Germans bombard English ports of Hartlepool and Scarborough
At approximately 8 oclock in the morning German battle cruisers from Franz von Hippers Scouting Squadron catch the British navy by surprise as they begin heavy bombardment of Hartlepool and Scarborough English port cities on the North Sea.The bombardment lasted for about one and a half hours killing more than 130 civilians and wounding another 500.It would unleash a damning response from the British press which pointed to the incident as yet another example of German brutality.
The German navy however saw the two port cities as valid targets due to their fortified status.Two defense batteries in Hartlepool responded to the attacks damaging three of the German vessels including the heavy cruiser Blucher.Hippers squadron hoped to draw British forces to pursue them across waters freshly laced with mines.Another German fleet commanded by Admiral Friedrich von Ingenohl sat waiting offshore to provide support.
A major confrontation did not take place however as the British decided to keep most of their fleetdepleted by the dispatch of their major cruisers to pursue the dangerous squadron of Admiral Maximilian von Speein the harbor.An attempt by the Scouting Squadron one month later to repeat the tactics used to surprise the British at Scarborough and Hartlepool resulted in the Battle of Dogger Bank where Hippers squadron was defeated but managed to avoid capture.
