Admiralty to Commander-in-Chief, China.
November 11, 1914.
‘Captain, officers and crew of Emden appear to be entitled to all the honours of war. Unless you know of any reason to the contrary, Captain and officers should be permitted to retain swords
These martial courtesies were, however, churlishly repaid.
The clearance of the Indian Ocean liberated all those vessels which had been searching for the Emden and the Königsberg. Nothing could now harm the Australian convoy. Most of its escort vanished. The Emden and the Königsberg were accounted for, and von Spee was on the other side of the globe. The Minotaur had already been ordered with all speed to the Cape. All the other vessels went through the Red Sea into the Mediterranean, where their presence was very welcome in view of the impending Turkish invasion of Egypt.
Meanwhile the Invincible and Inflexible had reached Devonport. We had decided that Admiral Sturdee on vacating the position of chief of the staff should hoist his flag in the Invincible, should take command on the South American station, and should assume general control of all the operations against von Spee. We were in the highest impatience to get him and his ships away. Once vessels fall into dockyard hands, a hundred needs manifest themselves.
On November 9, when Lord Fisher was in my room, the following message was put on my table:—
The Admiral Superintendent, Devonport, reports that the earliest possible date for completion of Invincible and Inflexible is midnight 13th November.
I immediately expressed great discontent with the dockyard delays and asked, ‘Shall I give him a prog?’ or words to that effect. Fisher took up the telegram. As soon as he saw it he exclaimed, ‘Friday the 13th. What a day to choose!’ I then wrote and signed the following order, which as it was the direct cause of the battle of the Falklands may be reproduced in facsimile.[[88]]
The ships sailed accordingly and in the nick of time. They coaled on November 26 at Abrolhos, where they joined and absorbed Admiral Stoddart’s squadron (Carnarvon, Cornwall, Kent, Glasgow, Bristol and Orama) and despatched Defence to the Cape, and without ever coming in sight of land or using their wireless they reached Port Stanley, Falkland Islands, on the night of Dec. 7. Here they found the Canopus in the lagoon, prepared to defend herself and the colony in accordance with the Admiralty instructions. They immediately began to coal.