The two squadrons, British and German, were now, without knowing it, in the act of converging upon one another. Each admiral believed himself to be in pursuit of a single ship, for, while Cradock was after the _Leipzig_, Spee was in chase of the _Glasgow_ (Captain Luce), who had been sent on to Coronel on the west coast with a message. The force of the opponents was as follows: Admiral von Spee had two powerful ships, the _Scharnhorst_ (flagship) and the _Gneisenau_, each of 11,420 tons, armed with eight 8-inch and six 6-inch guns; and their gunners were of high repute. His other ships, the _Leipzig_, _Dresden_, and _Nürnberg_, were light cruisers, each carrying ten 4-inch guns. Against these Cradock had the _Good Hope_, a twelve-year-old cruiser of 14,000 tons, armed with two 9.2-inch guns; the cruiser _Monmouth_, with 6-inch guns only; the _Glasgow_, a light fast cruiser, with two 6-inch and ten 4-inch guns, and the auxiliary cruiser _Otranto_, which was not sufficiently armed to take part in an action. He knew, as well as any one living, what was the meaning of these figures, and he must have been hoping that the _Canopus_, with her 12-inch guns, would rejoin him before he met his enemy. The _Glasgow_ despatched her message from Coronel, and at 2.30 p.m. on the 1st November she rejoined her squadron. Cradock was still steaming north when, at 4.40, she sighted and reported to him the _Scharnhorst_, _Gneisenau_, and _Leipzig_, visible to the east. He had found the ship he was chasing, but he had found her in company with her powerful consorts; and the _Dresden_ and the _Nürnberg_ were, in fact, also present, though they were not yet in sight. Cradock had but a few minutes in which to make his decision. Was he to fight or run? Even the three enemy ships which were in sight were more than a match for his own. His two big guns might make a few lucky hits, but they could not keep down the fire of eight times their number, laid by prize gunners with the choice of range and position. To fight was highly dangerous; yet the alternative evidently looked to him still less attractive. The enemy was nearly due east; the _Canopus_ was coming up slowly from the south, 250 miles away; if he were to turn and run he might be able to join her in nine hours or even in eight. But Spee had the position of advantage inshore; he would be racing down the shorter side of the triangle, and with his 23 knots could overtake the _Monmouth_ for certain, and possibly cut in between the others and the _Canopus_. During the chase he would have a fighting light for three hours, and after that a moonlight equally to his advantage.