CHAPTER XXXI

END OF SIX MONTHS' FIGHTING IN THE WEST

There were few military movements on the French battle front during

December, 1914, along the Aisne, the Oise and in the northern Champagne.

The fighting was mostly artillery duels and skirmishes by separate

units. In the Argonne, however, the Crown Prince of Germany was

active and there, as well as along the Moselle and on the heights

of the Vosges, many engagements were fought out resulting in varying

advantages to either opponent. Both sides had been strongly intrenched

and the ground was covered by snow to great depths, making progress

impossible except upon skis and snowshoes.

On December 3, 1914, the French captured Burnhaupt, a hill east of

Mülhausen in Upper Alsace, only to give up their advantage after

a German counterattack. On December 16 the Germans attacked in the

Woevre region and in Alsace; but were repulsed the following day.

On December 31, 1914, the French attacked Steinbach in Alsace, but

were driven out again.

The New Year of 1915 opened gently along the battle front in France

below Arras. The first large movement in 1915 began on January 8,

at Soissons. This city lies on both banks of the river Aisne and

was in the possession of the French. The French forces attacked

during a drenching rain, pushing up the rising ground to the north

with their heavy guns, regardless of the soft ground which rapidly

turned to deep mud and slush. They succeeded in carrying the first

line of German trenches on a front a mile wide, thus gaining the

top of the hill, which gave them an excellent position for their

artillery. The next day the Germans counterattacked, but failed

to dislodge the French.

Nothing occurred on Sunday, January 10, 1915, but on Monday, about

noon, January 11, the Germans came on with great force. The delay

on the part of the Germans was due to their awaiting reenforcements

then on the road to Soissons. For four days there had been a steady

downpour of rain which had not even stopped at this time. The River

Aisne was much swollen and some of the bridges had been carried

away, cutting off all supplies for the French, who were slowly

giving way but fighting desperately.

On January 12, 1915, and on the 13th the French were driven down

the slopes in a great rush. This predicament was a terrible one--the

onrushing Germans 500 feet in front of them and the swollen river

making successful retreat impossible, with the ground between almost

impassable with mud and slush. French reserves had improvised a

pontoon bridge across the Aisne at Missy, in the rear of their

now precarious position. This bridge was just strong enough to

carry the men and ammunition; but not the heavy guns. The retreat

turned into a rout--a general stampede for the bridge and river.

The slaughter was terrible, the river swollen as it was seemed

choked with floating soldiers. The few who safely got across the

bridge and those who were successful in reaching the farther bank

of the Aisne alive, reached Soissons eventually. The German gain in

prisoners and booty was enormous and their gain in ground advanced

their line a full mile, on a front extending five miles to Missy

and a little beyond. The Germans strongly intrenched their new

position without loss of time.

Farther along this front, in the neighborhood of Perthes, a less

important engagement took place. The Germans, under General von

Einem, opposed General Langle de Cary and his French forces. The

results of this engagement were negligible.

On January 18, 1915, a savage attack by the Germans was successfully

repulsed at Tracy-le-Val and on the 19th the French made an assault

upon the German position at St. Mihiél, in the Verdun section without

gaining any ground. Farther north on this section the French pressed

on and gained a little ground near the German fortress Metz; but

the very vicinity of this fortress counterbalanced this gain.

[Illustration: NÔTRE DAME OF RHEIMS RUINED BY GERMAN SHELLS.

SOLDIERS AND PRISONERS OF GERMANY. BELGIUM AND FRANCE. FIRST AID

TO THE WOUNDED

German lookouts, wearing the distinctive spiked German helmet, are

stationed in a treetop overlooking the battle front. The branches

aid in screening them]

[Illustration: A body of German prisoners on their way to Paris

under escort of French cuirassiers. The country people line the

roadway to see them pass]

[Illustration: Belgian soldiers--the famous Louvain Lancers, accompanied

by an aviation corps--coming up to take positions near the coast

in northern France]

[Illustration: Two cuirassiers--French cavalrymen who wear a cuirass

or breastplate--have dismounted to give aid to a wounded comrade]

[Illustration: An injured British aviator cared for by a Red Cross

doctor. Airmen who have been wounded often bring their machines

to a safe landing]

[Illustration: The choir and nave of Nôtre Dame, Rheims, before the

bombardment which destroyed its matchless carvings and stained-glass

windows]

[Illustration: The ruins of Nôtre Dame, the wonderful cathedral at

Rheims, which was shelled by the Germans. The statuary and carvings

remaining about the entrances are protected by timbers]

[Illustration: French sailors who have landed on the southwestern

coast of Belgium making a jovial feast of their dinner ashore]

On January 21, 1915, the Germans recaptured the Le Prêtre woods

near St. Mihiél, and next day the belligerents fought a fierce

engagement in the Vosges without advantage to either side. Prince

Eitel, the second son of the Kaiser, commanded an attack upon Thann in

Alsace on January 25, 1915, but was repulsed by the French defenders.

On January 28, 1915, the Germans made some gains in the Vosges

and in Upper Alsace, but in their attempt to cross the River Aisne

on the 29th they were unsuccessful.

January 30, 1915, brought some successes to the Germans in the

Argonne forest, where throughout the month the most savage fighting

was going on in thick underbrush and from tree tops.

PART II--NAVAL OPERATIONS

* * * * *

CHAPTER XXXII

STRENGTH OF THE RIVAL NAVIES

Sea fights, sea raids, and the hourly expectation of a great naval

battle--a struggle for the control of the seas between modern

armadas--held the attention of the world during the first six months

of the Great War. These, with the adventures of the _Emden_ in the

waters of the Far East, the first naval fight off Helgoland, the

fight off the western coast of South America, the sinking of the

_Lusitania_, and the exploits of the submarines--held the world

in constant expectancy and threatened to involve neutral nations,

thus causing a collapse of world trade and dragging all the peoples

of the earth into the maelstrom of war.

This chapter will review the navies as they gather for action. It

will follow them through the tense moments on shipboard--the days

of watching and waiting like huge sea dogs tugging at the leash.

Interspersed are heroic adventures which have added new tales of

valor to the epics of the sea.

The naval history of the great European conflict begins, not with the

first of the series of declarations of war, but with the preliminary

preparations. The appointment of Admiral von Tirpitz as Secretary

of State in Germany in 1898 is the first decisive movement. It

was in that year that the first rival to England as mistress of

the world's seas, since the days of the Spanish Armada, peeped

over the horizon. Two years before the beginning of the present

century, Von Tirpitz organized a campaign, the object of which

was to make Germany's navy as strong as her military arm. A law

passed at that time created the present German fleet; supplementary

laws passed in 1900 and 1906 through the Reichstag by this former

plowboy caused the German navy to be taken seriously, not only

by Germans but by the rest of the world. England, jealous of her

sea power, then began her maintenance of two ships for each one

or her rival's. Germany answered by laying more keels, till the

ratio stood three to two, instead of two to one.

Two years before the firing of the pistol shot at Sarajevo, which

precipitated the Great War, the British admiralty announced that

henceforth the British naval base in the Mediterranean would be

Gibraltar instead of Malta. Conjectures were made as to the significance

of this move; it might have meant that England had found the pace

too great and had deliberately decided to abandon her dominance

of the eastern Mediterranean; or that Gibraltar had been secretly

reequipped as a naval base. What it did mean was learned when the

French Minister of Marine announced in the following September that

the entire naval strength of France would thereafter be concentrated

in the Mediterranean. This was the first concrete action of the

_entente cordiale_--the British navy, in the event of war, was

to guard the British home waters and the northern ports of France;

the French navy was to guard the Mediterranean, protecting French

ports as well as French and British shipping from "the Gib" to

the Suez.

What was the comparative strength of these naval combinations when

the war started?

From her latest superdreadnoughts down to her auxiliary ships, such

as those used for hospital purposes, oil carrying and repairing,

England had a total of 674 vessels. Without consideration of ages

and types this total means nothing, and it is therefore necessary

to examine her naval strength in detail. She had nine battleships

of 14,000 tons displacement each, built between 1895 and 1898--the

_Magnificent, Majestic, Prince George, Jupiter, Cæsar, Mars,

Illustrious, Hannibal_, and _Victorious_--with engines developing

12,000 horsepower that sent them through the water at 17.5 knots,

protected with from nine to fourteen inches of armor, and prepared

to inflict damage on an enemy with torpedoes shot from under and

above the water, and with four 12-inch guns, twelve 6-inch guns,

sixteen 3-inch guns, and twenty guns of smaller caliber but of

quicker firing possibilities.

Her next class was that of the _Canopus_--the _Goliath, Vengeance,

Ocean, Albion_, and _Glory_--2,000 tons lighter than the first

class named above, but more modern in equipment and construction,

having been built between the years 1900 and 1902. Their motive

power was heavier, being 13,500 horsepower, and their speed was

almost a knot faster. Increase in the power of naval guns had made

unnecessary any increase in the thickness of their armor, and

consequently ranged from 6 to 12 inches in thickness. Their armament

was about the same as that of the older class, but each carried

two more torpedo tubes.

[Illustration: GERMAN AND ENGLISH NAVAL POSITIONS]

Discussion in naval circles throughout the world turned then to

the question of whether it were better to build heavier ships with

heavier armament, or to build lighter and faster ships designed

to "hit and get away." The British authorities inclined toward

the former view, and between 1901 and 1904 the British navy was

augmented with the _Implacable, London, Bulwark, Formidable, Venerable,

Queen, Irresistible_, and _Prince of Wales_--each of the heretofore

unheard-of displacement of 15,000 tons. In spite of their size

they were comparatively fast, having an average speed of 18 knots;

they did not need, and were not equipped with heavier armor, having

plates as thin as 3 inches and as thick as 12. They were built to

"take punishment," and therefore they had no greater armament than

the vessels previously named. The naval program of 1903 and 1904

also included the _Duncan, Albemarle, Russell, Cornwallis_, and

_Exmouth_, each 1,000 tons lighter than the ships of the _Implacable_

type, but with the same equipment, defensive and offensive, and

of the same speed. And in the same program, as if to offset the

argument for heavier and stronger ships, there were included the

lighter and faster ships, _Swiftsure_ and _Triumph_, displacing

only 11,500 tons, but making 19 knots. Their speed permitted and

necessitated lighter armor--10 inches through at the thickest

points--and their armament was also of a lighter type, for their

four largest guns were capable of firing 10-inch shells.

Germany was becoming a naval rival worthy of notice, and the insular

position of England came to be a matter of serious concern by 1906.

Britain has never considered the building of land forts for her

protection--her strength has always been concentrated in floating

war machines. She now began to build veritable floating forts, ships

of 16,350 tons displacement. By the end of 1906 she had ready to give

battle eight ships of this class, the _King Edward VII, Commonwealth,

Dominion, Hindustan, Africa, Hibernia, Zealandia_, and _Britannia_.

Speed was not sacrificed to weight, for they were given a speed

of 18.5 knots, developed by engines of 18,000 horsepower. Their

thinnest armor measured 6 inches, and their heavy guns were protected

with plates 12 inches thick. The 12-inch gun was still the heaviest

piece of armament in the British navy, and these eight ships each

carried four of that measurement, as well as four 9.2-inch guns,

ten 6-inch guns, fourteen rapid-fire guns of 3 inches, two machine

guns, and four torpedo tubes.

Now that it was seen that ships of enormous displacement could also

be swift, England committed herself to the building of ships of even

greater size. In 1907 came the first of the modern dreadnoughts,

so-called from the name which was given to the original ship of

17,900 tons displacement. The _Dreadnought_ made the marvelous

speed (for a ship of that size) of 21 knots, which she was enabled

to do with turbine engines of 23,000 horsepower. Her armor measured

from 8 to 11 inches in thickness, and her great size enabled her

to carry as high as ten 12-inch guns. Her minor batteries were

strong in proportion.

Then, as if taking her breath after a stupendous effort, England in

the following year built two ships of 16,000 tons displacement, the

_Lord Nelson_ and the _Agamemnon_, with speed, armor, and armament

much lower than those of the _Dreadnought_. But having taken a

rest, Britain was again to make a great effort, launching in 1909

the _Temeraire, Superb_, and _Bellerophon_, monsters displacing

18,600 tons. With engines of 23,000 horsepower that could drive

them through the seas at 21 knots, ready to ward off blows with

armor from 8 to 11 inches thick, firing at the same time volleys

from ten 12-inch guns down to sixteen 4-inch rapid firers.

Naval architecture had now taken a definite turn, the principal

feature of which was the tremendous size of the destructive floating

machines. England, a leader in this sort of building, in 1910 built

the _Vanguard, Collingwood_, and _St. Vincent_, each displacing

19,250 tons. Nor were they lacking in speed, for they made, on an

average, 21 knots. The 20,000-ton battleship was then a matter of

months only, and it came in the following year, when the _Colossus,

Hercules_, and _Neptune_ were launched. It was only in the matter

of displacement that these three ships showed any difference from

those of the _Vanguard_ class; there were no great innovations

either in armament or armor. But in the same year, 1911, there

were launched the _Thunderer, Monarch, Orion_, and _Conqueror_,

each of 22,500 tons, and equipped with armor from 8 to 12 inches

thick, for the days of 3-inch armor on first-class warships had gone

forever. These had a speed of 21 knots, and were the first British

ships to have anything greater than a 12-inch gun. They carried as

a primary battery ten 13.5-inch guns, and sixteen 4-inch guns,

along with six more of small caliber as their secondary battery.

In 1912 and 1913 there was only one type of warship launched having

23,000 tons displacement with 31,000 horsepower, a half a knot

faster than previous dreadnoughts, and carrying, like the previous

class, ten 13.5-inch guns, along with some of smaller caliber. The

ships of this class were the _King George V, Ajax, Audacious_,

and _Centurion_.

The year 1914 saw even more terrible machines of death launched.

Two types were put into the water, the first that of the _Iron

Duke_ class, of which the other members were the _Benbow, Emperor

of India_, and _Marlborough_. They showed great improvement in every

point; their speed was 22.5 knots, their displacement 25,000 tons,

and their torpedo tubes five. Like their immediate predecessors,

they carried a primary battery of ten 13.5-inch guns, along with

the smaller ones, and their armor measured from 8 to 12 inches

in thickness. The second type of the year was that of the _Queen

Elizabeth_ and _Warspite_ class. They surpassed all the warships

when they were built. Their speed for their size was the greatest--25

knots. They had the largest displacement among warships--27,500

tons; they had the thickest armor, ranging from 8 to 13.5 inches;

they had the most improved form of engines--oil burners, developing

58,000 horsepower; and most marvelous of all was their primary

battery, which consisted of eight 15-inch guns. The largest gun

yet made had been the 16-inch gun, for use in permanent position

in land forts, and, with the German army, for a mobile force. It

now was shown that the modern warship could carry a gun as heavy

as any on land. There were in the course of construction when the

war broke out eight more such monsters, the _Malaya, Valiant_, and

_Barham_, sister ships of the _Queen Elizabeth_, and the _Royal

Oak, Resolution, Royal Monarch, Ramillies_, and _Renown_, each

of 29,000 tons displacement, but having the same armament as the

_Queen Elizabeth_. All of these were hastened to completion as

soon as war was declared.

At the time of the declaration of war England had, in addition

to these greatest ships, a number of supporting ships such as the

ten battle cruisers, _Indomitable, Invincible, Indefatigable,

Inflexible, Australia, New Zealand, Queen Mary, Princess Royal,

Lion_, and the _Tiger_. Their displacements ranged from 17,250

to 28,000 tons, and their speeds from 25 to 30 knots, the last

being that of the _Tiger_. Their speed is their greatest feature,

for their armament and batteries are much lighter than those of

the first-line ships.

Next, there were ready thirty-four high-speed cruisers of quite

light armament and armor. There were six of the _Cressy_ type,

four of the _Drake_ type, nine of the same type as the _Kent_, six

of the same class as the _Antrim_, six like the _Black Prince_,

three of the same class as the _Shannon_, together with seventeen

heavily protected cruisers, of which the _Edgar_ was the prototype.

The rest of the British navy needs no detailed consideration. It

consisted at the outbreak of the war of 70 protected light cruisers,

134 destroyers, and a number of merchant ships convertible into

war vessels, together with submarines and other small ships.

The navy of France stood fourth in the list of those of the world

powers at the time the war started. There were eighteen old vessels,

built between 1894 and 1909, including the _Carnot_ class (corresponding

to the British ship _Magnificent_), the _Charlemagne, Bouvet, Suffren,

République_, and _Democratie_ classes. The most modern of these

types displaced no more than 14,000 tons, made no more than 18

knots, and carried primary batteries of 12-inch guns.

Some improvement was made in the six ships of the _Danton_ class

which were built in 1911 and 1912. They displaced 18,000 tons,

had armor from 9 to 12 inches thick and carried guns of 12-inch

caliber. They correspond to the British ship _Temeraire_. In 1913

and 1914 were launched the _Jean Bart, Courbet, Paris_, and _France_

of the dreadnought type, but much slower and not so heavily armed

as the British ships of the same class. In eight ships which were

incomplete when war was declared the matter of speed received greater

attention, and they are consequently faster than the older vessels of

the same type. It is in the nineteen French armored cruisers--France

has no battle cruisers--that the French showed better efforts as

builders of speedy ships, for they made 23 knots or more. In the

list of French fighting ships there are in addition two protected

cruisers, the _D'Entrecasteaux_ and the _Guichen_, together with

ten light cruisers. But the French "mosquito fleet," consisting of

destroyers, torpedo boats and submarines, is comparatively large.

Of these she had 84, 135, and 78, respectively.

After the Russo-Japanese War the battle fleets of Russia were entirely

dissipated, so that when the present conflict came she had no ships

which might have been accounted worthy aids to the navies of England

and France. In so far as is known, her heaviest ships were the

_Andrei Pervozvannyi_ and the _Imperator Pavel I_, each displacing

only 17,200 tons, and of the design of 1911.

Against these fighting naval forces of the allied powers were ranged

the navies of Germany and Austria-Hungary. The former had, at the

outbreak of hostilities, 36 battleships, 5 battle cruisers, 9 armored

cruisers, and 43 cruisers. Instead of giving attention to torpedo boats

she gave it to destroyers, of which she had 130. And of submarines

she had 27.

In detail her naval forces consisted, first, of the _Kaiser Friedrich

III, Kaiser Karl der Grosse, Kaiser Barbarossa, Kaiser Wilhelm

II_, and _Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse_, all built as a result of

the first agitation of Von Tirpitz, between the years 1898 and

1901. They each displaced 10,614 tons, had a speed of 18 knots,

required 13,000 horsepower, were protected with from 10 to 12 inches

of armor, and carried four 9.4-inch guns, fourteen of 5.9 inches,

twelve of 3.4-inches, and twenty of smaller measurement. Roughly

they corresponded to the British ships of the _Canopus_ class,

both in design and time of launching.

Following this class came that of the _Wittelsbach_, including

also the _Wettin, Zähringen, Mecklenburg_, and _Schwaben_, built

between 1901 and 1903, displacing 11,643 tons, making 18 knots,

protected with from 9 to 10 inches of armor and carrying a primary

battery of four 9.4-inch guns, eighteen 5.9-inch guns, and a large

secondary battery. The similar type in the British navy was the

_Canopus_--for England was far ahead of Germany, both in the matter

of displacement and primary battery. During the same years England

had launched ships of the type of the _Implacable_.

In 1904 came the German ships _Hessen, Elsass_, and _Braunschweig_,

and in 1905 and 1906 the _Preussen_ and _Lothringen_. They were

well behind the English ships of the same years, for they displaced

only 12,097 tons, made 18 knots, carried armor of from 9 to 10

inches in thickness, and a primary battery of four 11-inch guns,

fourteen 6.7-inch guns, and twelve 3.4-inch guns, together with

rapid firers and other guns in a secondary battery. England at

this time was putting 12-inch guns in the primary battery of such

ships as the _King Edward VII_.

Still Germany kept up the race, and in 1906, 1907, and 1908 launched

the _Hannover, Deutschland, Schlesien, Schleswig-Holstein_, and

_Pommern_, with 12,997 tons displacement, 16,000 horsepower, a speed

of 18 knots, and only ll-inch guns in the primary batteries. Whereas

England, at the same time, was building ships of the dreadnought

type.

Next came four ships of the _Vanguard_ class--the _Westfälen, Nassau,

Rheinland_, and _Posen_, built in 1909 and 1910. Their heaviest

guns measured 11 inches, while those of the English ships of the

same class measured 12 inches. The displacement of these German

fighting ships was 18,600 tons. In point of speed they showed some

improvement over the older German ships, making 19.5 knots. Germany,

like England, was now committed to the building of larger and larger

ships of the line. The _Helgoland, Thüringen, Oldenburg_, and

_Ostfriesland_, which were put into the water in 1911 and 1912,

were consequently of 22,400 tons displacement, with a speed of

20.5 knots and carrying twelve 12-inch guns, fourteen 5.9-inch

rapid-fire guns, fourteen 3.9-inch rapid-fire guns, a few smaller

guns, and as many as six torpedo tubes.

While England was maintaining her "two to three" policy, and while

the United States stood committed to the building of two first-class

battleships a year, Germany, in 1913, put five of them into the

water. These were the _König Albert, Prinz Regent Luitpold, Kaiserin,

Kaiser_, and _Friedrich der Grosse_, each capable of speeding through

the water at a rate of 21 knots, displacing 23,310 tons and carrying

an armament of ten 12-inch guns, fourteen 5.9-inch guns, and a

large number of rapid-fire guns of smaller measurement. Their armor

was quite heavy, being 13 inches thick on the side and 11 inches

thick where protection for the big guns was needed.

The largest ships in the German navy which were launched, fitted,

and manned at the time that the war began, were those which were

built in 1914 and which had a displacement of 26,575 tons. These

ships were the _König, Grosser Kurfürst_, and the _Markgraf_. The

corresponding type in the British navy was that of the _Iron Duke_,

built in the same year. The British ships of this class were 1,000

tons lighter in displacement, a bit faster--making 22.5 knots to

the 22 knots made by the German ships--and their armament was not

so strong as that of the German type, for the German ships carried

ten 14-inch guns, whereas the English carried ten 13.5-inch guns.

In addition to these first-class battleships, Germany had certain

others, individual in type, such as the _Von der Tann, Moltke,

Goeben, Seydlitz, Derfflinger, Fürst Bismarck, Prinz Heinrich,

Prinz Adalbert, Roon_ and _Yorck, Scharnhorst_ and _Gneisenau,

Blücher, Magdeburg, Strassburg, Breslau, Stralsund, Rostock_, and

_Karlsruhe_. These may be reckoned as scout cruisers, for they

showed much speed, the fastest making 30 knots and the slowest

19 knots. The oldest dates from 1900, and the newest from 1914.

Germany had, also, thirty-nine more fast protected cruisers which

were designed for scout duty.

In destroyers she was well equipped, having 143 ready for service

when war was declared. Her twenty-seven submarines were of the most

improved type, and much about their construction and armament she

was able to keep secret from the rest of the world. It is probable

that even their number was greater than the intelligence departments

of foreign navies suspected. The best type had a speed on the surface

of 18 knots and could travel at 12 knots when submerged. The type

known as _E-21_, of the design of 1914, measured 213 feet 8 inches

in length and had a beam of 20 feet.

Austria, though not renowned for her naval strength, had certain

units which brought up the power of the Teutonic powers considerably.

She had nine first-class battleships, the _Erzherzog Karl, Erzherzog

Ferdinand Max, Erzherzog Friedrich, Zrinyi, Radetzky, Erzherzog

Franz Ferdinand, Teggethoff, Prinz Eugen_, and _Viribus Unitis_.

These, at the time Austria went to war, ranged in age from nine

years to one year, and varied in displacement from 10,000 tons

to 20,000 tons. The largest guns carried by any of them measured

12 inches, and the fastest, the _Prinz Eugen_, made 20 knots. Of

secondary importance were the battleships _Kaiserin Maria Theresia,

Kaiser Karl VI_, and _St. Georg_. The register of battleships was

supplemented with ten light cruisers of exceptionally light

displacement, the highest being only 3,966 tons. Scouting was their

chief function. Austria had, also, 18 destroyers, 63 torpedo boats,

and 6 submarines.

Such were the respective strengths of the opponents on that day

in July, 1914, when the Crown Prince of Austria-Hungary lost his

life. For ten years the officers of the navy created by the German

Admiral von Tirpitz had at all dinners come to their feet, waved

their wine glasses and had given the famous toast "Der Tag"--to

the day on which the English and German naval hosts would sally

forth to do battle with each other. "Der Tag" found both forces

quite ready, though the British naval authorities stole a march

on their German rivals in the matter of mobilization.

It had been the custom for years in the British navy to assemble

the greater part of the British ships during the summer at the

port of Spithead, where, decorated with bunting, with flags flying,

with visitors in holiday spirit, and with officers and men in smart

dress, the vessels were reviewed by the king on the royal yacht.

But in the eventful year of 1914, perhaps by accident, perhaps by

design, for the truth may never be known, the review had a different

aspect. There was no gaiety. The number of ships assembled this time

was greater than ever before--216 actual fighting ships passed

slowly before the royal yacht--there were no flags, no bunting,

no holiday crowds, no smart dress for officers and men. Instead,

the fleet was drawn up ready for battle, with decks cleared, guns

uncovered, steam up, and magazines replenished. During the tense

weeks in which the war clouds gathered over southern Europe this

great fighting force remained in the British home waters, and when,

at fifteen minutes after midnight on August 4, "Der Tag" had come,

this fleet sailed under sealed orders. And throughout the seven seas

there were sundry ships flying the Union Jack which immediately

received orders by cable and by wireless.

Of the disposition of the naval forces of Germany less was known.

Her greatest strength was concentrated in the North Sea, where the

island of Helgoland, the Gibraltar of the north, and the Kiel Canal

with its exits to the Baltic and North Seas, furnished excellently

both as naval bases and impenetrable protection. Throughout the rest

of the watery surface of the globe were eleven German warships,

to which automatically fell the task of protecting the thousands of

ships which, flying the German red, white, and black, were carrying

freight and passengers from port to port.

The first naval movements in the Great War occurred on the morning

of August 5, 1914. The British ship _Drake_ cut two cables off the

Azores which connected Germany with North and South America, thus

leaving these eleven German fighting ships without communication

with the German admiralty direct. And the war was not a day old

between England and Germany before the German ship _Königin Luise_

was caught sowing mines off the eastern English ports by the British

destroyer _Lance_.

* * * * *

CHAPTER XXXIII

FIRST BLOOD--BATTLE OF THE BIGHT

The Germans had taken heed of the value of mines from lessons learned

at the cost of Russia in the war with Japan, and set about distributing

these engines of destruction throughout the North Sea. The British

admiralty knowing this, sent out it fleet of destroyers to scour

home waters in search of German mine layers.

About ten o'clock on the morning of August 5, 1914, Captain Fox,

on board the _Amphion_, came up with a fishing boat which reported

that it had seen a boat "throwing things overboard" along the east

coast. A flotilla, consisting of the _Lance, Laurel, Lark_ and

_Linnet_, set out in search of the stranger and soon found her. She

was the _Königin Luise_, and the things she was casting overboard

were mines. The _Lance_ fired a shot across her bow to stop her,

but she put on extra speed and made an attempt to escape. A chase

followed; the gunners on the British ship now fired to hit. The

first of these shots carried away the bridge of the German ship,

a second shot missed, and a third and fourth hit her hull. Six

minutes after the firing of the first shot her stern was shot away,

and she went to the bottom, bow up. Fifty of her 130 men were picked

up and brought to the English shore.

The first naval blood of the Great War had been drawn by Britain

on August 5, 1914. The _Königin Luise's_ efforts had not been in

vain. She had posthumous revenge on the morning of August 6, when

the _Amphion_, flagship of the third flotilla of destroyers, hit

one of the mines which the German ship had sowed. It was seen

immediately by her officers that she must sink; three minutes after

her crew had left her there came a second explosion, which, throwing

débris aloft, brought about the death of many of the British sailors

in the small boats, as well as that of a German prisoner from the

_Königin Luise_.

All the world, with possibly the exception of the men in the German

admiralty, now looked for a great decisive battle "between the

giants" in the North Sea. The British spoke of it as a coming second

Trafalgar, but it was not to take place. For reasons of their own the

Germans kept their larger and heavier ships within the protection

of Helgoland and the Kiel Canal, but their ships of smaller type

immediately became active and left German shores to do what damage

they might to the British navy. It was hoped, perhaps, that the

naval forces of the two powers could be equalized and a battle

fought on even terms after the Germans had cut down British advantage

by a policy of attrition.

A flotilla of German submarines on August 9 attacked a cruiser

belonging to the main British fleet, but was unable to inflict

any damage. The lord mayor of the city of Birmingham received the

following telegram the next morning: "Birmingham will be proud to

learn that the first German submarine destroyed in the war was

sunk by H. M. S. _Birmingham_." Two shots from the British ship

had struck the German _U-15_, and she sank immediately.

The German admiralty, even before England had declared war, suspected

that the greatest use for the German navy in the months to come

would be to fight the British navy, but they ventured to show their

naval strength against Russia beforehand. Early in August they

sent the _Augsburg_ into the Baltic Sea to bombard the Russian

port of Libau, but after doing a good bit of damage the German

ship retired. It is probable that this raid was nothing more than

a feint to remind Russia that she continually faced the danger

of invasion from German troops landed on the Baltic shores under

the cover of German ships, and that she must consequently keep

a large force on her northern shores instead of sending it west

to meet the German army on the border.

Among the German ships which were separated from the main fleet

in the North Sea, and which were left without direct communication

with the German admiralty after the cutting of the cables off the

Azores by the _Drake_, were the cruisers _Goeben_ and _Breslau_.

When England declared war these two German ships were off the coast

of Algeria. Both were very fast vessels, having a speed of 28 knots,

and they were designed to go 6,000 knots without needing replenishment

of their coal bunkers.

On the morning of August 5, after having bombarded some of the

coast cities of Algeria they found themselves cut off on the east

by a French fleet and on the west by an English fleet, but by a

very clever bit of stratagem they escaped. The band of the Goeben

was placed on a raft and ordered on a given moment to play the

German national airs after an appreciable period. Meanwhile, under

the cover of the night's darkness the two German ships steamed

away. After they had a good start the band on the raft began to

play. The British patrols heard the airs and immediately all British

ships were searching for the source of the music. To find a small

raft in mid-sea was an impossible task, and while the enemy was

engaged in it the two Germans headed for Messina, then a neutral

port, which they reached successfully. The Italian authorities

permitted them to remain there only twenty-four hours.

Before leaving they took a dramatic farewell, which received publicity

in the press of the whole world, and which was designed to lead the

British fleet commanders to believe that the Germans were coming

out to do battle. Instead, they headed for Constantinople. They

escaped all the ships of the British Mediterranean fleet with the

exception of the cruiser _Gloucester_. With this ship they exchanged

shots and were in turn slightly damaged, but they reached the Porte

in seaworthy condition, and were immediately sold to the Turkish

Government, which was then still neutral. The crews were sent to

Germany and were warmly welcomed at Berlin. The officers responsible

for their escape were disciplined by the British authorities.

Both Germany and England, the former by means of the eleven ships at

large, and the latter by means of her preponderance in the number of

ships, now made great efforts to capture trading ships of the enemy.

When England declared war there was issued a royal proclamation which

stated that up to midnight of August 14 England would permit German

merchantmen in British harbors to sail for home ports, provided

Germany gave British merchantmen the same privilege, but it was

specified that ships of over 5,000 tons would not receive the privilege

because they could be converted into fighting ships afterward. But

on the high seas enemy ships come upon were captured.

The German admiralty on August 1 had issued orders to German merchantmen

to keep within neutral ports, and by this means such important

ships as the _Friedrich der Grosse_ and the _Grosser Kurfürst_

eluded capture. In the harbor of New York was the _Kronprinzessin

Cecilie_, a fast steamer of 23.5 knots. She left New York on July

28 carrying a cargo of $10,000,000 in gold, and was on the high

seas when England declared war. Naturally she was regarded by the

British as a great prize, and the whole world awaited from day

to day the news of her capture, but her captain, showing great

resourcefulness, after nearly reaching the British Isles, turned

her prow westward, darkened all exterior lights, put canvas over

the port holes and succeeded in reaching Bar Harbor, Me., on the

morning of August 5.

Similarly the _Lusitania_ and the French liner _Lorraine_, leaving

New York on August 5, were able to elude the German cruiser _Dresden_,

which was performing the difficult task of trying to intercept

merchantmen belonging to the Allies as they sailed from America,

while she was keeping watch against warships flying the enemies'

flags. Still more important was the sailing from New York of the

German liner _Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse_. This ship had a speed of

22.5 knots and a displacement of 14,349 tons. During the first week

of the war she cleared the port of New York with what was believed to

be a trade cargo, but she so soon afterward began harassing British

trading ships that it was believed that she left port equipped as

a vessel of war or fitted out as one in some other neutral port.

The continued story of the German raids on allied trading ships

must form a separate part of this narrative. It was only a month

after the outbreak of hostilities that the fleets of the allied

powers had swept clean the seven seas of all ships flying German

and Austrian flags which were engaged in trade and not in warlike

pursuits.

The first naval battle of the Great War was fought on August 28,

1914. "A certain liveliness in the North Sea" was reported through

the press by the British admiralty on the 19th of August. Many

of the smaller vessels of the fleet of Admiral von Ingenohl, the

German commander, such as destroyers, light cruisers, and scouting

cruisers, were sighted. Shots between these and English vessels of

the same types were exchanged at long range, but a pitched battle

did not come for still a week. Meanwhile the British navy had been

doing its best to destroy the mine fields established by the Germans.

Trawlers were sent out in pairs, dragging between them large cables

which cut the mines from the sea-bottom moorings. On being loosened

they came to the surface and were destroyed by shots from the trawlers'

decks.

On the 28th of August came the battle off the Bight of Helgoland.

The island of Helgoland had been a British possession from 1807

till 1890, when it was transferred to Germany by treaty. It was

seen immediately by the Germans that it formed an excellent natural

naval base, lying as it does, thirty-five miles northwest of Cuxhaven

and forty-three miles north of Wilhelmshaven. They at once began to

augment the natural protection it afforded with their own devices.

Two Zeppelin sheds were erected, concrete forts were built and 12-inch

guns were installed. The scene of the battle which took place here

was the Bight of Helgoland, which formed a channel eighteen miles

wide some seven miles north of the island and near which lay the

line of travel for ships leaving the ports of the Elbe.

British submarines which had been doing reconnaissance work on the

German coast since August 24 reported to the British commander,

Admiral Jellicoe, that a large force of German light cruisers and

smaller craft were lying under the protection of the Helgoland

guns, and he immediately arranged plans for leading this force

away from that protection in order to give it battle. Briefly the

plans made provided that three submarines were to proceed on the

surface of the water to within sight of the German ships and when

chased by the latter were to head westward. The light cruisers

_Arethusa_ and _Fearless_ were detailed to run in behind any light

German craft which were to follow the British submarines, endeavoring

to cut them off from the German coast, and these two vessels were

backed by a squadron of light cruisers held in readiness should

the first two need assistance. Squadrons of cruisers and battle

cruisers were detailed to stay in the rear, still further to the

northwest, to engage any German ships of their own class which

might get that far.

It was at midnight on August 26 that Commodore Keyes moved toward

Helgoland with eight submarines accompanied by two destroyers.

During the next day--August 27--this force did nothing more than

keep watch for German submarines and scouting craft, and then took

up its allotted position for the main action. The morning of the

28th broke misty and calm. Under half steam three of the British

submarines, the _E-6, E-7_, and _E-8_ steamed toward the island

fortress, showing their hulls above water and followed by the two

detailed destroyers.

The mist thickened. Still more slowly and cautiously went the British

submersibles, and while they went above water, five of their sister

craft traveled under the surface. Here was the bait for the German

ships under Helgoland's guns. Would they bite?

The Germans soon gave the answer. First there crept out a German

destroyer which took a good look at the situation and then gave

wireless signals to some twenty more of her type, which soon came

out to join her. The twenty-one little and speedy German boats

bravely came out and chased the two British destroyers and three

submarines, while a German seaplane slowly circled upward to see

if the surrounding regions harbored enemies. Presumably the airman

found what he sought for he soon flew back to report to Helgoland. The

peaceful aspect of the waters to the east of the island immediately

changed, as a squadron of light cruisers weighed anchor and put

out after the retiring Britishers.

Before a description of the fighting can be given it is necessary

to understand the plan of the fight as a whole. Assuming that the

page on which these words are printed represents a map of the North

Sea and that the points of the compass are as they would be on an

ordinary chart, we have the island of Helgoland, half an inch long

and a quarter of an inch wide, situated in the lower right-hand

corner of this page, with about half an inch separating its eastern

side from the right edge of the page and the same distance separating

it from the bottom. The lower edge of the page may represent the

adjoining coasts of Germany and Holland, and the right-hand edge

may represent the coast of the German province of Schleswig and

the coast of Denmark.

At seven o'clock on the morning of August 28 the positions of the

fighting forces were as follows: The decoy British submarines were

making a track from Helgoland to the northwest, pursued by a flotilla

of German submarines, destroyers, and torpedo boats, and a fleet

of light cruisers. On the west--the left edge of the page, halfway

up--there were the British cruisers _Arethusa_ and _Fearless_

accompanied by flotillas, and steaming eastward at a rate that

brought them to the rear of the German squadron of light cruisers,

thus cutting off the latter from the fortress. In the southwest--the

lower left-hand corner of the page--there was stationed a squadron of

British, cruisers, ready to close in when needed; in the northwest--the

upper left-hand corner of the page--there were stationed a squadron

of British light cruisers and another of battle cruisers, and it

was toward these last two units that the decoys were leading the

German fleets.

The _Arethusa_ and _Fearless_ felt the first shock of battle, on

the side of the British. The German cruiser _Ariadne_ closed with

the former, while the latter soon found itself very busy with the

German cruiser _Strassburg_. For thirty-five minutes--before the

_Fearless_ drew the fire of the _Strassburg_--the two German vessels

poured a telling fire into the _Arethusa_, and the latter was soon

in bad condition, but she managed to hold out till succored by the

_Fearless_, and then planted a shell against the _Ariadne_ which

carried away her forebridge and killed her captain. The scouting which

had been done by the smaller craft of the German fleets showed their

commanders that there were other British ships in the neighborhood

besides the two they had first engaged, and it was thought wiser

to withdraw in face of possible reenforcement of the British,

consequently the _Strassburg_ and _Ariadne_ turned eastward to seek

the protection of the fortress. The _Arethusa_, a boat that had

been in commission but a week when the battle was fought, was in a

bad way; all but one of her guns were out of action, her water tank

had been punctured and fire was raging on her main deck amidships.

The _Fearless_ passed her a cable at nine o'clock and towed her

westward, away from the scene of action, while her crew made what

repairs they could.

The flotillas of both sides had meanwhile been busy. At the head

of the squadron of German destroyers that came out of the waters

behind Helgoland was the _V-187_. Without slacking speed she steamed

straight for the British destroyers, her small guns spitting rapidly,

but she was outnumbered by British destroyers, which poured such an

amount of steel into her thin sides that she went under, her guns

firing till their muzzles touched the water and her crew cheering as

they went to their deaths. A few managed to keep afloat on wreckage,

and during a lull in the fighting, which lasted from nine o'clock

till ten, boats were lowered from the British destroyers _Goshawk_

and _Defender_ to pick up these stranded German sailors.

The commanders of the German fleet, perceiving these small boats from

afar, thought that the British were resorting to the old principle

of boarding, and the German light cruiser _Mainz_ came out to fire

upon them. Two of the British small boats had to be abandoned as

their mother ships made off before the oncoming German. They were

in a perilous position, right beneath the guns of the fortress.

But now a daring and unique rescue took place. The commander of

the British submarine _E-4_ had been watching the fighting through

the periscope of his craft, and seeing the helpless position of

the two small boats, he submerged, made toward them, and then,

to the great surprise of the men in them, came up right between

them and took their occupants aboard his boat.

Repairs had been made on the _Arethusa_ which enabled her to go into

action again by ten o'clock. Accompanied again by two light cruisers

of ten four-inch guns and the _Fearless_, she turned westward in

answer to calls for assistance from the destroyers _Lurcher_ and

_Firedrake_, which accompanied the submarines and which reported

that they were being chased by fast German cruisers. Suddenly the

light cruiser _Strassburg_ again came out of the mist and bore

down on the British cruisers. Her larger guns were too heavy and

had too long a range for those of the British craft, and the latter

immediately sent out calls which brought into action for the first

time certain ships belonging to the squadron of British light cruisers,

which had been stationed to the northwest--the upper left-hand

corner of the page.

The vessels which answered the calls were the light cruisers _Falmouth_

and _Nottingham_ with eight eight-inch and nine six-inch guns

respectively, but before arriving the _Strassburg_ still had time

to inflict more damage on the _Arethusa_. The cruisers _Köln_ and

_Mainz_ joined the _Strassburg_, and the British vessels were having

a bad time of it when their commander ordered the _Fearless_ to

concentrate all fire on the _Strassburg_. This, and a concentrated

fire from the destroyers, proved too strong for her and she turned

eastward, disappearing in the mist off Helgoland. The _Mainz_ then

received the attention of all available British guns, including the

battle cruiser _Lion_, and soon fire broke out within her hold.

Next her foremast, slowly tottering and then inclining more and

more, crashed down upon her deck, a distorted mass. Following that

came down one of her funnels. The fire which was raging aboard her

was hampering her machinery, and her speed slackened; the moment to

strike with a torpedo had come, and one of these "steel fishes" was

sent against her hull below water. In the explosion which followed

one of her boilers came out through her deck, ascended some fifty

feet and dropped down near her bow; her engines stopped, and she

began to settle slowly, her bow going down first.

It was now noon. From behind the veil of the surrounding mist came

the _Falmouth_ and _Nottingham_, which with the guns in their turrets

completely finished the hapless _Mainz_, and their sailors openly

admired the bravery of her crew, which, while she sank, maintained

perfect order and sang the German national air.

There was yet the _Köln_ with which the _Arethusa_ had to do battle.

But by now the heavy British battle cruisers _Lion_ and _Queen

Mary_ had also come down from the northwest to take part in the

fighting, and letting the _Arethusa_ escape from the range of the

light cruiser _Köln_, they went for the German, which, overpowered,

fled toward Helgoland. While the chase was on the _Ariadne_ again

made her appearance and came to the aid of the _Köln_, but the

light cruiser _Ariadne_ carried no gun as effective in destructive

power as the 13.5-inch guns of the _Lion_, and she, too, had to

seek safety in flight. The British ships then finished the _Köln_;

so badly was she hit that when the British small boats sought the

spot where she quickly sank they found not a man of her crew afloat.

Every man of the 370 of her crew perished.

The afternoon came, and with its advent the mist, which had kept

the guns of Helgoland's forts out of action, had cleared off the

calm waters of the North Sea. By the time the sun had set only

floating wreckage gave evidence that here brave men had fought and

died. By evening the respective forces were in their home ports,

being treated for their hurts. The Germans had lost the _Mainz,

Köln_, and _Ariadne_, and the _Strassburg_ had limped home. The

loss in destroyers and other small craft in addition to that of

the _V-187_ was not known. The loss on the British side had not

entailed that of a large ship, but the _Arethusa_ when she returned

to her home port was far from being in good condition, and some

of the smaller boats were in the same circumstances.

Admiral von Ingenohl was committed more strongly than ever, as a

result of this engagement, to the belief that the best policy for

his command would be to keep his squadrons within the protection

afforded by Helgoland and that the most damage could be done to

the enemy by picking off her larger ships one by one. In other

words, he again turned to the policy of attrition. He immediately

put it into force.

On the 3d of September the British gunboat _Speedy_ struck a mine

in the North Sea and went down. It was only two days later that the

light cruiser _Pathfinder_ was made the true target of a torpedo

fired by a German submarine off the British eastern coast, and she,

too, went to the bottom. But the British immediately retaliated,

for the submarine _E-9_ sighted the German light cruiser _Hela_

weathering a bad storm on September 13 between Helgoland and the

Frisian coast. A torpedo was launched and found its mark, and the

_Hela_ joined the _Köln_ and _Mainz_. Up to this point the results

of attrition were even, but the Germans scored heavily during the

following week.

On September 22 the three slow British cruisers _Cressy, Hogue_,

and _Aboukir_ were patrolling the waters off the Dutch coast,

unaccompanied by small craft of any kind, when suddenly, at half

past six in the morning, the _Aboukir_ crumpled and sank, the victim

of another submarine attack. But the commander of the _Hogue_ thought

she had been sunk by hitting a mine, and innocently approached the

spot of the disaster to rescue such of the crew of the _Aboukir_ as

were afloat. The work of mercy was never completed, for the _Hogue_

itself was hit by two torpedoes in the next few moments, and she

joined her sister ship. The commander of the _Cressy_, failing to

take a lesson from what he had witnessed, now approached, and his

ship was also hit by two torpedoes, making the third victim of the

German policy of attrition within an hour, and Captain Lieutenant

von Weddigen, commander of the _U-9_, which had done this work,

immediately became a German hero.

* * * * *

CHAPTER XXXIV

BATTLES ON THREE SEAS

So stood the score in the naval warfare in the North Sea at the

end of the second month of the Great War. But while these events

were taking place in the waters of Europe, others of equal import

had been taking place in the waters of Asia. On August 23, 1914,

Japan declared war on Germany and immediately set about scouring

the East for German craft of all kinds.

Japan brought to the naval strength of the Allied powers no mean unit.

Hers was the only navy in the world which had seen the ultramodern

battleships in action; the Russian navy which had had the same

experience was no more. Eight of her first-class battleships were,

at the time of her entrance into the Great War, veterans of the

war with Russia. The _Fugi, Asahi, Kikasa_, and _Shikishima_ had

gone into the former war as Japanese ships, and the remaining four

had gone into it as Russian ships, but had been captured by the

Japanese. These were the _Hizen, Sagami, Suwo_, and _Iwami_. Their

value was not great, for the _Fugi_ had been launched as far back

as 1896. Nevertheless she carried 12-inch guns and displaced 12,300

tons. But her speed was only 17 knots at the most. She had been

built in England as had the _Asahi_ and _Shikishima_, which were

launched in 1900 and 1901. They also carried 12-inch guns and had

a speed of 18.5 knots. Their tonnage was 15,000. Admiral Togo's

former flagship, the _Mikasa_, was also of the predreadnought type,

having been built in 1900, and carrying a main battery of 12-inch

guns. Her speed was 18.5 knots.

Of the former Russian ships the rechristened _Iwami_ was of French

build, protected with Krupp steel armor to the thickness of 7.5

inches. Her displacement was 13,600 tons, and her speed 18 knots.

Like the other ships of this class in the Japanese navy, she carried

a main battery of 12-inch guns. The _Hizen_ was an American product,

having been built by Cramps in 1902. Her displacement was 12,700

tons, made a speed of 18.5 knots, was also protected with Krupp

steel and carried four 10-inch guns. She was a real veteran, for

she had undergone repairs necessitated by having been torpedoed

off Port Arthur and had been refloated after being sunk in later

action there. The _Sagami_ and the _Suwo_ had been built in 1901

and 1902. They displaced 13,500 tons, had a speed of 18.5 knots,

and carried as their heaviest armament 10-inch guns.

In addition to these eight ships Japan had also nine protected

cruisers, all of the same type and all veterans of the war with

Russia. They were of such strength and endurance that the Japanese

admiralty rated them capable of taking places in the first line

of battle. These were the _Nisshin_ and _Kasuga_, purchased from

Italy and built in 1904, displacing 7,700 tons, and making a speed

of 22 knots; the _Aso_, French built and captured from the Russians,

and of the same design and measurements as the other two; and the

protected cruisers _Yakumo, Asama, Idzumo, Tokiwa, Aguma_, and

_Iwate_, built before the war with Russia, slightly heavier than

their sister ships but not as fast. None of this type has been

added to the Japanese navy since 1907. Japan has, instead, given

attention to scouting cruisers, with the result that she possessed

three excellent vessels of this class, the _Yahagi, Chikuma_, and

_Hirato_, with the good speed of 26 knots and displacing 5,000

tons. They were built in 1912. And not so efficient were the other

ships of similar design, the _Soya_, built in America, _Tone_ and

_Tsugaru_.

The veteran Japanese navy was supplemented with 52 destroyers and

15 submarines, all built since the war with Russia, and a number of

heavier vessels. Among the latter were the first-class battleships

_Kashima_ and _Katori_, completed in 1906, and displacing 16,400

tons. Their heavy guns measured 12 inches, and they made a speed

of 19.5 knots. There were also the vessels _Ikoma_ and _Tsukuba_,

individual in type, with corresponding kinds in no other navy,

and which might be called a cross between an armored cruiser and

battle cruiser. Though displacing no more than 13,766 tons, they

carried four 12-inch guns, and made the comparatively low speed

of 20.5 knots. In 1909 and 1910 the Japanese added two more ships

of this kind to their navy, the _Ibuki_ and _Kurama_, slightly

heavier and faster and with the same armament.

The dreadnought _Satsuma_ also came in 1910--a vessel displacing

19,400 tons, but making a speed of only 18.2 knots, and with an

extraordinarily heavy main battery consisting of four 12-inch guns

and twelve 10-inch guns. The _Aki_, launched in 1911, was 400 tons

heavier than the _Satsuma_, and was more than 2 knots faster, and

her main battery was equally strong. The dreadnoughts _Settsu_

and _Kawachi_, completed in 1913 and 1912 respectively, displaced

21,420 tons, but were able to make not more than 20 knots. At this

time the Japanese admiralty, perhaps on account of lessons learned

in the war with Russia, was building dreadnoughts with less speed

than those in the other navies, but with much heavier main batteries.

These two vessels carried a unique main battery of twelve 12-inch

guns, along with others of smaller measurement. What the dreadnoughts

lacked in speed was made up in that of four battle cruisers launched

after 1912. These were the _Kirishima, Kongo, Hi-Yei_, and _Haruna_,

with the good speed of 28 knots. Their displacement was 27,500

tons, and they carried in their primary batteries eight 14-inch

guns and sixteen 6-inch guns.

At the time Japan entered the war she had in building four

superdreadnoughts with the tremendous displacement of 30,600 tons.

These vessels, the _Mitsubishi, Yukosaka, Kure_, and _Kawasaki_,

had been designed to carry a main battery of the strength of the

U. S. S. _Pennsylvania_, and to have a speed of 22.5 knots.

The first move of the Japanese navy in the Great War was to cooperate

with the army in besieging the German town of Kiaochaw on the Shantung

Peninsula in China, but the operation was soon more military than

naval. Japanese warships captured Bonham Island in the group known

as the Marshall Islands, and, having cleared eastern waters of

German warships, scoured the Pacific in such a manner as to chase

those which escaped into the regions patrolled by the British navy.

The German vessels which made their escape were among the eleven

which were separated from the rest of Germany's navy in the North

Sea at the outbreak of hostilities. They were, with the exception of

the _Dresden_, the _Leipzig, Nürnberg, Scharnhorst_, and _Gneisenau_.

It was weeks before they were first reported--on September 22 at

the harbor of Papeete, where they destroyed the French gunboat

_Zelie_, and after putting again to sea their location was once

more a mystery.

On the evening of November 1 a British squadron consisting of the

vessels _Good Hope, Otranto, Glasgow_, and _Monmouth_, all except

the _Good Hope_ coming through the straits, sighted the enemy. The

British ships lined up abreast and proceeded in a northeasterly

direction. The Germans took up the same alignment eight miles to the

westward of the British ships and proceeded southward at full speed.

Both forces opened fire at a distance of 12,000 yards shortly after

six o'clock off Coronel near the coast of Chile. The _Gneisenau_ was

struck by a 9.2-inch shot from the _Good Hope_. The _Scharnhorst_

and _Gneisenau_ picked the _Good Hope_ as their first target, but

finding that they could do no damage at that range and that they

were safe from the fire of the British ship, they came to within

6,000 yards of her. Her fire in reply was augmented by that of

the _Monmouth_. Excellent aim on the part of the Germans soon had

the _Good Hope_ out of action, and fire broke out aboard her. Soon

after general action her magazine exploded.

The _Monmouth_ then received the brunt of the fire from the German

ships, and came in for more than her share of the destructive fire,

being put virtually out of action, and at the same time there occurred

an explosion on board the _Good Hope_ and she sank immediately,

carrying Admiral Cradock to his death.

There remained of the British force only the _Otranto_--a converted

liner and not really a battleship of the line--the _Glasgow_ and

the hopelessly disabled _Monmouth_ to continue the fight with an

efficient German force. The British commander ordered the former

two to get away by making speed, but the officer in charge of the

_Glasgow_, paying no heed to the order, kept in the fight.

Dusk was then coming on and the _Glasgow_ sought to take advantage

of it by getting between the German ships and the limping _Monmouth_,

concealing the latter from them with her smoke. But the Germans

had now come to within 4,500 yards. To escape possible attack from

torpedoes the German ships spread out their line, but perceiving

that such a danger was not present, they again closed in to finish

the crippled British ships. All of the German ships now went for

the _Glasgow_, and she had to desert the _Monmouth_, which first

sailed northward, in bad condition, and later made an attempt to

run ashore at Santa Maria, but was unable to do so.

The inevitable "if" played its part in the battle. When the British

fleet first went after the Germans it had as one of its units the

battleship _Canopus_. But her speed was not up to that of the other

ships, and she fell far to their stern. By the time the action was

on she was too distant to take part in it. No attempt was made to

go together owing to the slowness of the battleship. The _Canopus_

was never in the action at all, being 150 miles astern. Had Cradock

not desired to he need not have taken on the action but retired

in the _Canopus_. The setting of the sun also played its part;

if daylight had continued some hours more the British squadron

might have held out till the _Canopus_ brought up, for the almost

horizontal rays of the sun were in the eyes of the German gunners.

But as it dropped below the watery horizon it left the British

ships silhouetted against a clear outline. The _Canopus_ did not

get into the fight, and the greatest concern of the _Glasgow_ as

she steamed off was to warn the British battleship to keep off,

for of less speed than the German ships, and outnumbered by them,

her appearance meant her destruction. The _Glasgow_, later joined

by the _Canopus_, arrived in battered condition at the Falkland

Islands. The _Monmouth_, after the main action was over, was found

and finished by the German squadron and went down. Seventy shots

were fired at her when she lay sinking, on fire and helpless, and

unable to fire her guns. Germany had evened the score in the second

battle between fleets.

The _Dresden_ after the Falkland action took refuge in Fiordes

of Terra del Fuego and after being there for a couple of months

proceeded to the head of the Island of Juan Fernandez where she

was found by the _Glasgow, Kent_ and auxiliary cruiser _Orama_

and was destroyed.

Most remarkable had been the career of the German third-class cruiser

_Nürnberg_, which had joined the other German ships that went to

make up the German squadron which fought in this battle off Coronel.

This vessel, on the day after Germany and England went to war, was

lying near Yap, an island in the Pacific, that had been, until

captured by the Japanese, the wireless station of most importance

to the Germans in the Pacific Ocean. She immediately, after being

apprised that she was part of a navy engaged in a war, set sail

and was not reported again until the 7th of September, when she

appeared at Fanning Island, a cable station maintained by Britain,

and from which cables run to Vancouver to the east and Australia

to the west. Here she performed a clever bit of work by entering

the harbor flying the tricolor of France and appearing as though

she was making a friendly visit. Officials on the island, happy

to think they would have such a visitor, saw two cutters leave

the warship.

Great was the surprise of those watching events from the shore

when they saw the French flag lowered from the masthead of the

visitor and in its place the German naval ensign run up. The cutters

were just about reaching knee-deep water at the shore when this

surprise came, and it was augmented when, with the protection of

the guns of the vessel, the men in these cutters showed themselves

to be a hostile landing party.

Her presence was not reported to the rest of the world for the

good reason that she cut all cables leading from the island. All

the British men there were put under guard, and after damaging

all cable instruments she could find, the _Nürnberg_, accompanied

by a collier that had come with her, again took to the high seas.

She next turned up at the island of St. Felix, 300 miles west of

the Chilean coast, but did not come to the harbor. During the night

of October 14 the inhabitants of that island saw the flash and heard

the roar of an explosion miles out to sea, and for a number of

days later they picked up on their beach the wreckage of what must

have been a collier. As has been related in preceding paragraphs,

the _Nürnberg_ took part in that fight. The end of her career came

in the battle off the Falkland Islands, which will be dealt with

later.

* * * * *

CHAPTER XXXV

THE GERMAN SEA RAIDERS

While British men-o'-war were capturing German merchant-men and

taking them to British ports, the German raiders which were abroad

were earning terrifying reputations for themselves because the

enemy merchantmen with which they came upon had to be destroyed

on the high seas, for there were no ports to which they could be

taken. Prominent among these was the _Königsberg_, a third-class

cruiser. When the war came she was in Asiatic waters and immediately

made the east coast of Africa her "beat." While patrolling it she

came upon two British merchant ships, and after taking from their

stores such supplies as were needed she sent them to the bottom.

On September 20, 1914, she made a dash into the harbor of Zanzibar

and found there the British cruiser _Pegasus_, which on account of

her age was undergoing a complete overhauling. She was easy prey

for the German ship, for besides the fact that she was stationary her

guns were of shorter range than those of her adversary. Shell after

shell tore into her till she was battered beyond all resemblance to

a fighting craft. But her flag flew till the end, for though it

was shot down from the masthead, two marines held it aloft, one

of them losing his life. And when the _Königsberg_, her task of

destruction complete, sailed off, the lone marine still held up

the Union Jack. The British ships in those waters made a systematic

hunt for her and located her at last, on the 30th of October. She was

hiding in her favorite rendezvous, some miles up the Rufigi River

in German East Africa. The ship which found her was the _Chatham_, a

second-class cruiser, with a draft much heavier than that of the

_Königsberg_, and the difference gave the latter a good advantage,

for she ran up the river and her enemy could not follow. Nor could

the English ship use her guns with much effect, for the gunners

could not make out the hull of the German ship through the tropical

vegetation along the river banks. All that the British ship could

do was to fire shells in her general direction and then guess what

effect they had. But to prevent her escape, colliers were sunk

at the mouth of the river. She had come to as inglorious an end

as her victim, the _Pegasus_.

The account of another raider, the _Kronprinz Wilhelm_, which left

New York on the evening that England declared war, with her bunkers

loaded with coal and other supplies for warships, has already been

related. The mystery concerning this sailing was cleared up when

she was caught coaling the _Karlsruhe_ in the Atlantic. Both ships

made off in safety that time, and soon after a British cruiser

reported that she had been heard in wireless communication with

the _Dresden_. Thereafter the fate of this ship remained a mystery

till she put in at Hampton Roads on April 11, 1915.

Most spectacular was the career of the _Emden_, a third-class cruiser,

which sailed from Japanese waters at the same time as the _Königsberg_.

Through the ability of her commander, Captain Karl von Müller, she

earned the soubriquet "Terror of the East," for by using a clever

system of supply ships she was able to raid eastern waters for

ten weeks without making a port or otherwise running the risk of

leaving a clue by which British ships might find her. Her favorite

occupation was that of stopping enemy merchantmen which she sank.

But her captain always allowed one--the last one--of her prizes to

remain afloat, and in this he sent to the nearest port the officers,

passengers, and crews of those that were destroyed. At times he

used prizes as colliers, putting them under command of his petty

officers.

By way of diversion, Captain von Müller steamed into the harbor

of Madras in the Bay of Bengal and opened with his guns on the

suburbs of the town, setting on fire two huge oil tanks there.

The fort there returned the fire, but the _Emden_ after half an

hour sailed away unharmed. She had been enabled to come near the

British guns on shore by flying the French flag, which she continued

to display until her guns began to boom. She then left the waters of

Bengal Bay, but not before she had ended the journey of $30,000,000

worth of exports to India, and had sent to the bottom of the sea

some $15,000,000 worth of imports. Twenty-one steamers had been

her victims, their total value having been about $3,250,000, and

their cargoes were worth at least $15,000,000. Very expensive the

British found her, and they were willing to go to any length to

end her career. They curtailed her activities somewhat when the

_Yarmouth_ captured the converted liner _Markomannia_, which was one

of her colliers, and recaptured the Greek freighter _Pontoporos_,

which had been doing the same duty. This took place off the coast

of Sumatra.

But Von Müller was undaunted, even though his coal problem was

becoming serious. He knew that the _Yarmouth_ had sailed from Penang

near Malacca and that she was not at that base, since she was searching

for his own vessel. He therefore conceived the daring exploit of

making a visit to Penang while the _Yarmouth_ was still away. He

came within ten miles of the harbor on the 28th of October, and

disguised his ship by erecting a false funnel made of canvas upheld

by a wooden frame, much like theatrical scenery. This gave the

_Emden_ four funnels, such as the _Yarmouth_ carried. Coming into

the harbor in the twilight of the dawn, she was taken by those on

shore to be the British ship, not a hostile gun ready for her.

Lying in the harbor was the Russian cruiser _Jemchug_ and three

French destroyers and a gunboat. The watch on the Russian ship

questioned her, and was told by the wireless operator on the _Emden_

that she was the _Yarmouth_ returning to anchor. By this ruse the

German ship was enabled to come within 600 yards of the Russian ship

before the false funnel was discovered. Fire immediately spurted

from the Russian guns, but a torpedo from the _Emden_ struck the

_Jemchug's_ engine room and made it impossible for her crew to get

ammunition to her guns. Von Müller poured steel into her from a

distance of 250 yards with terrible effect. The Russian ship's list

put many of her guns out of action, and she was unable to deliver

an effective reply. Another torpedo from the _Emden_ exploded her

magazine. Fifteen minutes after the firing of the first shot the

Russian had gone to the bottom.

Von Müller now put the prow of the _Emden_ to sea again, for he

feared that both the _Yarmouth_ and the French cruiser _Dupleix_

had by then been summoned by wireless. Luck was with him. Half an

hour after leaving the harbor he sighted a ship flying a red flag,

which showed him at once that she was carrying a cargo of powder. He

badly needed the ammunition, and he prepared to capture her. But

this operation was interrupted by a mirage, which caused the small

French destroyer _Mosquet_ to appear like a huge battleship. When

he discovered the truth, Von Müller closed with the Frenchman, who

came to the rescue of the _Glenturret_, the powder ship. Destroyer

and cruiser closed for a fight, the former trying to get close

enough to make work with torpedoes possible, but the long range

of the _Emden's_ guns prevented this, and the _Mosquet_ was badly

damaged by having her engine room hit. Soon she was in a bad way,

and Von Müller ordered his guns silenced, thinking the destroyer

would now give up the fight. But the Frenchman was valiant and

refused to do so; he let go with two torpedoes which did not find

their mark, and was immediately subjected to a withering fire,

which caused his ship to sink, bow first.

One of the destroyers which had been in the harbor now came out

to take issue with the _Emden_, but it was the business of the

latter to continue destroying merchant ships and not to run the

risk of having her career ended by a warship, so she immediately

put off for the Indian Ocean. A storm which then came up permitted

her to make a better escape.

It was not until the 9th of November that the world at large heard

more of her, and it proved to be the last day of her reign of terror.

There was a British wireless and cable station on the Cocos (Keeling)

Isles, southwest of Java, and Von Müller had determined to interrupt

the communication maintained there connecting India, Australia,

and South Africa. Forty men and three officers, with three machine

guns, were detailed by him as a landing party to destroy instruments

and cut the cables. But such a thing had been partially forestalled

by the British authorities, who had set up false cable ends. These

were destroyed by the deceived Germans. When the _Emden_ had first

made her appearance the news had been sent out by the wireless

operator on shore, not knowing what ships would pick up his calls.

This time luck was against Von Müller, for it so happened that a

convoy of troop ships from Australia was passing within one hundred

miles. They were accompanied by the Australian cruisers _Melbourne_

and _Sydney_. The latter was dispatched to go to the Cocos Islands,

and by getting up a speed of 26 knots she reached them in less than

three hours. Von Müller knew that escape by flight was impossible,

for his ship had been weeks at sea; her boilers were crusted, her

machinery badly in need of repair, and she had not too much coal.

He therefore decided to give battle, and went straight for the

_Sydney_ at full speed. His object was to meet her on even terms,

for her advantage was that her guns had much greater range than

those of the _Emden_. If he could get close enough he might be

able to use his torpedo tubes. But Captain Glossop of the _Sydney_

saw through this maneuver and maintained good distance between the

two ships. About the first shot from the _Emden_ killed the man

at the range finder on the fore bridge of the _Sydney_. Captain

Glossop was standing within a few feet of him at the time.

The replies from the Australian ship were fatal. The foremost funnel

of the _Emden_ crumpled and fell; her fire almost ceased, and then

she began to burn; the second funnel and the third fell also; there

was nothing left but to beach her, which Von Müller did, just before

noon. While she lay there helpless the _Sydney_ shot more steel

into her, leaving her quite helpless, and then went off to chase

a merchant ship which had been sighted during the fighting and

which, when caught, proved to be the British ship _Buresk_, now

manned by Germans and doing duty as collier to the _Emden_. Returning

to the latter, Captain Glossop saw that she still flew the German

flag at her masthead. He signaled her, asking whether she would

surrender, but receiving no reply after waiting five minutes he

let her have a few more salvos. The German flag came down and the

white flag went up in its place. The _Jemchug_ had been avenged,

and the terribly costly career of the _Emden_ brought to an end.

Von Müller was taken prisoner, and on account of his valor was

permitted to keep his sword. But the landing party, which had cut

the false cables, was still at large. The adventures of these three

officers and forty men form a separate story, which will be narrated

later.

* * * * *

CHAPTER XXXVI

BATTLE OFF THE FALKLANDS

The defeat of the British squadron back in the first week of November

had sorely tried the patience of the British public, and the admiralty

felt the necessity of retrieving faith in the navy. Von Spee was

still master of the waters near the Horn, and till his ships had

again been met the British could not boast of being rulers of the

waves. Consequently Admiral Fisher detailed the two battle cruisers

_Invincible_ and _Inflexible_ to go to the Falkland Islands. They

left England November 11, 1914, and on the outward journey met

with and took along the light cruisers _Carnarvon, Kent_, and

_Cornwall_, the second-class cruiser _Bristol_, and the converted

liner _Macedonia_. The _Canopus_ and the _Glasgow_, now repaired,

all joined the squadron, which was commanded by Admiral Sturdee. The

vessels coaled at Stanley, Falkland Islands, and while so engaged

on December 8 were warned by a civilian volunteer watcher on a

near-by hill that two strange vessels had made their appearance

in the distance. British naval officers identified them and other

vessels which were coming into view as the ships of Von Spee's

squadron, the one which had been victorious off Coronel.

During the interval that had elapsed since that engagement these

German ships had not been idle. Von Spee knew that the _Glasgow_

had gone to the Falklands and that there were important wireless

stations there, but he put off going after those prizes and picked

up others. The _Nürnberg_ had cut communication between Banfield

and Fanning Islands. Two British trading ships had fallen victims

to the _Dresden_, and four more had met the same end at the hands

of the _Leipzig_. For coal and other supplies Von Spee had been

relying on the Chilean ports, but now came trouble between him and

the port authorities, for England was accusing the South American

nation of acting without regard to neutrality. It was for this

reason that Von Spee turned southward to take the Falkland Islands.

The world at large, and of course Von Spee, had no knowledge of

the ships which had set out from Plymouth for the Falklands on

the eleventh of the month, so he approached in full expectation of

making not only a raid but for occupation. He knew that he would

have to exchange shots with the _Glasgow_ and perhaps some small

ships, and he believed the islands weakly defended by forts, but

there was nothing in that to defer his attack. The result--the

lookout near Stanley had reported the oncoming warships _Gneisenau_

and _Scharnhorst_, followed by the rest of the German squadron.

German guns were trained on the wireless station, and great was

the surprise of the unfortunate Von Spee and his officers when

there was heard the booming of guns which they knew immediately

must be mounted on warships larger than their own. Their scouting

had been defective, and the presence of the _Inflexible_ and

_Invincible_ had till then not been discovered. They then reasoned

that these were the guns of the _Canopus_--a critical and fatal

error.

The _Canopus_ from behind the hills fired on the German ships in

an endeavor to protect the wireless station. Beyond the range of

her guns hovered the lighter German cruisers _Dresden, Leipzig_,

and _Nürnberg_ to await the outcoming of the _Glasgow_. Both the

_Gneisenau_ and _Scharnhorst_ concentrated their fire on the _Canopus_,

and when the _Glasgow_, accompanied by the _Carnarvon, Cornwall_, and

_Kent_, made her appearance it did not change the battle formation

of the Germans, for the _Canopus_ was still the only large vessel

they were aware of. Now the _Leipzig_ came nearer in order to take

up the fight with the lighter British ships. By nine in the morning

the German ships were drawn out in single file, running parallel

with the shore in a northeasterly direction. At the head of the

line was the _Gneisenau_, followed by the _Dresden, Scharnhorst,

Nürnberg_, and _Leipzig_, in that order. They thought that this

would entice what they believed to be the whole of the British

force present into coming out for a running fight, and in which

the old _Canopus_ would be left behind to be finished after the

lighter vessels were done for. But all this time the _Invincible_

and _Inflexible_ were silent with their guns, though there was

bustle enough aboard them while their coaling was being hurried.

By ten o'clock these two larger ships were ready with steam up

and decks cleared, and they came out from behind the hills. Von

Spee saw that discretion was the better part of valor and gave

orders for his ships to make off at full speed. For a time the

two squadrons kept parallel to each other at a distance of twelve

miles, with the British squadron--the _Invincible_ and _Inflexible_

leading--north of the German ships. The _Baden_ and _Santa Isabel_,

two transports that had been part of the German squadron, were

unable to keep up with the others and headed south, pursued by

the _Bristol_ and _Macedonia_. The two British battle cruisers

were faster than any other ships in either squadron, and while

pulling up on the German ships were in danger of pulling away from

their own ships. To avoid the latter, Admiral Sturdee kept down

their speed and was content with taking a little longer to get

within gun range of Von Spee's ships. By two o'clock the distance

between them was about 16,000 yards; the _Invincible_ and _Inflexible_

had now left the rest of the British squadron far behind and took

issue with the _Scharnhorst_ and _Gneisenau_ respectively. The

remaining British ships, with the exception of the _Carnarvon_,

gave attention to the three lighter German cruisers and the _Eitel

Friedrich_, which had broken from the first formation and were

now pointing southeast.

Von Spee ordered the _Scharnhorst_ and _Gneisenau_ to turn broadside

to the enemy. Shells were falling upon the German ships with fair

accuracy, but their return fire could do little damage to the British

ships, because the range was a little too great for the German

8.2-inch guns. Those of the _Inflexible_ and _Invincible_ were of

the 12-inch type.

All four ships were belching forth heavy black smoke that hung

low over the water after it left the funnels. A moderate breeze

carried it northward, and Von Spee moved his ships this way and

that till his smoke blew straight against the guns of the British

ships, making it almost impossible for the British gunners to take

aim and note effect. But the superior speed of the two British

battle cruisers stood them in good stead, and their commanders

brought them up south of the enemy--on their other side. It was

now the German gunners who found the smoke in their faces, and

the advantage was with the British.

By three o'clock in the afternoon fire had broken out on the

_Scharnhorst_ and Von Spee replied to Sturdee's inquiry that he

would not quit fighting, though some of his guns were out of action

and those which still replied to the Britisher did now only at

intervals. There was evidently something wrong with the machinery

that brought shells and ammunition to her guns from out of her

hold, the fire probably interfering with it. A 12-inch shell cut

right through her third funnel and carried it completely off the

ship. She turned so that she could bring her starboard guns into

action, and they did so feebly. The fire on board her grew worse

and worse, and it could be seen blood-red through holes made by

the shells from the _Invincible_ whenever her hull showed through

the dense clouds of escaping steam that enveloped her. Just at

four o'clock she began to list to port, thus having her starboard

guns put out of action, for they pointed toward the sky, and the

shells which came from them described parabolas, dropping into

the water at safe distance from the English ship. More and more

she listed, till her port beam ends were in the cold waters of the

South Atlantic, and while in that position she sank some fifteen

minutes later.

Meanwhile the duel between the _Gneisenau_ and _Inflexible_ had

been going on. A 12-inch shell from one of the British cruisers

struck one of the after gun turrets of the _Gneisenau_ and swept

it overboard. The German ship used the sinking _Scharnhorst_ as a

screen and tried to take on both British ships. Still she was able

to plant some effective shells against the _Invincible_ as a final

reply. By half-past five she was listing heavily to starboard and

her engines had stopped. The British ship, thinking she was surely

done for, ceased firing at her and watched her for ten minutes,

while a single gun on board of her fired at intervals. The three

ships _Carnarvon, Inflexible_, and _Invincible_ now closed in on

her and punished her till the flag at her stern was hauled down.

But the ensign at her peak continued to fly. Just at six o'clock,

with this color still in position, she suddenly heeled to starboard,

while the men of her crew made hastily up her slanting decks and

then climbed over on to the exposed part of her upturned port side.

Many of these unfortunate men had time to jump into the sea, but

others were caught when she suddenly disappeared beneath the surface.

There remained the task of picking up her survivors, but they were

not numerous, for the shock of the cold water killed a large number.

Having picked up those whom they could, the three British ships

signaled the news of their victories to the distant cruisers which

were fighting it out with the _Dresden, Leipzig, Nürnberg_, and

_Eitel Friedrich_.

These lighter German cruisers had left the line of battle and had

turned southward at just about the time that the action between

the _Scharnhorst_ and _Gneisenau_ and _Inflexible_ and _Invincible_

began. They started off with the _Dresden_ at the foremost point

of a triangle and with the other two at the two remaining points.

The _Glasgow, Cornwall_, and _Kent_ went after them, while the

_Carnarvon_, because her speed was not high enough to accompany

them, remained with the battle cruisers. The _Glasgow_ drew up

with the German ships first, and at three o'clock began to fire

on the _Leipzig_ at a distance of 12,000 yards. As in the other

action of that afternoon, the British ship took advantage of the

fact that her guns had longer range, and she drew back from the

German ships so that their guns could not reach her, though her

own shells began to fall upon their decks. It was her object to

keep them busy until she could be joined by her accompanying ships.

[Illustration: VICE ADMIRAL SIR DOVETON STURDEE'S ACTION OFF THE

FALKLAND ISLANDS. DEC 8, 1914.

This plan shows the track followed by H.M.S. INVINCIBLE (Flagship,

Capt. P.T.H. Beamish) and H.M.S. INFLEXIBLE (Capt. R.F. Phillimore)

during an action which started at 1.0 pm and finished at 6.0 pm

resulting in the sinking of the German armoured cruisers SCHARNHORST

(Flagship of Vice Admiral Count Von Spee) and GNIESNAU. The LEIPSIG

was engaged and sunk by H.M.S. CORNWALL (Capt. W.M. Ellerton) and

H.M.S. GLASGOW (Capt. John Luce) in the near vicinity, also the

Nurnberg by H.M.S. KENT (Capt. J.D. Allen). H.M.S. CARNARVON (Flagship

of Rear Admiral R.P. Stoddart. Capt. H.L. D'E. Skipwith) was also

engaged with SCHARNHORST and GNIESNAU.]