THE TRUE STORY OF WORLD WAR 1’S FIRST NAVAL BATTLE, WAGED ON THE TRANQUIL WATERS OF LAKE MALAWI IN 1914
On my regular visits to Malawi to see importers and exporters who supported ZAL service, there was often the need to spend the weekend. The best attraction was the fabulous Lake Malawi, where I heard a story about the first naval battle to take place following the start of World War 1 in 1914.
Commander EL Rhoades of the 350-ton lake steamer HMS Gwendolen, stationed on Lake Nyasa as it was then named, learnt of the outbreak of war by telegram in August 1914. He was instructed by Sir George [Smith], governor of Nyasaland, to “sink, burn or otherwise destroy the German steamer Hermann von Wissmann”.
At that time, the northeast part of the lake was the German Protectorate (Tanzania), German East Africa, Mozambique in the southeast, and British Nyasaland (Malawi) on the west coast.
Following orders, Capt. Rhoades endeavoured to follow instructions “to seek, burn or otherwise destroy the German vessel” Hermann von Wissmann.
His first problem was that none of his crew knew how to operate the Hotchkiss gun. They located a tradesman called Jock, who claimed to know the rudiments of gunnery but confessed to being a little rusty. He was nevertheless welcomed on board and was give half a dozen men to train as gun crew. Rhoades’ other problem was to locate some Hotchkiss ammunition.
Luckily sufficient shells were discovered in a government shed on the wharf labelled “spares”. It was obsolete munitions, but it was all they had.
The Gwendolen set sail on 8 August 1914 to begin a search for the Wissmann. The sheer size of the lake complicated the task, so it steamed north towards German East Africa territory. On reaching Nkata Bay, they learned that the Wissmann had been seen at Sphinxhaven some 36 miles [58km] away.
The Gwendolen sailed immediately for “the Sphinx”, and arrived at dawn the following day. Much to his relief, Capt. Rhoades found the Wissmann high and dry on the beach a mile away. They anchored opposite the beached ship and ordered Jock to open fire.
This was not as easy as it seemed, as the Gwendolen started rolling badly in the swell. On firing a portion of the shells, there were duds that had to be thrown overboard. Finally, the first salvo was fired successfully. As the ship heeled, the shells passed harmlessly over the Wissmann and exploded some miles away over the ridge in the bush, much to the consternation of the local African villagers in the coconut plantation on the other side. After 15 minutes of spirited bombardment, Jock’s elevation happened to be right when he pulled the trigger and scored a “bull’s eye” on the target, crippling the Wissmann lying on her back on the shore.
A furious figure dressed in white shorts and a singlet was seen jumping into a dingy and pulling frantically towards the Gwendolen. His face was purple with rage and he was shouting obscenities in German as he rowed. At the foot of the Gwendolen companion ladder, he threw down his oars with an oath and clambered up.
It was the Wissmann’s Capt. Herr Berndt and he was roaring: “Gott for Dahm, Rrrhoades, vos you dronk?” Clearly no one had told him that war had been declared.
Berndt's shouting changed into guttural spluttering as Rhoades gently explained the situation to him. He then demanded a chair and a glass of neat whiskey to calm his nerves. The unhappy Prussian gentleman was then relieved of his gun and led away to an empty cabin.
It transpired that captains Rhoades and Berndt were, in fact, good friends before war was declared and had spent many evenings enjoying sundowners together on the lake. War, it seemed, would not be allowed to interfere with drinking arrangements.
The Gwendolen returned to Nkata Bay on the evening of the “battle” and a cable was dispatched to Whitehall, informing them of this great naval victory, the first of the Great War. It is said that puzzled Admiralty officers muttered as they pored over maps of Central Africa to try to make sense of it all.
The story was soon with the press and the Times headlines proclaimed, Naval battle on Lake Nyasa.
Meantime, the lake’s Trafalgar fought and won, the HMS Gwendolen was carrying her distinguished prisoner down the lake to his long captivity, and sometimes, when Rhoades joined Herr Berndt in his cabin, it seemed quite like old times. Richard Siedle