On the 19th of September, 1914, they returned to Lissa and landed
a force which took possession of it, thus establishing a new naval
base against the Central Powers' navies.
Duels between pairs of ships took place in various seas. The career
of the raider _Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse_, a fast converted liner,
was ended by the British ship _Highflyer_, a cruiser, near the Cape
Verde Islands, on August 27, 1914, after the former had sunk the
merchantman _Hyades_ and had stopped the mail steamer _Galician_.
The greater speed of the German vessel was of no advantage to her,
for she had been caught in the act of coaling. What then transpired
was not a fight, for in armament the two were quite unequal. She
soon sank under the _Highflyer's_ fire, her crew having been rescued
by her colliers.
The next duel took place between the _Carmania_ and _Cap Trafalgar_,
British and German converted liners, respectively. They met on
September 14, 1914, in the Atlantic off South America. In view of
the fact that at the beginning of the war these two ships had been
merchantmen and had been armed and commissioned after the outbreak
of hostilities, this engagement was something of the nature of those
between privateersmen in the old days. In speed, size, and armament
they were about equal. For nearly two hours they exchanged shots
between 3,000 and 9,000 yards, and markmanship was to determine
the victory.
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