18. WWI’s Easiest Battle?
When the British Royal Navy’s Captain Rhodes learned of the outbreak of war, the SS Hermann von Wissmann was docked for repairs. Its commander, Captain Berndt, was blissfully unaware that there was a war on, when Rhoades showed up in HMS Gwendolen, and disabled the German gunboat with a single volley.
Captain Berndt leapt into a dinghy and had it rowed furiously to the Gwendolen, which he boarded while cursing out Rhoades and questioning his sobriety and sanity. Rhoades sat Berndt down, and over whiskey, explained the situation to his erstwhile boozing buddy. He then led away his livid prisoner of war, who by then was loudly cursing German officials and his chain of command for not keeping him up to speed on developments in Europe. Thus began – and ended – WWI’s first naval engagement.
