The Battle of Zanzibar was a single ship action of the First World War. In December on 1914, an Imperial German merchant raider attacked a Royal Navy cruiser in the African waters of Zanzibar Harbor. The one sided battle ended in a German victory, after the British vessel was destroyed along with alot of her crew.
Background
Just after the beginning of World War I, on September 19, 1914, Commander Max Looff of the light cruiser SMS Konigsberg was in the Rufji River Delta, when he learned from friendly coast watchers that a British warship had entered Zanzibar Harbor. Loof assumed it was either HMS Astraea or HMS Pegasus. Captain Loof ordered an attack immediately, she had just been supplies at Dar es Salaam so was fully capable of sustaining a battles.
With the afternoon tide the Konigsberg left and started her attack run on Zanzibar Harbor.
Cruiser HMS Pegagsus, which was the British ship at harbor and not the Astraea, had actually just left the Astraea and HMS Hyacinth for repairs at Zanzibar to her boilers and engines. Konigsberg was armed with ten 4.1 inch (10.5 cm) rapid fire guns, ten 2 inch (5.2 cm) rapid fire guns and two 18 inch (45 cm) torpedo tubes. Pegasus was armed with eight 4 inch (102 mm) guns, eight 3-pounders and two 18 inch (457 mm) torpedo tubes. Pegasus was built in 1897 and Konigsberg' was only eight years older, bult in 1905.
Battle
At dawn the next morning, September 20, Königsberg came within range of HMS Pegasus and began firing salvos as she sat at anchor in Zanzibar Harbor. For about twenty minutes, Kronigsberg fired while Pegasus remained in a stationary position. The British did not move but did raise the Union Jack. Pegasus was not capable of hitting the German cruiser yet at the unknown but far range, she was forced to wait during the first twenty minutes until Kronigsberg was close enough. All the while Kronigsberg continued to fire and all of the German shots apparantly had failed to hit their target up to this point. Kronigsberg came closer and Pegasus fired. Unfortunately for the Pegasus, her crew made no hits either.
The German light cruiser discharged her gun battery again and struck the British warship, killing and wounding some of the Britons. The battle continued for around twenty minutes more. Futher German rounds were fired and hit the British cruiser. Pegasus resisted as much as possible but had now sustained shot-holes at or beneath the waterline. Pegasus slowly began to fill with water. Without a hope of defeating the Germans, Captain Ingles of Pegasus lowered his flag and ordered the evacuation of his ship. With a clear German victory, the Konigsberg turned around and headed back for Rufji Delta. The Royal Navy lost thirty-eight killed in total, another fifty-five sailors were wounded. German casualties were zero according to sources which do not mention anything about damage to the Konigsberg or casualties among the crew.
Aftermath
The German Empire won the day so the morale aboard the Konigsberg increased but this was short lived as the German light cruiser would soon be blockaded in Rufji Delta by other British vessels, awaiting her final battle. The hospital ship HMS Gascon and the Scottish ship SS Clan Macrae rescued the survivors of Pegasus. Six of Pegasus' gun were salvaged from the wreck and later used in the East African land campaign. The killed British sailors remain overseas.
German Navy
Royal Navy