| Battle of the Falkland Islands | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theFirst World War | |||||||
.jpg) Battle of the Falkland Islands,William Lionel Wyllie | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 United Kingdom |  Germany | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
 Doveton SturdeeJohn Luce |  Maximilian von Spee † | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 2 battlecruisers 3 armoured cruisers 2 light cruisers 1 armed merchant cruiser 1 grounded pre-dreadnought | 2 armoured cruisers 3 light cruisers 3 transport ships | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 10 killed 19 wounded 2 battlecruisers damaged 2 armored cruisers damaged | 1,871 killed 215 captured 2 armoured cruisers sunk 2 light cruisers sunk 2 transports scuttled | ||||||
 | |||||||
TheBattle of the Falkland Islands was aFirst World War naval action between the BritishRoyal Navy andImperial German Navy on 8 December 1914 in the South Atlantic. The British, after their defeat at theBattle of Coronel on 1 November, sent a large force to track down and destroy the Germancruiser squadron. The battle is commemorated every year on 8 December in theFalkland Islands as apublic holiday.
Admiral GrafMaximilian von Spee commanding the German squadron of twoarmoured cruisers,SMS Scharnhorst andGneisenau, thelight cruisersSMS Nürnberg,Dresden andLeipzig, and thecolliers SSBaden, SSSanta Isabel, and SSSeydlitz[3][4] attempted to raid the British supply base atStanley in the Falkland Islands. The British squadron consisting of thebattlecruisersHMS Invincible andInflexible, the armoured cruisersHMS Carnarvon,Cornwall andKent, thearmed merchant cruiser HMSMacedonia and the light cruisersHMS Bristol andGlasgow had arrived in the port the day before.
Visibility was at its maximum, the sea was placid with a gentle breeze, and the day was bright and sunny. The vanguard cruisers of the German squadron were detected early. By nine o'clock that morning, the British battlecruisers and cruisers were in pursuit of the German vessels. All exceptDresden andSeydlitz were tracked down and sunk.
The British battlecruisers each mounted eight 12 in (305 mm) guns, whereas Spee's best ships (Scharnhorst andGneisenau) were equipped with eight 210 mm (8.3 in) pieces. The battlecruisers could make 25.5knots (47.2 km/h; 29.3 mph) against Spee's 22.5 knots (41.7 km/h; 25.9 mph), so the British battlecruisers not only significantly outgunned their opponents, but could outrun them too. The obsoletepre-dreadnought battleshipHMS Canopus had been grounded atStanley to act as a makeshift defence battery for the area.
At the outbreak of hostilities, the GermanEast Asia Squadron commanded by Spee was outclassed and outgunned by the Royal Navy and theImperial Japanese Navy. Spee and the High Command did not believeGermany's Asian possessions could be defended and doubted the squadron could even survive in that theatre. Spee wanted to get his ships home and began by heading southeast across the Pacific, although he was pessimistic about their chances.
Spee's fleet won theBattle of Coronel off the coast ofCoronel, Chile, on 1 November 1914, where his ships sank the cruisersHMS Good Hope (AdmiralChristopher Cradock's flagship) andMonmouth. After the battle, on 3 November,Scharnhorst,Gneisenau andNürnberg enteredValparaíso harbour and were welcomed as heroes by theGerman population. Von Spee declined to join in the celebrations; when presented with a bouquet of flowers, he refused them, commenting that "these will do nicely for my grave".[5] As required under international law for belligerent ships in neutral countries, the ships left within 24 hours, moving toMas Afuera, 400 mi (350 nmi; 640 km) off the Chilean coast. There they received news of the loss of the cruiserSMS Emden, which had previously detached from the squadron and had been raiding in theIndian Ocean. They also learnt of thefall of theGerman colony at Qingdao in China, which had been their home port. On 15 November, the squadron moved toBahia San Quintin on the Chilean coast, where a ceremony was held to award 300Iron Crosses, second class, to crew members, and an Iron Cross first class to Admiral Spee, after news of the battle reached KaiserWilhelm II in Berlin.[6]
Spee's officers counselled a return to Germany.[citation needed] The squadron had used half its ammunition at Coronel, after previously expending some in itsBombardment of Papeete; the supply could not be replenished, and it was difficult even to obtain coal. Intelligence reports suggested that the British shipsHMS Defence,Cornwall andCarnarvon were stationed in theRiver Plate, and that there had been no British warships at Stanley when recently visited by a steamer. Spee had been concerned about reports of a British battleship,Canopus, but its location was unknown. On 26 November, the squadron set sail forCape Horn, which they reached on 1 December, then anchored atPicton Island, where they stayed for three days distributing coal from a captured British collier, theDrummuir, and hunting. On 6 December, the British vessel was scuttled and its crew transferred to the auxiliarySeydlitz. The same day Spee proposed to raid the Falkland Islands in order to destroy the British wireless transmitter located there before setting course for Germany. The raid was unnecessary because the squadron now had as much coal as it could carry. Most of Spee's captains opposed the raid, but he nevertheless decided to proceed.[7]
On 30 October, retiredAdmiral of the FleetLord Fisher was reappointedFirst Sea Lord to replace AdmiralPrince Louis of Battenberg, who had been forced to resign because of public outcry against a German prince running the British navy, though Louis had been British and in the Royal Navy since the age of 14. On 3 November, Fisher was advised that Spee had been sighted off Valparaíso and acted to reinforce Cradock by orderingDefence, already sent to patrol the eastern coast of South America, to reinforce his squadron. On 4 November, news of the defeat at Coronel arrived. The blow to British naval prestige was palpable, and the British public was rather shocked. As a result, the battlecruisersInvincible andInflexible were ordered to leave theGrand Fleet and sail toPlymouth for overhaul and preparation for service abroad. Fisher took the opportunity to appoint the Chief of Staff at the Admiralty, Vice-AdmiralDoveton Sturdee, as Commander-in-Chief, South Atlantic and Pacific, to command the new squadron fromInvincible.[8]
On 11 November,Invincible andInflexible left HMNBDevonport, although repairs toInvincible were incomplete and she sailed with workmen still aboard. Despite the urgency of the situation and their maximum speed of around 25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph), the ships were forced to cruise at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) to conserve coal in order to complete the long journey south across the Atlantic. The two ships were also heavily loaded with supplies. Although secrecy of the mission was considered important so as to surprise Spee, Lieutenant Hirst fromGlasgow heard locals discussing the forthcoming arrival of the ships while ashore atCape Verde on 17 November; however the news did not reach Spee. Sturdee arrived at theAbrolhos Rocks on 26 November, where Rear-AdmiralArchibald Peile Stoddart awaited him with the remainder of the squadron.[9]
Sturdee announced his intention to depart for the Falkland Islands on 29 November. From there, the fast light cruisersGlasgow andBristol would patrol seeking Spee, summoning reinforcements if they found him. CaptainJohn Luce ofGlasgow, who had been at the Battle of Coronel, objected that there was no need to wait so long and persuaded Sturdee to depart a day early. The squadron was delayed during the journey for 12 hours when a cable towing targets for practice-firing became wrapped around one ofInvincible'spropellers, but the ships arrived on the morning of 7 December. The two light cruisers moored in the inner part ofStanley Harbour, while the larger ships remained in the deeper outer harbour ofPort William. Divers set about removing the offending cable fromInvincible;Cornwall's boiler fires were extinguished to make repairs, andBristol had one of her engines dismantled. The famous shipSS Great Britain—reduced to a coal bunker—supplied coal toInvincible andInflexible. Thearmed merchant cruiserMacedonia was ordered to patrol the harbour, whileKent maintained steam in her boilers, ready to replaceMacedonia the next day, 8 December; Spee's fleet arrived in the morning of the same day.[10]
An unlikely source of intelligence on the movement of the German ships was from Mrs Muriel Felton, wife of the manager of a sheep station atFitzroy, and her maids Christina Goss and Marian Macleod. They were alone when Felton received a telephone call from Port Stanley advising that German ships were approaching the islands. The maids took turns riding to the top of a nearby hill to record the movements of the ships, which Felton relayed to Port Stanley by telephone. Her reports allowedBristol andMacedonia to take up the best positions to intercept. The Admiralty later presented the women with silver plates and Felton received anOBE for her actions.[11][12][13][14]
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Spee's cruisers—Gneisenau andNürnberg—approached Stanley first. At the time, most of the British fleet was coaling, but under short notice to steam. Some believe that had Spee pressed the attack, Sturdee's ships would have been easy targets,[15] although this is a subject of conjecture as two ships were under steam acting as guardships and the battleshipCanopus was also present. The Germans were surprised by gunfire from an unexpected source - theCanopus, which had been grounded as a guardship and was behind a hill. This was enough to check the Germans' advance. The sight of the distinctive tripod masts of the British battlecruisers confirmed to the Germans that they were facing a better-equipped enemy. HMSKent was already making her way out of the harbour and had been ordered to pursue Spee's ships.
Made aware of the German ships, Sturdee had ordered the crews to breakfast, knowing thatCanopus had bought them time while steam was raised.
To Spee, with his crew battle-weary and his ships outgunned, the outcome seemed inevitable. Realizing his danger too late, and having lost any chance to attack the British ships while they were at anchor, Spee and his squadron dashed for the open sea. The British left port around 10:00. Spee was ahead by 15 mi (13 nmi; 24 km), with the German ships in line abreast heading southeast, but there was plenty of daylight left for the faster battlecruisers to catch up.
It was 13:00 when the British battlecruisers opened fire, but it took them half an hour to get the range of SMSLeipzig. Realising that he could not outrun the British ships, Spee decided to engage them with his armoured cruisers alone, to give the light cruisers a chance to escape. He turned to fight just after 13:20. The German armoured cruisers had the advantage of a freshening north-west breeze, which caused the funnel smoke of the British ships to obscure their target practically throughout the action.Gneisenau's second-in-command Hans Pochhammer indicated that there was a long respite for the Germans during the early stages of the battle, as the British attempted unsuccessfully to force Admiral Spee away from his advantageous position.
Despite initial success byScharnhorst andGneisenau in strikingInvincible, the British capital ships suffered little damage. Spee then turned to escape, but the battlecruisers came within extreme firing range 40 minutes later.
HMSInvincible and HMSInflexible engagedScharnhorst andGneisenau, while Sturdee detached his cruisers to chase SMSLeipzig and SMSNürnberg.
HMSInvincible and HMSInflexible turned to fire broadsides at the armoured cruisers and Spee responded by trying to close the range. His flagship SMSScharnhorst took extensive damage with funnels flattened, fires and a list. The list became worse at 16:04, and she sank by 16:17, taking von Spee and the entire crew with her. Von Spee’s last signal was to SMSGneisenau to try to save herself.[16] SMSGneisenau continued to fire and evade until 17:15, by which time her ammunition had been exhausted, and she sank at 18:02.[17] During her death throes, Admiral Sturdee continued to engage SMSGneisenau with his two battlecruisers and the cruiser HMSCarnarvon, rather than detaching one of the battlecruisers to hunt down the escapingDresden. One hundred and ninety of SMSGneisenau's crew were rescued from the water. Both of the British battlecruisers had received about 40 hits between them from the German ships, with one crewman killed and four injured.
Meanwhile, SMSNürnberg and SMSLeipzig had run from the British cruisers. SMSNürnberg was running at full speed but in need of maintenance, while the crew of the pursuing HMSKent were pushing her boilers and engines to the limit. SMSNürnberg finally turned for battle at 17:30. HMSKent had the advantage in shell weight and armour. SMSNürnberg suffered two boiler explosions around 18:30, giving the advantage in speed and manoeuvrability to HMSKent. The German ship then rolled over and sank at 19:27 after a long chase. The cruisers HMSGlasgow and HMSCornwall had chased down SMSLeipzig; HMSGlasgow closed to finish SMSLeipzig, which had run out of ammunition but was still flying herbattle ensign. SMSLeipzig fired two flares, so HMSGlasgow ceased fire. At 21:23, more than 80 mi (70 nmi; 130 km) southeast of the Falklands, she also rolled over and sank, leaving only 18 survivors.
During the course of the main battles, Sturdee had despatched Captain Fanshawe on HMSBristol, together with HMSMacedonia, to destroy the colliers.[4]Baden andSanta Isabel were chased, stopped, and (after removing the crews) sunk by HMSBristol and HMSMacedonia at 19:00.Seydlitz had taken a separate course and escaped.[3][4]
Casualties and damage were extremely disproportionate; the British suffered only very lightly. Among the Germans dead included Admiral Spee and his two sons, Otto von Spee of SMSNürnberg and Heinrich von Spee of SMSGneisenau; a medal was issued in Germany commemorating the deaths of the Spees.[18]Scharnhorst was lost with all hands. Two hundred and fifteen Germans became prisoners on the British ships. Most survivors were from theGneisenau, with nine fromNürnberg and 18 fromLeipzig. One ofGneisenau's officers who lived had been the sole survivor on three different guns on the battered cruiser. He was pulled from the water saying he was a first cousin of the British commander (Stoddart).[19]
Of the known German force of eight ships, two escaped: the auxiliarySeydlitz and the light cruiserDresden, which remained at large for a further three months before she was cornered by a British squadron (Kent,Glasgow andOrama) off theJuan Fernández Islands on 14 March 1915. Aftera short battle,Dresden's captain evacuated his ship and scuttled her by detonating the main ammunition magazine.
As a consequence of the battle, the East Asia Squadron, Germany's only permanent overseas naval formation, effectively ceased to exist.Commerce raiding on the high seas by regular warships of the Kaiserliche Marine was brought to an end. However, Germany put several armed merchant vessels into service as commerce raiders until the end of the war (for example, seeFelix von Luckner).
After the battle, German naval experts were baffled at why Admiral von Spee attacked the base and how the two squadrons could have met so coincidentally in so many thousand miles of open waters.Kaiser Wilhelm's handwritten note on the official report of the battle reads: "It remains a mystery what made Spee attack the Falkland Islands. See 'Mahan's Naval Strategy'."[20]
It was generally believed Spee was misled by the German admiralty into attacking the Falklands, a Royal Naval fuelling base, after receiving intelligence from the German wireless station at Valparaíso which reported the port free of Royal Navy warships. Despite the objection of three of his ships' captains, Spee proceeded to attack.[21][22]
However, in 1925 a German naval officer and seniorKriegsmarine spy,Franz von Rintelen, interviewed AdmiralWilliam Reginald Hall, Director of the Admiralty'sNaval Intelligence Division (NID), and was informed that Spee's squadron had been lured towards the British battlecruisers by means of a fake signal sent in a German naval code broken by British cryptographers and sent on a purloined German telegraph form.[20] (Similarly, on 14 March 1915,SMS Dresden was intercepted by British ships in theBattle of Más a Tierra while taking on coal at sea in a location identified by NID codebreakers.)[23]
The wreck ofScharnhorst was discovered on 4 December 2019, approximately 98 nautical miles (181 km; 113 mi) southeast of Stanley at a depth of 1,610 m (5,280 ft).[24]
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