Action of 16 January 1916

SMS Mowe, a photo taken from SS Appam in January 1916.

Date	16 January 1916
Location	off Madeira, Atlantic Ocean
Result	German victory

Belligerents

United Kingdom

German Empire

Commanders and leaders

unknown

Nikolaus zu Dohna-Schlodien

Strength

1 steamer

1 auxiliary cruiser

Casualties and losses

18 killed,
5 wounded,
~3 captured,
1 steamer scuttled

none

The Action of 16 January 1916 was a single ship action of World War I. It was fought between a German auxiliary cruiser and a British merchant ship off the Portuguese islands of Madeira in the Atlantic Ocean.

Most successful of German commerce raiders during the war, SMS Möwe was commanded by Korvettenkapitän (corvette captain) Nikolaus zu Dohna-Schlodien and was assigned to duty in the Atlantic. Möwe was originally a freighter launched in 1914 until converted in 1915. She displaced 9,800 tons and was armed with four 150-milimeter guns, one 105-millimeter gun and two torpedo tubes. Her opponent was the one gun merchant ship, SS Clan Mactavish of Great Britain laden with fur, meat and cotton.

Möwe was steaming approximately 120 miles south of Madeira on 16 January 1916, with the merchant steamer SS Appam, a vessel previously captured by the Germans who installed a prize crew and transferred several dozen prisoners of war to. At sunset, lookouts aboard Möwe sighted smoke on the horizon, a sure indication of a ship. Immediately, Kapitän Dohna-Schlodien ordered Appam to remain behind while he went to investigate. Several minutes later, at about 21:00, Möwe came within a distance to where her lookouts could make out that the smoke had originated from a large merchant ship, later identified as the 5,816 gross ton Clan Mactavish of the Clan Line company. By the time Möwe came within close range, it was dark, so the Germans approached cautiously. Using a signal lamp, Dohna-Schlodien requested the steamer's name but the British responded by asking that the Germans first identify themselves. Dohna-Schlodien signaled that his ship was the SS Author, sailing from Liverpool to Natal. Möwe reportedly looked very similar to Author, which had been sunk by the Germans a few weeks earlier. Clan Mactavish then signaled her name and that they were returning to Britain from Australia.

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