SMS Gneisenau
Encyclopedia
SMS Gneisenau was an armored cruiser
of the German
navy, part of the two-ship . She was named after August von Gneisenau
, a Prussian general of the Napoleonic Wars
. The ship was laid down in 1904 at the AG Weser
dockyard in Bremen
, launched in June 1906, and completed in March 1908, at a cost of over 19 million goldmark
s. She was armed with a main battery of eight 21 centimetres (8.3 in) guns, had a top speed of 23.6 knots (12.8 m/s), and displaced 12985 metric tons (12,779.9 LT) at full combat load.
Gneisenau was assigned to the German East Asia Squadron
based in Tsingtao, China, along with , in 1910. They served as the core of Vice Admiral Maximilian von Spee
's fleet. After the outbreak of World War I
in August 1914, the two ships, accompanied by three light cruiser
s and several colliers, sailed across the Pacific ocean—in the process evading the various Allied naval forces sent to intercept them—before arriving off the southern coast of South America. On 1 November 1914, Gneisenau and the rest of the East Asia Squadron encountered and overpowered a British squadron at the Battle of Coronel
. The stinging defeat prompted the British Admiralty
to detach two battlecruiser
s to hunt down and destroy von Spee's flotilla, which they accomplished at the Battle of the Falkland Islands
on 8 December 1914.
shipyard in Bremen
, Germany in 1904, under construction number 144. She was launched on 14 June 1906, and commissioned into the fleet nearly two years on 6 March 1908. The ship cost the German government 19,243,000 goldmarks
. The ship had been designed for service with the High Seas Fleet
, though they were found to be too weak for service with the battle fleet; instead they were deployed overseas, a role in which they performed well.
Gneisenau was 144.6 metres (474.4 ft) long overall, and had a beam
of 21.6 m (70.9 ft), a draft
of 8.4 metre. The ship displaced 11616 metric tons (11,432.5 LT) standard, and 12985 MT (12,779.9 LT) at full load. Gneisenaus crew consisted of 38 officers and 726 enlisted men. The ship was powered by coal-fired triple expansion engines that provided a top speed of 23.6 knots (12.8 m/s)
Gneisenaus primary armament consisted of eight 21 cm (8.2 inch) SK L/40 guns,In Imperial German Navy gun nomenclature, "SK" (Schnellfeuerkanone) denotes that the gun is quick firing, while the L/40 denotes the length of the gun. In this case, the L/40 gun is 40 calibers, meaning that the gun barrel is 40 times as long as it is in diameter. four in twin gun turret
s, one fore and one aft of the main superstructure
, and the remaining four were mounted in single wing turrets. Secondary armament included six 15 cm (5.9 inch) SK L/40 guns in MPL casemate
s,MPL stands for Mittel-Pivot-Lafette (Central pivot mounting). See Navweaps.com and eighteen 8.8 cm (3.45 inch) guns mounted in casemates. She was also equipped with four 44 cm (17.3 in) submerged torpedo tubes. One was mounted in the bow, one on each broadside, and the fourth was placed in the stern.
, christened the ship at her commissioning on 6 March 1908. Captain Franz von Hipper
was the ship's first commanding officer; he took command of the ship the day she was commissioned. He was tasked with conducting the ship's shakedown cruise
, which lasted from 26 March to the middle of July. She officially joined the fleet on 12 July. The ship then departed for Asia, though Hipper left the ship and went on to command the I Torpedo-boat Division in Kiel. Gneisenau was assigned to the Ostasiengeschwader
(East Asia Squadron), where in 1910 she joined Scharnhorst, which had been assigned to the unit the previous year. The two ships formed the core of the squadron, with Scharnhorst serving as the flagship. The pair were crack gunnery ships; Gneisenau won the Kaiser's Cup four times during her career: twice while in German waters in 1908 and 1909 and twice in Asia in 1910 and 1911, and Scharnhorsts finished in second place in 1913 and 1914.Kaiser Wilhelm II sponsored annual long-range gunnery competitions in the fleet, for each battle squadron and the cruiser squadrons.
In June 1914, the annual summer cruise of the East Asia Squadron began; Gneisenau rendezvoused with Scharnhorst in Nagasaki
, Japan, where they received a full supply of coal. They then sailed south, arriving in Truk in early July where they restocked their coal supplies. While en route, they received news of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
in Sarajevo
. On 17 July, the East Asia Squadron arrived in Ponape
in the Caroline Islands
. Here, von Spee had access to the German radio network, where he learned of the Austro-Hungarian declaration of war on Serbia and the Russian mobilization. On 31 July, word came that the German ultimatum, which demanded the demobilization of Russia's armies, was set to expire. Von Spee ordered his ships be stripped for war.This meant the removal of all non-essential items, to include dress uniforms, tapestries, furniture, and other flammable objects. See: Hough, p. 17 On 2 August, Kaiser Wilhelm II ordered German mobilization against France and Russia.
the East Asia Squadron consisted of Gneisenau and Scharnhorst, and the light cruiser
s , , and . On 6 August 1914, Gneisenau, Scharnhorst, the supply ship Titania, and the Japanese collier Fukoku Maru were still in Ponape; von Spee had issued orders to recall the light cruisers, which had been dispersed on various cruises around the Pacific. Nürnberg joined von Spee that day. Von Spee decided the best place to concentrate his forces was Pagan Island
in the northern Marianas Islands, a German possession in the central Pacific. All available collier
s, supply ships, and passenger liners were ordered to meet the East Asia Squadron there. On 11 August, von Spee arrived in Pagan; he was joined by several supply ships, as well as Emden and the auxiliary cruiser Prinz Eitel Friedrich
.
The flotilla was reinforced with the arrival of Emden and Nürnberg; the ships then departed the central Pacific, bound for Chile. On 13 August the captain of Emden, Commodore Karl von Müller
, persuaded von Spee to detach his ship for commerce raiding. On 14 August, the East Asia Squadron departed Pagan for Enewetak Atoll in the Marshall Islands
. The ships again coaled after their arrival on 20 August. In order to keep the German high command informed, von Spee detached Nürnberg on 8 September to Honolulu to send word through neutral countries. Nürnberg brought back news of the Allied conquest of the German colony at Samoa
; on 14 August, Gneisenau and Scharnhorst sailed to Apia to investigate the situation, but found no suitable targets.
At the Battle of Papeete on 22 September, Gneisenau and the rest of the East Asia Squadron bombarded the colony
. During the bombardment, the French gunboat Zélée
was sunk by gunfire from the German ships. Fear of mines in the harbor prevented von Spee from seizing the coal that lay in the harbor. By 12 October, Gneisenau and the rest of the squadron had reached Easter Island
. There they were joined by Dresden and Leipzig, which had sailed from American waters. Dresden was stationed in the Caribbean, but had been in San Francisco when von Spee issued the order to consolidate German naval forces in the Pacific. After a week off Easter Island, the ships departed for Chile.
On the evening of 26 October, Gneisenau and the rest of the squadron steamed out of Mas a Fuera
, Chile, and headed eastward. Von Spee learned that Glasgow had been spotted in Coronel on the 31st, and so turned toward the port. He arrived on the afternoon of 1 November, and to his surprise, encountered Good Hope, Monmouth, and Otranto as well as Glasgow. Canopus was still some 300 miles (482.8 km) behind, escorting the British colliers. At 17:00, Glasgow spotted the Germans; Craddock formed a line with Good Hope in the lead, followed by Monmouth, Glasgow, and Otranto in the rear. Von Spee decided to hold off on engaging the British until the sun had set more, at which point the British ships would be silhouetted by the sun. At this point, Craddock realized the uselessness of Otranto in the line of battle, and so detached her.
At 19:00, the German ships closed to attack. In the span of five minutes, the German cruisers' guns had seriously damaged Good Hope, which was destroyed by a magazine explosion. Monmouth attempted to escape to the south; she was burning furiously and her guns had fallen silent. Nürnberg closed to point-blank range of Monmouth and poured shells into her. Glasgow was forced to abandon Monmouth after 20:20, before fleeing south and meeting with Canopus. Monmouth eventually capsized and sank at 21:18. Over 1,600 men were killed in the sinking of the two armored cruisers, including Admiral Craddock; German losses were negligible. However, the German ships had expended over 40% of their ammunition supply.
Once word of the defeat reached London, the Royal Navy set to organizing a force to hunt down and destroy the East Asia Squadron. To this end, the powerful new battlecruiser
s and were detached from the Grand Fleet and placed under the command of Vice Admiral Doveton Sturdee
. The two ships left Devonport
on 10 November, and while en route to the Falkland Islands
, they were joined by the armored cruisers , , and , the light cruisers and Glasgow, and the Otranto. The force of eight ships reached the Falklands by 7 December, where they immediately coaled.
Gneisenau and Nürnberg, the first two ships in the German line, approached the Falklands on the same morning, with the intention of destroying the wireless transmitter there. Observers aboard Gneisenau spotted the two battlecruisers in the harbor of Port Stanley, and when 30.5 cm (12 in) shells were fired from Canopus, which had been beached as a guard ship, the Germans turned to flee. The Germans took a south-easterly course at 22 kn (12 m/s). Von Spee formed his line with Gneisenau and Nürnberg ahead, Scharnhorst in the center, and Dresden and Leipzig astern. The fast battlecruisers quickly got up steam and sailed out of the harbor to pursue the East Asia Squadron.
By 13:20, the faster British ships had caught up with Gneisenau and the other cruisers, and began to fire at a range of 14 km (8.7 mi). Von Spee realized his armored cruisers could not escape the much faster battlecruisers, and so ordered the three light cruisers to attempt to break away while he turned about to engage the British with Gneisenau and Scharnhorst. However, Sturdee detached his armored and light cruisers to pursue the German light cruisers, while the battlecruisers dealt with Gneisenau and Scharnhorst. Inflexible attacked Gneisenau while Invincible opened fire at Scharnhorst. Sturdee attempted to widen the distance by turning two points to the north to prevent von Spee from closing to within the range of his smaller 8.2 in (20.8 cm) guns. Von Spee counteracted this maneuver by turning rapidly to the south, which forced Sturdee to turn south as well. This allowed Scharnhorst and Gneisenau to get close enough to engage with their secondary 5.9 in (15 cm) guns; their shooting was so effective that it forced the British to haul away temporarily.
At 16:04, Scharnhorst was observed from Inflexible as having rapidly listed to port, and she sank at 16:17. Shortly before she sank, von Spee transmitted one last order to Gneisenau: "Endeavor to escape if your engines are still intact." Damage to the ship's boiler rooms had reduced her speed to 16 kn (8.7 m/s), however, and so the ship continued to fight on. Gneisenau scored a hit on Invincible as late as 17:15. By 17:30, however, the ship was a burning wreck; she had a severe list to starboard and smoke poured from the ship, which came to a stop. Ten minutes later, the British ships closed in and the flag on Gneisenaus foremast was struck; at 17:50, Sturdee ordered his ships to cease fire. Gneisenaus captain ordered the crew to scuttle the ship, as they had expended their ammunition and the engines were disabled. The ship slowly rolled over and sank, but not before allowing some 200 of the survivors time to escape. Of these men, many died quickly from exposure in the 39°F water. A total of 598 men of her crew were killed in the engagement. Leipzig, and Nürnberg were also sunk. Only Dresden managed to escape, but she was eventually tracked to the Juan Fernandez Island
and sunk. The complete destruction of the squadron killed some 2,200 German sailors and officers, including two of von Spee's sons.
Armored cruiser
The armored cruiser was a type of warship of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Like other types of cruiser, the armored cruiser was a long-range, independent warship, capable of defeating any ship apart from a battleship, and fast enough to outrun any battleships it encountered.The first...
of the German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
navy, part of the two-ship . She was named after August von Gneisenau
August von Gneisenau
August Wilhelm Antonius Graf Neidhardt von Gneisenau was a Prussian field marshal. He was a prominent figure in the reform of the Prussian military and the War of Liberation.-Early life:...
, a Prussian general of the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
. The ship was laid down in 1904 at the AG Weser
AG Weser
Aktien-Gesellschaft Weser was one of the great German shipbuilding companies, located at the Weser River in Bremen. Founded in 1873 it was finally closed in 1983. Altogether, AG Weser built about 1400 ships of different types, including many war ships...
dockyard in Bremen
Bremen
The City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the river Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area . Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany.Bremen is...
, launched in June 1906, and completed in March 1908, at a cost of over 19 million goldmark
German gold mark
The Goldmark was the currency used in the German Empire from 1873 to 1914.-History:Before unification, the different German states issued a variety of different currencies, though most were linked to the Vereinsthaler, a silver coin containing 16⅔ grams of pure silver...
s. She was armed with a main battery of eight 21 centimetres (8.3 in) guns, had a top speed of 23.6 knots (12.8 m/s), and displaced 12985 metric tons (12,779.9 LT) at full combat load.
Gneisenau was assigned to the German East Asia Squadron
German East Asia Squadron
The German East Asia Squadron was a German Navy cruiser squadron which operated mainly in the Pacific Ocean between the 1870s and 1914...
based in Tsingtao, China, along with , in 1910. They served as the core of Vice Admiral Maximilian von Spee
Maximilian von Spee
Vice Admiral Maximilian Reichsgraf von Spee was a German admiral. Although he was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, the counts von Spee belonged to the prominent families of the Rhenish nobility. He joined the Kaiserliche Marine in 1878. In 1887–88 he commanded the Kamerun ports, in German West...
's fleet. After the outbreak of World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
in August 1914, the two ships, accompanied by three light cruiser
Light cruiser
A light cruiser is a type of small- or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck...
s and several colliers, sailed across the Pacific ocean—in the process evading the various Allied naval forces sent to intercept them—before arriving off the southern coast of South America. On 1 November 1914, Gneisenau and the rest of the East Asia Squadron encountered and overpowered a British squadron at the Battle of Coronel
Battle of Coronel
The First World War naval Battle of Coronel took place on 1 November 1914 off the coast of central Chile near the city of Coronel. German Kaiserliche Marine forces led by Vice-Admiral Graf Maximilian von Spee met and defeated a Royal Navy squadron commanded by Rear-Admiral Sir Christopher...
. The stinging defeat prompted the British Admiralty
Admiralty
The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...
to detach two battlecruiser
Battlecruiser
Battlecruisers were large capital ships built in the first half of the 20th century. They were developed in the first decade of the century as the successor to the armoured cruiser, but their evolution was more closely linked to that of the dreadnought battleship...
s to hunt down and destroy von Spee's flotilla, which they accomplished at the Battle of the Falkland Islands
Battle of the Falkland Islands
The Battle of the Falkland Islands was a British naval victory over the Imperial German Navy on 8 December 1914 during the First World War in the South Atlantic...
on 8 December 1914.
Construction
Gneisenau was laid down at the AG WeserAG Weser
Aktien-Gesellschaft Weser was one of the great German shipbuilding companies, located at the Weser River in Bremen. Founded in 1873 it was finally closed in 1983. Altogether, AG Weser built about 1400 ships of different types, including many war ships...
shipyard in Bremen
Bremen
The City Municipality of Bremen is a Hanseatic city in northwestern Germany. A commercial and industrial city with a major port on the river Weser, Bremen is part of the Bremen-Oldenburg metropolitan area . Bremen is the second most populous city in North Germany and tenth in Germany.Bremen is...
, Germany in 1904, under construction number 144. She was launched on 14 June 1906, and commissioned into the fleet nearly two years on 6 March 1908. The ship cost the German government 19,243,000 goldmarks
German gold mark
The Goldmark was the currency used in the German Empire from 1873 to 1914.-History:Before unification, the different German states issued a variety of different currencies, though most were linked to the Vereinsthaler, a silver coin containing 16⅔ grams of pure silver...
. The ship had been designed for service with the High Seas Fleet
High Seas Fleet
The High Seas Fleet was the battle fleet of the German Empire and saw action during World War I. The formation was created in February 1907, when the Home Fleet was renamed as the High Seas Fleet. Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz was the architect of the fleet; he envisioned a force powerful enough to...
, though they were found to be too weak for service with the battle fleet; instead they were deployed overseas, a role in which they performed well.
Gneisenau was 144.6 metres (474.4 ft) long overall, and had a beam
Beam (nautical)
The beam of a ship is its width at the widest point. Generally speaking, the wider the beam of a ship , the more initial stability it has, at expense of reserve stability in the event of a capsize, where more energy is required to right the vessel from its inverted position...
of 21.6 m (70.9 ft), a draft
Draft (hull)
The draft of a ship's hull is the vertical distance between the waterline and the bottom of the hull , with the thickness of the hull included; in the case of not being included the draft outline would be obtained...
of 8.4 metre. The ship displaced 11616 metric tons (11,432.5 LT) standard, and 12985 MT (12,779.9 LT) at full load. Gneisenaus crew consisted of 38 officers and 726 enlisted men. The ship was powered by coal-fired triple expansion engines that provided a top speed of 23.6 knots (12.8 m/s)
Gneisenaus primary armament consisted of eight 21 cm (8.2 inch) SK L/40 guns,In Imperial German Navy gun nomenclature, "SK" (Schnellfeuerkanone) denotes that the gun is quick firing, while the L/40 denotes the length of the gun. In this case, the L/40 gun is 40 calibers, meaning that the gun barrel is 40 times as long as it is in diameter. four in twin gun turret
Gun turret
A gun turret is a weapon mount that protects the crew or mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon and at the same time lets the weapon be aimed and fired in many directions.The turret is also a rotating weapon platform...
s, one fore and one aft of the main superstructure
Superstructure
A superstructure is an upward extension of an existing structure above a baseline. This term is applied to various kinds of physical structures such as buildings, bridges, or ships...
, and the remaining four were mounted in single wing turrets. Secondary armament included six 15 cm (5.9 inch) SK L/40 guns in MPL casemate
Casemate
A casemate, sometimes rendered casement, is a fortified gun emplacement or armored structure from which guns are fired. originally a vaulted chamber in a fortress.-Origin of the term:...
s,MPL stands for Mittel-Pivot-Lafette (Central pivot mounting). See Navweaps.com and eighteen 8.8 cm (3.45 inch) guns mounted in casemates. She was also equipped with four 44 cm (17.3 in) submerged torpedo tubes. One was mounted in the bow, one on each broadside, and the fourth was placed in the stern.
Service history
Field Marshal Alfred von Schlieffen, the former Chief of the General StaffGerman General Staff
The German General Staff was an institution whose rise and development gave the German armed forces a decided advantage over its adversaries. The Staff amounted to its best "weapon" for nearly a century and a half....
, christened the ship at her commissioning on 6 March 1908. Captain Franz von Hipper
Franz von Hipper
Franz Ritter von Hipper was an admiral in the German Imperial Navy . Franz von Hipper joined the German Navy in 1881 as an officer cadet. He commanded several torpedo boat units and served as watch officer aboard several warships, as well as Kaiser Wilhelm II's yacht Hohenzollern...
was the ship's first commanding officer; he took command of the ship the day she was commissioned. He was tasked with conducting the ship's shakedown cruise
Shakedown cruise
Shakedown cruise is a nautical term in which the performance of a ship is tested. Shakedown cruises are also used to familiarize the ship's crew with operation of the craft....
, which lasted from 26 March to the middle of July. She officially joined the fleet on 12 July. The ship then departed for Asia, though Hipper left the ship and went on to command the I Torpedo-boat Division in Kiel. Gneisenau was assigned to the Ostasiengeschwader
German East Asia Squadron
The German East Asia Squadron was a German Navy cruiser squadron which operated mainly in the Pacific Ocean between the 1870s and 1914...
(East Asia Squadron), where in 1910 she joined Scharnhorst, which had been assigned to the unit the previous year. The two ships formed the core of the squadron, with Scharnhorst serving as the flagship. The pair were crack gunnery ships; Gneisenau won the Kaiser's Cup four times during her career: twice while in German waters in 1908 and 1909 and twice in Asia in 1910 and 1911, and Scharnhorsts finished in second place in 1913 and 1914.Kaiser Wilhelm II sponsored annual long-range gunnery competitions in the fleet, for each battle squadron and the cruiser squadrons.
In June 1914, the annual summer cruise of the East Asia Squadron began; Gneisenau rendezvoused with Scharnhorst in Nagasaki
Nagasaki
is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. Nagasaki was founded by the Portuguese in the second half of the 16th century on the site of a small fishing village, formerly part of Nishisonogi District...
, Japan, where they received a full supply of coal. They then sailed south, arriving in Truk in early July where they restocked their coal supplies. While en route, they received news of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria
Franz Ferdinand was an Archduke of Austria-Este, Austro-Hungarian and Royal Prince of Hungary and of Bohemia, and from 1889 until his death, heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne. His assassination in Sarajevo precipitated Austria-Hungary's declaration of war against Serbia...
in Sarajevo
Sarajevo
Sarajevo |Bosnia]], surrounded by the Dinaric Alps and situated along the Miljacka River in the heart of Southeastern Europe and the Balkans....
. On 17 July, the East Asia Squadron arrived in Ponape
Pohnpei
Not to be confused with Pompeii, the ancient city destroyed by Vesuvius in AD 79.Pohnpei "upon a stone altar " is the name of one of the four states in the Federated States of Micronesia , situated among the Senyavin Islands which are part of the larger Caroline Islands group...
in the Caroline Islands
Caroline Islands
The Caroline Islands are a widely scattered archipelago of tiny islands in the western Pacific Ocean, to the north of New Guinea. Politically they are divided between the Federated States of Micronesia in the eastern part of the group, and Palau at the extreme western end...
. Here, von Spee had access to the German radio network, where he learned of the Austro-Hungarian declaration of war on Serbia and the Russian mobilization. On 31 July, word came that the German ultimatum, which demanded the demobilization of Russia's armies, was set to expire. Von Spee ordered his ships be stripped for war.This meant the removal of all non-essential items, to include dress uniforms, tapestries, furniture, and other flammable objects. See: Hough, p. 17 On 2 August, Kaiser Wilhelm II ordered German mobilization against France and Russia.
World War I
At the outbreak of World War IWorld War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
the East Asia Squadron consisted of Gneisenau and Scharnhorst, and the light cruiser
Light cruiser
A light cruiser is a type of small- or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck...
s , , and . On 6 August 1914, Gneisenau, Scharnhorst, the supply ship Titania, and the Japanese collier Fukoku Maru were still in Ponape; von Spee had issued orders to recall the light cruisers, which had been dispersed on various cruises around the Pacific. Nürnberg joined von Spee that day. Von Spee decided the best place to concentrate his forces was Pagan Island
Pagan Island
Pagan is an island of the Northern Mariana Islands chain,located at , approximately 320 kilometers northof Saipan.Pagan has an area of 47.23 km² , making it the fourth largest island of the Northern Marianas, and consists of two stratovolcanoes joined by a narrow strip of land.The...
in the northern Marianas Islands, a German possession in the central Pacific. All available collier
Collier (ship type)
Collier is a historical term used to describe a bulk cargo ship designed to carry coal, especially for naval use by coal-fired warships. In the late 18th century a number of wooden-hulled sailing colliers gained fame after being adapted for use in voyages of exploration in the South Pacific, for...
s, supply ships, and passenger liners were ordered to meet the East Asia Squadron there. On 11 August, von Spee arrived in Pagan; he was joined by several supply ships, as well as Emden and the auxiliary cruiser Prinz Eitel Friedrich
SS Prinz Eitel Friedrich (1904)
SS Prinz Eitel Friedrich was a German passenger liner which saw service in the First World War as an auxiliary cruiser of the Imperial German Navy...
.
The flotilla was reinforced with the arrival of Emden and Nürnberg; the ships then departed the central Pacific, bound for Chile. On 13 August the captain of Emden, Commodore Karl von Müller
Karl von Müller
Karl Friedrich Max von Müller was Captain of the famous German commerce raider, the light cruiser SMS Emden during World War I.- Early life and career :The son of a cracking Colonel, he was born in Hanover...
, persuaded von Spee to detach his ship for commerce raiding. On 14 August, the East Asia Squadron departed Pagan for Enewetak Atoll in the Marshall Islands
Marshall Islands
The Republic of the Marshall Islands , , is a Micronesian nation of atolls and islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, just west of the International Date Line and just north of the Equator. As of July 2011 the population was 67,182...
. The ships again coaled after their arrival on 20 August. In order to keep the German high command informed, von Spee detached Nürnberg on 8 September to Honolulu to send word through neutral countries. Nürnberg brought back news of the Allied conquest of the German colony at Samoa
Samoa
Samoa , officially the Independent State of Samoa, formerly known as Western Samoa is a country encompassing the western part of the Samoan Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. It became independent from New Zealand in 1962. The two main islands of Samoa are Upolu and one of the biggest islands in...
; on 14 August, Gneisenau and Scharnhorst sailed to Apia to investigate the situation, but found no suitable targets.
At the Battle of Papeete on 22 September, Gneisenau and the rest of the East Asia Squadron bombarded the colony
Papeete
-Sights:* Interactive Google map of Papeete, to discover the 30 major tourist attractions in Papeete downtown.*The waterfront esplanade*Bougainville Park -Sights:* Interactive Google map of Papeete, to discover the 30 major tourist attractions in Papeete downtown.*The waterfront...
. During the bombardment, the French gunboat Zélée
French gunboat Zélée
Zélée was a Surprise class gunboat of the French Navy. Designed for use overseas, she was used largely in the French colonies in Indochina and the Pacific...
was sunk by gunfire from the German ships. Fear of mines in the harbor prevented von Spee from seizing the coal that lay in the harbor. By 12 October, Gneisenau and the rest of the squadron had reached Easter Island
Easter Island
Easter Island is a Polynesian island in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian triangle. A special territory of Chile that was annexed in 1888, Easter Island is famous for its 887 extant monumental statues, called moai, created by the early Rapanui people...
. There they were joined by Dresden and Leipzig, which had sailed from American waters. Dresden was stationed in the Caribbean, but had been in San Francisco when von Spee issued the order to consolidate German naval forces in the Pacific. After a week off Easter Island, the ships departed for Chile.
Battle of Coronel
To oppose the German squadron off the coast of South America, the British had scant resources; under the command of Rear Admiral Christopher Craddock were the armored cruisers and , the light cruiser , and the auxiliary cruiser . This flotilla was reinforced by the elderly pre-dreadnought battleship and the armored cruiser , the latter, however, did not arrive until after the Battle of Coronel. Canopus was left behind by Craddock, who likely felt that her slow speed would prevent him from bringing the German ships to battle.On the evening of 26 October, Gneisenau and the rest of the squadron steamed out of Mas a Fuera
Alejandro Selkirk Island
Alejandro Selkirk Island, previously known as Isla Más Afuera and renamed after Alexander Selkirk, is the second largest and most westernly island of the Juan Fernández Islands archipelago of the Valparaíso Region of Chile...
, Chile, and headed eastward. Von Spee learned that Glasgow had been spotted in Coronel on the 31st, and so turned toward the port. He arrived on the afternoon of 1 November, and to his surprise, encountered Good Hope, Monmouth, and Otranto as well as Glasgow. Canopus was still some 300 miles (482.8 km) behind, escorting the British colliers. At 17:00, Glasgow spotted the Germans; Craddock formed a line with Good Hope in the lead, followed by Monmouth, Glasgow, and Otranto in the rear. Von Spee decided to hold off on engaging the British until the sun had set more, at which point the British ships would be silhouetted by the sun. At this point, Craddock realized the uselessness of Otranto in the line of battle, and so detached her.
At 19:00, the German ships closed to attack. In the span of five minutes, the German cruisers' guns had seriously damaged Good Hope, which was destroyed by a magazine explosion. Monmouth attempted to escape to the south; she was burning furiously and her guns had fallen silent. Nürnberg closed to point-blank range of Monmouth and poured shells into her. Glasgow was forced to abandon Monmouth after 20:20, before fleeing south and meeting with Canopus. Monmouth eventually capsized and sank at 21:18. Over 1,600 men were killed in the sinking of the two armored cruisers, including Admiral Craddock; German losses were negligible. However, the German ships had expended over 40% of their ammunition supply.
Battle of the Falkland Islands
Battlecruiser
Battlecruisers were large capital ships built in the first half of the 20th century. They were developed in the first decade of the century as the successor to the armoured cruiser, but their evolution was more closely linked to that of the dreadnought battleship...
s and were detached from the Grand Fleet and placed under the command of Vice Admiral Doveton Sturdee
Doveton Sturdee
Admiral of the Fleet Sir Frederick Charles Doveton Sturdee, 1st Baronet, GCB, KCMG, CVO was a British admiral.-Naval career:...
. The two ships left Devonport
HMNB Devonport
Her Majesty's Naval Base Devonport , is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy . HMNB Devonport is located in Devonport, in the west of the city of Plymouth in Devon, England...
on 10 November, and while en route to the Falkland Islands
Falkland Islands
The Falkland Islands are an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean, located about from the coast of mainland South America. The archipelago consists of East Falkland, West Falkland and 776 lesser islands. The capital, Stanley, is on East Falkland...
, they were joined by the armored cruisers , , and , the light cruisers and Glasgow, and the Otranto. The force of eight ships reached the Falklands by 7 December, where they immediately coaled.
Gneisenau and Nürnberg, the first two ships in the German line, approached the Falklands on the same morning, with the intention of destroying the wireless transmitter there. Observers aboard Gneisenau spotted the two battlecruisers in the harbor of Port Stanley, and when 30.5 cm (12 in) shells were fired from Canopus, which had been beached as a guard ship, the Germans turned to flee. The Germans took a south-easterly course at 22 kn (12 m/s). Von Spee formed his line with Gneisenau and Nürnberg ahead, Scharnhorst in the center, and Dresden and Leipzig astern. The fast battlecruisers quickly got up steam and sailed out of the harbor to pursue the East Asia Squadron.
By 13:20, the faster British ships had caught up with Gneisenau and the other cruisers, and began to fire at a range of 14 km (8.7 mi). Von Spee realized his armored cruisers could not escape the much faster battlecruisers, and so ordered the three light cruisers to attempt to break away while he turned about to engage the British with Gneisenau and Scharnhorst. However, Sturdee detached his armored and light cruisers to pursue the German light cruisers, while the battlecruisers dealt with Gneisenau and Scharnhorst. Inflexible attacked Gneisenau while Invincible opened fire at Scharnhorst. Sturdee attempted to widen the distance by turning two points to the north to prevent von Spee from closing to within the range of his smaller 8.2 in (20.8 cm) guns. Von Spee counteracted this maneuver by turning rapidly to the south, which forced Sturdee to turn south as well. This allowed Scharnhorst and Gneisenau to get close enough to engage with their secondary 5.9 in (15 cm) guns; their shooting was so effective that it forced the British to haul away temporarily.
At 16:04, Scharnhorst was observed from Inflexible as having rapidly listed to port, and she sank at 16:17. Shortly before she sank, von Spee transmitted one last order to Gneisenau: "Endeavor to escape if your engines are still intact." Damage to the ship's boiler rooms had reduced her speed to 16 kn (8.7 m/s), however, and so the ship continued to fight on. Gneisenau scored a hit on Invincible as late as 17:15. By 17:30, however, the ship was a burning wreck; she had a severe list to starboard and smoke poured from the ship, which came to a stop. Ten minutes later, the British ships closed in and the flag on Gneisenaus foremast was struck; at 17:50, Sturdee ordered his ships to cease fire. Gneisenaus captain ordered the crew to scuttle the ship, as they had expended their ammunition and the engines were disabled. The ship slowly rolled over and sank, but not before allowing some 200 of the survivors time to escape. Of these men, many died quickly from exposure in the 39°F water. A total of 598 men of her crew were killed in the engagement. Leipzig, and Nürnberg were also sunk. Only Dresden managed to escape, but she was eventually tracked to the Juan Fernandez Island
Juan Fernández Islands
The Juan Fernández Islands are a sparsely inhabited island group reliant on tourism and fishing in the South Pacific Ocean, situated about off the coast of Chile, and is composed of three main volcanic islands; Robinson Crusoe Island, Alejandro Selkirk Island and Santa Clara Island, the first...
and sunk. The complete destruction of the squadron killed some 2,200 German sailors and officers, including two of von Spee's sons.