The Königsberg Incident -
I
The Königsberg Incident -
II
A summary of her career
Animated
Campaign Maps
The Indian Ocean and Rufiji Delta
Current Wrecks and Relics
A list of the
latest sites
|
 By James Burbeck
The
Königsberg Incident was brought to life for me one hot afternoon in
Mombasa, Kenya. I was 28 years old, and just completing a long journey from the
Zaire border to the Indian Ocean. I had heard that some guns belonging to a
German warship were on display outside of Fort Jesus at Mombasa. The fortress
is an old Portuguese stronghold whose whitewashed walls still loom over the
ocean front at Mombasa. Not able to resist being so close to such historical
relics, I visited the fort as soon as I got into the area. There was indeed one
of the converted main guns from the World War One cruiser Königsberg, and
also another from the British cruiser Pegasus. Both ships had been sunk in
action during the Great War, and their guns salvaged for use during the
protracted East African land campaign which lasted the duration of the
war.
Not long after returning from my trip, I started on the first work
that eventually became WTJ. Early in the effort, I made sure that one of our
ongoing articles would cover the Königsberg and the ships who fought
— and assisted — her. Soon afterward I met up with Kevin Patience,
who is widely accepted as the world's expert on this incident. He grew up in
East Africa, speaks fluent Kiswahili, has made numerous visits to battle sites
and wrecks and met with the last Pegasus survivor before that gentleman's
passing in 1982. It is through Kevin's long effort that many details about this
event are available to the world.
This WTJ Special Feature article is
an on-line center of learning about this strangely famous WWI incident. It
features a summary of the various events surrounding the Königsberg
Incident as well as Flash animated battle maps. There is also an ever-expanding
compendium of the current locations and conditions of related ship wrecks and
relics still scattered around Europe and the Indian Ocean. |
