That on the field his targe he threw,
Whose brazen studs and tough bull hide
Had Death so often dashed aside.
For train’d abroad his arms to wield
Fitz James’s blade was sword and shield.’
Scott, ‘The Lady of the Lake,’ Canto V, XV.
The Mystery of Admiral von Spee—First Threat to South American Waters—His Apparition at Samoa—His Second Disappearance—Renewed Threat to South America—Rear-Admiral Cradock Ordered to Concentrate—The Relative Forces—Importance of the Battleship Canopus—The First Combination against Admiral von Spee—Rear-Admiral Cradock’s Disquieting Telegram—His Cruise up the Chilean Coast without the Canopus—Certain News of the Enemy’s Arrival—Admiralty Measures—News of the Action of Coronel—The Meeting of the Squadrons—The British Attack the Germans—Destruction of the Good Hope and Monmouth—Escape of the Glasgow—Reflections upon the Admiralty Examined—An Explanation of Rear-Admiral Cradock’s Action—The Alternatives Open to the German Squadron—Second Combination against Admiral von Spee—Battle-cruisers Invincible and Inflexible Ordered to South America—Arrangements with the Japanese Admiralty—Development of the Second Combination—British Naval Resources at their Utmost Strain—Königsberg Blockaded and the Emden Sunk—Relief in the Indian Ocean—Accelerated Despatch of the Battle-Cruisers—What Admiral von Spee Found at the Falklands—News of the Battle and of Victory—The Action—Total Destruction of the German Squadron—End of the German Cruiser Warfare—End of the Great Strain.
As has already been described, Admiral von Spee, the German Commander-in-Chief in the Far East, sailed from Tsingtau (Kiaochau),[[80]] in the last week of June, with the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, and on August 5, immediately after the British declaration of war, these two powerful ships were reported as being near the Solomon Islands. They were subsequently reported at New Guinea on the 7th August, and coaling at the Caroline Islands on the 9th. After this they vanished into the immense Pacific with its innumerable islands, and no one could tell where they would reappear. As the days succeeded one another and grew into weeks, our concern on their account extended and multiplied. Taking the Caroline Islands as the centre, we could draw daily widening circles, touching ever more numerous points where they might suddenly spring into action. These circles were varied according as the Germans were credited with proceeding at most economical speed, at three-quarter speed, or at full speed; and the speed at which they would be likely to steam depended upon the nature of the potential objective which in each case might attract them.
We have seen how the mystery of their whereabouts affected the movements of the New Zealand and Australian convoys, and what very anxious decisions were forced upon us. We have seen how the uncertainty brooded over the little expedition from New Zealand to Samoa: how glad we were when it arrived safely and seized the island: how prompt we were—providentially prompt—to snatch every vessel away from the roadstead of Samoa the moment the troops and stores were landed. When at length more than five weeks had passed without any sign of their presence, we took a complete review of the whole situation. All probabilities now pointed to their going to the Magellan Straits or to the West Coast of South America. The Australian convoy was now provided with superior escort. Not a British vessel could be found in the anchorage at Samoa. The old battleships were already on their way to guard the convoys in the Indian Ocean. There was nowhere where they could do so much harm as in the Straits of Magellan. Moreover, we thought we had indications of German coaling arrangements on the Chilian coast. There were rumours of a fuelling base in the Magellan Straits, for which diligent search was being made. There was certainly German trade still moving along the Western Coast of South America.
Accordingly, on the 14th September, the Admiralty sent the following telegram to Rear-Admiral Cradock, who commanded on the South American Station:—