The _Glasgow_ had been subjected to the combined fire of the _Leipzig_ and _Dresden_, whose gunnery was fortunately not very effective owing to the long range maintained between the two squadrons before the light failed. That she had withstood this combined onslaught for fifty-two minutes (von Spee's report) was remarkable, but that she had suffered no material damage was little short of a miracle. Her casualties amounted to four men slightly wounded. She was hit five times, on or near the water line, but not in vital places. The protection afforded by the coal in her bunkers saved her on three occasions, as otherwise in the nasty sea running at the time she would have found herself in a very precarious position. Of the remaining two hits, one penetrated the deck but did not explode, while the other wrecked the captain's pantry and cabin. There was one large hole, which luckily did not prevent her eluding her pursuers at high speed by steering out to the W.N.W., and thence in a wide circle to the southward to the Magellan Straits, finally arriving at Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands. At the outset of the engagement the _Good Hope_ made a signal down the line to the _Otranto_, the only words received being, "Leaving _Otranto_." The latter, therefore, hauled out to endeavour to get this signal direct from the flagship, but as the _Good Hope_ had been badly hit, nothing further was received. As projectiles were falling all round her, and it was realised that the _Otranto_, being a large ship, would be used by the enemy as a rangefinder to enable him to calculate the distance of the _Glasgow_, she hauled out still farther to upset the accuracy of his gun-fire. The enemy proceeded to carry this method of ranging into effect; the first salvo passed over the _Otranto's_ bridge, the second missed the bows by 50 yards, the third fell 150 yards astern, while others which followed fell, some over, some short. By this time she had worked out of the line about 1,200 yards, so turned to the same course, as far as could be judged, as the remainder of the squadron. She was now out of range. The _Otranto_ ran the gauntlet of the enemy's most successfully, since she emerged from this storm of shell quite unscathed, but it must have been touch and go. Moreover--and hardest of all--she had to submit to this treatment without being in a position to retaliate. After the flagship blew up, nothing was seen of the _Monmouth_; subsequently the _Glasgow_ was reported crossing her stern. Seeing that she could be of no assistance, the _Otranto_ dodged her opponents by straining full speed to the westward for 200 miles, and thence to the southward. Rounding Cape Horn, she passed between the Falklands and the mainland and arrived at Montevideo. Both she and the _Glasgow_ must have accounted themselves most fortunate in escaping safely from this unequal contest.