The Forgotten Lowestoft Raid — 24 to 25 April 1916

Lowestoft Harbor Today

The first German naval raid of the First World War in British home waters took place on 3 November 1914, when a German squadron fired on the Coast Guard gunboat Halcyon as she was patrolling the seas north of Lowestoft on Great Britain's east coast.

The enemy warships targeted Great Yarmouth without causing damage, but the rearmost German cruiser threw out mines that led to the sinking of a British submarine and the loss of most of her crew. After that attack, East Anglia’s coastal defenses were strengthened, but in April 1916, Lowestoft and Yarmouth were targeted again—and this time the enemy was more successful.

Location of Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth

The Lowestoft Raid of 24–25 April 1916 saw elements of the German High Seas Fleet bombard the east coast port of Lowestoft and threaten Yarmouth. The Germans took advantage of the distribution of the British fleet, which saw the battleships of the Grand Fleet based at Scapa Flow and the battlecruisers at Rosyth. Only weaker British squadrons were based farther south.

On 24 April the entire German High Seas Fleet came out to sea. The German force contained 22 capital ships (battleships and battlecruisers), five older battleships, 12 light cruisers, and 48 destroyers under the command of Admiral Scheer. The actual raiding force was made up of the 1st Scouting Group (four battlecruisers), the 2nd Scouting Group (four cruisers), and two fast destroyer flotillas led by cruisers, all under Admiral Boedicker. The Zeebrugge force also provided U-boat support. The Germans allowed 30 minutes for the bombardment before the battlecruisers would have to retire.

The enemy shelled Great Yarmouth for only a few minutes and the town escaped with little damage. The shoals (sand banks) had forced the battle cruisers to keep farther out to sea and the visibility was so poor that only one German dreadnought continued to fire on the town after the first salvo.

HMS Conquest, Flagship of the Defending Force
 (Heavily Damaged During the Fighting)

However, Lowestoft had already taken a battering from Kaiser Wilhelm II’s navy, having been targeted some 20 minutes earlier. Four battlecruisers opened fire on the town at 4:11 a.m., aiming for the harbor works and swing bridges. About 200 houses were damaged and 40 destroyed during the 20-minute bombardment, and the South Pier Pavilion, which had been requisitioned as the headquarters of Commodore Ellison, was also hit. But, mercifully, there were very few casualties.

The Royal Navy was aware that a major operation was under way, but bad weather inhibited efforts to interdict the assault. The only effective British response came from Commodore Tyrwhitt’s 5th Light Cruiser Squadron, supported by two destroyer flotillas. At first it was unclear what the German target was—a particularly alarming possibility was that they might try to break into the Downs, where 100 merchant ships were waiting to enter the Port of London. Once Tyrwhitt was at sea it became more obvious where the Germans were heading, so he turned north to protect the British bases at Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth. The naval action that ensued featured the smaller British ships engaging the German battlecrusiers at great disadvantage and being brushed aside. Nevertheless, the opposition was sufficient to force the battlecruiser force to withdraw.

Damage in Lowestoft

In the Lowestoft area, Canon Bignold, rector of the parish of Carlton, detailed the aftermath of the bombardment—and the panic it caused—in his diary:

The people poured out of Lowestoft. On Long Road they were so thick I had to get off my bike and walk. Shells were falling on both sides of the road. . . Some of the fleeing people went as far as Bungay. Hundreds of people continued to leave Lowestoft every night to sleep in Carlton, occupying every shed and empty barn.

After the 1916 raid, East Anglia’s defenses were further strengthened, with pillboxes built along the coast and batteries of field guns positioned at Caister, Corton, and Pakefield. To protect the approach to Great Yarmouth harbor, a naval gun was installed on Gorleston cliffs, and the monitor HMS Havelock and the gunboat HMS Glowworm were sent to Lowestoft.

Sources: The Lowestoft Journal and the History of War Websites