"Second, action with the light cruisers. About one P. M. when the Scharnhorst and the Gneisenau turned to port to engage the Invincible and the Inflexible, the enemy's light cruisers turned to starboard to escape. The Dresden was leading, and the Nuremburg and Leipzig followed on each quarter. In accordance with my instructions, the Glasgow, Kent and Cornwall at once went in chase of these ships. The Glasgow drew well ahead of the Cornwall and Kent, and at 3 P. M. shots were exchanged with the Leipzig at 12,000 yards. The Glasgow's object was to endeavor to outrange the Leipzig, and thus cause her to alter course and give the Cornwall and Kent a chance of coming into action. At 4.17 P. M. the Cornwall opened fire also on the Leipzig; at 7.17 P. M. the Leipzig was on fire fore and aft, and the Cornwall and Glasgow ceased fire. The Leipzig turned over on her port side and disappeared at 9 P. M. Seven officers and eleven men were saved. At 3.36 P. M. the Cornwall ordered the Kent to engage the Nuremburg, the nearest cruiser to her. At 6.35 P. M. the Nuremburg was on fire forward, and ceased firing. The Kent also ceased firing, then, as the colors were still observed to be flying on the Nuremburg, the Kent opened fire again. Fire was finally stopped five minutes later, on the colors being hauled down, and every preparation was made to save life. The Nuremburg sank at 7.27, and as she sank a group of men were waving the German ensign attached to a staff.
"Twelve men were rescued, but only seven survived. The Kent had four killed and twelve wounded, mostly caused by one shell. During the time the three cruisers were engaged with the Nuremburg and Leipzig, the Dresden, which was beyond her consorts, effected her escape, owing to her superior speed. The Glasgow was the only cruiser with sufficient speed to have had any chance of success, however she was fully employed in engaging the Leipzig for over an hour before either the Cornwall or Kent could come up and get within range. During this time the Dresden was able to increase her distance and get out of sight. Three, Action with the enemy's transports. H.M.S. Macedonia reports that only two ships, the steamships Baden and Santa Isabel, were present. Both ships were sunk after removal of the crews."
Thus was annihilated the last squadron belonging to Germany outside the North Sea. The defeat of Cradock had been avenged. The British losses were very small, considering the length of the fight and the desperate efforts of the German fleet. Only one ship of the German squadron was able to escape, and this on account of her great speed. The German sailors went down with colors flying. They died as Cradock's men had died.
The naval war now entered upon a new phase. The shores of Great Britain had for many years been so thoroughly protected by the British navy that few coast fortifications had been built, except at important naval stations. Invasion on a grand scale was plainly impossible, so long as the British fleets held control of the sea. With German guns across the Channel almost within hearing it was evident that a raiding party might easily reach the English shore on some foggy night. The English people were much disturbed. They had read the accounts of the horrible brutalities of the German troops in Belgium and eastern France, and they imagined their feelings if a band of such ferocious brutes were to land in England and pillage their peaceful homes. There was a humorous side to the way in which the yeomanry and territorials entrenched themselves along the eastern coast line, but the Germans, angry at the failure of their fleets, determined to disturb the British peace by raids, slight as the military advantage of such raids might be.
On November 2d a fleet of German warships sailed from the Elbe. They were three battle cruisers, the Seydlitz, the Moltke, and the Von Der Tann; two armored cruisers, the Blucher and the York, and three light cruisers, the Kolberg, the Graudenz, and the Strasburg. They were mainly fast vessels and the battle cruisers carried eleven-inch guns. Early in the morning they ran through the nets of a British fishing fleet. Later an old coast police boat, the Halcyon, was shot at a few times. About eight o'clock they were opposite Yarmouth, and proceeded to bombard that naval station from a distance of about ten miles. Their range was poor and their shells did no damage. They then turned swiftly for home, but on the road back the York struck a mine, and was sunk.
[Illustration: Map: Great Britain on the West, Denmark and Germany on
the East.]
ENGLISH COAST TOWNS THAT WERE RAIDED
On the 16th of December they came again, full of revenge because of the destruction of von Spee and his squadron. Early in the morning early risers in Scarborough saw in the north four strange ships. Scarborough was absolutely without defense. It had once been an artillery depot but in recent years had been a cavalry station, and some few troops of this service were quartered there. Otherwise it was an open seaside resort. The German ships poured shells into the defenseless town, aiming at every large object they could see, the Grand Hotel, the gas works, the water works and the wireless station. Churches, public buildings, and hospitals were hit, as well as private houses. Over five hundred shells were fired. Then the ships turned around and moved away. The streets were crowded with puzzled and scared inhabitants, many of whom, as is customary in watering places, were women, children and invalids.
At nine o'clock Whitby, a coast town near Scarborough, saw two great ships steaming up from the south. Ten minutes later the ships were firing. The old Abbey of Hilda and Cedman was struck, but on the whole little damage was done. Another division of the invaders visited the Hartlepools. There there was a small fort, with a battery of old-fashioned guns, and off the shore was a small British flotilla, a gunboat and two destroyers. The three battle cruisers among the German raiders opened fire. The little British fleet did what they could but were quickly driven off. The German ships then approached the shore and fired on the English battery, the first fight with a foreign foe in England since 1690. The British battery consisted of some territorials who stood without wavering to their guns and kept up for half an hour a furious cannonading. A great deal of damage was done; churches, hospitals, workhouses and schools were all hit. The total death roll was 119, and the wounded over 300. Six hundred houses were damaged or destroyed, but there was a great deal of heroism, not only among the territorials, but among the inhabitants of the town, and when the last shots were fired all turned to the work of relief.
Somewhere between nine and ten o'clock the bold German fleet started for home. The British Grand Fleet had been notified of the raid and two battle cruiser squadrons were hurrying to intercept them. But the weather had thickened and the waters of the North Sea were covered with fog belts stretching for hundreds of miles. And so the raiders returned safe to receive their Iron Crosses. The German aim in such raids was probably to create a panic, and so interfere with the English military plans. If the English had not looked at the matter with common sense they might easily have been tempted to spend millions of pounds on seaboard fortifications, and keep millions of men at home who were more necessary in the armies in France. But the English people kept their heads.
Germany, perceiving the indignation of the world at these bombardments of defenseless watering places, endeavored to appease criticism by describing them as fortified towns. But the well-known excellence of the German system of espionage makes it plain that they knew the true condition of affairs. These towns were not selected as fortified towns, but because they were not, and destruction in unfortified towns it was thought would have a greater effect than in a fortified town where it would be regarded as among the natural risks of war.