The Battle of the Falkland Islands 2

The Battle of the Falkland Islands 2

THE BATTLE OF THE FALKLAND ISLANDS

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER I

 

GERMAN MEN-OF-WAR IN FOREIGN SEAS

 

"I, my Lords, have in different countries seen much of the

miseries of war. I am, therefore, in my inmost soul, a

man of peace. Yet I would not, for the sake of any peace,

however fortunate, consent to sacrifice one jot of England's

honour."--(_Speech by Lord Nelson in the House of Lords, November

16th, 1802._)

 

 

We are now approaching the end of the third year of this great

war,[1] and most Englishmen, having had some of the experience that

war inevitably brings with it, will agree that the words which

Nelson spoke are as true to-day as when they were uttered just over

a century ago. Furthermore, as time and the war go on, the spirit

of the whole British nation--be it man or woman--is put to an

ever-increasing test of endurance, which is sustained and upheld by

those two simple words, "England's Honour." An old platitude, "Might

is Right," is constantly being quoted; but the nation that reverses

the order is bound to outlast the other and win through to the

desired goal. The justness of the cause, then, is the secret of our

strength, which will not only endure but bring success to our arms

in the end.

 

 

When Great Britain plunged into this Armageddon on August 4th, 1914,

the only German squadron not in European waters was stationed in the

Western Pacific, with its main base at Tsingtau. In addition there

were a few German light cruisers isolated in various parts of the

world, many of them being in proximity to British squadrons, which

would point to the fact that Germany never really calculated on Great

Britain throwing in her lot on the opposite side.

 

The recent troubles in Mexico accounted for the presence of both

British and German cruisers in those waters, where they had been

operating in conjunction with one another in the most complete

harmony. As an instance, it might be mentioned that on August 2nd,

1914, one of our sloops was actually about to land a guard for one of

our Consulates at a Mexican port in the boats belonging to a German

light cruiser!

 

A short description of some of the movements of the German ships

during the first few months of war will suffice to show that

their primary object was to damage our overseas trade as much as

possible. Further, since it is the fashion nowadays to overrate

Germany's powers of organisation and skill, it will be interesting

to observe that in spite of the vulnerability of our worldwide trade

comparatively little was achieved.

 

 

The German squadron in China was under the command of Vice-Admiral

Count von Spee. The outbreak of war found him on a cruise in the

Pacific, which ultimately extended far beyond his expectations. The

two armoured cruisers _Scharnhorst_--in which Admiral von Spee flew

his flag--and _Gneisenau_ left Nagasaki on June 28th, 1914. Their

movements southward are of no particular interest until their arrival

on July 7th at the Truk or Rug Islands, in the Caroline group,

which then belonged to Germany. After a few days they leisurely

continued their cruise amongst the islands of Polynesia. About

the middle of the month the light cruiser _Nürnberg_ was hastily

recalled from San Francisco, and sailed on July 21st, joining von

Spee's squadron at Ponape (also one of the Caroline Islands), where

the three ships mobilised for war. On August 6th they sailed for an

unknown destination, taking with them an auxiliary cruiser called the

_Titania_.

 

[Illustration: THE WAR ZONE IN WESTERN SEAS

 

The Mappa Co. Ltd London

]

 

Apparently they were somewhat short of provisions, particularly of

fresh meat and potatoes, for it was said in an intercepted letter

that their diet consisted mainly of "spun yarn" (preserved meat).

 

On August 22nd the _Nürnberg_ was sent to Honolulu to get papers

and to send telegrams, rejoining the squadron shortly afterwards.

A day or two later she was again detached, this time to Fanning

Island, where she destroyed the British cable station, cut the cable,

rejoining the squadron about September 7th, apparently at Christmas

Island. Hearing that hostile forces were at Apia (Samoan Islands),

von Spee sailed southward only to find, on his arrival, that it was

empty of shipping.

 

The squadron now proceeded eastward to the French Society Islands to

see what stores were to be found there. Completing supplies of coal

at Bora Bora Island, it suddenly appeared off Papeete, the capital

of Tahiti, on September 22nd. A French gunboat lying in the harbour

was sunk by shell-fire, the town and forts were subjected to a heavy

bombardment, whilst the coal stores were set on fire. Calling in

later at the Marquesas Islands, the German Admiral shaped his course

eastward toward Easter Island, which was reached on October 12th.

 

The light cruiser _Leipzig_ sailed from Mazatlan, an important town

on the west coast of Mexico, on August 2nd. Ten days later she was

reported off the entrance to Juan de Fuca Straits, between Vancouver

and the mainland, but never ventured inside to attack the naval

dockyard of Esquimalt. When war broke out the Canadian Government

with great promptitude purchased two submarines from an American

firm at Seattle; this was probably known to the Germans, and might

account for their unwillingness to risk an attack on a port that was

otherwise practically defenceless.

 

The Canadian light cruiser _Rainbow_, together with the British

sloop _Algerine_, did excellent work on this coast. The former, in

particular, showed much zeal in shadowing the _Leipzig_, though they

never actually met.

 

The _Leipzig_ achieved absolutely nothing worthy of note, although

she remained on the west coast of America for a long time. It was

not till the middle of October that she joined Admiral von Spee's

squadron at Easter Island, without having caused any damage to the

British Mercantile Marine.

 

 

The light cruiser _Dresden_ was at St. Thomas, one of the larger of

the Virgin Islands group, West Indies. She sailed on August 1st and

proceeded straight to Cape Horn, only staying her career to coal at

various places _en route_ where she was unlikely to be reported.

Crossing and re-crossing the trade route, she arrived on September

5th at Orange Bay, which is a large uninhabited natural harbour a

few miles to the north-west of Cape Horn. Here she was met by a

collier, and stayed eleven days making adjustments to her engines.

She evidently considered that she was now free from danger--we had

no cruisers here at this period--for she continued her course into

the Pacific, easing down to a speed of 8½ knots, and keeping more in

the track of shipping. She met the German gunboat _Eber_ on September

19th, to the northward of Magellan, and continued her way, apparently

on the look out for allied commerce, but only succeeded in sinking

two steamers before joining the flag of Admiral von Spee at Easter

Island on October 12th. Altogether she sank three steamers and four

sailing vessels, representing a total value of just over £250,000.

 

 

The light cruiser _Karlsruhe_, the fastest and most modern of the

German ships on foreign service, was in the Gulf of Mexico at the

commencement of the war. On her way to her sphere of operations in

the neighbourhood of Pernambuco she was sighted on August 6th, whilst

coaling at sea from the armed liner _Kronprinz Wilhelm_, by the

British cruiser _Suffolk_. Admiral Cradock, who was then flying his

flag in the _Suffolk_, immediately gave chase to the _Karlsruhe_,

the _Kronprinz Wilhelm_ bolting in the opposite direction. During

the forenoon Admiral Cradock called up by wireless the light cruiser

_Bristol_, which was in the vicinity, and, giving her the position of

the _Karlsruhe_, ordered her to intercept the enemy. The _Karlsruhe_

was kept in sight by the _Suffolk_ for several hours, but was never

within gun-range, and finally escaped from her by superior speed. It

was a beautiful moonlight evening when the _Bristol_ sighted her

quarry at 8 P.M., and a quarter of an hour later opened fire, which

was returned a few moments later by the _Karlsruhe_, but it was too

dark for either ship to see the results of their shooting. All the

enemy's shots fell short, so that the _Bristol_ incurred no damage.

Both ships went on firing for fifty-five minutes, by which time the

German had drawn out of range. Admiral Cradock signalled during the

action, "Stick to it--I am coming"; all this time the _Suffolk_ was

doing her best to catch up, but never succeeded in reaching the scene

of the first naval action in the world-war. The German disappeared in

the darkness, and was never seen again by our warships.

 

In her subsequent raids on British commerce along the South Atlantic

trade routes the _Karlsruhe_ was, on the whole, successful, until she

met a sudden and inglorious end off Central America. Her fate was

for a long time shrouded in mystery, the first clue being some of

her wreckage, which was found washed up on the shores of the island

of St. Vincent in the West Indies. Some of her survivors eventually

found their way back to the Fatherland and reported that she had

foundered with 260 officers and men--due to an internal explosion

on November 4th, 1914, in latitude 10° 07′ N., longitude 55° 25′ W.

(_See_ Map p. 5.)

 

In all she sank seventeen ships, representing a value of £1,622,000.

 

 

There remain three German armed merchant cruisers that claim our

attention on account of their operations off South America. The _Cap

Trafalgar_ only existed for a month before being sunk by the armed

Cunard liner _Carmania_. A description of the fight is given in a

subsequent chapter.

 

The _Prinz Eitel Friedrich_ was more directly under the orders of

Admiral von Spee, and acted in conjunction with his squadron in the

Pacific until the battle of the Falkland Islands, when she operated

on her own account against our trade with South America. She achieved