Battle of the Falkland Islands
The Battle of the Falkland Islands, fought on December 8, 1914, was a significant naval engagement during World War I. It occurred after Vice Admiral Graf Maximilian von Spee's East Asia Squadron, which included the heavy cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, attempted to attack the British wireless station in the Falkland Islands, believing there were no British ships in the vicinity. In response to their previous defeat at the Battle of Coronel, the British dispatched a powerful naval force led by Vice Admiral Sir Frederick Doveton Sturdee to the Falklands.
Upon arriving, Sturdee's fleet, which included the battlecruisers Invincible and Inflexible, decisively engaged Spee's ships. The British, with their superior numbers and firepower, quickly overwhelmed the German forces. The battle resulted in the destruction of most of Spee's squadron, leading to the loss of approximately 2,000 German lives, including Spee himself. For the British, this victory restored their pride and eliminated a significant threat to their naval dominance outside the North Sea. The Battle of the Falkland Islands is often viewed as a critical moment in the naval aspect of World War I, marking a turning point in the conflict in the South Atlantic.
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Battle of the Falkland Islands
Type of action: Naval battle in World War I
Date: December 8, 1914
Location: Off the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic
Combatants: British vs. Germans
Principal commanders:British, Vice Admiral Sir Frederick Doveton Sturdee (1859–1925); German, Vice Admiral Graf Maximilian von Spee (1861–1914)
Result: Overwhelming British victory
Following his November 1, 1914, victory in the Battle of Coronel, Vice Admiral Graf Maximilian von Spee decided to leave the southeast Pacific for the Atlantic Ocean. His East Asia Squadron consisted of heavy cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau and light cruisers Dresden, Leipzig, and Nürnberg. Believing no British ships were in the area, Spee planned to destroy the British wireless station in the Falkland Islands.
In response to their loss at Coronel, however, the British had sent out a superior force to Port Stanley in the Falklands. The old battleshipCanopus was scuttled near the harbor entrance as a fortress, and Vice Admiral Sir Frederick Doveton Sturdee arrived at Port Stanley on December 7 with the battlecruisers Invincible and Inflexible, cruisers Carnarvon, Bristol, Kent, Glasgow, and Cornwall, and auxiliary cruiser Macedonia.
Early on December 8, as he approached Port Stanley, Spee discovered his error, but it was too late. The British quickly set out in pursuit. The superior speed and firepower of Sturdee’s ships enabled him to fight a battle Spee could not win. The British pounded the Germans, for the most part beyond the range of the latter’s guns. Only the Dresden escaped. Sturdee’s force suffered only 6 killed and 15 wounded; the Germans lost some 2,000 men, including Spee, who went down with his ship.
Significance
For the British, the battle reversed the humiliation of the loss at Coronel and ended the one major surface threat outside the North Sea to the Royal Navy.
Bibliography
Bennett, Geoffrey. Coronel and the Falklands. New York: Macmillan, 1962.
Bingham, H. Falklands, Jutland, and the Bight. London: J. Murray, 1919.
Spencer-Cooper, Henry Edmund Harvey. The Battle of the Falkland Islands. London: Cassell, 1919.
Yates, Keith. Graf Spee’s Raiders: Challenge of the Royal Navy, 1914–1915. Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press, 1995.