Action of 10 March 1917

The sinking of SS Otaki by SMS Möwe.

Date	10 March 1917
Location	Atlantic Ocean
Result	German victory

Belligerents

British Empire
/

New Zealand

German Empire

Commanders and leaders

Archibald Smith†

Nikolaus zu Dohna-Schlodien

Strength

2 steamers

1 auxiliary cruiser

Casualties and losses

6 killed
~200 captured
1 steamer sunk
1 steamer scuttled

5 killed
10 wounded
1 auxiliary cruiser damaged

The Action of 10 March 1917 was a single-ship action during the First World War fought between the German merchant raider SMS Möwe, and the armed New Zealand Shipping Company cargo ship SS Otaki. Although Otaki was sunk, Möwe was badly damaged.

SMS Möwe was already famous. Her commander, Korvettenkapitän (corvette captain) Count Nikolaus zu Dohna-Schlodien, had taken Möwe around the world in 1915 and early 1916, sinking several vessels and fighting one engagement with the British. With a veteran crew and ship, Kapitän Dohna-Schlodien ran the British blockade of Germany in December 1916 and headed for the mid-Atlantic, taking several vessels along the way.

On 10 March 1917, after months at sea and now returning to Germany, Möwe was in open ocean. At about 02:00, she encountered the 4,491-ton Pacific Steam Navigation Company vessel SS Esmerelda, which was sailing west to Baltimore. Esmerelda was stopped, her crew was taken off and then she was scuttled with explosives.

Just then, a second merchant ship, SS Otaki, appeared on the horizon. She was a 7,420-gross-ton refrigerated cargo ship of the New Zealand Shipping Company sailing from London to New York City. Her defence was a single 4.7 inch gun mounted aft with a Royal Navy commander and gun crew of two.

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