An item dated Petrograd, Russia 7th responded on an article published by vice admiral Kirchhoff (1) in an American magazine dealing with the German Baltic squadron. Although Kirchhof was considered to be a naval expert in and outside Germany the Russians had remarks with the article. He claimed that after the fight between the Albatross (2) and Russian warships off the east coast of Gotland, Sweden the Russians despite being stronger in advance, fled when the German battleships which were far more powerful as their Russian equivalents entered the scene. This was far from the truth according to the Russian version while it was just the battleship Roon which arrived and refused the fight with the stronger Russian squadron. The Russians confirmed that German armoured cruisers were much powerful compared with the Russian, about 4 times stronger. In the beginning of the war were all German cruisers weaker as the Russian ones which as result concluded the Russian that they sent large cruisers and dreadnoughts to the Baltic Sea. This reinforcement was yet not arrived during the fight with the Albatros.
Notes
1. Hermann Kirchhoff (22 February 1851 Hanerau-25 August 1932, Strub, Oberbayern, Germany), naval officer and military historian. Author of the essay Einfluss der Seemacht auf der Geschichte der Ostseestaaten.
2. Minelayer cruiser of the Nautilus-class laid down at AG Weser, Bremen, Germany on 24 May 1907, launched on 23 October 1907, commissioned on 19 May 1908, deliberately stranded on the island of Gotland, Sweden, heavily damaged after a fight with Russian cruisers after lying a minefield of the Aland Islands on 2 July 1915, salvaged and interned the same month by the Swedish, returned to Germany in January 1919, stricken on 21 March 1921 and broken the same year.
