454105 - GERMAN RAIDERS OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR: Kaiserliche Marine Cruisers and the Epic Chases

By Chris Sams

• Covers the heroic actions, tragic losses and tough decisions of an overlooked theatre of the Great War
• Paperback release marks the 110th anniversary of the events
• Narrative includes not only the battles for the sea lanes, but also the comparatively obscure and forgotten land campaigns in New Guinea, Samoa and Tsingtao 

As the world plunged into war in August 1914, two Kaiserliche Marine fleets and several detached cruisers lay isolated beyond the North Sea. There was little chance of reinforcement and resupply, yet these vessels posed a serious threat to British merchant shipping and naval superiority.

Their commanders often had to make hard decisions about what to do for their crews. Admiral Wilhelm Souchon had to cross the Mediterranean with a superior French and British fleet in pursuit. Admiral Maximilian Von Spee had to act on his initiative, a world away from his superiors, while German colonies and friendly shipping were being overtaken by Allied forces. Captain Karl Von Müller led the Emden on a daring campaign of commerce raiding, as did the commander of the Karlsruhe. Like old-fashioned corsairs, other cruisers also carried out raids. The Royal Navy expended enormous resources on trying to remove these threats, sometimes with disastrous results, as with the battle of Coronel on 1 November 1914. .