Opposed to these two cruisers, each faster than the _Good Hope_ or the _Monmouth_, the _Good Hope_ had an armament of two 9.2-inch guns as against the eight 8.2-inch guns of the _Scharnhorst_, while the _Monmouth_ in reply to the _Gneisenau_, with an equal armament to the _Scharnhorst_, could oppose nothing more powerful than 6-inch guns which were therefore completely outranged. The _Good Hope_ herself, indeed, owing to faulty construction and the heavy seas, was but little better off; the _Otranto_, an unarmoured liner, was wholly useless in such an emergency; the middle-aged _Canopus_, with her superior gun-power, was still plunging along 200 miles away; while the _Glasgow_, speedy and efficient as she was, was no match for the combined _Dresden_ and _Leipzig_--to say nothing of the _Nürnberg_, who came up later to complete the destruction of the _Monmouth_. It was about a quarter past four on the afternoon of November 1, 1914, Admiral von Spee being then some forty miles north of the Bay of Arauco on the {53} Chilian coast, and the _Nürnberg_, which had returned after her vigil, having been once more detached on a scouting cruise, that the _Glasgow_ and _Monmouth_, _Scharnhorst_ and _Gneisenau_ first sighted and identified each other. It had been a day of strong sunshine, sudden showers, high wind and a rough sea, and all the ships, especially the smaller cruisers, were rolling heavily and shipping a lot of water. When first sighted, the _Glasgow_ and _Monmouth_, soon to be joined by the _Otranto_, were to the southwest of the German admiral, fifteen miles distant and pursuing a southerly course--obeying the order of Admiral Cradock to join up with the _Good Hope_. This was still invisible to the German squadron, but was sighted about forty minutes later, when Admiral Cradock took the head of the British line and both sides moved into battle formation. The position at this moment--with the long prologue over and the curtain rising upon the first act was as follows: a little to the north and nearer to the land, that is to say somewhat east of the British line, the Germans were steaming south, the _Scharnhorst_ leading, followed by the _Gneisenau_ and the _Leipzig_. The _Dresden_ was some miles astern, and the _Nürnberg_ not yet in sight, though she had been recalled from her second patrol. On the British side, also steaming south, farther to sea, Admiral Cradock was leading, followed by the _Monmouth_ and the _Glasgow_, the _Otranto_ bringing up the rear, and with the _Canopus_ far to the south, steaming north, but of course out of the picture.