DECISIVE ACTION, NO.2
James Hoare examines two early naval engagements of the Great War that resulted in the obliteration the German threat to Britain’s overseas empire.
FACTBOX: BATTLE OF THE FALKLAND ISLANDS
Date: 8 December 1914
Commanders:
British:
Vice-Admiral Sir Doveton Sturdee Rear-Admiral Archibald Stoddart German:
Vizeadmiral Maximilian von Spee Vessels British:
2 battlecruisers (HMS Invincible and HMS Inflexible)
3 armoured cruisers (HMS Bristol, HMS Glasgow and HMS Carnarvon)
2 light cruisers (HMS Cornwall and HMS Kent)
1 armed merchantman (HMS Macedonia)
1 pre-dreadnought (HMS Canopus) German:
2 armoured cruisers (SMS Scharnhorst and SMS Gneisenau)
3 light cruisers (SMS Leipzig, SMS Nürnberg and SMS Dresden)
2 colliers
1 transport ship