CHAPTER XIV

Battle of the Falkland Islands (III)
C. ACTION WITH THE LIGHT CRUISERS

At about 1 P.M., when the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau turned to port to engage the Invincible and Inflexible the enemy’s light cruisers turned to starboard to escape; the Dresden was leading and the Nürnberg and Leipzig followed on each quarter.

“In accordance with my instructions, the Glasgow, Kent, and Cornwall at once went in chase of these ships; the Carnarvon, whose speed was insufficient to overtake them, closed the battle-cruisers.

“The Glasgow drew well ahead of the Cornwall and Kent, and at 3 P.M. shots were exchanged with the Leipzig at 12,000 yards. The Glasgow’s object was to endeavour to outrange the Leipzig with her 6-inch guns and thus cause her to alter course and give the Cornwall and Kent a chance of coming into action.

“At 4:17 P.M. the Cornwall opened fire, also on the Leipzig.

“At 7:17 P.M. the Leipzig was on fire fore and aft, and the Cornwall and Glasgow ceased fire.

“The Leipzig turned over on her port side and disappeared at 9 P.M. Seven officers and eleven men were saved.

“At 3:36 P.M. the Cornwall ordered the Kent to engage the Nürnberg, the nearest cruiser to her.

“Owing to the excellent and strenuous efforts of the202 engine-room department, the Kent was able to get within range of the Nürnberg at 5 P.M. At 6:35 P.M. the Nürnberg was on fire forward and ceased firing. The Kent also ceased firing and closed to 3,300 yards; as the colours were still observed to be flying in the Nürnberg, the Kent opened fire again. Fire was finally stopped five minutes later on the colours being hauled down, and every preparation was made to save life. The Nürnberg sank at 7:27 P.M. and as she sank a group of men were waving a German ensign attached to a staff. Twelve men were rescued, but only seven survived.

“The Kent had four killed and twelve wounded mostly caused by one shell.

“During the time the three cruisers were engaged with the Nürnberg and Leipzig, the Dresden, who was beyond her consorts, effected her escape owing to her superior speed. The Glasgow was the only cruiser with sufficient speed to have had any chance of success. However, she was fully employed in engaging the Leipzig for over an hour before either the Cornwall or Kent could come up and get within range. During this time the Dresden was able to increase her distance and get out of sight.

“The weather changed after 4 P.M. and the visibility was much reduced; further, the sky was overcast and cloudy, thus assisting the Dresden to get away unobserved.”

Sir Doveton Sturdee’s account of the two actions between the two light cruisers is almost too syncopated to be intelligible. Fortunately, however, many other records of these two encounters are available, so it is possible to describe what happened in somewhat greater detail. From 1:20 until about quarter to four, Glasgow, Kent, and Cornwall were engaged in a plain stern chase203 with the three enemy cruisers. At that time the enemy began separating out, and the three British cruisers worked into a line abreast following suit. The Glasgow was at the right of the line between three and four miles from Cornwall and about a mile to a mile and a half ahead of her. Kent was to the left of Cornwall, about two and a half miles off and about abreast of her. Straight ahead of Cornwall was Leipzig, the centre ship of the enemy. She was about eight miles from Cornwall and between six and seven from Glasgow. To Leipzig’s right, and two or three miles ahead of her, was Dresden, and to her left and about the same distance off was Nürnberg. There had been a certain exchange of shots before this condition was reached, for Glasgow, very much the fastest of the British cruisers, had more than once drawn up towards Leipzig, and opened fire on her in hopes of turning her towards Cornwall and Kent. And each time her attack was met by resolute and accurate fire by the Germans. As the German ships began to separate, Glasgow headed off to the right towards Dresden, once more coming under the broadside fire of Leipzig. It must be remembered that Glasgow only had two 6-inch guns, only one of which—the bow gun—could be employed in these conditions, and that the Leipzig’s 4.2’s completely outranged her 4-inch. It appears to be a universal practice with the Germans to mount all their guns from the largest to the smallest, so that they can be used at extreme elevation. It will be remembered how the Koenigsberg showed the most perfect accuracy of fire at nearly 11,000 yards with guns of a calibre that in pre-war days few in the British Service would have thought it possible to employ at greater range than 7,000 or 8,000 yards. These efforts of Glasgow to man?uvre Leipzig into contact with Cornwall,204 gave Dresden a chance she was not slow to take. She was much the fastest of all the German craft, and managed, between four and five, to slip completely out of sight and escape.

This escape was made easier, and all the shooting throughout the two cruiser actions was made much more difficult by the sudden change in the weather that has already been noted as having begun shortly before 4 o’clock. A drizzling rain had set in, and not only had it become practically impossible to use rangefinders owing to the poor light, but it became extremely hard to detect the fall of shot and so correct the fire. In considering these two fights then, the extremely difficult conditions that prevailed must be taken into account. Let us deal first with the pursuit and destruction of Nürnberg.
“KENT” V. “NüRNBERG”

At 5 o’clock Kent, after a chase of nearly four hours, was getting within range of Nürnberg. Nürnberg had crept away to the eastward of Leipzig, so that by the time fire was opened, a considerable distance separated this from the other engagements. In point of fact, when the action began, the rain and increasing mist hid every other ship from sight. It was Nürnberg which was first to open fire and, so far as could be judged, the range must have been about 11,000 yards or slightly over. Kent held her fire for another ten minutes, as if waiting to see what the Nürnberg’s guns could do at this range. She could of course, only use her two guns on the quarter-deck, and the after gun on the port side. To the astonishment of the Kent all her first salvoes were right over. The range would have been a long one for a 6-inch gun; it seemed almost fabulous for a 4.2. Ten minutes later Kent opened205 with her bow turret, and for the next half hour an active duel was maintained. The Kent had sheered off a little to the left so as to bring her forward casemate guns also to bear. There was no doubt about the Nürnberg’s shots falling over close, and the Kent’s guns seemed from the ship to be fairly on the target. But for a considerable time there was no evidence that they were hitting, and Kent was certainly not suffering from Nürnberg’s fire, astonishingly accurate as it was. But suddenly, soon after half-past five, Kent, who was keeping up a speed of nearly a knot more than she had ever done before, began to gain enormously on her opponent. The range had been over 11,000 yards at 5 o’clock; by twenty minutes to six it got almost down to 7,000. It was obvious that Nürnberg’s motive power had somehow come to grief. Had one of Kent’s shells landed in her engine, or had one of the boilers, under the strain of so many hours’ high pressure, given way?

Whatever the cause, the results were exactly what Captain Allen was looking for. If the light had been bad at five it was getting worse every minute, and if the business was to be finished it had to be finished quickly. With the shortening range, the effect of the British lyddite was soon visible, and Nürnberg had no alternative but to repeat the man?uvre of Von Spee and turn broadside to for her assailant. Kent turned too, and not this time to lengthen the range, but to bring her whole nine broadside guns to bear. In point of fact, she closed the range as rapidly as she could, consistently with keeping all her guns bearing, and by 6 o’clock had reduced it to 3,000 yards. Nürnberg was now a beaten ship. She had one topmast gone; her funnels were riddled; her speed had fallen from twenty-four knots at 5 o’clock to about206 eighteen at a quarter to six, and now almost to ten. Of the five guns on her port side only two were in action. Shortly after this she turned bows on to the Kent, and was at once caught by several 6-inch shells in the forecastle, which smashed up both the bow guns, shattering the bridge and conning-tower. Ever since the turn at a quarter to six, Kent had kept ahead of her, though shortening the range, doubtless with an eye to the possibilities of Nürnberg using a torpedo. When, therefore, at 6:10 she was almost stopped and seemed beaten, Kent passed her and pushed on to about 5,000 yards to await developments. Shortly after six, Nürnberg ceased fire altogether, and seemed a wreck. But her colours were still flying, and it was necessary to fire at her again. Just before seven she hauled down her colours and surrendered. Both ships were now at a dead stop, and Kent got out her boats as far as she could to take possession of the enemy. But, as Captain Allen told the Association of Kentish Men in his very interesting letter about the action, the ship had received no less than thirty-six hits during the short but decisive engagement, and though she had been singularly fortunate in losing very few men—four men killed and twelve wounded—all her boats but two were in splinters, and both of these needed repairs before they could be used. They were, however, manned and lowered as quickly as possible, but they were hardly on their way towards the Nürnberg, some two miles off, when the enemy was seen to turn slowly on her side and sink. As she went below the waves, some of her gallant crew were seen on the stern waving the German ensign defiantly. For an hour and a half, that is until some time after dark, the Kent’s two boats searched for survivors. Only seven were saved alive. Some were lashed to hammocks and gratings,207 and others were swimming. But in the extreme cold the great majority perished. One account of this dismal episode that has been sent to me says that the albatrosses were actually attacking the living as well as the dead in this last melancholy scene.
(LARGER)
Plan of action between Kent and Nürnberg, and of that between Cornwall and Glasgow and Leipzig
“CORNWALL” AND “GLASGOW” V. “LEIPZIG”

We have seen in the account of the Kent and Nürnberg action that up to 4 o’clock cruisers of both sides kept fairly well together, and that then the Germans opened out. It was shortly after this that they got out of sight of each other. Kent pursued Nürnberg in a more easterly direction, the Glasgow and Cornwall pursuing Leipzig more to the south. In order to bring the Leipzig to action Glasgow was sent forward on the Cornwall’s left, which made Leipzig, while still of course retreating as fast as she could, turn slightly towards Cornwall and transfer her fire to her. All three ships were now firing, but the shots were falling short, until at about 4:20 Cornwall made the first hit on the enemy, carrying away his foremast. This made the enemy edge away to the right, a move which was followed by Cornwall also. The range was now shortening. When it was 8,000 yards Leipzig made her first hits. Cornwall thereupon altered course still more to starboard thus bringing about two effective results. The whole broadside of guns came in play, and the change of course threw out Leipzig’s fire control. Both ships kept on these courses, and the range increased again to nearly 10,000 yards. As we have previously seen, it was at this time that the weather began to get really thick, and as a consequence of this it became exceedingly difficult to see the fall of shot, but it is worth remembering that Leipzig was still hitting with her 4.2’s. Shortly after 5 o’clock,209 however, the range reached over 10,000 yards, and it became necessary to close once more. Between five and a quarter to six Cornwall, that had now clearly got the speed of Leipzig, carried out precisely the same tactics that the Vice-Admiral had adopted in the case of the battle-cruisers. Alternately, that is to say, closing the enemy at full speed, shelling him with the fo’c’sle guns, and then turning sharply to starboard to bring the whole broadside to bear. At about a quarter to six Leipzig landed a shell in Cornwall’s paint room, which shook the ship but did no damage. Captain Ellerton now decided to shorten the range and use lyddite shell. In the half hour between a quarter to six and a quarter past the range was brought down to about 8,500, and by about 6:40 it was reduced to 7,000. A far better proportion of hits was now being obtained, and the effect of the lyddite became immediately apparent. First one and then another of Leipzig’s guns ceased firing, and by ten minutes to seven a big fire started forward. A few minutes before Cornwall had heard the news by wireless of the sinking of Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, and officers and men redoubled their efforts. The range was closed still more, the hitting became more intense, but the enemy in spite of his losses and damages kept every gun that could still work firing, and was actually hitting Cornwall frequently right up to five minutes past seven, but in another five minutes two of her funnels were gone and the ship was blazing fore and aft.

Cornwall thereupon ceased fire, expecting the enemy to strike his colours, but he did not do so. So Cornwall closed about 5,000 yards and gave her a few more salvoes of lyddite. At a quarter to eight there was a loud explosion on board Leipzig and her mainmast went over the210 side. At 8:12, it was of course dark by now, she sent up signals of distress. Both Cornwall and Glasgow now lowered boats as fast as they could be repaired and manned, but they were not able to reach the enemy until after 9 o’clock, and before they did so the ship turned over and sank. Only six officers and nine men were rescued from the water. Heavy as the casualties must have been, there were in all probability more than these unwounded at the end of the action, and all of those not killed, wounded as well as unwounded, might have been saved, for the ship was not actually in a sinking condition from Cornwall and Glasgow’s fire, and had been sunk by the orders of her own officers.

Cornwall was hit eighteen times, but did not suffer a single casualty. Glasgow had one man killed and five wounded. One of the Leipzig’s officers said that from a quarter past six till seven, that is when the range had been brought down to about 7,000 yards, some rounds out of every salvo fired hit the ship. The effect of the lyddite appears to have been appalling. Men were blown to pieces and the ship was littered with ghastly fragments and relics of humanity. When the ship could reply no more, for there was no ammunition left for such guns as might still have been worked, the captain called the survivors together and said any one who liked could go and haul the flag down, but he would not do it. Nor did any one volunteer. About fifty jumped overboard, and when the ship sent up signals of distress there were only eighteen left alive on board. All but one of them were saved.
D. ACTION WITH THE ENEMY TRANSPORTS

“A report was received at 11:27 A.M. from H.M.S. Bristol that three ships of the enemy, probably transports211 or colliers, had appeared off Port Pleasant. The Bristol was ordered to take the Macedonia under his orders and destroy the transports.

“H.M.S. Macedonia reports that only two ships, steamships Baden and Santa Isabel, were present; both ships were sunk after the removal of the crew.”

It is not clear from this what became of the third ship. But there were persistent rumours in various South American ports that the Germans had, in the course of the autumn, collected a very considerable number of trained reservists from the different South American States and cities, and had got them on board a transport with arms, etc., so as to be ready for any military purpose the naval commander-in-chief might select. It is exceedingly probable that the reason Von Spee did not appear off the Falkland Islands till five weeks after his defeat of Admiral Cradock was that he had had to spend a considerable time in getting these reservists ready for action. It certainly is quite clear that on December 8th he arrived off the Falkland Islands intending to attack, and it is far more probable that he intended to attack, seize, and annex the colony than merely to subdue and rob it. To seize and annex he would have needed troops, and the third transport that Macedonia did not find when she got Santa Isabel and Baden probably contained the men destined to hold the colony. That the British Admiralty expected some attack of this kind is shown from the fact that Canopus, after being ordered north, was told to return to the Falkland Islands and to do the best possible for the defence of the colony. The only military strength possessed by the colony was three hundred volunteers who had had very little training and practically no arms beyond rifles. Good Hope had left a field-gun when212 passing at the beginning of October, but of other artillery there was none. The seizure of the island, then, by Von Spee’s force of five ships, supplemented by a regiment of reservists, was a perfectly feasible project. Had it succeeded and the island been left with an adequate supply of machine and field guns, to resist a landing, it would have been an extremely difficult job to have turned them out. For with guns properly emplaced, the ships’ artillery could have done very little to protect landing parties, and Admiral Sturdee’s ships carried no sufficient surplus of men for it to have been practicable to incur a heavy sacrifice of life to regain the island. So far as this adventure was concerned the whole thing miscarried through being a week too late.