The Battle of the Falkland Islands 19

The Battle of the Falkland Islands 19

CHAPTER XIV

 

AFTERMATH

 

... "England

Grasped with sure hands the sceptre of the sea,

That untamed realm of liberty which none

Had looked upon as aught but wilderness

Ere this, or even dreamed of as the seat

Of power and judgment and high sovereignty

Whereby all nations at the last should make

One brotherhood, and war should be no more."

 

--ALFRED NOYES (_Drake_).

 

 

The battle of the Falkland Islands was, perhaps, more like the

old-time naval engagements fought by sailing ships of the line than

any other naval battle that is likely to take place nowadays. There

were no submarines, no destroyers, no aeroplanes or Zeppelins, nor

any other of the manifold death-dealing devices that tend to make war

so much more hideous than in days gone by. In a word, it was open

fighting. Not a torpedo was fired. Not even a mine was dropped, if

the survivors who stated that the German ships did not carry them

can be believed. There were a few anxious moments when zinc cases

were seen floating on the surface ahead, glistening in the sunlight,

but they turned out to be empty cartridge cases that the enemy had

dropped overboard.

 

There were three very general feelings that followed on after the

battle: firstly, that we had at last been able to achieve something

of real value; secondly, that it was quite as good as a fortnight's

leave (the most one usually gets in the Navy); and thirdly, that

the war would now soon be over. In a similar manner, after a local

success on land, the soldiers at the beginning of the war frequently

hoped that it might bring matters to a conclusion. Thus do local

events in war assume an exaggerated importance.

 

There can be no two opinions as to the decisive nature of this

battle. In the course of a single day, the whole of this German

squadron, together with two colliers, had been destroyed with the

exception of the light cruiser _Dresden_. A comparison of the

difference in the casualties points not only to its decisiveness, but

also to the success of Admiral Sturdee's dispositions and methods of

bringing the enemy to action. It was a strategic victory.

 

The German Admiral found himself very much in the same position as

Admiral Cradock at Coronel, with one important difference. Cradock

sought action despite the many odds against him, whereas von Spee

tried to run when he found he was outclassed. Sir Henry Newbolt puts

the proposition admirably. After remarking that running is the game

of the losing side, he says, "You have only to consider what it would

have been worth to Germany to have had a Cradock flying his flag in

the _Scharnhorst_ on that December 8th. You can imagine him, when the

great battle-cruisers came out of harbour, signalling, 'I am going

to attack the enemy now,' and going straight to meet them at full

speed. Their steam was not yet up--he could have closed them then

and there. What a fight that would have been! No impotent scattering

flight, no hours of burning misery, with ships turning this way and

that, to bring their guns to bear upon an enemy beyond their reach;

but a desperate short-range action with every shot telling--a chance

of dealing the enemy a heavy blow before the end, and the certainty

of leaving a great tradition to the Service."

 

 

Directly the _Gneisenau_ was sunk, wireless signals were made by the

Commander-in-Chief asking where the _Dresden_ was last seen, and in

what direction she was heading at that time. It will be recollected

that she had the speed of our armoured cruisers and got clean away

without firing a single round, having been last seen by the _Glasgow_

steering away to the S.S.W. Later signals were made calling up the

_Kent_, as no one knew what had happened to her, since she was last

seen going after the _Nürnberg_. These calls were repeated again and

again without result on account of her damaged wireless, and it was

not till the afternoon of the following day that all anxieties were

allayed by the _Kent_ arriving at Port William, bringing with her the

news of another brilliant success.

 

The problem of the moment, therefore, was to complete the victory by

rounding up the _Dresden_ as soon as possible. Should she escape now

and take refuge in one of the innumerable inlets or channels that

abound in the unsurveyed localities of the southern part of South

America, clearly it would be a matter of great difficulty to catch

her. With his characteristic energy, Admiral Sturdee did not lose a

moment in following up his victory. The _Carnarvon_ was despatched

to escort the _Orama_ and colliers coming south from the base to

Port Stanley. The two battle-cruisers _Invincible_ and _Inflexible_

proceeded with all haste to Staten Island, and thence made a careful

search for the _Dresden_ in the numerous bays around Tierra del

Fuego. The _Glasgow_ was ordered to the Straits of Magellan in the

hope that she might intercept her, whilst the _Bristol_ searched for

both the _Dresden_ and the _Kent_ to the southward of the Falklands.

Owing to lack of coal, the _Cornwall_ was obliged to return to

harbour, and was the first ship to arrive there on December 9th; she

was followed shortly afterwards by the _Kent_.

 

During the night of December 8th a thick fog came on, which made

the navigation of those of our ships endeavouring to make land no

easy matter. Magnetic compasses are apt to be considerably affected

by gun-fire, and consequently the dead-reckoning positions of our

ships were by no means to be relied upon, and were not sufficiently

accurate to give confidence in approaching an indented coast like the

east side of the Falklands.

 

Sad to relate, not a vestige of the _Dresden_ was seen by any of our

ships that were scattered in the search for her. She was careful

to abstain from using her wireless, even though there must have

been several German supply ships in the vicinity who would urgently

require to be informed of the annihilation of their squadron. This

quest entailed travelling at high speed, so shortage of coal and

oil fuel forced our ships to return one by one. By the evening of

December 11th the whole squadron had once again reassembled at the

Falklands.

 

Congratulations now poured in from all parts of the world, and were

promulgated by the Commander-in-Chief. The Governor of the Falkland

Islands, the Hon. William Allardyce, C.M.G., visited the flagship

and congratulated Admiral Sturdee, together with the whole of our

squadron, in glowing terms on behalf of the colony. Admiral Sturdee

issued an interesting Memorandum, which is given _in toto_, calling

attention to the urgent necessity for completing the victory by

running the _Dresden_ to earth. These messages are given in Part III.

 

Casualties in any decisive modern naval engagement are frequently

very one-sided, one fleet suffering enormous losses whilst the other

escapes with comparative immunity. This battle proved no exception to

this rule. In the British squadron, the _Invincible_ and _Cornwall_

had no casualties, though they both had a big share of hits. The

_Carnarvon_ and _Bristol_ were untouched. The _Inflexible_ had 1 man

killed and 3 slightly wounded. The _Glasgow_ had 1 man killed and

4 wounded through a single unlucky shot. The heaviest casualties

occurred in the _Kent_, who had 5 men killed and 11 wounded, 3 of

whom subsequently succumbed to their wounds; most of these were

caused by the bursting of one shell. She was hit thirty-seven times,

and went in to a much closer range than the remainder of our ships.

The squadron, therefore, incurred a total loss of 10 men killed

and 15 wounded, whilst the Germans lost some 2,260 men all told.

The crews of their ships totalled 2,432 officers and men, and were

estimated as follows:

 

_Scharnhorst_ 872 _Gneisenau_ 835

_Nürnberg_ 384 _Leipzig_ 341

 

The prize bounty amounted to the sum of £12,160, to be divided

amongst the officers and crews of the _Invincible_, _Inflexible_,

_Carnarvon_, _Cornwall_, _Kent_, and _Glasgow_, being calculated

at the usual rate of £5 per head. In the course of the Prize Court

proceedings the following reference to the German Admiral Count von

Spee was made in regard to his action at Coronel: "Whatever others

might have thought of this twist of the lion's tail, it appeared that

the German Admiral was under no delusion.... It was perhaps as well

to put on record that the German Admiral, when he took his fleet into

Valparaiso, refused to drink the toast of 'Damnation to the British

Navy,' and apparently had a premonition that his end was very near."

 

The prisoners of war were all sent home in the _Macedonia_ and the

storeship _Crown of Galicia_, but not before Admiral Sturdee had

given them to understand in the firmest possible manner that if any

man was found tampering with the ship's fittings, or was discovered

out of that portion of the ship allocated to his use, he would be

very severely dealt with.

 

The few days spent at Port Stanley after the battle will always live

in the memory of those who were present. They were days full of hard

work, combined with visits to friends and interesting discussions on

individual experiences. The interest of meeting, boarding, and going

over other ships to view the shot holes may be imagined. Reports and

plans had to be made out. Several ships had to be heeled over to get

at the damaged part, and presented a comic appearance, the _Cornwall_

being so far over as to look positively dangerous. All ships had to

coal and were busy at it night and day. Few will forget those night

coalings--ugh!--in a temperature of forty degrees, with a bitterly

cold wind accompanied almost invariably by occasional squalls of hail

and rain.

 

Those cheers we gave one another will not be forgotten; they rang

true, being full of pent-up enthusiasm, and, as Mr. John Masefield

says, "went beyond the guard of the English heart."

 

Unfortunately, subsequent events have made it impossible to recall

this overwhelming victory without a feeling of sadness due to the

loss of the gallant _Invincible_ in the battle of Jutland. One

description of that battle says that four of her men succeeded in

boarding a raft, and as one of our ships passed, taking them at

first for Huns, the narrator adds, "The four got up on their feet

and cheered like blazes. It was the finest thing I have ever seen."

Most of her crew were lost, but we have at least the satisfaction of knowing they died