The _Nürnberg_ could steam a knot faster than the _Kent_, but the British stokers and engineers worked like heroes. They piled her furnaces high with fuel, and strained her engines to the utmost. When the engineers reported that coal was running short, the captain replied, "Very well, then; have a go at the boats." Accordingly the boats were broken up, the wood was smeared with oil and passed into the furnaces. Shortly afterwards the wooden ladders, doors, and almost everything that would burn followed the boats. She managed to work up to 25 knots--a knot and a half more than her registered speed--and slowly but surely came within range of the enemy. [Illustration: The Sinking of the Nürnberg by the British Light Cruiser Kent. (_Drawn by Montagu Dawson from a sketch by an eye-witness. By permission of The Sphere._)] The _Nürnberg_ was well fought, and the _Kent_ was hit several times. A bursting shell set fire to some cordite charges, and a flash of flame went down the hoist into the ammunition passage. Sergeant Charles Mayer instantly picked up a charge of cordite and hurled it into safety. He then seized a fire hose, and by flooding the compartment averted all danger. But for this heroic action there would have been an explosion, and the _Kent_ would probably have been put out of action, if not destroyed altogether. By about seven o'clock the _Nürnberg_ was in flames, and less than half an hour later she sank, her guns firing to the last. As she disappeared some of her crew waved the German ensign from the quarter-deck. The _Glasgow_ and the _Cornwall_ came within range of the _Leipzig_ about three in the afternoon, and for six hours they engaged her. From time to time she turned and fired a salvo at her pursuers; but though shells fell fast and thick around the _Glasgow_, there were few casualties, though many narrow escapes. Not till nine o'clock was the _Leipzig_ finally disposed of. As the darkness of a wet night closed in, she heeled over and went down. The German transports and colliers had been sunk and their crews saved earlier in the day by the _Bristol_ and the _Macedonia_. Of von Spee's squadron, only the _Dresden_ and the armed liner _Eitel Friedrich_[182] remained. The battered _Dresden_ had managed to escape early in the fight, and she was lost sight of for many weeks. Ultimately she was cornered by the _Kent_ and the _Cornwall_ off Juan Fernandez[183] on March 18, 1915, and after a five minutes' action was forced to hoist the white flag. When her crew were taken off she was in flames. Finally her magazine exploded, and she sank. * * * * *