SMS Scharnhorst
Encyclopedia
SMS Scharnhorst was an 12985 MT (12,779.9 LT) armored cruiser
of the Imperial German Navy
, built at the Blohm & Voss shipyard in Hamburg
, Germany
. She was the lead ship
of her class
, which also included her sister . Scharnhorst and her sister were enlarged versions of the preceding ; they were equipped with a greater number of main guns and a higher top speed. The ship was named after the Prussia
n reformer general Gerhard von Scharnhorst
and commissioned into service on 24 October 1907.
Scharnhorst was assigned to the German East Asia Squadron
based in Tsingtao, China, along with Gneisenau, in 1911. 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, Scharnhorst 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 dispatch 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.
s. 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.
Scharnhorst was 144.6 metres (474.4 ft) long overall, and had a beam
of 21.6 m (70.9 ft), a draft
of 8.37 metre. The ship displaced 11616 metric tons (11,432.5 LT) standard, and 12985 MT (12,779.9 LT) at full load. Scharnhorsts crew consisted of 52 officers and 788 enlisted men; of these, 14 officers and 62 enlisted men were assigned to the squadron commander's staff, and were additional to the standard complement.
Scharnhorsts 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.
(East Asia Squadron); Gneisenau followed in 1910. The two ships formed the core of the squadron, with Scharnhorst serving as the flagship. The pair were crack gunnery ships; Gneisenau had won the Kaiser's Cup twice, and Scharnhorsts finished in second place in 1913 and 1914.
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 would restock their coal supplies; while en route, they received news of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand
. 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 that Russia demobilize its 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.
broke out, Scharnhorst was Admiral Maximilian von Spee
's flagship in the East Asia Squadron. This squadron consisted of Scharnhorst, her sister ship , and the light cruiser
s , , and . On 6 August 1914, Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, 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
.
Scharnhorst and Gneisenau regrouped with Emden and Nürnberg; the four ships then departed the central Pacific, bound for Chile. On 13 August the captain of the Emden, Commodore Karl von Müller, persuaded von Spee to detach his ship for commerce raiding. By this time, the squadron had been reinforced by the arrival of Dresden and Leipzig. Dresden was stationed in the Caribbean, but had been in San Francisco when von Spee issued the order to consolidate German naval forces. On 14 August, the East Asia Squadron departed Pagan for Enewetak Atoll in the Marshall Islands
, with Scharnhorst in the lead. 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, Scharnhorst and Gneisenau sailed to Apia to investigate the situation, but found no suitable targets. At the Battle of Papeete on 22 September, Scharnhorst 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, Scharnhorst and the rest of the squadron had reached Easter Island
. There they were joined by Dresden and Leipzig, which had sailed from American waters. After a week in the area, the ships departed for Chile.
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 Cradock, who likely felt that her slow speed would prevent him from bringing the German ships to battle.
On the evening of 26 October, Scharnhorst 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 towards 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, with the British colliers. At 17:00, Glasgow spotted the Germans; Cradock 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. Cradock realized the uselessness of Otranto in the line of battle, and so detached her.
At 19:00, the German ships closed to attack. Scharnhorst engaged Good Hope and hit her at least 35 times; one of these shells penetrated an ammunition magazine, which destroyed Good Hope in a huge explosion at 19:57. At the same time, 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 Cradock; German losses were negligible. However, the German ships had expended over 40% of their ammunition supply. Scharnhorst was hit twice during the engagement, but both shells failed to explode.
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). Scharnhorst was the center ship, with Gneisenau and Nürnberg ahead 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 Scharnhorst 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 Scharnhorst and Gneisenau. However, Sturdee detached his armored and light cruisers to pursue the German light cruisers, while the battlecruisers dealt with Scharnhorst and Gneisenau. Invincible opened fire at Scharnhorst while Inflexible attacked Gneisenau. 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. However, 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.
By 15:30, Scharnhorst had been holed in several places below the waterline, her third funnel had been destroyed, and she was burning badly. She was also low in the water, drawing some 3 ft (0.9144 m) more than normal. At 16:04, Scharnhorst was observed from Inflexible as having rapidly listed to port, and she sank at 16:17. All 860 officers and men on board, including von Spee, went down with the ship. Gneisenau, 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 Imperial German Navy
Kaiserliche Marine
The Imperial German Navy was the German Navy created at the time of the formation of the German Empire. It existed between 1871 and 1919, growing out of the small Prussian Navy and Norddeutsche Bundesmarine, which primarily had the mission of coastal defense. Kaiser Wilhelm II greatly expanded...
, built at the Blohm & Voss shipyard in Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
, Germany
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...
. She was the lead ship
Lead ship
The lead ship or class leader is the first of a series or class of ships all constructed according to the same general design. The term is applicable military ships and larger civilian craft.-Overview:...
of her class
Scharnhorst class armored cruiser
The Scharnhorst class was the last traditional class of armored cruisers built by the Kaiserliche Marine. The class comprised two ships, and . They were larger than the that preceded them; the extra size was used primarily to increase the main armament of 21 cm guns from four to eight...
, which also included her sister . Scharnhorst and her sister were enlarged versions of the preceding ; they were equipped with a greater number of main guns and a higher top speed. The ship was named after the Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
n reformer general Gerhard von Scharnhorst
Gerhard von Scharnhorst
Gerhard Johann David Waitz von Scharnhorst was a general in Prussian service, Chief of the Prussian General Staff, noted for both his writings, his reforms of the Prussian army, and his leadership during the Napoleonic Wars....
and commissioned into service on 24 October 1907.
Scharnhorst 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 Gneisenau, in 1911. 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 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, Scharnhorst 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 dispatch 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
Scharnhorst was laid down at the Blohm & Voss shipyard in Hamburg, Germany in 1905, under construction number 175. She was launched on 23 March 1906, and commissioned into the fleet a year and a half later on 24 October 1907. The ship cost the German government 20,319,000 goldmarkGerman 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. 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.
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 8.37 metre. The ship displaced 11616 metric tons (11,432.5 LT) standard, and 12985 MT (12,779.9 LT) at full load. Scharnhorsts crew consisted of 52 officers and 788 enlisted men; of these, 14 officers and 62 enlisted men were assigned to the squadron commander's staff, and were additional to the standard complement.
Scharnhorsts 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
In 1909, Scharnhorst was assigned to the OstasiengeschwaderGerman 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); Gneisenau followed in 1910. The two ships formed the core of the squadron, with Scharnhorst serving as the flagship. The pair were crack gunnery ships; Gneisenau had won the Kaiser's Cup twice, and Scharnhorsts finished in second place in 1913 and 1914.
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 would restock 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...
. 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 that Russia demobilize its 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
When the First World WarWorld 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...
broke out, Scharnhorst was 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 flagship in the East Asia Squadron. This squadron consisted of Scharnhorst, her sister ship , 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, Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, 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...
.
Scharnhorst and Gneisenau regrouped with Emden and Nürnberg; the four ships then departed the central Pacific, bound for Chile. On 13 August the captain of the Emden, Commodore Karl von Müller, persuaded von Spee to detach his ship for commerce raiding. By this time, the squadron had been reinforced by the arrival of Dresden and Leipzig. Dresden was stationed in the Caribbean, but had been in San Francisco when von Spee issued the order to consolidate German naval forces. 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...
, with Scharnhorst in the lead. 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, Scharnhorst and Gneisenau sailed to Apia to investigate the situation, but found no suitable targets. At the Battle of Papeete on 22 September, Scharnhorst 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, Scharnhorst 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. After a week in the area, 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 CradockChristopher Cradock
Rear-Admiral Sir Christopher "Kit" George Francis Maurice Cradock KCVO CB was a British officer of the Royal Navy. He was born at Hartforth, Richmond, North Yorkshire...
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 Cradock, who likely felt that her slow speed would prevent him from bringing the German ships to battle.
On the evening of 26 October, Scharnhorst 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 towards 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, with the British colliers. At 17:00, Glasgow spotted the Germans; Cradock 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. Cradock realized the uselessness of Otranto in the line of battle, and so detached her.
At 19:00, the German ships closed to attack. Scharnhorst engaged Good Hope and hit her at least 35 times; one of these shells penetrated an ammunition magazine, which destroyed Good Hope in a huge explosion at 19:57. At the same time, 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 Cradock; German losses were negligible. However, the German ships had expended over 40% of their ammunition supply. Scharnhorst was hit twice during the engagement, but both shells failed to explode.
Battle of the Falkland Islands
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 battlecruiserBattlecruiser
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). Scharnhorst was the center ship, with Gneisenau and Nürnberg ahead 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 Scharnhorst 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 Scharnhorst and Gneisenau. However, Sturdee detached his armored and light cruisers to pursue the German light cruisers, while the battlecruisers dealt with Scharnhorst and Gneisenau. Invincible opened fire at Scharnhorst while Inflexible attacked Gneisenau. 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. However, 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.
By 15:30, Scharnhorst had been holed in several places below the waterline, her third funnel had been destroyed, and she was burning badly. She was also low in the water, drawing some 3 ft (0.9144 m) more than normal. At 16:04, Scharnhorst was observed from Inflexible as having rapidly listed to port, and she sank at 16:17. All 860 officers and men on board, including von Spee, went down with the ship. Gneisenau, 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.