The Battle of the Falkland Islands, Before and AfterSpencer-Cooper, Henry Edmund Harvey
History
The Battle of the Falkland Islands, Before and After
Spencer-Cooper, Henry Edmund Harvey
Falkland Islands, Battle of the, 1914; World War, 1914-1918 -- Naval operations
At 5.50 P.M. "Cease fire" was made.
At 6 P.M. the _Gneisenau_ heeled over very suddenly, showing the
men gathered on her decks and then walking on her side as she lay
for a minute on her beam ends before sinking.
The prisoners of war from the _Gneisenau_ report that, by the
time the ammunition was expended, some 600 men had been killed
and wounded. The surviving officers and men were all ordered
on deck and told to provide themselves with hammocks and any
articles that could support them in the water.
When the ship capsized and sank there were probably some 200
unwounded survivors in the water, but, owing to the shock of the
cold water, many were drowned within sight of the boats and ship.
Every effort was made to save life as quickly as possible both
by boats and from the ships; life-buoys were thrown and ropes
lowered, but only a proportion could be rescued. The _Invincible_
alone rescued 108 men, 14 of whom were found to be dead after
being brought on board; these men were buried at sea the
following day with full military honours.
(C)--ACTION WITH THE LIGHT CRUISERS
At about 1 P.M., when the _Scharnhorst_ and _Gneisenau_ turned
to port to engage the _Invincible_ and _Inflexible_, the enemy's
light cruisers turned to starboard to escape; the _Dresden_ was
leading and the _Nürnberg_ and _Leipzig_ followed on each quarter.
In accordance with my instructions, the _Glasgow_, _Kent_, and
_Cornwall_ at once went in chase of these ships; the _Carnarvon_,
whose speed was insufficient to overtake them, closed the
battle-cruisers.
The _Glasgow_ drew well ahead of the _Cornwall_ and _Kent_, and
at 3 P.M. shots were exchanged with the _Leipzig_ at 12,000
yards. The _Glasgow's_ object was to endeavour to outrange the
_Leipzig_ with her 6-inch guns and thus cause her to alter coarse
and give the _Cornwall_ and _Kent_ a chance of coming into action.
At 4.17 P.M. the _Cornwall_ opened fire, also on the _Leipzig_.
At 7.17 P.M. the _Leipzig_ was on fire fore and aft, and the
_Cornwall_ and _Glasgow_ ceased fire.
The _Leipzig_ turned over on her port side and disappeared at 9
P.M. Seven officer and eleven men were saved.
At 3.36 P.M. the _Cornwall_ ordered the _Kent_ to engage the
_Nürnberg_, the nearest cruiser to her.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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