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Bombardment of Papeete

Bombardment of Papeete

22 September 1914, Papeete, Tahiti

German success; French coal store burned

Spee's armoured cruisers arrived off Tahiti hoping for coal. The French set fire to the coal stocks and began scuttling the gunboat Zélée, whose guns had been taken ashore, and the captured German freighter Walküre. The Germans shelled the town, finished off both ships, and moved on.

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The results of the bombing of Papeete on 22 September 1914 by the German cruisers. Photographs published by the weekly Le Miroir of December 6, 1914. Image: Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Imperial German Navy

2 ships, none lost

ShipTypeOutcome
SMS Scharnhorst

Armoured cruiser

Scharnhorst class

Survived
SMS Gneisenau

Armoured cruiser

Scharnhorst class

Survived

French Navy

1 ship, 1 lost

ShipTypeOutcome
Zélée

Being scuttled when the Germans finished her off

Gunboat

Sunk

Map