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The first naval battle of World War I didn’t happen anywhere near Europe, but on a lake in Africa. The “belligerent” captains were British vs. German, but they were also good friends. The “fighting” was short-lived, followed by the pair getting drunk together.
--On This Day in History, Shit Went Down: August 13, 1914--
Because colonization, there was “British East Africa,” which is now called Malawi, and “German East Africa,” now Tanzania. Between the two is a sizeable lake that in 1914 was called Lake Nyasa (now Lake Malawi). British Captain Edmund Rhoades commanded the HMS Gwendolen. German Captain Berndt commanded the SS Hermann von Wissmann. The pair of ships and their captains had been patrolling the lake for over a decade with a shared mission of being on the lookout for slavers. In so doing, they had become friends and drinking partners, and even engaged their ships in mock battles with each other.
But then, a giant fucking world war. Britain said hey Germany get the fuck out of Belgium, and Germany said no fuck you we want those waffles, and Britain said the waffles must flow and Britain and Germany became enemy combatants. Being that no one was tweeting about it, it took a while for word of the hostilities to reach east Africa. Fortunately for Captain Rhoades, he was the first to learn that his friend Captain Berndt was now officially his enemy. So on the evening of August 13, 1914, Rhoades went in search of his prey, but what followed was a battle in name only.
The von Wissmann had been hauled onto the beach to undergo repairs, and Rhoades ordered the open fire. The ammunition was ancient, and the first round was a dud. The next few missed, and finally he scored a hit, doing some small damage. Then a rowboat appeared with a furious Captain Berndt rowing toward the Gwendolen. “God damn, Rhoades!” Berndt stood in his rowboat and shook his fists. “Are you drunk?” Rhoades replied, “Afraid not old chap,” explaining that their countries were at war and Berndt needed to surrender. “Surrender be hanged,” Berndt said. “Come and have a drink.” Rhoades replied with another shot that destroyed the von Wissmann’s smokestack, and Berndt realized his friend meant business and gave up.
No one was injured in the “fighting.” All that Rhoades did then was take von Wissmann’s gun, then they got back to drinking. Alas, the friendly arrangement would not last, as there were British and German troops in the area who would soon begin to make war upon each other. In 1915, with a new commander in charge of the Gwendolen, the von Wissmann was further damaged in another attack, and then captured by the British in 1916 and put into Allied service under the new name of HMS King George.
Although not much of a battle, the swift actions of Captain Rhoades allowed important naval support for British troops in the region, leading to their victory in the East Africa campaign of the war.
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