Mimi and Toutou Go Forth. The Bizarre Battle for Lake Tanganyika
Giles Foden
 During World War One, German warships controlled Lake Tanganyika, which is the longest Lake in the world and was of great strategic advantage in Central Africa at the time. The British had no naval craft at all upon 'Tanganjikasee' (as the Germans called it). After the destruction of the Belgian warship - Del Commune and through the actions of a British informant known as Lee and his observations of the two German Warships, including the Hedwig von Wissman, the British Admiralty and Admiral Sir David Gamble decided that a naval expedition was needed to retake the Lake from the Germans. They were unaware of the existence of a much larger German vessel on the lake, the Graf von Götzen. So, in June 1915, a force of 28 men was dispatched from Britain on a vast journey. Their chief was an eccentric naval officer, Geoffrey Spicer-Simson who was known for being the oldest Lt. Commander in the Royal Navy, a man court martialled for wrecking his own ships and a complete liar. He was given command of two small gunboats, which he named Mimi and Toutou (childish onomatopoeia for "Cat" and "Dog" in French). After a month long journey to South Africa via the Atlantic Ocean, the boats and expedition travelled by train to the Congo. In the Congo, with great difficulty, the expedition carried the two boats, with the aid of steam engines and mules, to the edge of Lake Tanganyika. They captured one ship, the Kigani, and named her Fifi, sank the Hedwig von Wissman, but did not engage the formidable Graf von Götzen, which remained dominant on the lake until it was scuttled in the wake of an Anglo-Belgian attack by land on German positions.