Before attempting to give a description of the battle of the Falkland Islands, it is necessary to review very briefly the movements and dispositions of our ships, as well as the events preceding the battle, which include both the duel between the armed merchant cruiser Carmania and Cap Trafalgar and the action fought off Coronel on the coast of Chile by Admiral Cradock.
Our naval forces were scattered in comparatively small units all over the world when war broke out. Ships in various squadrons were separated from one another by great distances, and, with the exception of our Mediterranean Fleet, we possessed no squadron in any part of the globe equal in strength to that of von Spee.
Attention is directed to the positions of Easter Island, where the Germans had last been reported, Valparaiso, Coronel, Magellan Straits, Staten Island, the Falkland Islands, Buenos Ayres, Montevideo, Rio de Janeiro, Pernambuco, and the Island of Trinidad off the east coast of South America, since they occur continually in the course of this narrative.[3]
In the early part of 1914 Rear-Admiral Sir Christopher Cradock, K.C.V.O., C.B., flying his flag in the Suffolk, was in command of the fourth cruiser squadron, which was then doing some very useful work in the Gulf of Mexico. On August 2nd he was at Kingston, Jamaica, and received information that the Good Hope was on her way out to become his flagship, so he sailed northwards to meet her. On the way he sighted and gave chase to the Karlsruhe on August 6th, as has been related. The Suffolk and the Good Hope met at sea ten days later, and the Admiral went on board the latter immediately and hoisted his flag.
Turning south, he went to Bermuda, called in at St. Lucia on August 23rd, and thence proceeded along the north coast of South America on his way to take up the command of a newly forming squadron of British ships patrolling the trade routes and protecting the merchant shipping in South American waters. At St. Lucia Admiral Cradock would probably have learned of the sailing of von Spee's squadron from Ponape on August 6th, and this accounts for his haste in making south in order to meet and form his ships together.
The squadron was gradually augmented as time went on, and in the months of September and October, 1914, consisted of the flagship Good Hope (Captain Philip Francklin), Canopus (Captain Heathcoat Grant), Monmouth (Captain Frank Brandt), Cornwall (Captain W. M. Ellerton), Glasgow (Captain John Luce), Bristol (Captain B. H. Fanshawe), and the armed merchant cruisers Otranto (Captain H. McI. Edwards), Macedonia (Captain B. S. Evans), and Orama (Captain J. R. Segrave).
No news was obtainable as to the whereabouts of the German squadron stationed in the Pacific, which consisted of the Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, Emden, Nürnberg, and Leipzig, except that it was known that the two latter had been operating on the east side of the Pacific, and that the Emden was in the Bay of Bengal. The vaguest rumours, all contradicting one another, were continually being circulated, in which it is more than likely that German agents had a large share.
Admiral Cradock proceeded south in the middle of September to watch the Straits of Magellan, and to patrol between there and the River Plate, as he doubtless hoped to prevent the Karlsruhe and Dresden—which, when last heard of, were in South American waters—from attempting to effect a junction with their main squadron. With him were the Monmouth, Glasgow, and the armed Orient liner Otranto, in addition to his own ship the Good Hope, which, together with his colliers, had their first base in the Falkland Islands.
On hearing of the appearance of the Germans off Papeete and of the bombardment of the French colony there on September 22nd, it was apparently considered expedient to proceed to the west coast of South America in order to intercept the enemy. Accordingly, early in October the Monmouth, Glasgow, and Otranto went round to the Pacific, diligently searching out the many inlets and harbours en route, and arrived at Valparaiso on October 15th, but only stayed a part of one day in order to get stores and provisions. They then went back southwards to meet the Good Hope and Canopus, vainly hoping to fall in with the Leipzig or Dresden on the way. The Good Hope reached the Chilean coast on October 29th, and all ships filled up with coal; the Canopus was due very shortly, and actually sighted our ships steaming off as she arrived.
In order to carry out a thorough and effective examination of the innumerable inlets that abound amongst the channels of Tierra del Fuego, in addition to the bays and harbours on both coasts of South America, it became necessary to divide up this squadron into separate units. To expedite matters, colliers were sent to meet our ships, so that valuable time should not be lost in returning to the base at the Falkland Islands. The first fine day was seized to fill up with coal, care always being taken to keep outside the three-mile territorial limit.