The Fictitious History of Swan of the East, a 1914 PBEM Naval Wargame, Part One

Imagine my surprise browsing a used book store over the holidays and finding this old, long out of print history of the first months of the Great War at Sea in the East.   Imagine further, dear reader, that the events described therein were an exact match for the events of the naval campaign game that myself and eleven wonderful people participated in between June and November 2025!  I stood for many moments in that bookstore, turning those old pages in wonderment.  What strange alternate history timewarp did this volume emerge from, and who was Capt. C.M. Peters?  I could find no record of him in any history, and online sources such as Dreadnought Project yielded nothing.

So, over the next week, I shall be posting the contents of the history of this online game, which for me was the highpoint of my gaming career.   That it was a success is thanks to the creativity and commitment of the players, who seemed to have as much fun as I did.   You can go through back posts of this blog to learn about the mechanics of the game.  MP+

 Introduction

The author acquired first hand knowledge of the events described in this history as a staff officer serving in the Admiralty.   After the war he had the privilege of interviewing many of the participants whose accounts grace these pages.    This book is dedicated to the gallant sailors of all nations who contested the Pacific and Asian sealanes in the fall of 1914.

Captain C.M Peters, Rn (retd)

Part One:  Preparing for War

As both sides in the Pacific prepared for war, there was one man who had a definite plan.    Vice Admiral Maximilian Johannes Maria Hubert Reichsgraf von Spee, commander of the Kaiserliche Marine’s East Asiatic Squadron, spent the last days of peace laying at anchor in the Caroline Islands.  

Besides his flagship the heavy cruiser SMS Scharnhorst, and her sister ship, Gneisnau, his squadron consisted of the light cruiser Nurnberg, as well as the supply ships Titania and Markomania.  In addition, still in port in Tsingtao, Spee’s command included the light cruiser Emden (Kapitan Muller) and the hastily converted armed merchant cruiser, Prinz Eitel Friedrich (Kapitan Thierichens), a passenger ship of the Hamburg Amerika Line.  In Dar es Salaam, Spee also had the light cruiser Konigsberg (Kapitan Loof).

Spee’s orders from Berlin were to “wage a vigorous cruiser warfare” against Allied merchant shipping, while maintaining a fleet in being to threaten Allied naval forces and the vital convoys of colonial troops that would surely be raised and transported.  Spee knew that these orders could be contradictory.   To raid enemy merchant shipping he would have to disperse his ships, while threatening Allied naval forces meant risking damage that could not be repaired so far away from Germany.  He also knew that the recent development of wireless telegraphy equipment was a mixed blessing, for every communication with his squadron carried the risk of detection by superior allied forces.  In his favour, Spee knew that he could count on crack, well trained crews, except for the hastily assembled crew of the Friedrich.   He also knew that his sailors were well trained in night fighting, which would give the Kaiser’s men an edge on several occasions in the campaign to come.

Accordingly, Spee’s orders to his captains, given in sealed envelopes and only to be opened in the event of war, were simple:

• Avoid combat unless absolutely necessary;
• Get to sea at once so you are not blockaded in port;
• Maintain wireless silence unless absolutely necessary; and
• Treat captured merchant crews courteously while sinking their ships.

He assigned his ships to the following areas:

Koenigsberg would operate to the west of Australia and try to pick off merchants on the India/Arabia/Africa routes,  Friedrich would hunt the Pacific trade routes north and northwest of the Carolines, Emden would operate west of the Carolines and prey on the China trade.   

Spee’s own squadron would operate initially in the Carolines, raiding commerce routes while keeping an eye out for exposed allied naval units that could be picked off with minimal risk.

Leutnant Von Lans, who survived the sinking of Scharnhorst, remembered that Von Spee “always appeared calm, confident and encouraging, but one saw glimpses of a fatal resignation in his demeanour, the knowledge that he and many of his shipmates would never return home.”

In Tsingtao, the last days of peace were spent in frantic preparation as Emden and Eitel Friedrich took on coal, supplies, and ammunition.   Theo Mundt, the Executive Officer of the Eitel Friedrich, recalled that there was little time to integrate the crew, a mix of sailors from the gunboats Luchs and Tiger, reservists newly arrived from Germany, and civilian volunteers from the Hamburg Amerika crew.   “We did the best we could, and managed to be ready for sea in the same time as Emden, which made us all proud”.  Mundt recalled sitting with Kapitan Max Therichens the night before sailing, and toasting their ship.   As Mundt joked, “I never thought I’d be taking a floating hotel to war”.

And so it was that at night, in the last hours of peace, Emden and Friedrich left Tsingtao and parted company, while Kapitan Max Loof ordered Koenigsberg into the Mozambique Channel on what would be an eventful cruise.

Opposing Von Spee were three Royal Navy admirals and their foreign allies.    Operating out of Simonstown in South Africa, Rear Admiral Sir Herbert Goodenough King-Hall commanded the Cape Squadron.    

A veteran sea dog, King-Hall had first seen action as a midshipman in the Anglo-Egyptian War of 1882.    He knew these waters intimately, but was also painfully aware that his three ships, the protected cruisers HMS Pegasus, HMS Astraea, and HMS Hyacinth, were all built in the late 1800s whereas his likely opponent, Koenigsberg, was much newer.   Also weighing on King-Hall’s mind was the warning from the Admiralty that the German battlecruiser SMS Moltke, sister ship of the Goeben, could be en route to reinforce Von Spee.    

The First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill, was aware that the Cape Squadron would be no match for Moltke, and ordered the pre-dreadnought battleship HMS Swiftsure, to steam to reinforce.   As King-Hall wrote later, “The First Lord told me that since my ships were slower and inferior to those of the enemy, there was no use in running.   We were to sell our lives dearly in the best traditions of the service”.   With the promise of Swiftsure’s arrival, King-Hall’s squadron steamed north with the intention of blockading Dar Es Salaam.

Meanwhile in Hong Kong, Vice Admiral Martyn Jerram prepared his China Squadron for war.   

Besides his flagship the pre-dreadnought HMS Triumph, Jerram’s squadron included the slow but powerful armoured cruisers HMS Minotaur and HMS Hampshire, while for his eyes and ears her could count on the fast light cruisers HMS Newcastle and HMS Yarmouth.   While powerful in terms of tonnage and guns, Jerram knew that his crews varied in quality.   Only Newcastle had a crew that was trained to a superior standard.   

Attached to the China Squadron was the French armoured cruiser Dupleix, commanded by Captain Louis Juares.    

The relationship between Juares and Jerram began poorly and deteriorated thereafter.  Neither spoke the other’s language, and Juares found Jerram to be typical of his prejudices of the condescending English sea dog.     For his part, Jerram had a low opinion of the French crew, doubting their experience and competence, and relegated Dupleix to the unglamorous task of patrolling the sea lanes while he hunted the Germans.  Commander Edgar St John de Lancey, Jerram’s Intelligence Officer, spoke good French and did his best to mediate between the two, but found the task difficult.  “Both men cordially disliked the other from the start, and I think the Admiral often forgot that the French were part of his command, while Juares grew increasingly bitter and cynical as the weeks went on.  It was an Entente, but never an Entente Cordiale.”

In the last day of peace, Jerram received orders from the Admiralty to raise steam and prepare to sail.   Once hostilities were declared on 2 August, the China Squadron steamed north towards Tsingtao, leaving Dupleix to guard the South China Sea. 

The third member of this Royal Navy triumvirate, Rear Admiral George Edwin Patey, commanded the newly formed Royal Australian Navy’s sole squadron, based in Sydney.   

 Sharp-tongued and hard driving, Patey was an aggressive commander who did not suffer fools gladly.    He flew his flag in the battlecruiser HMAS Australia, paid for by subscription by her namesake colony but with a mostly British crew.   Her guns were more than a match for Spee’s heaviest ships.  Also part of the squadron were the  modern and fast light cruisers, HMAS Sydney with a highly efficient crew, and HMAS Melbourne.  Patey could also call on the older armoured cruiser HMAS Encounter.

Patey had a difficult relationship with Churchill, as the First Lord had given him conflicting orders.   On the one hand, he was tasked with steaming to Dar Es Salaam to reinforce King-Hall’s venerable ships and guard against any breakthrough by the German bogeyman Moltke.    However, he also knew that he was responsible for protecting the Australian trade routes and the troop convoys that would inevitably be sent from Australia and New Zealand once the war came.    Patey also knew that the enemy base in Rabaul, German New Guinea, could be a haven for Von Spee.  Small wonder then that he was known for his waspish temper.

Patey’s solution to this fraught situation was to divide his squadron.  Australia and Sydney would steam west and assist King Hall, while Melbourne and Encounter would steam north and blockade Rabaul.

Finally, we should mention the allied naval forces that played a significant contribution to the campaign.   

Coming from the frigid waters around Vladivastock was Commodore Admiral Sergei Ivanov, with his flag in Askold.   With her distinctive five funnels, Askold was well known in the Pacific.  A German design, and quite fast, she was plagued with smaller than normal coal bunkers.    Ivanov’s squadron included the older protected cruiser Jentchug,  Her captain, Baron I. A. Cherkasov, was socially superior to Ivanov but far less competent, which made for a difficult relationship. Ivanov also had the challenge of managing crews that were still infected by the mutinous spirit of the 1905-06 rebellion.   A veteran of the Russo-Japanese war, and a former junior naval attaché to Britain, Ivanov had excellent English and was a conscientious commander who strove to motivate and improve his crew.

Finally, the Imperial Japanese Navy contributed the fast light cruiser Chikuma, a close copy of an English design, the first Japanese warship to be equipped with steam turbines. 

Her captain, Hiroshi Tatsuo, had commanded a torpedo boat in the war with Russia and had been decorated for sinking a Russian cruiser.  One can imagine that he had no love for the Russians, which was potentially awkward as he and Ivanov were both attached to Jerram’s China Squadron.   

As it turned out, both the Russian and Japanese contributions were highly effective, and deserved as much credit for the final victory in the Pacific as did the Royal Navy.

With our list of dramatis personae complete, we can now turn to the first moves of the naval war in the east.

To Be Continued