CHAPTER XII

THE END OF THE "LEIPZIG"

"War raged in heaven that day ... ... Light against darkness, Liberty Against all dark old despotism, unsheathed The sword in that great hour."

--ALFRED NOYES (_Drake_).

It will be recollected that during the chase the battle-cruisers were firing at the _Leipzig_ before the main battle with Admiral von Spee took place. This compelled the Germans to divide into two separate squadrons, since a direct hit from a 12-inch gun might easily prove fatal to one of their light-cruisers. Foreseeing that this manœuvre was likely to occur, Admiral Sturdee had directed the _Cornwall_, _Kent_, and _Glasgow_ to follow in pursuit. No time was lost, therefore, in giving chase to the enemy light-cruisers when they turned off to the S.S.E. at 1.20 P.M., the _Glasgow_ leading the way at 26 knots, followed by the _Kent_ and the _Cornwall_ keeping neck and neck and going about 23½ knots. The _Dresden_ led the enemy light-cruisers with the _Leipzig_ and _Nürnberg_ on her starboard and port quarter respectively.

In the ever-increasing distance between our two squadrons, the main battle could still be seen through field glasses, which made the necessity for turning away from a spectacle of such absorbing and compelling interest all the more tantalising. But there was solid work to be done, requiring concentration, thought, and cool judgment.

A stern chase is proverbially a long one, and the difference in speed between our ships and the Germans' was not sufficient to justify any hope of getting to business for at least two hours, as the slowest enemy ship was probably doing 23 knots at this time. Every effort was now made to go as fast as possible, and the _Cornwall_ and _Kent_ had quite an exciting race as they worked up to 24 knots or slightly more--a speed actually exceeding that realised along the measured mile when these ships were new. The engine-room staffs on both ships "dug out for all they were worth," and the keenest rivalry prevailed.

It was very evident that a long chase lay before us, for the _Glasgow_ was the only ship of the three that had a marked superiority in speed to the enemy. The _Cornwall_ and _Kent_ were gaining very slowly but surely on the _Leipzig_ and _Nürnberg_, but were losing on the _Dresden_.

The enemy kept edging away to port continually, and about 2.15 we passed over the spot where later in the day the _Gneisenau_ was sunk by our battle-cruisers.

About 2.45 P.M. the positions of the ships were as plan (_see_ page 112). The _Leipzig_ was the centre rearmost ship, with the _Dresden_ some four to five miles on her starboard bow, while the _Nürnberg_ was about a mile on her port bow. Both these ships were diverging slightly from the _Leipzig_, spreading out in the shape of a fan to escape being brought to action. The _Cornwall_ and _Kent_ were some eleven miles astern of the _Leipzig_, and the _Glasgow_ was four miles distant on the starboard bow.

As the _Glasgow_ drew ahead she edged over to starboard in the direction of the _Dresden_. About 3 P.M. she opened fire with her two 6-inch guns on the _Leipzig_ at 12,000 yards, in the hope of outranging her and reducing her speed, so that the _Cornwall_ and _Kent_ might come into action. The _Leipzig_, however, held on her course, and replied to the _Glasgow's_ fire, though it was evident that she was at the limit of her gun range. The firing was spasmodic and not very effective.

The _Glasgow's_ speed was so much superior to that of the enemy that she soon closed the range very appreciably, and the _Leipzig_ was seen to straddle her with her salvoes on more than one occasion. The _Glasgow_ therefore altered course outwards, at the same time firing her after 6-inch gun, and then, having opened the range, turned up on to a roughly parallel course with the German. The duel between these ships continued intermittently.

The _Cornwall_ and _Kent_ were still keeping fairly level, and had closed in to a distance of about half a mile from one another. The chase continued, each minute seeming an age, as the range-finders registered the slowly diminishing distance of the enemy. The crews watched the proceedings from the forecastles with the greatest interest; now and again a half-smothered cheer would break out when the _Glasgow's_ shots fell perilously near the mark. When the bugle sounded "Action," the men responded with a spontaneous cheer as they rushed off at the double to their appointed stations. Their spirit was fine.

Captain J. Luce, of the _Glasgow_, was the senior naval officer of our three ships, and at 3.20 P.M. signalled the _Cornwall_ to ask, "Are you gaining on the enemy?" To which a reply was made, "Yes--range now 16,000 yards." A quarter of an hour later the _Glasgow_ ceased fire for a while. Captain W. M. Ellerton, of the _Cornwall_, now made a signal to the _Kent_: "I will take the centre target (_Leipzig_) if you will take the left-hand one (_Nürnberg_), as we appear to be gaining on both of them." The _Glasgow_ again opened fire on the _Leipzig_ at 3.45, but her shots falling short, she very soon afterwards ceased fire. At 4.6 the _Glasgow_ and _Leipzig_ again fired at one another, and shortly afterwards the former was hit twice; an unlucky shot, descending at a steep angle, killed one man and wounded four others.

Captain Luce now found himself face to face with a difficult decision, which had to be made promptly. Was he to use his superior speed and endeavour to cut off the _Dresden_ or not? He decided to assist the _Cornwall_ and _Kent_ in order to make sure of the destruction of the _Leipzig_ and _Nürnberg_. At 4.25 P.M. the _Glasgow_ turned to starboard away from the action and took station on the port quarter of the _Cornwall_, who had by that time come into action with the _Leipzig_.

During this period the _Cornwall_ and _Kent_ had been gaining fairly rapidly on the _Leipzig_ and slowly on the _Nürnberg_, though losing on the _Dresden_, who was easily the fastest of the three German light-cruisers. The latter kept edging away gradually to starboard, outdistancing her pursuers, and finally made good her escape without firing a single shot.

At a quarter past four the _Cornwall_ and the _Kent_ opened fire on the _Leipzig_ almost simultaneously at a range of 10,900 yards. The effect of this was that the German altered course slightly to starboard and was followed by the _Cornwall_, while the _Kent_ went after the _Nürnberg_, as had been arranged.

The _Leipzig_ now directed her fire on to the _Cornwall_. At the outset we were astounded to find that her projectiles were falling over us at this distance, but she soon found this out, and most of her splashes were well short for some minutes. As the range diminished the firing became more accurate, and it was possible to judge of its effect. It was not till 4.22 that the _Cornwall_ scored her first visible hit, which carried away the enemy's fore-topmast, killing the gunnery lieutenant and disabling the fire control. The enemy thereupon altered course away slightly to starboard, at which we made a bigger turn in the same direction, so as to cut him off, as well as to cross his course the more rapidly in the event of his dropping mines overboard. This manœuvre brought the range down to 8,275 yards at 4.56, when he scored some hits. Captain Ellerton then turned away to starboard to give the enemy a broadside, at the same time opening the range, which completely upset the accuracy of the _Leipzig's_ fire.

The _Glasgow_ took up her self-appointed station on the port quarter of the _Cornwall_ (_see_ Plan, p. 112), and the action developed into a running fight between our two ships and the _Leipzig_, who concentrated her fire on the _Cornwall_, which, however, had superior armament:

_Name_ _Tonnage_ _Armament_ _Speed_ _Completion_

_Cornwall_ 9,800 14--6" 23.68 1904 _Glasgow_ 4,800 2--6" 10--4" 25.8 1900 _Leipzig_ 3,200 10--4.1" 23.5 1906

From "Brassey's Naval Annual."

Mist and a light drizzling rain now set in, so we broke into independent firing on account of the difficulty of spotting the fall of shot. The range opened to 9,800 yards, and still we were being hit, which clearly showed the efficiency of the German 4.1-inch gun. Our course soon took us out of range, so we again turned towards the enemy, ceasing fire from 5.12 to 5.29 P.M. This was analogous to the interval that occurred in the battle-cruisers' action, and is significant; both took place on the same day, and both were due to the same cause--namely, the idea of making full use of the heavier armament in our ships, and thus eliminating the risk of incurring unnecessary casualties.

Shortly after 5.30 P.M. the _Cornwall_ was hit no fewer than nine times in as many minutes at a range of over 9,000 yards, so course was again altered to starboard, a broadside being fired as the ship turned. We continued these tactics, closing in and firing the foremost group of guns and then turning out again as soon as we had got in too close, at the same time getting in broadside fire, by which we managed to score a number of hits with common shell.

Fire was checked at 5.46, slow salvoes being resorted to on account of the difficulties of spotting. At this time a heavy thud was felt forward, which made the whole ship quiver; a shell had landed in the paint room, where it burst and made rather a mess of things. No material damage resulted, and there was fortunately no fire. At 6.15 we started using lyddite instead of common shell, having again decreased the range. The result was stupendous, the dark smoke and flash caused by those projectiles as they struck could be plainly seen, and not long afterwards the enemy was on fire. His return fire began to slacken appreciably, though he still managed to get a hit every now and again. Captain Ellerton decided to close and went in to nearly 7,000 yards, turning and letting the German have it from the port broadside.

It was now 6.35, and the news came through by wireless from the flagship that the _Scharnhorst_ and _Gneisenau_ had been sunk. It passed round the ship like lightning, even penetrating the watertight bulkheads in some miraculous manner, and cheered up all hands tremendously.

Keeping the range between 7,000 and 8,000 yards, our ships continued to do great damage, and at 6.51 the enemy was seen to be badly on fire forward. In spite of this he continued to fire with great spirit, and even registered a few hits between 6.55 and 7.45 P.M. Then his firing stopped completely, and it was observed that he was on fire the whole length of the ship. The scuttles showed up like a series of blood-red dots gleaming from the ship's side, the whole of the foremost funnel and part of the centre one had disappeared, the upper works were severely damaged, while smoke was issuing here and there. The ship, indeed, presented a sorry spectacle.

All this time the _Glasgow_, which was still on the quarter of the _Cornwall_, had also been busily engaged with the _Leipzig_, but at a greater range.

We ceased firing at 7.10, thinking that the enemy would strike his colours; but not a bit of it, so three minutes later we reopened fire with reluctance, though only for a couple of minutes. We closed in to 4,700 yards, turning 16 points in order to keep well out of torpedo range, and gave him a few more salvoes of lyddite with our starboard guns. The light was beginning to wane, and though twilight is very prolonged in these southern regions during the summer, it would soon have been too dark to see through the telescopic sights. At 7.43 an explosion took place on board the _Leipzig_; three minutes later the mainmast went slowly over, and finally collapsed with a crash. We waited to give her an opportunity to haul down her colours and surrender, and then opened fire again just before 8 P.M. At last, at 8.12, the Germans sent up two green lights as signals of distress, at which we both immediately closed in, stopped, and proceeded to get out boats. Darkness fell rapidly, and searchlights were turned on to the enemy, lighting up the ghastly scene where men could be seen jumping clear of the ship into the icy-cold water. The _Leipzig_ was heeled over to port, almost on her beam ends; she only had a bit of one funnel left, and all the after part of the ship was in flames. The fire on her forecastle had also burst into flame. Thick clouds of white steam escaping, showed up against the dense black smoke, and increased the dramatic effect. Our little boats became visible in the beams of the searchlights, as they rowed round to pick up survivors. At 9.21 P.M. a shower of sparks suddenly announced an explosion, directly after which the _Leipzig_ foundered. Several of our boats were holed, and we only succeeded in saving six officers and nine men between the two of us, all of whom, however, survived the extreme cold. They told us that before the ship was abandoned the Kingston valves had been opened.

No further casualties had occurred on board the _Glasgow_ since those already mentioned, as after joining the _Cornwall_ she had not come under direct fire, although some projectiles intended for the latter did hit her. The _Cornwall_ was even more fortunate in having no casualties at all except for a solitary pet canary, in spite of having eighteen direct hits not counting splinter holes, of which there were forty-two in one funnel alone. This absence of casualties, which was also a feature of the battle-cruiser action, speaks for the efficient handling of the ship by Captain Ellerton.

Survivors stated that von Spee was originally going direct to the Plate to coal, but that having captured a sailing vessel full of coal at Cape Horn, he changed his plans and decided to attack the Falkland Islands. It was also stated that the _Leipzig_ had a large amount of gold on board.

One of the survivors rescued by the _Cornwall_ was a naval reservist, who in time of peace had occupied the post of German interpreter to the Law Courts at Sydney, in Australia. When hauled into the boat the first words he used as soon as he had recovered his breath were: "It's bloody cold" in a perfect English accent. It is a well-known fact that sailors rarely make use of bad language, and the bowman who had hauled him out of the water is said to have fainted! Evidently the language of the Law leaves much to be desired.

The torpedo lieutenant of the _Leipzig_ was amongst those saved by the _Cornwall_. When brought alongside he was too exhausted to clamber up the ship's side unaided, but when he reached the upper deck he pulled himself together and stood to attention, saluting our officers at the gangway. When he came into the wardroom later on he explained that he had been on board before as a guest at dinner at the time that the ship paid a visit to Kiel for the regatta in 1909, adding that he little expected then that his next visit would take place under such tragic circumstances.

This officer surprised us all by suddenly asking when the _Cornwall_ had had bigger guns put into her, and went on to say that when we fired our "big guns"--meaning when we started to use lyddite shell--the damage was appalling, arms and legs were to be seen all along the decks, and each shell that burst started a fire. He went on to say that the _Cornwall's_ firing was very effective and accurate, but doubtless most of the prisoners told their captors the same thing. We explained that the armament had not been changed since the ship was originally built. He also told us that the German captain had assembled all the ship's company when their 1,800 rounds of ammunition were expended, and said, "There is the ensign, and any man who wishes may go and haul it down, but I will not do so." Not a soul moved to carry out the suggestion, but about fifty men, having obtained permission, jumped overboard and must have perished from the cold. There were only eighteen left alive on board at the end, so far as he could judge, and of these sixteen were saved. All the officers carried whistles, which accounted for their being located in the water so easily.

The prisoners naturally wished to glorify themselves, their captain, and their shipmates in the eyes of their fellow-countrymen, before whom they knew that these stories would eventually be repeated. Therefore these yarns about the ensign, the men jumping overboard, and the opening of the Kingston valves must be taken with a grain of salt.

The _Cornwall_ had one or two interesting examples of the damage done to a ship by modern high-explosive shell. The most serious was a shell that must have exploded on the water-line, as the ship was rolling, for the side was afterwards found to be indented 5 inches at a position 5 to 6 feet below the water-line, and consequently below the armoured belt, a cross bulkhead being at the precise point of impact. Curious as it may appear, even the paint was untouched, and there was no sign of a direct hit from outboard, except for the bulge that remained and the starting of a good many rivets from their sockets. The cross bulkhead behind was buckled up like corrugated iron, and the two coal bunkers, which had been empty, were flooded, giving the ship a heavy list. When we got into Port William we managed to heel the ship sufficiently to enable our carpenters to get at the leak, and they succeeded in completely stopping it in two days, working day and night--a fine performance, for which Mr. Egford, the carpenter, received the D.S.C., whilst his staff were personally congratulated by the Commander-in-Chief.

Another shell passed through the steel depression rail of the after 6-inch turret, by which it was deflected through the deck at the junction of two cabin bulkheads; it next penetrated the deck below and finally burst on the ship's side, causing a large hole. An amusing incident was connected with this. The projectile cut a fire-hose in half, the business end of which was carried down the hole into one of the officer's cabins, where it continued to pump in water for the remainder of the action. At the end of the day this officer found all his belongings, including his full dress and cocked hat, floating about in two or three feet of water.

Another officer was seated on a box in the ammunition passage waiting for the wounded, when a shell struck the ship's side close by him, the concussion knocking him off. Getting up, he saw the doctor near by, and thought he had kicked him, so asked him angrily what the blazes he thought he was doing. It was not until after a long and heated argument that he could be persuaded to believe that he had not been the victim of a practical joke.

In another case a shell shot away the fire main immediately above one of the stokeholds, which was flooded. Stoker Petty Officer W. A. Townsend and Stoker John Smith were afterwards both decorated with the D.S.M. for "keeping the boiler fires going under very trying circumstances."

It was mentioned before that some ships had leave to open up their machinery for repairs. The _Cornwall_ was to have steam at six hours' notice, and had the low-pressure cylinder of the port engine opened up and in pieces for repairs when the signal to raise steam was made. Chief Engine Room Artificer J. G. Hill was awarded the D.S.M. "for his smart performance in getting the port engine, which was disconnected, into working order." It will have been noticed that the ship was steaming 20 knots two and a half hours after the signal to raise steam. This was a remarkable performance, and reflected great credit on her entire engineering staff.

A signalman, Frank Glover, was given the D.S.M. for "carrying out his duties of range-taker in a very cool manner during the whole of the action." He was in an entirely exposed position on the fore upper bridge.

More has been said about the part taken by the _Cornwall_, as the writer was on board her, and most of the incidents described came under his personal observation. They are, however, typical of the conduct of the officers and men in the other ships that took part.[9]