SMS Cormoran |
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| Career (German Empire) | |
|---|---|
| Name: | SMS Cormoran aka SMS Cormoran II |
| Namesake: | SMS Cormoran I |
| Builder: | Schichau Yard at Elbing |
| Launched: | 1909 as SS Ryazan |
| Acquired: | captured by SMS Emden |
| Commissioned: | 10 August 1914 as SMS Cormoran II |
| Fate: | scuttled at Apra Harbor, Guam on 7 April 1917 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 3,500 t (3,400 long tons) |
| Speed: | 17 kn (31 km/h; 20 mph) |
| Armament: | 8 × 105 mm (4.1 in) quick-firing guns |
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| Location: | Apra Harbor |
| Nearest city: | Piti, Guam[1] |
| Built: | 1909[1] |
| Governing body: | US Department of the Interior |
| NRHP Reference#: | 75002156 |
| Added to NRHP: | April 4, 1975 |
SMS Cormoran or SMS Cormoran II was built at Danzig, Germany in 1909 for the Russian merchant fleet and named SS Ryazan (Rjasan or Rjäsan, from the Russian town of Ryazan). She was used by imperial Russia as a combination passenger, cargo and mail carrier on North Pacific routes.
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SS Ryaezan was captured southeast of the Korean peninsula by the light cruiser SMS Emden on 4 August 1914 as the first prize of World War I with the Russian empire.[2] SS Ryaezan was taken to Tsingtao in the German colony Kiautschou and converted to an armed merchant raider and renamed SMS Cormoran II. The "new" Cormoran replaced a small, shallow draft cruiser of the same name that had a long imperial navy career in the Pacific Ocean and had participated in the events that brought Kiautschou into the German colonial empire in 1897-1898. The small ship was laid up at Tsingtao with serious maintenance issues. All armaments from this old Cormoran were transferred and mounted on the captured Russian ship.
On 10 August 1914, the "new" Cormoran or Cormoran II left Tsingtao harbor and sailed throughout the South Pacific region, pursued by Japanese warships.[3] On 14 December, Cormoran II pulled into Apra Harbor in the U.S. Territory of Guam with only 50 t (55 short tons) of coal remaining in her bunkers.
Due to strained diplomatic relations between the United States and Germany and the limited amount of coal stored at Guam, Governor William John Maxwell refused to supply Cormoran with more than a token amount of coal. U.S. authorities ordered the ship to leave within 24 hours or submit to detention. This created a standoff between the Germans and the Americans that lasted nearly two years, until Governor Maxwell was involuntarily placed on the sick list and replaced by his subordinate, William P. Cronan, who decided that the Germans should be treated as guests of the United States. While the Cormorant was still not permitted to leave harbor, the Cormoran crew were treated as friends, achieving something of a minor celebrity status on the island.
When the U.S. declared war on Germany on 7 April 1917, Captain Adalbert Zuckschwerdt scuttled the ship. This incident is understood to be the first shot fired between the US and Germany during WWI, but almost no US history books mention the incident. The naval forces at Guam took note of the German crew preparing to sink the ship and fired a shot over the bow of Cormoran II, which is often cited as the first shot fired by the U.S. military in World War I. Nine crew members perished during the scuttling of the ship and were buried with full military honors in the naval cemetery at Agana. The U.S. Navy conducted a limited salvage operation of the sunken ship. Cormoran II's bell was recovered and is exhibited today at the U.S. Naval Academy Museum at Annapolis, Maryland. Other artifacts have been removed by divers over the years.
The remainder of the German crew was then sent to Fort Douglas, Utah and others were transferred to Fort McPherson, Georgia for the duration of the war. They were finally returned home to Germany on 7 October 1919.
SMS Cormoran II has another unusual claim. She rests 110 ft (34 m) below the waters of Apra harbor on her port side, with the Japanese cargo ship Tokai Maru leaning against her screw. It is one of the few places where divers can explore a ship from World War I next to a ship from World War II.[4]
The shipwreck was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.[5] The ship was listed because of its association with the history of World War I [6]
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