Naval operations of the Kamerun campaign

On 24 August 1914, the French gunboat Surprise bombarded the coast of Kamerun. Later, the French armored cruiser Bruix, based in Libreville shelled and severely damaged the coastal towns of Kampo and Kribi further to the south. The original British plan had been to land a force at Victoria and move to Duala from there. British vessels were sent to the Bight of Bonny in preparation for these landings, including the armoured cruiser Cumberland. On the way to Kamerun's coast, the Cumberland made port in Lagos, Nigeria to allow the exiled King of Duala aboard along with other officials of the tribe who wished to take part in the landings. The king's uncle was hung for treason by the Germans on 8 August. On 4 September, naval vessels had anchored themselves in Ambas Bay, just off Victoria. However, heavy rains rendered waterways the Allies had planned to use impassable. The landing force then congregated at the Wouri estuary where the Germans had been given time to prepare their marine defenses. ==German defense of the Wouri Estuary==

In preparation for the coming Allied landings, the Germans mined the Wouri estuary. They sunk 10 or 12 steamships and mine planters in the rivermouth of the Wouri, to prevent landings at Douala. On 11 September the 710-ton gunboat HMS Dwarf attempted to enter the rivermouth but was damaged by German artillery fire and retreated. On 15 September an attempt was made to blow up the Dwarf with a launch full of explosives, but failed. On 16 September, the German customs cutter Nachtigal rammed the Dwarf; an ensuing explosion sank the Nachtigal, killing 36 of her crew. Other encounters between British and German light craft occurred throughout mid-September. ==Allied landings==

After clearing a three-mile-wide belt of mines and other obstructions, the cruisers HMS Challenger and HMS Cumberland, the Dwarf, and five troopships moved up the Wouri to Douala. The Allied commander of the landing force, Major General Charles Dobell, sent an ultimatum to the German garrison at Douala demanding surrender. Receiving no answer, the British bombarded the town on 26 September. This battle meant that Germany had effectively no control over the portion of Kamerun to the south of the Spanish colony of Rio Muni ==Aftermath==

The naval operations of the Kamerun campaign resulted in Allied naval domination of the Wouri estuary and Bight of Bonny, as well as the capture of the main port of Douala and much of the colony's coast. It forced the Germans to withdraw from the populated coast to the mountainous jungle interior of Kamerun. Small German forces attempted to hold onto rivers vital for transportation near Douala, but were pushed further into the interior by British forces in the Battle of Jabassi in early October. On October 3, a French Senegalese force pushed German defenders out of their positions on the Japona river. ==Notes==