He thought that the Canopus could be easily captured at Port
Stanley, and he started at once to that port. Admiral Sturdee's
expedition had been kept profoundly secret. On December 7th the British
squadron arrived at Port Stanley, and spent the day coaling. The
Canopus, the Glasgow and the Bristol were in the inner harbor, while the
remaining vessels lay outside. On December 8th, Admiral von Spee arrived
from the direction of Cape Horn. The battle that followed is thoroughly
described in the report of Vice-Admiral Sturdee from which the
following extracts have been made:
"At 8 A. M., Tuesday, December 8th, a signal was received from the
signal station on shore. 'A four-funnel and two-funnel man-of-war in
sight from Sapper Hill steering north.' The Kent was at once ordered to
weigh anchor, and a general signal was made to raise steam for full
speed. At 8.20 the signal service station reported another column of
smoke in sight, and at 8.47 the Canopus reported that the first two
ships were eight miles off, and that the smoke reported at 8.20 appeared
to be the smoke of two ships about twenty miles off. At 9.20 A. M. the
two leading ships of the enemy, the Gneisenau and Nuremburg, with guns
trained on the wireless station, came within range of the Canopus, which
opened fire at them across the lowland at a range of 11,000 yards.
Pages:
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281