The Sinking of the Nürnberg by the British Light Cruiser Kent.
(Drawn by Montagu Dawson from a sketch by an eye-witness. By permission of The Sphere.)
The Nürnberg was well fought, and the Kent was hit several times. A bursting shell set fire to some cordite charges, and a flash of flame went down the hoist into the ammunition passage. Sergeant Charles Mayer instantly picked up a charge of cordite and hurled it into safety. He then seized a fire hose, and by flooding the compartment averted all danger. But for this heroic action there would have been an explosion, and the Kent would probably have been put out of action, if not destroyed altogether. By about seven o'clock the Nürnberg was in flames, and less than half an hour later she sank, her guns firing to the last. As she disappeared some of her crew waved the German ensign from the quarter-deck.
The Glasgow and the Cornwall came within range of the Leipzig about three in the afternoon, and for six hours they engaged her. From time to time she turned and fired a salvo at her pursuers; but though shells fell fast and thick around the Glasgow, there were few casualties, though many narrow escapes. Not till nine o'clock was the Leipzig finally disposed of. As the darkness of a wet night closed in, she heeled over and went down. The German transports and colliers had been sunk and their crews saved earlier in the day by the Bristol and the Macedonia. Of von Spee's squadron, only the Dresden and the armed liner Eitel Friedrich[182] remained.
The battered Dresden had managed to escape early in the fight, and she was lost sight of for many weeks. Ultimately she was cornered by the Kent and the Cornwall off Juan Fernandez[183] on March 18, 1915, and after a five minutes' action was forced to hoist the white flag. When her crew were taken off she was in flames. Finally her magazine exploded, and she sank.
Such was the first decisive naval battle of the war. It was a triumph not only for the officers and men of the British squadron, but also for the Admiralty, which had so skilfully and secretly planned the whole enterprise. The British victory was well-nigh complete; only one warship escaped, and our loss was small. The Invincible had no casualties; the Inflexible had one man killed. The Kent, which fought the most stubborn engagement, lost four men killed and twelve wounded; while the Glasgow had nine killed and four wounded. The German loss was terrible. Some 3,000 men must have perished, including von Spee and two of his sons. Let us do honour to those of our foes who sank beneath the waves on that dread day. "The German admiral fought as Cradock had fought; the German sailors died as Cradock's men had died. There can be no higher praise."