had ships stationed at 
the Gulf of Otranto, the head of the Adriatic, to cut them off 
" Goeben " in the Sea of Marmora 
in case they sought to escape into the Austrian port of Pola. 
The British Navy also stood guard at Gibraltar and Suez, 
the only other exits that apparently offered the possibility of 
escape. There was only one other place in which the Goeben 
and the Breslau might find a safe and friendly reception. 
That was Constantinople. 
Apparently the British Navy dismissed Constantinople 
as an impossibility: At that time — early in August 
— international law had not entirely disappeared as 
the guiding conduct of nations. Turkey was then a neutral 
country, and, 
despite the many 
evidences of Ger- 
man penetration, 
she seemed likely 
to maintain her 
neutrality. The 
Treaty of Paris, 
signed in 1856, 
provided that war- 
ships should not 
use the Dardan- 
elles exclpt on 
the special per- 
mission of the 
Sultan, which 
permission could 
be granted only 
in times .of peace. 
In practice, the 
Government had 
seldom given this 
permission except 
for ceremonial occasions. In the existing conditions, it 
would have amounted virtually to an unfriendly act 
for the Sultan to have removed the ban against war 
vessels in the Dardanelles ; and to permit the Goeben 
and the Breslau to remain in Turkish waters for more 
than twenty-four hours would have practically been a declara- 
tion of war. Depending, as usual, upon the sanctity of 
international regulations, the British Navy had shut off 
every point through which these German ships could have 
escaped to safety — except the entrance to the Dardanelles. 
Had England 
rushed a powerful 
squadron to this 
vital spot, how 
different the history 
of the last three 
years would have 
been. 
"His Majesty 
expects the Goeben 
and the Breslau to 
succeed in break- 
ing through!" 
Such was the wire- 
less that reached 
these vessels at 
Messina at five 
o'clock in the 
evening of August 
4th. The twenty- 
four hours' stay 
permitted by the 
Italian Govern- 
ment had nearly 
expired. Outside, 
in the Strait of 
Otranto, lay the 
force of British battle cruisers, sending false radio 
messages to the Germans instructing them to rush for Pola. 
With bands playing and flags flying, the officers and crews 
having had their spirits fired by speeches and champagne, 
the two vessels started at full-speed ahead toward the 
awaiting British fleet. 
. The little Gloucester, a scout boat, kept in touch, wiring 
constantly to the main squadron. Suddenly, when off Cape 
Spartivento, the Goeben and the Breslau let off into the 
atmosphere all the discordant vibrations which their wireless 
could command, jamming the air with such a hullabaloo 
that the Gloucester was unable to send any intelligible mes- 
sages. Then the German cruisers turned south and made 
for the ^gean Sea. The plucky little Gloucester kept close 
on their heels, and, as my daughter had related, had even 
once audaciously offered battle. A few hours behind the 
British squadron pursued, but uselessly, for the German 
ships, though far less powerful in battle, were much speedier. 
Breslau " (left) at the Golden Horn 
