CHAPTER VII

CONCENTRATION

"And Drake growled, ... ... 'So, lest they are not too slow To catch us, clear the decks. God, I would like To fight them!'"

--ALFRED NOYES (_Drake_).

Several disquieting wireless messages were received by the British warships on the east coast of South America, giving garbled and unreliable accounts of the Coronel action. It was not till November 5th that a statement which appeared to be fairly authoritative, in spite of its German origin, was received from Valparaiso. It said that the _Monmouth_ was sunk and that the _Good Hope_ had probably shared her fate; no mention was made of the _Canopus_, _Glasgow_, or _Otranto_.

The command in these waters now devolved upon Rear-Admiral Stoddart (flying his flag in the _Carnarvon_), who was still busily engaged in the search for the _Karlsruhe_. His ships had been operating over a wide area extending from the neighbourhood of Rio de Janeiro to the northward of St. Paul's Rocks and the Rocas, and thence to the westward along the north coast of South America. This otherwise fruitless search achieved one notable result in compelling the _Karlsruhe_ to abandon her system of obtaining supplies through German storeships coming from Pernambuco, as that port was kept under rigid observation. She was thus forced to leave the trade route between Great Britain and South America for longer periods in order to meet her consort, the armed liner _Kronprinz Wilhelm_, who now became a link between her and her sources of supply in Central America. There was, in consequence, a marked falling off at this period in the number of her captures.

Assuming that the worst had happened, and that the German squadron was now on its way round to the east coast, it became imperative to unite our remaining ships into one squadron as quickly as possible. It was obvious that with the Australian and Japanese ships behind them, the Germans could not afford to linger where they were; moreover, they had learned at Valparaiso that we had no naval force of any preponderance with which to oppose them. Flushed with their recent victory, it seemed probable that if they were not much damaged they would most likely hasten their movements in the hope of meeting our ships before we had had time to unite or to gather reinforcements.

The German squadron would not be able to separate with any safety once we had succeeded in joining together our scattered forces, so that the damage they might do to our commerce would be thereby reduced to a minimum.

For these reasons it will be seen that the River Plate was admirably situated for the rendezvous of our ships that had escaped from Coronel to the Falklands, and of the northern squadron. Again, it was possible to coal there without infringing territorial rights, as there is an excellent anchorage well outside the three mile limit from the foreshore.

The following calculations, written on November 6th, 1914, were made by the author:

"The German Admiral will expect us to get reinforcements out from England, so that it seems probable that he will lose no time in coming round to the east coast.

"He arrived at Valparaiso on November 3rd. Supposing he coals there and leaves at earliest on November 4th, the distance from Valparaiso to the Plate is roughly 2,600 miles, or nine days at 12 knots; therefore, allowing one day for coaling _en route_, the earliest that he could be off the Plate would be the 13th, more likely not before November 15th."

The strategical aspect in this sphere of operations was completely changed by the success of the German squadron off Cape Coronel, and necessitated not only a complete change of plans, but also an entire redistribution of our ships. These consisted of the _Carnarvon_, _Cornwall_, _Bristol_, _Macedonia_, and _Edinburgh Castle_, also the _Defence_ and _Orama_, who were near Montevideo, and the _Canopus_, _Glasgow_, and _Otranto_.

Admiral Stoddart, therefore, decided to go south to Montevideo at once in order to meet the remainder of our scattered ships. The _Bristol_, _Macedonia_, and _Edinburgh Castle_ were left to continue the search for the _Karlsruhe_, although as a matter of fact she had blown up on November 4th. Colliers were sent down south to Montevideo to be in readiness for our ships, and were ordered to sail at twelve-hour intervals to diminish the chance of capture.

The _Carnarvon_ and _Cornwall_ left the base on November 6th, the former calling at Rio de Janeiro on the way for telegrams. Arriving at the Plate on the 10th, where we found the _Defence_ and _Orama_, the Admiral immediately transferred his flag to the former ship, which was the newest and most powerful of our cruisers. All ships filled up with coal and awaited the arrival of the _Glasgow_ and _Otranto_; meanwhile, patrols were constantly maintained at the mouth of the river.

The following evening the _Glasgow_ arrived amidst congratulations from us all; she had put in to the Falkland Islands to coal, in which assistance was provided by volunteers from amongst the inhabitants. After coaling, she was detached to Rio de Janeiro to go into dry dock, so that the damage to her side might be properly repaired. The same day the _Orama_, whilst patrolling, met and sank the German storeship _Navarra_ which was set on fire by the Germans when escape was seen to be impossible. We also got the cheering news that the _Emden_ had been sunk and that the _Königsberg_ had been bottled up, tidings which augured well for the future.

The Admiralty seem to have had a premonition that the Germans intended to attack the Falklands for the _Canopus_, although on her way north to Montevideo, was ordered back to the Falkland Islands in order to fortify and arm the harbour of Port Stanley in co-operation with the local volunteers, converting herself into a floating fort.

The possibility of our encountering and having to fight von Spee was the subject uppermost in all minds at this time, and led to a great deal of discussion. The outstanding feature in the situation was the extraordinary lack of homogeneity of the composition of our squadron. It consisted of three armoured cruisers of entirely different classes, each carrying a different armament, one light cruiser and four armed merchantmen. The latter could not, of course, be pitted against warships even of the light-cruiser type, and therefore had to be left out of the reckoning. Amongst the four fighting ships there were four descriptions of guns, viz. two 9.2-inch, fourteen 7.5-inch, twenty-two 6-inch, and ten 4-inch, while the German squadron had only three descriptions, viz. sixteen 8.2-inch, twelve 5.9-inch, and thirty-two 4.1-inch. A prominent question, therefore, was what range we should endeavour to maintain during an action; the answer to which was very varied, preference being given to ranges from 14,000 yards downwards. From the gunnery point of view the enemy undoubtedly held an advantage, as not only was his squadron more homogeneous, having only two classes of ships, but also the range of his guns was greater. As regards speed, there was nothing to choose between the two squadrons, who were evenly matched in this respect. Much would depend upon whether he would choose to keep his squadron together for the purpose of an action or to disperse them on reaching the east coast. Opinions on this and on many other points were divided. All were agreed, however, that we ought to give a good account of ourselves.

The wildest reports about von Spee's movements were constantly received from Chilean and other sources. Whilst at Montevideo rumours were circulated that the German ships had been seen coming round Cape Horn.

The Admiralty now informed Admiral Stoddart that reinforcements were being sent out from England at once; they had actually started just after our arrival at the Plate. The secret of this news was well kept, not an inkling leaking out at home or abroad--a fact which contributed very largely to our subsequent victory. It was decided, therefore, to return northwards in order to effect a junction with the two battle-cruisers that were on their way out. The squadron sailed on November 12th, spread out in line abreast, and put in some useful exercises on the way. Arriving at the base five days later, we found the _Kent_, which was expected as we had heard that she was being sent out to reinforce us; she had brought a mail, which made her doubly welcome. The _Bristol_ and _Edinburgh Castle_ rejoined, but the latter was ordered off northwards on other service, and sailed on November 19th, taking a mail for England. It was blazing hot, but the next few days passed quickly enough in carrying out gunnery practices, patrolling, and coaling ship, during which the _Glasgow_ returned from Rio, spick and span.

Most of November was a time of some suspense for our ships, as we were hourly expecting an encounter with the enemy, and it was with mixed feelings that we learned of the nature of the reinforcements that were coming out with such despatch. Our feelings of relief were also tempered with regret at not having been afforded an opportunity to prove our mettle. Further, there was an awful and terrible thought that it might be considered necessary to leave one of us cruisers behind to guard the base.

Most of our ships had had steam on their main engines incessantly since war broke out, and a rest to let fires out so as to make necessary adjustments was badly needed, but was quite impossible near a neutral coast.

On November 26th our hearts were gladdened by the sight of the _Invincible_, bearing the flag of Vice-Admiral Sturdee, and the _Inflexible_; these two formidable-looking ships had come out from England at a mean speed of over 18 knots for fifteen days. Truly a fine performance!