SMS Leopard (1917)
{{otherships|1=SMS Leopard|2=SS Yarrowdale}}
{{Short description|British cargo ship that was converted into a German commerce raider}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2022}}
| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image |Ship image= Hilfskreuzer LEOPARD.jpg |Ship caption= SMS Leopard }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship name= *1912: Yarrowdale
|Ship namesake= *1912: the valley of Yarrow Water |Ship owner= Mackill Steamship Co |Ship operator= *1912: Robert Mackill & Co
|Ship registry= *1912: {{flagicon|UK|civil}} Glasgow |Ship route= |Ship ordered= |Ship builder= Wm Dobson & Co, Walker |Ship original cost= |Ship yard number= 178 |Ship laid down= |Ship launched= 3 May 1912 |Ship completed= June 1912 |Ship commissioned= into German Navy: 9 January 1917 |Ship maiden voyage= |Ship refit= |Ship in service= |Ship out of service= |Ship identification= *UK official number 133049
|Ship captured= by {{SMS|Möwe|1914|6}}, 11 December 1916 |Ship fate= sunk by gunfire, 16 March 1917 |Ship notes= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship type= cargo ship |Ship tonnage= {{GRT|4652}}, {{NRT|2914}} |Ship displacement= 9,800 tons |Ship length= {{cvt|390.2|ft|abbr=on}} |Ship beam= {{cvt|52.0|ft|abbr=on}} |Ship height= |Ship draught= |Ship depth= {{cvt|26.6|ft|abbr=on}} |Ship decks= 2 |Ship power= 429 NHP |Ship propulsion= *single screw |Ship speed= {{convert|13|kn|km/h}} |Ship capacity= |Ship armament= *1917: 2 × torpedo tubes |Ship complement= as auxiliary cruiser: 319 |Ship sensors= |Ship notes= }} |
SMS Leopard was a British cargo steamship that was built in 1912 as Yarrowdale, captured in 1916 by the Imperial German Navy, converted into a commerce raider in Germany, and sunk with all hands by the Royal Navy in 1917.
Yarrowdale{{'}}s British operator was Robert Mackill & Co of Glasgow, who gave this name to at least three different ships. This was the second of the three.
Leopard was the last commerce raider that Germany sent out in the First World War. After the Royal Navy sank her, Germany relied entirely on U-boats to sink Allied merchant ships.
Building
William Dobson & Co built Yarrowdale at Walker, Newcastle upon Tyne as yard number 178. She was launched on 3 May 1912 and completed that June.{{cite web |url= http://www.tynebuiltships.co.uk/Y-Ships/yarrowdale1912.html |title=Yarrowdale |work=Tyne Built Ships |publisher=Shipping and Shipbuilding Research Trust |access-date=19 November 2022}} Her registered length was {{cvt|390.2|ft|abbr=on}}, her beam was {{cvt|52.0|ft|abbr=on}} and her depth was {{cvt|26.6|ft|abbr=on}}. She had two decks. Her tonnages were {{GRT|4652}}, {{NRT|2914}},{{sfn|LLoyd's Register 1912|loc=YAR–YEA}} and 9,800 tons displacement.{{citation needed|date=November 2022}} Yarrowdale had a single screw, driven by a three-cylinder triple expansion steam engine that was rated at 429 NHP{{sfn|LLoyd's Register 1912|loc=YAR–YEA}} and gave her a speed of {{convert|13|kn|km/h}}.{{citation needed|date=November 2022}}
''Yarrowdale''
The Mackill Steamship Company owned Yarrowdale and Robert Mackill and Company managed her. She was registered in Glasgow. Her UK official number was 133049 and her code letters were HWBR.{{sfn|LLoyd's Register 1912|loc=YAR–YEA}}{{sfn|Mercantile Navy List 1913|p=605}}
On 11 December 1916 the German commerce raider {{SMS|Möwe|1914|6}} captured Yarrowdale in the Atlantic Ocean. Möwe{{'}}s commander, KK Nikolaus zu Dohna-Schlodien, saw Yarrowdale{{'}}s potential for conversion into a commerce raider. He put a German prize crew and 400 interned Allied seafarers aboard her, and she evaded Allied Blockade to reach Germany.{{sfn|Halpern|1994|p=371}}
''Leopard''
Kaiserliche Werft Kiel converted Yarrowdale into the commerce raider Leopard. She was armed with five 15 cm SK L/40 naval guns, four 8.8 cm SK L/45 naval guns and two torpedo tubes, all concealed.{{sfn|Schmalenbach|1977|p=71}} She was disguised as Rena, a cargo ship that had been built in England in 1911 for owners in neutral Norway, and whose size and appearance was similar to Yarrowdale{{'}}s. This was the second time that Germany had disguised a commerce raider as Rena. The first was {{SMS|Greif|1914|6}} a year earlier, which HMS {{RMS|Alcantara|1913|2}} sank before she had a chance to attack any Allied shipping.
On 9 January Leopard was commissioned into the German Navy{{sfn|Schmalenbach|1977|p=132}} under the command of KK Hans von Laffert.{{citation needed|date=November 2022}} Her complement was 319 officers and ratings.{{snf|Schmalenbach|1977|p=24}} She passed through the Little Belt on 7 March 1917, and then through the Kattegat, Skagerrak and North Sea.
Loss
{{main|Action of 16 March 1917}}
By 16 March Leopard was in the Norwegian Sea, where at 1145 hrs the armoured cruiser {{HMS|Achilles|1905|6}} and armed boarding steamer {{SS|Dundee||2}} sighted her. At 1400 hrs Achilles overtook Leopard, ordered her to stop, and sent Dundee to inspect her. Dundee lowered a boat, in which she sent a boarding party of an officer and five ratings to inspect Leopard.{{cite web |url= https://www.naval-history.net/WW1Battle-HMS_Achilles_Dundee_v_SMS_Leopard_1917.htm |last1=Beatty |first1=David |author1-link=David Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty |last2=Leake |first2=Frederick |last3=Day |first3=Selwyn |title=HMS Achilles & HMS Dundee v SMS Leopard action – 16 March 1917 |work=World War 1 at Sea – Naval Battles in outline |publisher=Naval-History.net |access-date=19 November 2022}}
Leopard kept trying to turn broadside-on to Dundee, ready to bring her concealed guns to bear. Dundee kept trying to keep astern of Leopard to prevent this. Dundee{{'}}s commander suspected that Leopard had twin screws, and was using them to turn the ship. However, this was not the case.
File:Destruction of the German Raider 'leopard' by His Majesty's Ships 'achilles' and 'dundee' Art.IWMART15814.jpg, RA, of {{HMS|Achilles|1905|6}} (left) firing at Leopard (right). HMS {{SS|Dundee||2}} is the small grey shape just to the left of Leopard.]]
At 1540 or 1545 hrs Leopard opened her port gun ports, revealing her guns. Dundee immediately opened fire at a range of about {{cvt|1000|yd}}. The British ship's two {{convert|4|in|0|adj=on}} guns immediately hit Leopard{{'}}s gun deck and engine room, while her one 3-pounder gun aimed at her bridge. Achilles opened fire at a range of {{cvt|5300|yd}}. Dundee fired 44 4-inch shells and 25 3-pounder shells before the German ship fired her first shot.
Leopard then fired three salvoes at Dundee. The first two fell short, and the third overshot. Thereafter, Leopard{{'}}s guns fired only singly. None of the shots hit Dundee, except with fragments of shrapnel. Leopard also fired three torpedoes at Dundee, but all missed.
At 1615 hrs Dundee ran out of ammunition. Achilles continued firing. Leopard was on fire throughout, but one of her guns kept firing. At 1633 or 1635 hrs Leopard listed to port and sank with all hands: 319 officers and men. The six Dundee{{'}}s boarding party were reported missing; presumed captured by Leopard and killed either in the British bombardment or when the German raider sank.
Aftermath
Soon after the action a bottle was found, containing a message purporting to be from a member of Leopard{{'}}s crew who had thrown it overboard during the engagement. It bore the time and place and read "In action with British cruiser. Fighting for the glory and honour of Germany. A last greeting to our relatives."{{sfn|Schmalenbach|1977|p=34}}
After Leopard was sunk, only days into her first patrol, Germany ceased trying to send surface raiders to attack Allied shipping. The German Navy had resumed unrestricted submarine warfare on 1 February, and after Möwe returned to port on 22 March, Germany relied on U-boats alone to sink Allied shipping.
References
{{Reflist}}
Bibliography
- {{cite book |last=Halpern |first=Paul |author-link=Paul Halpern |year=1994 |title=A Naval History of World War I |place=Annapolis, MD |publisher=Naval Institute Press |isbn=978-0870212666}}
- {{cite book |last=Hoyt |first=Edwin |author-link=Edwin Palmer Hoyt |year=1970 |title=The Elusive Seagull, The Adventures of World War One German Minelayer, the Moewe |place=London |publisher=Leslie Frewin |isbn=978-0091015701}}
- {{cite book |year=1912 |title=Lloyd's Register of British and Foreign Shipping |volume=II.–Steamers |place=London |publisher=Lloyd's Register of Shipping |url= https://archive.org/details/HECROS1913ST/page/n1163/mode/1up |via=Internet Archive |ref={{harvid|LLoyd's Register 1912|loc=YAR–YEA}} }}
- {{cite book |title=Mercantile Navy List |year=1913 |place=London |url= https://www.crewlist.org.uk/data/viewimages?name=Yarrowdale&year=1913&steamsail=Steam&submit=Enter |via=Crew List Index Project |ref={{harvid|Mercantile Navy List 1913|p=605}} }}
- {{cite book |last=Schmalenbach |first=Paul |year=1977 |title=German Raiders: A history of auxiliary cruisers of the German Navy, 1895-1945 |place=London |publisher=Patrick Stephens Ltd |isbn=978-0850593518}}
{{March 1917 shipwrecks}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leopard (auxiliary cruiser)}}
Category:Auxiliary cruisers of the Imperial German Navy
Category:Maritime incidents in 1917
Category:Merchant ships of the United Kingdom
Category:Ships built on the River Tyne
Category:Steamships of the United Kingdom
Category:Steamships of Germany
Category:Warships lost with all hands