German attacks on Nauru

German attacks on Nauru
Part of World War II Pacific War
Damaged phosphate cantilever loading equipment following the German bombardment of Nauru on 27 December 1940
Date 6–8 December and 27 December 1940 Location Nauru Result German victory
Belligerents
Germany	Australia  United Kingdom  Norway
Strength
Two auxiliary cruisers One oiler	No defenders
Casualties and losses
None	Five merchant ships sunk, damage to phosphate loading facilities

The Australian-administered Pacific island of Nauru was attacked by German auxiliary cruisers on two occasions in December 1940. These attacks sank five Allied merchant ships and inflicted serious damage on the island's important phosphate-loading facilities.

The two attacks were the most effective conducted by German raiders in the Pacific during the war. They disrupted the supplies of phosphate to Australia, New Zealand and Japan and led to Allied naval vessels being deployed to protect the islands and shipping in the South Pacific.

Background

Movements of the three German ships in December 1940 and January 1941

Nauru and nearby Ocean Island were important sources of phosphate for Australian and New Zealand fertilizer production and played an important role on both countries agriculture industries. The Melbourne-based British Phosphate Commission (BPC) managed the extraction and export of phosphate from the islands and dominated all aspects of Nauruan life.^[1] During the year ending 30 June 1940 the board shipped almost a million tons of phosphate from Nauru and about half that amount from Ocean Island using its fleet of four vessels (Triadic, Triaster, Triona and Trienza ) and chartered merchant ships.^[2] As the islands have no harbours or anchorages the ships were loaded by securing to deep moorings and embarking their phosphate via cantilever jetties. During south-westerly wind periods - which are common from November to March - ships had to stop loading and sail away from the island until conditions improved. It was common for these ships to be allowed to drift to save fuel and there were often several ships lying off Nauru.^[3] Despite their importance to the Australian and New Zealand economies, Nauru and Ocean islands had been allocated a low priority for the limited military assets which were available to protect the Australia Station and both islands were undefended in December 1940. Strategic stockpiles of phosphate had been built up in Australia, however, to lessen the impact of an attack on the islands.^[4]

In late October 1940 the German raiders Orion and Komet and their supply ship Kulmerland met at Lamotrek in the Caroline Islands.^[5] The three ships operated off New Zealand's east coast for 18 days during November and sank the small coaster Holmwood and large ocean liner Rangitane with gunfire without being detected by the weak New Zealand defences on 25 and 27 November respectively.^[6] Following these attacks the raiders proceeded to the Kermadec Islands, where they transferred their women and children prisoners to Kulmerland on 29 November. The three ships then proceeded to Nauru to attack the island's phosphate industry and the concentration of shipping which the German captains knew was usually present.^[5]

Attacks on Nauru

The German force encountered its first BPC ship while en-route to Nauru. On 6 December Triona (4,413 tons) was attacked north-east of the Solomon Islands and was sunk with torpedos after a chase in which three of her crew were killed by the raiders' guns. All 68 survivors were captured.^[5]

The raider captains intended to land a shore party and bombard Nauru's shore installations at dawn on 8 December, but bad weather forced them to concentrate on the ships which were off the island. On the evening of 7 December Komet, which had gone ahead to reconnoitre and was disguised as the Japanese merchant ship Manyo Maru, sank the Norwegian merchant ship Vinni (5,181 tons)^[7] approximately nine miles south of Nauru. While the raider was spotted from the shore her disguise was successful and she was assumed to be a merchant ship bound for Japan.^[8] Orion joined Komet off Nauru in the early hours of 8 December and attacked and damaged Triadic (6,378 tons) and sank Triaster (6,032 tons). Komet then tried to sink Triadic with scuttling charges, but this was unsuccessful and Orion sank the merchant ship with gunfire. Komet later sank the British steamer Komata (3,900 tons). Following these attacks the two raiders and Kulmerland withdrew and assembled 20 miles (32 km) east of Nauru. As the weather precluded a landing on the island, it was decided that Komet and Kulmerland would go to Ailinglaplap in the Marshall Islands where Komet would refuel while Orion operated north-west of Nauru. Following this the ships would meet up off the island and attempt a landing if possible.^[8]

The German attacks on Nauru on 7–8 December and 27 December 1940

When the German force reassembled off Nauru on 15 December the weather continued to be too bad to permit a landing and the attack on Nauru was broken off. Further attacks on shipping were judged impractical as the raiders' had intercepted radio messages ordering ships bound for Nauru and Ocean Island to disperse. Instead, the three German ships proceeded to the Australian-administered island of Emirau to disembark the 675 prisoners they were carrying.^[8] Fortunately for the Germans Emirau was one of the few islands in the region to not have a Royal Australian Navy-supplied radio to contact the Australian authorities.^[9] The released prisoners were quickly supplied by the Australian authorities and were transported to Townsville, Queensland on 29 December. They provided useful intelligence on the German raiders' operations, and the German Naval Staff issued a directive prohibiting raiders from releasing further prisoners on 19 February 1941.^[10]

The three German ships parted company after leaving Emirau on 21 December. Orion proceeded to Lamutrik and then Maug in the Caroline Islands to overhaul her engines, Kulmerland went to Japan and only Komet continued operations in the South Pacific. She attempted to lay mines off Rabaul on 24 December using her motor boat but this project was abandoned when the boat's engines failed.^[8]

Komet returned to Nauru following the unsuccessful attempt to mine Rabaul and arrived off the island at 5:45am on the morning of 27 December. After issuing a warning for those on shore to not use radio and signalling her intent to destroy the phosphate loading plant she opened fire at 6:40am. The bombardment lasted for about an hour during which time the raider wrecked the loading plant, oil tanks, boats, buildings and mooring buoys. Following this attack she sailed to the south east and Nauru broadcast news of the attack to Australia.^[8] This was the last visit of German ships to Nauru during the war, and Komet transferred her activities to the Indian Ocean.^[11]

Aftermath

HMAS Manoora off Nauru in January 1941

The German raids on Nauru had an impact on the Australian and New Zealand economies and were the greatest success achieved by German raiders in the Pacific Ocean during World War II.^[12] It took ten weeks to resume phosphate shipments from Nauru and the loss of ships and damaged infrastructure resulted in a significant decline in output. The resulting phosphate shortages forced the introduction of fertilizer rationing in New Zealand from July 1941. Komet's bombardment of the island also interfered with phosphate consignments to Japan, which caused the Japanese government to threaten to reduce the aid it was providing to Germany.^[12]

The success of the attacks on Nauru led to rumours in Australia and New Zealand that the raiders had been aided by treachery in the islands. Several investigations were conducted into the rumours and proved them to be unfounded.^[11]

Following the raids the Australian Naval Board requested that the British Admiralty agree to redeploy Australian naval units to meet the threat posed by raiders. This was agreed to and the light cruiser HMAS Sydney and armed merchant cruiser HMAS Kanimbla returned to Australia. This allowed naval protection to be provided to Nauru and Ocean islands and HMAS Manoora arrived off Ocean Island on 4 January 1941 escorting Trienza. Several Australian and New Zealand warships maintained a continual presence off the islands during subsequent months and two field guns were deployed to each island. The attacks also led to the introduction of convoys between Australia and New Zealand.^[13]

Notes

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: World War II in Nauru

• Gill, G. Hermon (1957). Royal Australian Navy 1939–1942. Australia in the War of 1939–1945. Series 2 – Navy. Canberra: Australian War Memorial. http://www.awm.gov.au/histories/chapter.asp?volume=24. 
• Jackson, Richard (1998). "Forcing force development: the impact of the German raiders on New Zealand's maritime defences". in David Stevens. Maritime Power in the 20th Century: The Australian Experience. Sydney: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1864487364. http://books.google.com.au/books?id=cUcmQvge2pwC&pg=PA95&vq=Nauru&source=gbs_search_s&sig=ACfU3U1cyYJoJ-rrUkL660XHwnI0sYgxTg#PPA85,M1. 
• Pretes, Michael (2003). "The Nauru Connection". Wartime (Canberra: Australian War Memorial) (23). ISSN 13282727. 
• Waters, Sydney David (1956). The Royal New Zealand Navy. The Official History of New Zealand in the Second World War 1939–1945. Wellington: Historical Publications Branch. http://www.nzetc.org/tm/scholarly/tei-WH2Navy.html.