National Geographic: The Jungle Navy Page #3

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Lt. -Commander Geoffrey Spicer

reaches the blue heart of Africa...

Lake Tanganyika.

Finally, he has reached his

battleground.

At Kalemie on the western

shoreline,

a defensive network of guns,

troop quarters,

and shipbuilding facilities guards

the back door of the Belgian Congo.

For their British allies, the Belgians

have prepared simple dwellings

- Spicer claims the largest to be

his headquarters...

and hoists the banner of the

Royal Navy

- an emblem of his growing lust

for power.

Kalemie has guns, but no

harbor.

To protect his boats from the

Germans,

Spicer insists the Belgians

construct a harbor.

"The decision to build the port

was come to owing to the facts

that it is impossible to operate

without a defended port,

and the existing defenses at

Kalemie

will amply protect the port

selected.

Hundreds of tons of rock are

blasted

and positioned into the

crocodile-infested waters

to create an arced jetty.

Atop the rocks, traintracks and a

launching slip are lain

which will allow Spicer to slide his

miniature Navy

into the lake in minutes.

While the jetty is taking shape,

the Belgians give Spicer the

details of the 3 German ships

he must destroy.

The smallest German vessel is

the Kingani.

At 55 feet long and 12 feet wide,

she is far larger and better armed

than Mimi or Toutou.

Her compatriot, the Hedwig von

Wissmann,

is even larger, but slower.

Carrying two powerful guns and a

crew of 22 sailors,

she has room for 200 extra troops.

The Graf von Gotzen dwarfs them all.

An 800 ton monster,

she is over 20 times the size of

the British speedboats.

Her massive guns can blast

Spicer's boats

to oblivion with one shell.

The little British boats are

seriously outmanned,

outgunned and outsized.

To tilt the balance of power,

Spicer plots a surprise attack to

capture the Kingani

- it is an audacious plan...

for a desk officer who has never

led a combat mission.

Across the lake,

Gustav Zimmer plans his own

strategy of strength.

"...we learned from intercepted

Belgian telegram communications

that they were looking for a

building location...

As soon as it was practical, the

reconnaissance work began."

December 1, 1915.

German Lieutenants Walter

Rosenthal and Job Odebrecht

embark on a stealthy mission of

reconnaissance.

In four successive evenings,

the two ships slip in under

darkness, snapping off night

exposures of the harbor.

The next evening,

Lt. Rosenthal risks his life in a

daring solo mission.

"He wanted to swim ashore,

to find out more about the drydock

and the building of the new ship,

despite the danger of crashing

waves and crocodiles...

he reached the drydock, took

notice of two boats,

then swam back to the designated

meeting place."

But a panicky German officer orders

the Kingani to leave without him.

Rosenthal is forced to hide out on

the Allied side of the lake.

At daybreak, abandoned in enemy

waters,

Rosenthal is taken prisoner

- Zimmer is still ignorant of

Spicer's Jungle Navy.

Mid-December, the rains come

- work is impossible -

all they can do is wait.

"We are having heavy rains

almost daily,

and one or two members of the

expedition on an average,

are always down with slight

attacks of fever."

On December 23, Spicer decides

it is time to go to war.

Far from his desk in London,

Africa has freed Spicer's spirit.

His battle dress reflects his

liberation.

"...to the amazement of the crew

and to the Belgians and the natives,

he didn't wear shorts,

he wore a little, tiny little khaki

skirt with. pleats in it."

Spicer and Britain need allies

- the men of the Ba Holo Holo nation

see the eccentric white man

as a natural chief.

Christmas Eve.

The mahogany gunboats undergo

their first trial runs on African

waters.

"On Christmas Day we took a rest,

and it being the first time the whole

expedition had been together,

we had a big celebration.

December 26, 1915.

The Germans come to fight.

Spicer is reading prayers when

an enemy ship is sighted.

Spicer ignores the enemy's

approach

- he alone will decide when his

private war will commence.

"I finished prayers and then sent

off the hands to get ready."

Doctor Hanshell and other

non-combatants head to the cliffs

to watch the battle as if it was a

cricket match.

"...The paymaster and I and the

petty officer Murphy and so on,

we had a grandstand view of it.

It all happened right under our

eyes."

At 11:
25 a.m.,

Spicer and his fleet set off in

pursuit of the enemy.

Spicer is in the Mimi and

Lieutenant Dudley

- without his bicycle...

is at the helm of the Toutou.

Spicer's plan is to sneak in

behind the Kingani,

and attack her from both sides.

The Kingani can only fire on them

with her bow guns.

Kapitan Zimmer has sent the Kingani

to blow up the Belgian harbor

installation.

But instead, is confronted by

Spicer's entire navy.

"She was well inside the bay

before she was aware of the existence

of the British boats on the Lake

...and the Mimi and Toutou

rapidly overhauled her

and opened fire."

"An early shot from one of our

guns carried away her mast,

and she got several hits below

the water line."

In the ensuing half hour, eleven

enemy sailors are rounded up.

Lt. Dudley takes control of the

captured Kingani,

and brings her and the captured

survivors back to base.

At Kalemie, Spicer is showered

with sand... a traditional gesture

that confirms his mastery of the

earth he stands on.

Three German sailors are buried

with military dignity.

The British have suffered no

casualties

- but the battle for the blue heart

of Africa has barely begun.

In London, he was ignored,

but at Lake Tanganyika,

Geoffrey Spicer is hailed as a hero

for his brilliant ambush

of the Kingani.

He must now repair his damaged

prize.

British and Belgian engineers

patch up the Kingani's 11 holes,

and refit her with a larger

When they are finished, Spicer

re-christens the German gunboat

as if she were a French poodle,

naming her HMS Fifi.

With a bolstered sense of

confidence,

Spicer's behavior becomes

more outrageous, more bizarre.

Twice a week, he performs a

ceremonial public bath,

complete with cigarettes and

vermouth

- his body is decorated with

symbolic tattoos...

Spicer's men suspect he has

gone mad...

but the Ba holo holo warriors

understand the white man's message

- they call him

"bwana chifungatumbo"

- Lord of the Loincloth...

February 8, 1916.

". we got information from

native spies

that the Kingani had been sunk

by a new coastal artillery battery.

I decided to check into this myself

and sent along the Gotzen, the

Hedwig von Wissmann,

and a smaller boat."

The Germans still do not know

the Royal Navy has invaded the Lake.

"...The Hedwig von Wissmann

was to get to the Belgian coast

in the early morning and enquire

about the position

from friendly spies,

then head back to Cape Kungwe

where she would meet with the

Gotzen at around noon

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