Battle of the Falkland Islands
South Atlantic Ocean, off the Falkland Islands
What happened
A British squadron under Vice-Admiral Doveton Sturdee fought the German East Asia Squadron under Admiral Maximilian von Spee. A month after defeating a British squadron at Coronel, off Chile, Spee sailed to raid the British base at Stanley. He did not know that powerful British battlecruisers had arrived the day before. The British chased the German squadron and sank most of it; Spee and his two sons died in the battle.
Why it matters
Why it matters: It reversed the British defeat at Coronel. Germany's only permanent overseas naval squadron effectively ceased to exist.
What came next
One German cruiser, Dresden, escaped. She was cornered off the Juan Fernández Islands in March 1915 and sunk by her own crew.
Did you know?
A sheep farm manager's wife, Muriel Felton, and two of her maids watched the German ships from a hill and reported their movements by telephone, and she was later honoured for it.
Timeline
- 1 November 1914Spee defeats a British squadron at Coronel.
- 7 December 1914British battlecruisers arrive at the Falklands.
- 8 December 1914The British destroy most of Spee's squadron.
- 14 March 1915The cruiser Dresden is scuttled.