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.
Autorentext
Michael McNally was born in London in 1964. An expert on 17th- and 18th-century warfare, his previous titles for Osprey include works on the Cromwellian campaigns in Ireland 1649-52, the battles of the Boyne 1690 and Fontenoy 1745. A highly versatile author, he also has a passionate interest in more modern subjects, as demonstrated by his publications on the naval battles of Coronel and the Falklands in 1914, and a Fortress series study of Colditz. Michael is married with three children and lives in Germany, where he works for a major reinsurance company.
Inhalt
Origins of the campaign
Chronology
Opposing commanders
Opposing armies
Orders of battle
Opposing plans
The campaign
Aftermath
The battlefield today
Further reading
Index