r, 1914, the Germans planned and
carried out a general surprise for the British navy. After the battle
in the Bight of Helgoland, back in August, the British thought that
Germany would continue to keep her navy within the protection of
her coast defenses, perhaps forever. But such was not her intention.

On the afternoon of November 2,1914, there gathered off some part
of Germany's northern shore a squadron consisting of the battle
cruisers _Von der Tann, Seydlitz_, and _Moltke_, the protected
cruisers _Kolberg, Strassburg_, and _Graudenz_, the armored cruisers
_Yorck_ and _Bluecher_, together with some destroyers. The slowest
of these vessels could make a speed of 25 knots, and the fastest,
the _Graudenz_ and _Moltke_, could make 28 knots. The guns of the
_Bluecher_ were the heaviest in the squadron, those of her primary
battery being 12-inch cannon. Ten-inch guns were on the decks of
the other ships.

The first that the rest of the world knew of the gathered force
was at evening, November 2, 1914, when a fleet of British fishermen
hailed them with friendly signs, thinking them British ships, not
far from Lowestoft some time after six o'clock. The fishermen started
at once for their home ports in order to apprise the British
authorities, but they had not gone far when the news was flashed to
the British admiralty office from the wireless room of the British
gunboat _Halcyon_. But only the first few words of the warning
were able to get through, for the wireless operators on the German
ships "jammed" their keys, and a few shots from the German guns
were sufficient to bring down the wireless apparatus of the gunboat
as well as one of her funnels. She turned off and made for her
home port to report the news some hours later.

It was only ten miles from the British shores that the _Halcyon_
had sighted the German ships, but they were able, nevertheless,
to elude all British warships in those regions and proceeded to
Yarmouth, firing at the wireless station, the naval yards, and the
town itself. Fearing mines near the coast, the German commander
did not attempt to come in too close, with the result that many
of the German shots fell short, and, in spite of the fact that
the bombardment lasted for nearly half an hour, the damage done
by them was not great.

The inhabitants of the towns of Lowestoft and Yarmouth were asleep
in the early hours of the morning when they first heard the booming
of the German guns. In the da