Battle of Coronel - Sea Battle Off the Coast of Chile

British Naval Force, Four Vessels
Admiral Sir Christopher Cradock

German Naval Force, Four Vessels
Admiral von Spee

When the war broke out, the German Pacific squadron of seven vessels, commanded by Admiral von Spee, was at Kiau-chau, China. Among these vessels were the Emden and the Karlsruhe, both destined to achieve fame as raiders.

Early in August, 1914, the German squadron left Kiau-chau to prey upon English commerce in the South Pacific. A British squadron of five vessels, commanded by Admiral Sir Christopher Cradock, was detailed to safeguard British shipping in the South Seas. On November 1, 1914, off the coast of Chile, near Coronel, the German fleet, sighting the British vessels, opened fire with great accuracy at a range of seven miles. The British flagship, Good Hope, exploded and sank, carrying Admiral Cradock to his death. The Monmouth, set on fire, made for the open sea. The four German ships then bore down upon the Glasgow, but she escaped. Early in the engagement the Otranto, an armed liner merely, had disappeared.

The fifth ship of Admiral Cradock's squadron, the Canopus, had been undergoing repairs at a port further south. She found the Glasgow the day after the battle and together they proceeded to the Falkland Islands. The German fleet, overtaking the Monmouth on the next day, fired seventy shells into her when she lay sinking, on fire, and helpless, unable to fire her guns. With Admiral Cradock, 1650 British officers and men perished in this battle.

HMS Monmouth

Captained by Captain F Brant at the battle of Coronel, HMS Monmouth was built by London and Glasgow Ship Builders on the River Clyde in Glasgow and was launched on 13th November 1901. Her normal complement was 550-600 men and she had two twin and ten single mount 15.2 cm guns, ten 12lb guns, three 3lb guns and submerged 45.7cm torpedoes.

Last Voyage of HMS Monmouth

William Wileman Hart. RMB/1681, was a Royal Marines Bandsman aboard HMS Monmouth and due to his having written many letters home detailing his voyage, we are able TO acurately follow the final voyage of the Monmouth from leaving Plymouth on 6th August 1914 to her end on 1st November 1914.

6th August - Left Plymouth, 4:30pm
13th August - Arrived at St Vincent (Verde Islands)
14th August - Left St Vincent
20th August - Arrived and left Pernambuco (Brazil)
22nd August - HMS Glasgow joined us
23rd August - Arrived at Abrohlos Rock (Brazil)
24th August - Left Abrohlos
1st September - Armed Liner Otronto joined us
1st September - Arrived Abrohlos
2nd September - Left Abrohlos
6th September - Arrived Lobas Island (off River Plate)
7th September - Left Lobas Island
8th September - Arrived at Monte Video (Uruguay)
10th September - Sailed for Bahia Blanco
11th September - Turned back for Santa Catherina Island
14th September - Arrived St Catherina Sailed for River Plate
17th September - Anchored off English Bank Island
22nd September - Sailed for Punto Arenas (Straits of Magellan)
29th September - Sailed for Orange Bay (Cape Horn)
30th September - Arrived Orange Bay
30th September - Sailed for Port Edgar (Falkland Islands)
1st October - Arrived Port Edgar
3rd October - Sailed for the Magellan Straits
5th October - Arrived at Port Gallant
6th October - En route for Orange Bay (Cape Horn)
10th October - Total hours under way 1151
at Anchor 318
Total Miles 13 758
14th October - En route for Valparaso (Chile)

01st NOVEMBER 1914 HMS MONMOUTH WAS SUNK WITH THE L...

The World War I 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 Cradock.

The engagement probably took place as a result of a series of misunderstandings. Neither admiral expected to meet the other in full force. Once the two met, Cradock understood his orders were to fight to the end, despite the odds heavily against him. Although Spee had an easy victory, destroying two enemy armoured cruisers for just three men injured, the engagement also cost him half his supply of ammunition, which it was impossible to replace. Shock at the British losses led to an immediate reaction and the sending of more ships which in turn destroyed Spee and the majority of his squadron at the Battle of the Falkland Islands.

Prelude

The Royal Navy, with assistance from other Allied navies, had spent the early months of the war searching for Spee's German East Asia Squadron, fearing its potential for commerce raiding in the Pacific. Spee had abandoned his base at the German concession at Tsingtao in China once Japan entered the war on Britain's side.

The British learned from an intercepted radio communication in early October of Spee's plan to prey upon shipping in the crucial trading routes along the west coast of South America. Patrolling in the area at that time was Admiral Cradock's West Indies Squadron, consisting of two armoured cruisers, HMS Good Hope (Cradock's flagship) and HMS Monmouth, the modern light cruiser HMS Glasgow, and a converted liner, HMS Otranto.

Cradock's squadron was by no means modern or particularly strong, and most of the crew were inexperienced. Spee had a formidable force of five vessels, led by the armoured cruisers SMS Scharnhorst and SMS Gneisenau plus a further three light cruisers, SMS Dresden, SMS Leipzig and SMS Nürnber...