Battle of Zanzibar 1914
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 20 September 1914 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1914 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
| Era | World War I era (1914–1918) | derived from year |
| Location | Tanzania | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Africa | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | World War I | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | German Empire, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | -6.1483, 39.1933 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Zanzibar was an encounter between the German Kaiserliche Marine and the British Royal Navy early in the First World War. While taking on coal in the delta of the Rufiji River in German East Africa, the German cruiser SMS Königsberg learned that a British cruiser, HMS Pegasus, which had been part of the Royal Navy's Cape Squadron sent to counter Königsberg, had put in at Zanzibar for repairs. Königsberg's captain, Commander Max Looff, decided to attack Pegasus while she was in port.
On 20 September 1914 Königsberg sailed past the picket ship HMS Helmuth at the entrance to Zanzibar harbour. Helmuth was unable to warn Pegasus of Königsberg's approach, with the result that when Konigsberg opened fire she took Pegasus entirely by surprise. As a result, Pegasus suffered severe damage before she was even able to return fire.
Königsberg's guns out-ranged those on Pegasus, which was consequently unable to damage her opponent. The one-sided battle ended in a German victory, Pegasus sank later that day, having lost 38 crew dead.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Zanzibar (revision 1370277309), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Battle of Tanga 1914 · 121 km
- Battle of Morogoro · 139 km
- Battle of Jassin 1915 · 163 km
- Battle of Mkalamo 1916 · 176 km
- Battle of the Rufiji Delta 1914 · 191 km
- Battle of Mlali 1916 · 203 km
Other battles of the World War I
- Action of 22 September 1914 1914
- Affair of Néry 1914
- Battle of Antivari 1914
- Battle of Arras (1914) 1914
- Battle of Cocos 1914
- Battle of Coronel 1914
- Battle of Dornach (1914) 1914
- Battle of Galicia 1914
- Battle of Heligoland Bight (1914) 1914
- Battle of Kolubara 1914
All 138 battles of the World War I →
Browse more: battles in Tanzania · Africa · World War I era battles