OFFICIAL STORY OF VALPARAISO FIGHT

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2302, 9 November 1914, Page 5

OFFICIAL STORY OF VALPARAISO FIGHT

CRUISER GOOD HOPE FOUNDERS MONMOUTH REPORTED ASHORE ON CffILEAN i COAST '. .'., London, November 6. ; Official.-J3arly in the action on the South American coast; .vthe-Good Hope, and the Monmouth caught or fire. They fought till dark'. The Good Hope. '; exploded and foundered. The Monmouth hauled off, and is believed to be I ashore. The Glasgow escaped after fighting the Leipzig and the Dresden. ■'"" -:j 'The Glasgow was not seriously damaged. ~ ' ;,-;. ; There were few casualties. , ' * ' ■■ . ; The.'battleship Canopus and the merchant cruiser Otranto. did not paiy\i ticipatp iii the fight. :.:';!, .■' ■] The Dresden is a 6peedy German cruiser which' was previously co-operating | with the Karlsruhe and Straisburg in the West" Atlantic. She' is of 3544 tons 'j displacement, and has a. speed of 27 knots. Her armament consists qf twelve i.lin, guns. - ,-...; '-,':•: ' } GERMANS OLAIM TO HAVE SUNK MONMOUTH A :,j '.:.. - •London, November 6. A heavily-censored story of the naval action has been received from York. The Germans 6tate that they sighted three British ships at 6 o'clock in the evening, and forced an engagement. Directly the German guns were trained, ' : \ they saw the Good Hope approaching at full speed, and by good seamanship, •<; she joined the other British, ; vessels. , i Tho squadrons steamed south; the Germans being nearer the coast, : and gradually ifpproached each othei'. . "* i The' Germans' first shot fell .short. ■ .' j When the two squadrons were six thousand yards apart, the Good Hope \i fired her 9.2 iii."guns, but a broadside from the Scharnhorst and the Gneisenau's Sin. guns .crippled her, and her enginos stopped. The Monmouth made a dash- i to cover the Good Hope,'but the distance between the squadrons was re- ! duccd td 6000 yards',"and tho Germans wero able to bring all their ships into ; action; They concentrated their firo on the Monmouth until sho sank. 'Tho ] 'ships were now '1300 yards apart. ... " " - . :-. i Tho Good Hope hung on until the explosion, and then withdrew to the i westward at 7.30. Flames were seen as she disappeared. The Nurnberg •' searohod for wouudod until daybreak, but wa.s unable to launch her boats on ; | iccflimt of the s*Io« '■;.)

ANOTHER YEESION-Byj GERMAN COMMANDER. ' , . Valparaiso; November 6. Commander von Spee, of the German squadron, states that the fight took placo near Santa Maria Island, on the coast near Concepcion, and lasted "an Lour. After being chased in tho dark, the Good Hope fled. An explosion was seen botween tho funnels of a warship, supposed to be the Glasgow.' , 'Die British merchant cruiser Otranto 6uffeied small damage, and escaped i in the darkness. It was imposslblo to assist {he Monmouth's crew owing to tho storm. ' iWbilo sinking the Monmouth tried to ram tho enemy. The Otranto belongs to tho Orient Company's well-known Heot of mail steamers. She is of 12,124 tons and 18 knots speed, and is commanded by j Captain H. M. Edwards. ! NO CONFIRMATION IN, CHILE. ; (Res. November 7, 4.30 p.m.) ' London, November 6. The "Timee's" Santiago correspondent states that no British warship has entered a Chilean port, no wreckage has been found on the coast, and there is 3io confirmation of the disaster. Tho German steamer Santa Isabel departed from Valparaiso on Saturday declaring her destination as Hamburg. It is believed she is provisioning the Berman squadron. , „ WARSHIP ASHORE SOUTH OF VALPARAISO. ' ' ' (R«. November 8, 8 p.m.) Santiago de Chile, November 7. The Government, replying; to a question in Parliament, stated that the alleged engagement; was fought outside territorial waters. Search in the. vicinity had not revealed traces of tho fight. The Government Jiad just received a telegram from the Governor of Constitution stating that it was reported that a warship was ashore at Punta Garranza; and that assistance had been sent. ■Punta Carranza is a prominent cape on tho Chilean on which there, is a lighthouse. It is about 190 miles south of Valparaiso, and ' about 110 unles north of Santa Maria Island, the scene of the engagement. ENEMY AIDED BY WIRELESS FROM CHILE. <" " (Rec. November 8, 3 p.m.) i, • - Washington, November 7. ' The British Embassy is investigating the roported, existence of secret Gorman wireless stations along the South American coasts. The Embassy believes that tho concentration of the German forces thero was due entirely to wireless messages, which wore evidently sent from the Chilean States. HIGH COMMISSIONER'S ADVICE FATE OF MONMOUTH UNKNOWN. The Prime Minister has received tho following message from the High Commissioner:— • . • . ' London, November 7,12,20 p.m. " Official. —The Admiralty has received trustworthy information concerning tho action of the Chilean coast on November I.' H.M.S. Good Hope, Monmouth, and Glasgow came up with the S'charnhorst, Gnoiscnau,i Leipzig,' and Dresden.''.'Both squadrons were steaming south in a strong; wind and considerable sea. Tho German squadron declined action until sunset, when tho light , gave it an impoitant advantage. The action lasted an hour. Early in the action the Good Hope and Monmouth took fire, but fought until nearly dark, when a serious explosion occurred on tho Good Hope, and she foundered. Tho Monmouth hauled off at dark, making water badly. She appeared unable to steam away and was accompanied by tho Glasgow. During tho whole of the action the latter vessel had fought the Leipzig and Dresden. On the enemy again approaching tho wounded Monmouth, the Glasgow, which -was also under firo from one-of tho armoured cruisers, drew off. Tho enemy then , approached the 'Monmouth again, but with what result i b not definitely known. The Glasgow is not-extensively damaged: and has. very few casualties. Neither the armed merchantman Otranto nor H.M.S. Canopus was engaged. Reports received by the Foreign Office from Valparaiso, state that a belligerent warship is ashoro on the Chilean coast. It is possible that this may prove to be the Monmouth._ Energetic measures have been taken on this assumption to rescue any survivors. The action appears to the Admiralty to have been most gallantly contested, but, in the absence of H M.S. Canopus, the enemy's preponderance of i force was considerable. , H.M.S.-Good Hope was a gift ship from Cape Colony, the first gift ship Sever given by an'overseas dependency to tho Imperial Navy.