Coronel and Falklands 1914: Duel in the South Atlantic (Campaign)

Admiral von Spee's German East Asia Cruiser Squadron of World War I stand out amidst the annals of 20th century surface naval warfare. Upon the outbreak of war in August 1914, the British Royal Navy was deployed globally, whilst aside from a small number of local vessels, the Imperial German Navy was concentrated in two areas - Home Waters (i.e. the North Sea and the Baltic) and Tsingtao in China, the home port of the crack East Asia Cruiser Squadron which, under the command of Admiral Reichsgraf von Spee contained some of Germany's most modern cruisers. As it was clear that Spee's relatively small force would be quickly overwhelmed by superior enemy numbers, the Admiralty in Berlin immediately ordered him to weigh anchor and return to Germany, a mission that many were to describe as a Himmelfahrtskommando or suicide mission. Whether Spee made it or not, the main consideration was that he would tie down a large number of enemy warships and thus prevent their deployment in other areas. This Raid title details all aspects of the exciting mission. A highly illustrated account of the naval battles of Coronel and the Falklands in 1914, which saw the destruction of both British and German squadrons.Upon the outbreak of war, the British Royal Navy was deployed globally, whilst the Imperial German Navy was concentrated in two areas – Home Waters and Tsingtao, the home port of the crack East Asia Cruiser Squadron which, under the command of Admiral von Spee contained some of Germany's most modern cruisers.As Spee made his way to the Chilean port of Valparaiso, he met the British 4th Cruiser Squadron which had been ordered to engage and defeat the German force. This resulted in the battle of Coronel where the antiquated British warships proved no match for Spee's modern cruisers. It was the first naval defeat suffered by the Royal Navy in over 100 years. When news reached London, panic reigned and two ships HMS Inflexible and Invincible were sent to lead the force against Spee.When bad weather delayed the German arrival, Spee knew that he had to stand and fight, unaware that amongst the ships opposing him were two modern battlecruisers which outclassed any of his own squadron's ships. Given the presence of Inflexible and Invincible, the result of the battle had an inevitable outcome and after several hours hard combat, Spee's ships were defeated. Det første sammenstød mellem den britiske flåde og den kejserlige tyske flåde under 1. Verdenskrig fandt sted 1. november 1914 i Stillehavet vest for den chilenske havneby Coronel. Den tyske Ostasieneskadre slog den britiske 4. krydsereskadre i slaget ved Coronel. Det var det første britiske nederlag til den tyske flåde under krigen. For at rette op på nederlaget beorderede det britiske admiralitet en britiske eskadre med bl.a. to af den britiske flådes mest moderne slagkrydsere til det sydatlantiske hav, hvor den tyske eskadre mødte den engelske eskadre 8. december 1914 øst for Falklandsøerne, hvor et nyt søslag blev udkæmpet. Efter dette søslag genvandt den britiske flåde søherredømmet resten af krigen The battle of Coronel was the first British naval defeat in 100 years, but Admiral von Spee's triumph was short-lived when the Navy dispatched two modern battlecruisers to the Falklands, where the Germans were defeated and their attempts to disrupt British shipping through surface forces were largely ended.