CHAPTER XIV

AFTERMATH

... "England Grasped with sure hands the sceptre of the sea, That untamed realm of liberty which none Had looked upon as aught but wilderness Ere this, or even dreamed of as the seat Of power and judgment and high sovereignty Whereby all nations at the last should make One brotherhood, and war should be no more."

--ALFRED NOYES (_Drake_).

The battle of the Falkland Islands was, perhaps, more like the old-time naval engagements fought by sailing ships of the line than any other naval battle that is likely to take place nowadays. There were no submarines, no destroyers, no aeroplanes or Zeppelins, nor any other of the manifold death-dealing devices that tend to make war so much more hideous than in days gone by. In a word, it was open fighting. Not a torpedo was fired. Not even a mine was dropped, if the survivors who stated that the German ships did not carry them can be believed. There were a few anxious moments when zinc cases were seen floating on the surface ahead, glistening in the sunlight, but they turned out to be empty cartridge cases that the enemy had dropped overboard.

There were three very general feelings that followed on after the battle: firstly, that we had at last been able to achieve something of real value; secondly, that it was quite as good as a fortnight's leave (the most one usually gets in the Navy); and thirdly, that the war would now soon be over. In a similar manner, after a local success on land, the soldiers at the beginning of the war frequently hoped that it might bring matters to a conclusion. Thus do local events in war assume an exaggerated importance.

There can be no two opinions as to the decisive nature of this battle. In the course of a single day, the whole of this German squadron, together with two colliers, had been destroyed with the exception of the light cruiser _Dresden_. A comparison of the difference in the casualties points not only to its decisiveness, but also to the success of Admiral Sturdee's dispositions and methods of bringing the enemy to action. It was a strategic victory.

The German Admiral found himself very much in the same position as Admiral Cradock at Coronel, with one important difference. Cradock sought action despite the many odds against him, whereas von Spee tried to run when he found he was outclassed. Sir Henry Newbolt puts the proposition admirably. After remarking that running is the game of the losing side, he says, "You have only to consider what it would have been worth to Germany to have had a Cradock flying his flag in the _Scharnhorst_ on that December 8th. You can imagine him, when the great battle-cruisers came out of harbour, signalling, 'I am going to attack the enemy now,' and going straight to meet them at full speed. Their steam was not yet up--he could have closed them then and there. What a fight that would have been! No impotent scattering flight, no hours of burning misery, with ships turning this way and that, to bring their guns to bear upon an enemy beyond their reach; but a desperate short-range action with every shot telling--a chance of dealing the enemy a heavy blow before the end, and the certainty of leaving a great tradition to the Service."

Directly the _Gneisenau_ was sunk, wireless signals were made by the Commander-in-Chief asking where the _Dresden_ was last seen, and in what direction she was heading at that time. It will be recollected that she had the speed of our armoured cruisers and got clean away without firing a single round, having been last seen by the _Glasgow_ steering away to the S.S.W. Later signals were made calling up the _Kent_, as no one knew what had happened to her, since she was last seen going after the _Nürnberg_. These calls were repeated again and again without result on account of her damaged wireless, and it was not till the afternoon of the following day that all anxieties were allayed by the _Kent_ arriving at Port William, bringing with her the news of another brilliant success.

The problem of the moment, therefore, was to complete the victory by rounding up the _Dresden_ as soon as possible. Should she escape now and take refuge in one of the innumerable inlets or channels that abound in the unsurveyed localities of the southern part of South America, clearly it would be a matter of great difficulty to catch her. With his characteristic energy, Admiral Sturdee did not lose a moment in following up his victory. The _Carnarvon_ was despatched to escort the _Orama_ and colliers coming south from the base to Port Stanley. The two battle-cruisers _Invincible_ and _Inflexible_ proceeded with all haste to Staten Island, and thence made a careful search for the _Dresden_ in the numerous bays around Tierra del Fuego. The _Glasgow_ was ordered to the Straits of Magellan in the hope that she might intercept her, whilst the _Bristol_ searched for both the _Dresden_ and the _Kent_ to the southward of the Falklands. Owing to lack of coal, the _Cornwall_ was obliged to return to harbour, and was the first ship to arrive there on December 9th; she was followed shortly afterwards by the _Kent_.

During the night of December 8th a thick fog came on, which made the navigation of those of our ships endeavouring to make land no easy matter. Magnetic compasses are apt to be considerably affected by gun-fire, and consequently the dead-reckoning positions of our ships were by no means to be relied upon, and were not sufficiently accurate to give confidence in approaching an indented coast like the east side of the Falklands.

Sad to relate, not a vestige of the _Dresden_ was seen by any of our ships that were scattered in the search for her. She was careful to abstain from using her wireless, even though there must have been several German supply ships in the vicinity who would urgently require to be informed of the annihilation of their squadron. This quest entailed travelling at high speed, so shortage of coal and oil fuel forced our ships to return one by one. By the evening of December 11th the whole squadron had once again reassembled at the Falklands.

Congratulations now poured in from all parts of the world, and were promulgated by the Commander-in-Chief. The Governor of the Falkland Islands, the Hon. William Allardyce, C.M.G., visited the flagship and congratulated Admiral Sturdee, together with the whole of our squadron, in glowing terms on behalf of the colony. Admiral Sturdee issued an interesting Memorandum, which is given _in toto_, calling attention to the urgent necessity for completing the victory by running the _Dresden_ to earth. These messages are given in Part III.

Casualties in any decisive modern naval engagement are frequently very one-sided, one fleet suffering enormous losses whilst the other escapes with comparative immunity. This battle proved no exception to this rule. In the British squadron, the _Invincible_ and _Cornwall_ had no casualties, though they both had a big share of hits. The _Carnarvon_ and _Bristol_ were untouched. The _Inflexible_ had 1 man killed and 3 slightly wounded. The _Glasgow_ had 1 man killed and 4 wounded through a single unlucky shot. The heaviest casualties occurred in the _Kent_, who had 5 men killed and 11 wounded, 3 of whom subsequently succumbed to their wounds; most of these were caused by the bursting of one shell. She was hit thirty-seven times, and went in to a much closer range than the remainder of our ships. The squadron, therefore, incurred a total loss of 10 men killed and 15 wounded, whilst the Germans lost some 2,260 men all told. The crews of their ships totalled 2,432 officers and men, and were estimated as follows:

_Scharnhorst_ 872 _Gneisenau_ 835 _Nürnberg_ 384 _Leipzig_ 341

The prize bounty amounted to the sum of £12,160, to be divided amongst the officers and crews of the _Invincible_, _Inflexible_, _Carnarvon_, _Cornwall_, _Kent_, and _Glasgow_, being calculated at the usual rate of £5 per head. In the course of the Prize Court proceedings the following reference to the German Admiral Count von Spee was made in regard to his action at Coronel: "Whatever others might have thought of this twist of the lion's tail, it appeared that the German Admiral was under no delusion.... It was perhaps as well to put on record that the German Admiral, when he took his fleet into Valparaiso, refused to drink the toast of 'Damnation to the British Navy,' and apparently had a premonition that his end was very near."

The prisoners of war were all sent home in the _Macedonia_ and the storeship _Crown of Galicia_, but not before Admiral Sturdee had given them to understand in the firmest possible manner that if any man was found tampering with the ship's fittings, or was discovered out of that portion of the ship allocated to his use, he would be very severely dealt with.

The few days spent at Port Stanley after the battle will always live in the memory of those who were present. They were days full of hard work, combined with visits to friends and interesting discussions on individual experiences. The interest of meeting, boarding, and going over other ships to view the shot holes may be imagined. Reports and plans had to be made out. Several ships had to be heeled over to get at the damaged part, and presented a comic appearance, the _Cornwall_ being so far over as to look positively dangerous. All ships had to coal and were busy at it night and day. Few will forget those night coalings--ugh!--in a temperature of forty degrees, with a bitterly cold wind accompanied almost invariably by occasional squalls of hail and rain.

Those cheers we gave one another will not be forgotten; they rang true, being full of pent-up enthusiasm, and, as Mr. John Masefield says, "went beyond the guard of the English heart."

Unfortunately, subsequent events have made it impossible to recall this overwhelming victory without a feeling of sadness due to the loss of the gallant _Invincible_ in the battle of Jutland. One description of that battle says that four of her men succeeded in boarding a raft, and as one of our ships passed, taking them at first for Huns, the narrator adds, "The four got up on their feet and cheered like blazes. It was the finest thing I have ever seen." Most of her crew were lost, but we have at least the satisfaction of knowing they died as heroes.