Superior Force
The Conspiracy Behind the Escape of Goeben
and Breslau
In the first weeks of August, 1914 the
German battle cruiser, Goeben, and her
accompanying light cruiser, Breslau, escaped
the clutches of the pursuing British
Mediterranean Squadron and took refuge at
Constantinople, where they would later exert
a decisive influence upon Turkey’s attempts
to remain out of the war.
In October 1914, with the connivance of the
Turkish Minister of War, but against the
wishes of the majority of the Turkish
Cabinet, the German Admiral at the head of
the Turkish Navy single-handedly forced the
issue. At the helm of Goeben, Admiral
Souchon manoeuvred into the Black Sea and
deliberately shelled Russian ships, ports
and shore installations. The Turks,
reluctant to the last, were finally
catapulted into the War. Yet, would this
outcome have eventuated without the presence
of Admiral Souchon and Goeben? The Turkish
fleet by itself was too weak to risk a
sortie in the Black Sea. Without Goeben
could the issue have been forced?
Meanwhile, the First Lord of the Admiralty,
Winston Churchill, actively sought Greek
co-operation for a planned major offensive
against the Turks at the Dardanelles. His
plea for assistance reached the British
Officer at the head of the Greek Navy,
Rear-Admiral Mark Kerr, who set impossible
conditions which he knew would result in the
proposal being rejected in London. What
Churchill did not know, and which has never
previously been revealed, was that Kerr had
not only removed any chance of Greek
participation at the Dardanelles, but had
also been instrumental in the conspiracy
afoot in Athens during August to allow the
German ships to escape in the first place.
Various accounts of the escape have sought
to apportion blame, with the Admiralty
(under Churchill), the Commander-in-Chief,
Mediterranean, and the Rear-Admiral, First
Cruiser Squadron all being found culpable to
some extent. What no previous account has
revealed however is the fact that there was
an organized conspiracy afoot in Athens,
involving the Greek Premier on one side, and
the King and a serving British Rear-Admiral
on the other, to facilitate the escape of
the German ships.
The eventual destination of Goeben and
Breslau (a mystery to the British until the
ships actually reached the Dardanelles) was
common knowledge amongst ruling circles in
Athens some hours before Britain declared
war on Germany. Privy to this secret was
Rear-Admiral Mark Kerr, the British Officer
at the head of the Greek Navy. For three
vital days Kerr kept the secret to himself;
then, when it was almost too late, he fed
the Admiralty clues which were, however, not
acted upon.
In addition to being the most complete
account of the dramatic escape yet
published, Superior Force, for the first
time, reveals the extent of the Athens
conspiracy and the ambivalent rôle played by
Mark Kerr who, soon after, would also remove
any chance of Greek co-operation in the
major offensive planned by Churchill against
the Turks at the Dardanelles. Few men can
genuinely be said to have changed history;
by his actions in Athens in the summer of
1914 Mark Kerr is one of those few.
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