NAVAL VICTORY

Waikato Times, Volume 125, Issue 20991, 19 December 1939, Page 8

NAVAL VICTORY

GRAF YON SPEE’S END GREAT WAR FIGHT RECALLED FALKLAND ISLANDS TRIUMPH From the strategic point of view, the value of the victory of the British warships in the South Atlantic engagement with the formidable German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee was undoubtedly tremendous, although its exact extent and its true significance may not become apparent immediately. It was a magnificent achievement in which New Zealand can proudly take a large extent of the glory because of the courageous success of H.M.S. Achilles.

The battle has particularly interesting historical associations. On December 8, 1914—just over 25 years ago—Admiral Spee, after whom the pocket battleship was named, went down in his flagship not far distant from the watery grave of the ship which bore his name. The occasion was the battle of Falkland Islands, which has come to be regarded as one of the completest victories on the naval front during the Great War. Britain’s “habit” of securing victory in a vital engagement on the sea was as apparent then as it was this week. Yesterday the German battleship Admiral Graf Spee joined its namesake at the bottom of South Atlantic waters. Small British Loss The battle of Falkland Islands was a far greater naval engagement than the fight off Montevideo. It was remarkable in that Britain lost no ships and suffered less than 30 casualties, killed and wounded. On the other hand the Germans lost an entire squadron—except one warship which was later sent to the bottom—and the death roll was tremendous. History tells the story which Britons regard with pride. The Falkland Islands victory avenged a German sea victory of a few weeks earlier. Off Coronel, on the coast of Chile, in November, 1914, the odds were very much with the enemy when Admiral Spee, with the armoured cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau (two of the crack ships of the German Navy), and the light cruisers Dresden, Leipzig and Numberg, defeated Admiral Sir Christopher Cradock, who flew his flag on the cruiser H.M.S. Good Hope, which was accompanied into battle by only two cruisers, H.M.S. Glasgow and H.M.S. Monmouth. The old battleship, H.M.S. Canopus, though attached to the British squadron, was unable to join the engagement owing to her slow speed and inability to reach the scene in time. The armed liner Otranto was useless against such powerful adversaries and was ordered to stand clear. The Good Hope caught fire and sank with Admiral Cradock. The Monmouth also sank, the Glasgow being able to escape. Surprise For Von Spee It was von Spee’s intention to make an attempt to run the British blockade of Germany and endeavour to proceed home after Coronel, but he delayed in order to attempt to capture the British Falkland Islands. It was then that the temporary triumph of the enemy at Coronel was avenged, and the fate of the German squadron was relentless and terrible. After Coronel, the Glasgow and the Canopus had put into Port Stanley, the only harbour and town in the Falkland Islands. Unknown to von Spee, these ships were later joined by a British squadron under Vice-Admiral Sturdee, who had with him the battle cruisers H.M.S. Invincible and H.M.S. Inflexible, and the light cruisers H.M.S. Carnarvon, H.M.S. Cornwall, H.M.S. Kent and H.M.S. Bristol, with the armed merchant ship Macedonia. The lastnamed was anchored in the outer harbour as a look-out ship. When von Spee approached it was the only vessel visible, and as it was a merchant ship, the German task appeared a sinecure. The enemy guns were immediately trained on the Falkland Islands radio station. Hidden behind a spit of land, the Canopus opened fire on the Germans to begin the great naval battle. German Admiral Drowned With a great shock, the Germans saw the British squadron put out of the harbour and form up in attack formation. The enemy at once turned about and retreated in a headlong race for safety. The odds were with Great Britain, which had faster and better-armoured ships on the sea. The Inflexible first overhauled von Spee’s squadron, and had opened fire when the Invincible came into the engagement a few minutes later. The action finally developed into three separate encounters. The battle was fought over a wide range of sea, in which the various units engaged were not only out of sight of each other at times, but even out of hearing of each other’s guns. The first fight was between the battle cruisers Invincible and Inflexible and the light cruiser Carnarvon, opposed to the German armoured cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau. The superior gun power of the British punished both the German craft heavily. The Scharnhorst was the first to go, and in her perished the German Admiral von Spee. He had always fought a clean battle, and his memory is honoured by the British for his honest sea fighting. Von Spee’s two sons also perished. The Gneisenau managed to hit the Invincible but soon heeled over and sank rapidly. Every effort was made by the British to save life, and the boats of the Invincible rescued 108 Germans from the water, although many were dead from cold when brought aboard. Thus the two most powerful German ships were disposed of, though not without a certain amount of damage to the British craft. Admiral Sturdee was fortunate to escape death. End To German Raiding Meanwhile the Glasgow, Kent and Cornwall had chased the German ships Leipzig, Numberg and Dresden. Shell after shell was poured into the Leipzig. Catching on fire fore and after she soon sank. The Kent had meanwhile set off after the fleeing Numberg. The chase was a long and stem one. which culminated in the third engagement of this memorable day. The Kent had little coal but the commander, Captain Allen,

was determined to catch the German at all costs. Every combustible article was commandeered for the furnace, tables, chairs, wooden fittings, ladders, and even deck planking being torn away to feed the fires. Although designed for a full speed of 22 knots, the Kens sped at over 25 knots to catch the Nurnberg, accredited to be the faster vessel. When the two ships came to grips both were hit fairly severely. In a running fight of half-an-hour the Kent scored the most hits until the Nurnberg caught fire and surrendered. She was a blazing wreck and with a hiss that could be heard for miles she disappeared, only 12 of her crew being saved. Seven of these died later. There was another small action that day when the Bristol and the armed merchantman Macedonia attacked German transports off Falkland Islands, where the enemy had intended to force a landing. Two German transports were sunk and one escaped. From the bigger engagements of the day the Dresden also escaped, although sunk subsequently in another battle. Such a decisive victory as that of Falkland Islands put an end to all German hopes of commerce raiding. The few ships still at large were marked down for destruction, and about six months later not a German ship remained as a raider.