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The Battle of Zanzibar was fought between the ''Kaiserliche Marine'' and the Royal Navy during the First World War. The German cruiser had been taking on coal in the delta of the Rufiji River when her crew were told that a British cruiser—, which had been part of the Royal Navy's Cape Squadron sent to counter ''Köningsberg''—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 at the entrance to Zanzibar harbour. ''Helmuth'' was unable to warn ''Pegasus'' of ''Königsberg''′s approach, with the result that when ''Koningsberg'' opened fire she took ''Pegasus'' entirely by surprise. As a result, ''Pegasus'' suffered heavy 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. ==Background== Shortly after the outbreak of the First World War, on 19 September 1914, Commander Max Looff of the light cruiser SMS ''Königsberg'' was coaling in the Rufuji Delta, when he learned from coast watchers that a British warship had entered Zanzibar harbour. Looff assumed the cruiser at Zanzibar was either or HMS ''Pegasus'' and ordered an immediate attack. As ''Königsberg'' had been recently resupplied, she was prepared for battle. ''Königsberg'' left on the afternoon tide for her run to Zanzibar. The protected cruiser ''Pegasus'', under the command of Captain John Ingles, had just left the company of HMS ''Astraea'' and for repairs at Zanzibar to her boilers and engines. Also at Zanzibar, the British had armed the captured German tug HMS ''Helmuth'' with a 3-pounder gun and posted her as a picket ship at the entrance of the harbor. ''Königsberg'' had been built in 1905 and was armed with ten 10.5 cm guns, ten 37 mm autocannon pieces and two torpedo tubes. ''Pegasus''—a ''Pelorus''-class protected cruiser built in 1897—was armed with eight QF 4 inch guns, eight 3-pounders and two 18-inch torpedo tubes. Her complement consisted of 234 officers and men. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Battle of Zanzibar」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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