Die Briten und der estnische Unabhängigkeitskrieg

Der Besuch von Queen Elizabeth II in Estland weckt alte Erinnerungen. Als die britische Flotte vor Tallinn im Unabhängigkeitskrieg zum Einsatz kam. Leider gibt das Internet nicht allzuviel her über diese Episode bis auf einen Bericht eines sowjetischen Kriegsgefangenen auf englischer Seite, der am Ende durch einen Gefangenenaustausch freikam. Ausführlich beschreibt er die Gefechte zwischen der Navy und der Sowjetflotte. Die Angaben zum Kriegsverlauf scheinen zu stimmen, wenn auch das Geschehen aus sowjetischer Sicht beschrieben wird. Hier ein Auszug:

The British sailors told us later that their admiral,[Admiral Sinclair was not present. The British force was commanded by Captain B.S. Thesiger (later Admiral Sir Bertram Thesiger) in Calypso.] who was in the leading destroyer, had already given the signal to withdraw: having driven us away from Reval he considered his mission accomplished. When, however, they saw the accident we had suffered, the British ships continued to approach us, not interrupting their gunfire for a single moment. They did not score any hits, even though they were firing at us almost point-blank. Seated on the submerged rocks, our destroyer kept on firing back from the gun at the stern, but was unable to inflict any damage on the enemy. When they perceived what a hopeless position we were in, the British squadron themselves ceased fire, having decided to take the destroyer alive, so to speak. I ordered that our ship be scuttled, but my order was not carried out. Engineer Neumann reported that the sea-cocks would not function. Soon we were surrounded by the British cruisers and they were launching boats to come and board us.