I’m hoping someone with naval history knowledge can shed some light on this .
I recall reading many years ago ( perhaps abridged in Reader’s Digest ) a story of a warship - possibly WW I era - that developed mechanical difficulties and had to put in at a remote anchorage , possibly on the African continent. I believe it was non - fiction and told the tale of the crew tearing down parts of the steam engine and getting it ashore where it was hauled across the continent with impressed local labor to shipyard on the opposite coast that could repair it and then back again .
I have searched in vain to find details on this event.
Anyone have any input on this ?
Thanks in advance - RT
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if it was the African continent that would be a hell of a haul across country from coast to coast ?? the war would probably be over by the time you got back. 
Could it be SMS Koenigsberg that was trapped in the Rufiji River? The events were fictionalised in the novel and movie “Shout at the Devil”. Engineering support (including manufacturing field carriages for her guns) was provided by the railway workshops which I think were in Dar-es-Salaam.
Regards,
M
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Thanks - this may be the event I was looking for.
I seem to recall the mention of a movie in what I read . I’m going to research the book and movie as to dates when written/ filmed.
It would appear that the book then movie date from late 60’s /early 70’s so that fits with the time I read the bit IIRC . Since it was Reader’s Digest ( again , IIRC ) it was likely an abridged version of “ Shout at the Devil “ . So Thanks Tom - mystery solved ?
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Seems likely; Königsberg did have to send her engine components overland to Dar-es-Salaam although on the same coast it was being blockaded by the British.
After her being rendered ineffective Königsberg supplied some of her guns to arm the steamer Graf von Goetzen on Lake Tanganyika; I believe the 10.5cm gun she received was the most powerful mounted afloat during the inland naval campaign. That would make the Graf von Goetzen the most likely inspiration for the Königin Luise in the novel and film “The African Queen”… However, the Graf von Goetzen (by then SMS Goetzen) was not sunk by the Allies but rather carefully prepared before being scuttled. As a result she was salvaged after the war and in 1927 was returned to civilian service by the British as the SS Liemba. She became the MV Liemba after her ancient steam engines were replaced with a pair of diesels between 1976 and 1979 and still remains in service.
Regards,
M
I am currently reading the Osprey Publishing title “The East Africa Campaign 1914-18 - Von Lettow-Vorbeck’s Masterpiece” for a book review and in it, that event is discussed.
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