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 as heroes.