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{{Short description|1914 detention of a German ship by US forces}}
{{DISPLAYTITLE:''Ypiranga'' incident}}
{{Infobox military conflict
|conflict=''Ypiranga'' Incident
|partof=the [[Mexican Revolution]] and [[United States occupation of Veracruz|occupation of Veracruz]]
|image=SS Ypiranga Deck Shot 1911.JPG
|image_size=300px
|caption=The deck of ''Ypiranga'' around 1911
|date=April 21, 1914
|place=[[Veracruz, Veracruz|Veracruz]], [[Mexico]]
|result=German ship captured then released
|combatant1={{flag|United States|1912}}
|combatant2= {{flagcountry|German Empire}}
|strength1=
|strength2=
|casualties1=
|casualties2=
|}}
{{Campaignbox Battles of the Mexican Revolution involving the United States}}
{{Woodrow Wilson series}}

The '''''Ypiranga'' Incident''' occurred on April 21, 1914, at the port of [[Veracruz, Veracruz|Veracruz]] in [[Mexico]] during the [[Mexican Revolution]]. {{SS|Ypiranga||2}} was a German steamship that was commissioned to transport arms and munitions to the [[government of Mexico|Mexican federal government]] under [[Victoriano Huerta]]. The [[United States]] had placed Mexico under an [[arms embargo]] to stifle the flow of weaponry to the war-torn state, then in the throes of [[Mexican Revolution|civil war]], forcing Huerta's government to look to Europe<ref name="Baecker">Thomas Baecker, "[http://issuu.com/capinov/docs/the_arms_of_the_ypiranga/ The Arms of the Ypiranga: The German Side]," ''The Americas'', Vol. 30, No. 1 (Jul., 1973), pp. 1–17 Published by: Academy of American Franciscan History</ref><ref name="NYtimes">[https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1914/05/28/100317270.pdf Ypiranga and Bavaria Unloaded Cargoes at Puerto Mexico.; First had 10,000 Rifles] – ''[[The New York Times]]'', 28 May 1914</ref> and Japan<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.smallarmsreview.com/display.article.cfm?idarticles=286|title=Guns of the Mexican Revolution|date=25 August 2011}}</ref> for armaments.

''Ypiranga'' tried to enter the harbor at Veracruz to unload on the first day of the [[United States occupation of Veracruz|US occupation]] but was detained by US troops who were ordered by [[President of the United States]] [[Woodrow Wilson]] to enforce the arms embargo he had placed on Mexico. There was neither a declaration of war on Mexico by the United States nor a formal blockade on its ports, thus the detention of ''Ypiranga'' was not legal and she was released. She proceeded to a port where the US military was absent, [[Puerto México]] (modern-day [[Coatzacoalcos]], Veracruz), and was able to offload her cargo to Huerta's officials.<ref name="Baecker" /><ref name="NYtimes" />

==Background==
In February 1913, General Victoriano Huerta launched a [[coup]], known as the [[Ten Tragic Days]], with the support of [[Félix Díaz (politician)|Félix Díaz]] (the nephew of deposed president [[Porfirio Díaz]]) and American [[List of ambassadors of the United States to Mexico|Ambassador]] [[Henry Lane Wilson]], as well as ambassadors from other great powers{{Which|date=June 2021}}, to overthrow the federal government of [[Francisco I. Madero]]. Madero had kept the Mexican Federal Army and called for the disbanding of revolutionary forces that had helped bring him to power. Madero called upon General Huerta to suppress rebellions that had broken out. Increasing opposition of Madero put his presidency in peril. <ref name="Meyer">Michael C. Meyer, "The Arms of the Ypiranga," ''The Hispanic American Historical Review'', Vol. 50, No. 3 (August 1970), p. 546 Published by: Duke University Press</ref> The coup that ousted and murdered Madero occurred in February at the tail-end of the [[William Howard Taft|Taft administration]] and his full support. From March 1913 on, the administration of US President [[Woodrow Wilson]] switched tack and opposed the Huerta regime, supporting the rebels instead. Wilson imposed an arms embargo on the Huerta regime, cutting off their access to the weaponry that would keep the regime in office. The European powers did not want to be seen to be involved in the financing and shipping of arms to Huerta since it could increase tensions, if not provoke a conflict with the US, which they wished to avoid.<ref>Katz, ''The Secret War in Mexico'', pp. 232–235.</ref> 

Huerta sought an agent to purchase the arms he needed, and began working closely with Leon Raast, the [[Russia]]n vice-consul in Mexico City. Raast traveled to [[New York City]] to meet with the Huertista agent Abraham Ratner and Marquard and Company, Importers to purchase twenty machine guns to add to the stockpile already warehoused in the city. Raast then met with the president of Gans Steamship Line who would transport the contraband for him but could not legally consign the weapons to a port in Mexico, however, he would consign to a port in [[Odesa]], [[Russian Empire|Russia]].<ref>Meyer, p. 547</ref>

==Shipment==
The manifest obtained by the [[United States Justice Department]] following the departure of ''Brinkhorn'' lists the large amount of ordnance that was on board the ship. The cargo included: 10,000 cases of 30-caliber cartridges; 4,000 cases of 7-millimeter cartridges; 250 cases of 44-caliber cartridges; 500 cases of carbines (50 in each case for a total of 25,000 carbines); 1,000 cases of 14/30 carbines; 20 rapid fire machine guns. The total value listed of the 15,770 cases was recorded at US$607,000.<ref>Report of Scully, agent, Department of Justice, December 17, 1913, RDS 812.00/10284</ref>

Raast shipped the arms to Odesa but did not appear there in time to clear it through customs. As a result, the [[government of Russia|Russian government]] seized the consignment. Raast with the help of the Russian embassy in Washington was able to get the shipment released and sent to [[Hamburg]]. However, there Raast could not pay for the freight charges resulting in the German government impounding the shipment. Money from the American financier and Huerta supporter [[John Wesley De Kay]] finally achieved a release. The arms now went to [[Havana]] with German-made [[Mauser]] rifles and cartridges added to it. The arms on ''Ypiranga'' required "three trains of ten cars each" to unload.<ref>Heribert von Feilitzsch, In Plain Sight: Felix A. Sommerfeld, Spymaster in Mexico, 1908 to 1914, Henselstone Verlag LLC, Amissville, VA, 2012, p. 356</ref>

==US actions==
The US sought to prevent off-loading of the arms to Huerta. Wilson ordered on 21 April 1914 US troops to occupy the customs house at the port of Veracruz. The ''Ypiranga'' was a privately-owned vessel, but the German government declared it part of the Reich's navy, which would protect it from US seizure. The German government filed a protest with the US State Department, saying that seizing the ship and its cargo was a violation of international law, since the US and Mexico were not officially at war. The US apologized for overstepping, but also hoped that it could persuade Germany to cease supplying more arms to Huerta. The arms remained on board the ''Ypiranga'' but were off-loaded at Puerto Mexico. More arms for Huerta arrived at the same time on other ships owned by the same company as the ''Ypiranga''.{{cn|date=April 2023}}

Although the incident had the potential for greater conflict, in the assessment of historian [[Friedrich Katz]], "the affair had no further consequences and was quickly forgotten," attributing this to the shift in German policy which came more in line with that of the US in May to June 1914.<ref>Katz, ''The Secret War in Mexico'', p. 240.</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
* [[Friedrich Katz|Katz, Friedrich]]. ''The Secret War in Mexico: Europe, the United States, and the Mexican Revolution''. Chicago: University of Chicago Press 1981.

{{January–July 1914 shipwrecks}}
{{authority control}}

[[Category:Conflicts in 1914]]
[[Category:International maritime incidents]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in April 1914]]
[[Category:Mexican Revolution]]
[[Category:Mexico–United States military relations]]