When the leading German ships were sighted far away on the distant horizon, Admiral Sturdee and his squadron were indeed coaling. From the intelligence he had received he had convinced himself that the Germans were at Valparaiso, and he intended to sail the next day in the hopes of doubling the Horn before the enemy could do so. More than two hours passed after the enemy first came in sight before he could raise steam and get under way. The first shots were fired by the 12–inch guns of the Canopus from her stationary position on the mudbanks of the inner harbour. The Gneisenau had continued to approach until she saw the fatal tripods, whereupon she immediately turned round and, followed by one of her light cruisers, made off at full speed to join her main body. In a few moments the whole of the German squadron was steaming off in a westerly direction with all possible speed. At 10 o’clock, the Kent, Carnarvon and Glasgow having already sailed, Admiral Sturdee came out of the harbour in the Invincible, followed by the Inflexible and Cornwall; while the light cruisers, one of whom (the Bristol) had her engines actually opened up, hurried on after as fast as possible.
The whole five ships of the German squadron were now visible, hull down on the horizon about fifteen miles away. The order was given for general chase, but later on, having the day before him, the Admiral regulated the speeds, the battle-cruisers maintaining only about 20 knots. This, however, was quite sufficient to overhaul the Germans, who after their long sojourn in the Pacific without docking were not able to steam more than 18 knots in company. Even so, the Leipzig began to lag behind, and shortly before 1 o’clock, the Inflexible opened fire upon her at 16,000 yards. Confronted with having his ships devoured one by one, von Spee took a decision which was certainly in accordance with the best traditions of the sea. Signalling to his light cruisers to make their escape to the South American coast, he turned with the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau to face his pursuers. The action which followed was on the British side uneventful. The German Admiral endeavoured more than once to close to ranges at which his powerful secondary armament of 5·9’s could play their part. The British held off just far enough to make this fire ineffective and pounded their enemy with their 12–inch guns. At this long range, however, it took a considerable time and much ammunition to achieve the destruction of the German cruisers. The Scharnhorst, with the Admiral and all hands, sank at 4.17 p.m., her last signal to her consort being to save herself. Gneisenau continued to fight against hopeless odds with the utmost fortitude until 6 o’clock when, being in a completely disabled condition, she opened her sea-cocks and vanished, with her flag still flying, beneath the icy waters of the ocean. The British ships rushing to the spot and lowering every available boat were able only to save 200 Germans, many of whom died the next day from the shock of the cold water. When both the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau had sunk, the Inflexible had only thirty and the Invincible only twenty-two rounds left for each of their 12–inch guns.
[Click anywhere on map for high resolution image.]
Meanwhile, the other British cruisers had each selected one of the flying German light vessels, and a series of chases ensued. The Kent (Captain Allen) overtook and sunk the Nürnberg by an effort of steaming which surpassed all previous records and even, it is stated, her designed speed. The Nürnberg refused to surrender, and as she foundered by the head, the victors could see a group of men on her uplifted stern waving to the last the German flag. The Leipzig was finished off by the Glasgow and the Cornwall. The Dresden alone for the time made good her escape. She was hunted down and destroyed three months later in the roadstead of Mas-a-Fuera.
Thus came to an end the German cruiser warfare in the outer seas. With the exception of the Karlsruhe, of which nothing had been heard for some time and which we now know was sunk by an internal explosion on November 4, and the Dresden soon to be hunted down, no German ships of war remained on any of the oceans of the world. It had taken four months from the beginning of the war to achieve this result. Its consequences were far-reaching, and affected simultaneously our position in every part of the globe. The strain was everywhere relaxed. All our enterprises, whether of war or commerce, proceeded in every theatre without the slightest hindrance. Within twenty-four hours orders were sent to a score of British ships to return to Home Waters. For the first time we saw ourselves possessed of immense surpluses of ships of certain classes, of trained men and of naval supplies of all kinds, and were in a position to use them to the best advantage. The public, though gratified by the annihilating character of the victory, was quite unconscious of its immense importance to the whole naval situation.
| CORONEL AND THE FALKLANDS. | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| SHIPS DIRECTLY INVOLVED. | |||
| Approximate Figure of Comparative Power. | Name. | Effective Speed: Knots. | Guns. |
| BATTLE CRUISERS. | |||
| 5 | INVINCIBLE | 24 | 8–12 inch |
| ---------- | |||
| ---------- | |||
| ---------- | |||
| ---------- | |||
| ---------- | |||
| 5 | INFLEXIBLE | 24 | 8–12 inch |
| ---------- | |||
| ---------- | |||
| ---------- | |||
| ---------- | |||
| ---------- | |||
| BATTLESHIP. | |||
| 4 | CANOPUS | 15½ | 4–12 inch |
| ------- | 12–6 inch | ||
| ------- | |||
| ------- | |||
| ------- | |||
| CRUISERS. | |||
| 3 | DEFENCE | 22 | 4–9·2 inch |
| ------- | 10–7·5 inch | ||
| ------- | |||
| ------- | |||
| 2½ | SCHARNHORST | 22 | 8–8·2 inch |
| ----------- | 6–5·9 inch | ||
| ----------- | |||
| ------ | |||
| 2½ | GNEISENAU | 22 | 8–8·2 inch |
| --------- | 6–5·9 inch | ||
| --------- | |||
| ----- | |||
| 2 | GOOD HOPE | 21½ | 2–9·2 inch |
| ---------- | 16–6 inch | ||
| ---------- | |||
| 1½ | CARNARVON | 21 | 4–7·5 inch |
| --------- | 6–6 inch | ||
| ----- | |||
| 1 | MONMOUTH | 21 | 14–6 inch |
| -------- | |||
| 1 | KENT | 21½ | 14–6 inch |
| ---- | |||
| 1 | CORNWALL | 21 | 14–6 inch |
| -------- | |||
| LIGHT CRUISERS. | |||
| GLASGOW | 24 | 2–6 inch | |
| 10–4 inch | |||
| BRISTOL | 24 | 2–6 inch | |
| 10–4 inch | |||
| LEIPZIG | 21 | 10–4·1 inch | |
| NÜRNBERG | 22 | 10–4·1 inch | |
| DRESDEN | 22 | 10–4·1 inch | |
| ARMED MERCHANT CRUISERS. | |||
| MACEDONIA | 17 | ||
| OTRANTO | 16 | 4–4·7 inch | |
| Note:—The figures of comparative value are only intended to enable the reader to follow the account. As broad classifications they are true, but they can only be taken as approximate. | |||
CHAPTER XIX
WITH FISHER AT THE ADMIRALTY
November and December, 1914
‘... that pale, that white-faced shore,
whose foot spurns back the ocean’s roaring tides