Naval Africa Expedition

The Battle of Lake Tanganyika, how the war on the lake was won…Part 1

October 4, 2010
Thumbnail image for The Battle of Lake Tanganyika, how the war on the lake was won…Part 1
This entry is part 1 of 4 in the series Naval Africa Expedition

Share Sir Henry Jackson, First Sea Lord Admiral Sir Henry Jackson, in charge of Royal Naval operations against Germany’s overseas empire during the early part of WWI, sat in his Admiralty House office pondering with interest an appointment with an African hunter that had been pending for some time. Sir Henry had been informed that [...]

Read the full article →

The Battle of Lake Tanganyika, how the war on the lake was won…Part 2

October 8, 2010
This entry is part 2 of 4 in the series Naval Africa Expedition

ShareFungurume, lying some 100 miles further up the line from the Katanganese capital of Elizabethville (Lubumbashi), was the final railhead of the great Cape to Cairo rail project, a concept that had been the visionary quest of Cecil John Rhodes, master empire builder, and one of the greatest Sons of England. Despite these august credentials, [...]

Read the full article →

Mimi and Toutou arrive on the shores of Lake Tanganyika

Thumbnail image for Mimi and Toutou arrive on the shores of Lake Tanganyika October 19, 2010
This entry is part 3 of 4 in the series Naval Africa Expedition

ShareThe best source currently available for the journey of the Mimi and Toutou from Furungume to the Lake is the October 1922 National Geographic article written by Frank Magee. Spicer-Simpson himself submitted a series of notes and a lecture on the Expedition, but this has generally been agreed to be so filled with hyperbole and [...]

Read the full article →

The successful conclusion to the Battle of Lake Tanganyika

Thumbnail image for The successful conclusion to the Battle of Lake Tanganyika November 6, 2010
This entry is part 4 of 4 in the series Naval Africa Expedition

ShareIn researching this concluding chapter of the Mimi and Toutou saga, I waited until I was able to source a book written in the early 1960s by British author Peter Shankland, The Phantom Flotilla. This is an excellent book written largely from the verbal accounts of Doctor Hanchell, gathered during extensive interviews conducted by Shankland [...]

Read the full article →