SEA BATTLE OF 1914

Southland Times, Issue 24001, 16 December 1939, Page 7

SEA BATTLE OF 1914

FALKLAND ISLANDS RECALLED VON SPEE’S SQUADRON WIPED OUT DISASTER OF CORONEL AVENGED The sea battle off the coast of South America in which the German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee was forced to seek refuge in the neutral port of Montevideo in a badly-damaged condition after an 18-hour running fight with the British cruisers Exeter, Ajax and Achilles, recalls the great British naval victory at Falkland Islands on December 8, 1914. In this battle the German squadron of Admiral von Spee was wiped out with the loss of 2100 men. The pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee was named after Admiral Graf Spee, and the coincidence is made even more remarkable by the fact that the recent battle was fought in approximately the same waters and very near the same time of year. The Battle of Falkland Islands was one of the most decisive and dramatic sea battles of the Great War.

Following his appointment as First Sea Lord at the end of October 1914 Lord Fisher took immediate steps to concentrate overwhelming force against the German squadron which had just destroyed Cradock’s two cruisers at Coronel. He determined to despatch the two battle cruisers Invincible and Inflexible secretly to the Falklands. On November 11 the two ships left England under Vice-Admiral Sir Doreton Sturdee. Off the Brazilian coast they were joined by the old armed cruisers Carnarvon, Cornwall and Kent, the light cruisers Glasgow and Bristol and the armed ships Macedonia and Orama. They reached Port William in the Falklands on December 7.

Von Spee had heard nothing of the movements of the battle cruisers and expected to find only a weak British force at the Falklands. His plan was to destroy any vessels there and then seize the British naval base. GERMANS SIGHTED At 7.50 a.m. on December 8 he was sighted off the Falklands. His flag was hoisted in the Scharnhorst, armoured cruiser,- and with him was her sister ship Gneisenau, the light cruisers Numberg, Leipzig and Dresden, and three transports. As soon as the Germans were sighted Sturdee ordered his ships to raise steam for full speed and at 8.30 sounded for action. At 9.20 Gneisenau approached the wireless station and was fired on. Supposing that she was being attacked by coastal defences of unexpected strength she turned away; a little later her officers saw fhe tripod masts of the two British battle cruisers, whereupon all von Spee’s squadron increased speed and steered east. Von Spee ordered his crews to prayers, warning them of the ordeal before then.

Sturdee put to sea and at 12.51 the first shots were fired; a few minutes later the firing became general. Soon after 1 o’clock the German light cruisers parted company with the armoured cruisers and fled south, followed by the British cruisers while Sturdee with Invincible and Inflexible engaged Sharnhorst and Gneisenau steaming south east, Sturdee’s ships were now going “all out” and fast overhauled their opponents who were repeatedly engaged at ranges of 16,000 and 13,000 yards. At 3.20 Scharnhorst was on fire; two funnels had been shot away and the red glow of flame could be seen in her. She struggled on gallantly and received a whole series of hits till at 4.4 p.m. she listed, turned over on her beam ends and sank at 4.17 with every soul on board. GNEISENAU AFIRE Fire was next concentrated on the Gneisenau, which had been damaged in the earlier part of the action. Now her second funnel was knocked over and at 5.30 she was badly afire, with steam and smoke pouring from her. Just as the British ships were about to close she fired several shots and they resumed fire. Ten minutes later she heeled over suddenly and sank. Of her crew of more than 800, only 94 officers and men could be rescued from the icy water. The Leipzig and the Nurnberg were sunk in separate actions by the smaller British cruisers and 25 of their crews were saved. The Dresden escaped temporarily, but was caught later and destroyed in Chilean waters. Most of the crew escaped. i The British losses in battle cruisers were nil, though the Invincible was hit 22 times and the Inflexible three times. The strategy which brought overwhelming force to bear was of extraordinary merit and made, the battle tactically a military execution.'