Dec. 8—British squadron under Vice Admiral Sturdee defeats German squadron under Admiral von Spee off the Falkland Islands; German flagship Scharnhorst and the cruisers Gneisenau, Leipzig, and Nurnberg are sunk; the British casualties are slight.
Dec. 9—Three German merchantmen sunk in South Atlantic; Gulf of Bothnia closed because of mines.
Dec. 10—German submarine raid on Dover repulsed by the forts; Turkish gunboat sunk by defense mine.
Dec. 12—Turkish fleet bombards Batum.
Dec. 14—British submarine B-11, by diving under five rows of mines, sinks Turkish battleship Messudieh in the Dardanelles.
Dec. 15—German cruiser Cormorant interned at Guam; Turks bombard Sevastopol.
Dec. 16—German warships shell the English coast towns of Scarborough, Hartlepool, and Whitby; about 120 persons are killed and 550 wounded; British warships shell Westende.
Dec. 17—Austrian training ship Beethoven sunk by mine; British squadron bombards Turkish troops on Gulf of Saros; Russians sink German steamship Derentie off Turkish coast; Norwegian ship Vaaren sunk by mine in North Sea; three British ships sunk by mines.
Dec. 18—British auxiliary cruiser Empress of Japan captures collier Exford with forty of Emden's crew on board; Russian Black Sea fleet sinks two Turkish ships.
Dec. 19—Russian warship Askold captures German steamer Haifa and sinks a Turkish steamer; British warships shell German positions between Nieuport and Middelkerke.