the British sailors in the small boats, as well as that of a
German prisoner from the _Koenigin Luise_.

All the world, with possibly the exception of the men in the German
admiralty, now looked for a great decisive battle "between the giants"
in the North Sea. The British spoke of it as a coming second Trafalgar,
but it was not to take place. For reasons of their own the Germans kept
their larger and heavier ships within the protection of Helgoland and
the Kiel Canal, but their ships of smaller type immediately became
active and left German shores to do what damage they might to the
British navy. It was hoped, perhaps, that the naval forces of the two
powers could be equalized and a battle fought on even terms after the
Germans had cut down British advantage by a policy of attrition.

A flotilla of German submarines on August 9 attacked a cruiser belonging
to the main British fleet, but was unable to inflict any damage. The
lord mayor of the city of Birmingham received the following telegram the
next morning: "Birmingham will be proud to learn that the first German
submarine destroyed in the war was sunk by H. M. S. _Birmingham_." Two
shots from the British ship had struck the German _U-15_, and she sank
immediately.

The German admiralty, even before England had declared war, suspected
that the greatest use for the German navy in the months to come would be
to fight the British navy, but they ventured to show their naval
strength against Russia beforehand. Early in August they sent the
_Augsburg_ into the Baltic Sea to bombard the Russian port of Libau, but
after doing a good bit of damage the German ship retired. It is probable
that this raid was nothing more than a feint to remind Russia that she
continually faced the danger of invasion from German troops landed on
the Baltic shores under the cover of German ships, and that she must
consequently keep a large force on her northern shores instead of
sending it west to meet the German army on the border.

Among the German ships which were separated from the main fleet in the
North Sea, and which were left without direct communication with the
German admiralty after the cutting of the cables off the Azores by the
_Drake_, were the cruisers _Goeben_ and _Breslau_. When England declared
war these two German ships were off the coast of Algeria. Both were very
fast vessels, having a speed of 28 knots, and they were designed to go
6,000 knots without needing replenishmen