SMS Leopard sank with all 319 crew and six British boarders, illustrating the deadly risks of WWI North Sea commerce raider interdiction.
Key Facts
- German crew lost
- 319 hands
- British boarding party lost
- 6 men
- German vessel
- SMS Leopard (ex-SS Yarrowdale)
- British vessels
- SS Dundee and HMS Achilles
- Leopard's captain
- Korvettenkapitän Hans von Laffert (killed)
- Yarrowdale captured
- 1916, by German raider Möwe
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
The British steamer Yarrowdale was captured by the German commerce raider Möwe in 1916 and converted by the German Imperial Admiralty into an auxiliary cruiser named SMS Leopard, armed with guns from decommissioned ships and two torpedo tubes. In early March 1917, Korvettenkapitän Hans von Laffert sailed to relieve Möwe, aware that the British had changed their wireless cipher, cutting off German intelligence on Northern Patrol movements.
On 16 March 1917, SMS Leopard encountered the British armed boarding steamer SS Dundee and the Warrior-class armoured cruiser HMS Achilles in the North Sea. Despite a determined attempt to engage both British ships, Leopard was caught at a severe disadvantage and sunk. Laffert and all 319 of his crew were killed, along with six men from a British boarding party.
The loss of SMS Leopard with all hands ended the German attempt to relieve Möwe and demonstrated the effectiveness of the British Northern Patrol in intercepting German commerce raiders trying to break out around the north of Scotland into the Atlantic during World War I.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Side B
1 belligerent
Hans von Laffert.