Not all German warships were in European waters in 1914 when war came so suddenly. Germany had a number of cruisers based in Asia which had orders to do as much damage to British trade in that area before being caught by Allied vessels or, if possible, they should attempt a return to Germany - a doubtful prospect. Admiral Spee, based in China, took Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, both powerful ships, plus 3 less powerful light cruisers, Dresden, Nürnburg andLeipzig, trying to cross the Pacific to South America before rounding Cape Horn to the Atlantic and back to Germany.
The British Admiralty knew of Spee's voyage and where the squadron would have to coal (oil fuel was not yet the majority fuel). A squadron of ships under Rear-Admiral Sir Christopher Cradock was sent round from the Atlantic to prevent Spee from rounding Cape Horn whilst others blocked off The Panama Canal should Spee use that.
Cradock's smaller squadron of obsolete ships comprised the cruisers Monmouth, his flagship Good Hope, an armoured light cruiser Glasgow, with a powerful battleship HMS Canopus with 12 inch guns, but which was so slow that it was unable to keep station with Cradock and at the crucial time was 300 miles behind. The Battle of Coronel took place in the evening of 1st November in heavy seas with Cradock attempting (inexplicably) to engage a superior force in fading light. The outcome was inevitable, outgunned and out manoeuvred;Monmouth was shelled by SMS Gneisenau into a hulk before Nürnburg caused her to capsize by firing into her at close range. Good Hope was seen to catch fire from shells from SMS Scharnhorst and explode in the darkness whilst Glasgow made her escape without loss. All in Monmouth and Good Hope perished,from Rear-Admiral Cradock to 18 year old Seaman Bob Kent from Saxe St, Teignmouth.In the darkness and rough seas Spee said it was not possible to pick up any survivors and he was concerned about the position of Canopus which could have outgunned his fleet. In total 1450 British sailors were lost.
There are many ways to die in a war, but the fate of those in HMS Monmouth at Coronel when it turned upside down before sliding noisily beneath the waves, must have been truly dreadful.
