At the outbreak
of World War I, Germany's East Asiatic squadron, consisting of two large
armoured cruisers and three light cruisers under the command of Vice
Admiral Graf Spee, travelled from their base at Tsingtao in northern
China, across the western Pacific to the coast of Chile. On 1st November
they were intercepted off the Chilean port of Coronel by a British
squadron where, enjoying a large advantage in firepower, the encounter
ended with a resounding victory for Admiral Graf Spee. The British
Admiralty reacted swiftly, despatching a powerful naval force to the South
Atlantic to confront the German squadron, and on 9th December battle
commenced some 120 miles south west of the Falkland Islands. Outnumbered,
outgunned, and outpaced by the British force, the Battle of the Falklands
was over by nightfall. Von Spee and the entire crew of his flagship
Scharnhorst perished, and with Leipzig, Nurnberg and Gneisenau also sunk,
the East Asiatic Squadron was routed. Only Dresden escaped and when she
was scuttled in Chilean waters four months later, the East Asiatic
Squadron ceased to exist.
The British squadron under Admiral Sir
Christopher Cradock consisted of two armoured cruisers HMS Goodhope and
HMS Monmouth, light cruiser HMS Glasgow and an armed merchant cruiser.
Both HMS Goodhope and HMS Monmouth were sunk, Admiral Cradock went down
with his ship HMS Goodhope.