Battle of Tanga - Prelude

Prelude

Tanga, situated only 80 kilometres (50 mi) from the border of British East Africa (modern-day Kenya), was a busy seaport and the ocean terminal of the important Usambara Railway, which ran from Tanga to Neu Moshi at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro. Tanga was initially to be bombarded by British warships, but this part of the plan was scrapped. An agreement was in place guaranteeing the neutrality of the capital Dar es Salaam and Tanga, but now the accord was modified and it seemed “only fair to warn the Germans that the deal was off.”

Instead the British resolve to capture German East Africa was to be implemented with an amphibious attack on Tanga. Unlike the plan on paper however, the attack turned into a debacle. On 2 November 1914 the British cruiser HMS Fox arrived. The ship’s captain, Commander F.W. Caulfield, went ashore giving Tanga one hour to surrender and take down the imperial flag. Before departing he demanded to know if the harbor was mined; it was not, but he was assured that it was. After three hours the flag was still flying and Fox departed to bring in the Force “B” convoy of fourteen troop transports. This gave time for both the Schutztruppe and the citizens of Tanga to prepare for an attack. The German commander, Lieutenant Colonel Paul Emil von Lettow-Vorbeck, rushed to Tanga. He reinforced the defences (initially only a single company of Askaris) with troops brought in by rail from Neu Moshi, eventually numbering about 1,000 in six companies.