Pengejaran SMS Goeben dan SMS Breslau: Perbedaan antara revisi

Kedua kapal yang sebelumnya dipesan kepada Inggris dipandang sebagai sesuatu yang sangat penting untuk melawan provokasi Yunani serta meredam aktivitas separatisme yang sedang berlangsung di berbagai wilayah Kekaisaran Ottoman.{{sfn|Strachan|p=652-655}} Kekaisaran Ottoman ditaksir telah mengeluarkan dana senilai $30.000.000 pada saat itu untuk membeli kedua kapal tersebut, yang mana dana tersebut dihimpun dari sektor publik.{{sfn|Tuchman|p=164}} Inggris yang menyadari dirinya berada diambang perang besar, lebih mementingkan kedua kapal ini untuk dipergunakan sendiri ketimbang diserahkan kepada Kekaisaran Ottoman.{{sfn|Tuchman|p=164}}{{sfn|the Malta garrison}} Sir [[Edward Grey]] yang saat itu menjabat sebagai menteri luar negeri Inggris meyakini bahwasannya, dengan mengganti jumlah uang yang telah dikeluarkan untuk pembelian kapal, Kekaisaran Ottoman akan menerima dan memaklumi keputusan terkait pembatalan penyerahan kapal ini. Telegram pemberitahuan tersebut dikirimkan Inggris pada 3 Agustus 1914, tepat pada tanggal dimana Kekaisaran Ottoman menandatangani kesepakatan aliansi untuk bergabung bersama Kekaisaran Jerman di Blok Sentral.{{sfn|Tuchman|p=164}}

 

 

==Armada Sekutu di Laut Tengah yang terkait pengejaran==

Perancis pada saat itu memiliki armada kapal terbesar di Laut Tengah{{efn|name= Perancis}}

 

 

 

On the way back to Messina, where the German units were to re-supply the coal, they encountered the Mediterranean cruiser liner's "Indomitable" and "Indefatigable" flows in the opposite direction. Because at that moment Britain was not yet in a state of war with Germany (the declaration of the war was late in the evening, after the deadline for the British ultimatum and the German invasion of Belgium ), British ships had begun tracking only the German squadron .. Due to trouble with the propulsion systems, the British cruisers were unable to maintain the speed achieved by the Germans; the sight was supported only by the light cruiser HMS "Dublin", however, and its observers lost German ships in the dusk and fog. The next morning, when the United Kingdom and Germany were already in a state of war, the German squadron undisturbed wrapped to Messina [8] .

 

Kaiser Wilhelm II had ordered that in the event of war, ''Goeben'' and ''Breslau'' should either conduct raids in the western Mediterranean to prevent the return of French troops from North Africa to Europe, or break out into the Atlantic and attempt to return to German waters, on the squadron commander's discretion. On 3 August 1914, the two ships were en route to Algeria when Souchon received word of the declaration of war against France. ''Goeben'' bombarded Philippeville (now Skikda, Algeria) for about 10 minutes early on 3 August while ''Breslau'' shelled Bône (now Annaba, on the site of the ancient city of Hippo) in accordance with the Kaiser's order. Admirals Alfred von Tirpitz and Hugo von Pohl then transmitted secret orders to Souchon instructing him to sail to Constantinople, in direct contravention of the Kaiser's instructions and without his knowledge.

 

Since ''Goeben'' could not reach Constantinople without coaling, Souchon headed for Messina. The Germans encountered the British battlecruisers HMS ''Indefatigable'' and ''Indomitable'', but Germany was not yet at war with Britain and neither side opened fire. The British turned to follow ''Goeben'' and ''Breslau'', but the German ships were able to outrun the British, and arrived in Messina by 5 August. Refueling in Messina was complicated by the declaration of Italian neutrality on 2 August. Under international law, combatant ships were permitted only 24 hours in a neutral port.Sympathetic Italian naval authorities in the port allowed ''Goeben'' and ''Breslau'' to remain in port for around 36 hours while the ships coaled from a German collier. Despite the additional time, ''Goeben''<nowiki/>'s fuel stocks were not sufficient to permit the voyage to Constantinople, so Souchon arranged to rendezvous with another collier in the Aegean Sea. The French fleet remained in the western Mediterranean, since the French naval commander in the Mediterranean, Admiral Lapeyrère, was convinced the Germans would either attempt to escape to the Atlantic or join the Austrians in Pola.

 

Souchon's two ships departed Messina early on 6 August through the southern entrance to the strait and headed for the eastern Mediterranean. The two British battlecruisers were 100 miles away, while a third, ''Inflexible'', was coaling in Bizerta, Tunisia. The only British naval force in Souchon's way was the 1st Cruiser Squadron, which consisted of the four armored cruisers ''Defence'', ''Black Prince'', ''Duke of Edinburgh'' and ''Warrior'' under the command of Rear Admiral Ernest Troubridge. The Germans headed initially towards the Adriatic in a feint; the move misled Troubridge, who sailed to intercept them in the mouth of the Adriatic. After realizing his mistake, Troubridge reversed course and ordered the light cruiser ''Dublin'' and two destroyers to launch a torpedo attack on the Germans. ''Breslau''<nowiki/>'s lookouts spotted the ships, and in the darkness, she and ''Goeben'' evaded their pursuers undetected. Troubridge broke off the chase early on 7 August, convinced that any attack by his four older armored cruisers against ''Goeben''—armed with her larger 28 cm guns—would be suicidal. Souchon's journey to Constantinople was now clear.