Brave Record Issue 5 Coronel
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Issue 5 Page !1 Brave Record Castlerock link to major naval battle off Chile St George’s Cathedral, Falkland Islands ! The Battle of Coronel was fought on 1st November, 1914. Some 1,418 men were lost in HMMonmouth and HMS Good Hope, the flagship of Admiral Sir Christoper Craddock. Northern Ireland - Service in the Royal Navy - In Remembrance Issue 5 Page !2 The War Memorial in Castlerock Parish Church provides a Northern Ireland link with other memorials to this battle which are in Stanley Cathedral in the Falkland Islands, in the Anglican Church of St John in the Chilean city of Conception and in the 21st May Plaza Coronel. The Castlerock link is a young Midshipman, Gervase Bruce, who was the grandson of Major Sir Harvey and Lady Bruce of Downhill, whose well-known estate is now owned by the National Trust and includes the Mussenden Temple. Gervase Bruce was only 15 years of age when he died for his King and Country. Sadly his mother, Lady Paget, had died when he was 10 years of age. The Bruce family were descendants of Frederick Hervey, the 4th Earl of Bristol, and the C of I Bishop of Derry (1768 - 1803) who built Downhill. Gervase’s great-uncle, Hugh Bruce, served with the navy at the Battle of Trafalgar. Hugh Bruce’s home was the second stately house to be built by the Earl Bishop. It was at Ballyscullion near Belllaghy. Admiral Hugh Bruce was one of the key figures in the planning and delivery of the Dreadnought programme in the early 1900’s. There is a memorial to him in St Tida’s Parish Church in Bellaghy. Wrong ships, wrong place, wrong time The Battle of Coronel was a classic case of the wrong ships being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Germany had created a powerful East Asiatic Squadron under the command of Von Spee, to project its influence. However when Japan entered the war on Britain’s side, Northern Ireland - Service in the Royal Navy - In Remembrance Issue 5 Page !3 the balance of power as originally envisaged by Germany was altered significantly. The German Squadron was ordered to close on the Pacific coast of South America to disrupt existing trading routes. Several ports in Chile were significant for vital supplies of coal and saltpetre. Having disrupted these the German plan was for the Squadron to enter the Atlantic and thus be close to the European theatre of war. From the naval base in the Falkland Islands, Britain patrolled from the River Plate southwards along the Atlantic coast and northward on the Pacific coast at least as far as Valparaiso. The battle in terms of ships and crews was uneven. Von Spee’s ships were modern and crewed by well trained personnel. Von Spee had personally selected the officers and crews. Scharnhorst and Gneisenau were armed with 8.2 inch guns and were renowned for their crack gunnery. Craddock’ ships were old, ill-equipped, and staffed mainly by cadets and reservists. Ninety per cent of the crew of HMS Good Hope were reservists. Craddock’s force was also badly outgunned. HMS Monmouth Monmouth was a classic case of a ship built on the cheap. She was the first of ten cruisers (The County class), laid down in the closing months of the Victorian era, and designed to protect British merchant shipping in far flung corners of the globe. Some 9,800 tons, it had been launched in1901. It was armed with fourteen 6 inch, Northern Ireland - Service in the Royal Navy - In Remembrance Issue 5 Page !4 nine 12 pounders and two 18in tt. When it joined Cradock’s force it was under command of Capt Frank Brandt. The First Sea Lord, Jacky Fisher, wryly commented, “Sir. William White designed the County class but forgot the guns”. Not only were the guns less potent than the earlier Drake class, but they were sited so close to the waterline that they were of little use, if any, in heavy seas. The demands of war pressed obsolescent and unfit ships into service in a European war which was expanding speedily into a global conflagration. ! The Monmouth had long been replaced by more modern classes of cruiser. She had languished in reserve after being on the China Station for seven years. She was hurriedly reactivated and on the same day as Britain declared war against Germany, she and her hurried crew were despatched to join the 4th. Cruiser Squadron in the West Indies. Northern Ireland - Service in the Royal Navy - In Remembrance Issue 5 Page !5 Lloyd Hirst, an officer in the light cruiser Glasgow, wrote in his dairy, “She would have been practically condemned as unfit for further service, but was hauled off the dockyard wall, commissioned with a scratch crew of coastguard men and boys. “She is only half - equipped and is not in condition to come 6,000 miles from any dockyard as she is only kept going by super human efforts”. The Battle It was late in the afternoon of November 1st. when Craddock’s force sighted Von Spee’s more numerous and faster ships. Craddock in his flag ship - even older than Monmouth - offered battle. The British ships were outlined against the setting sun and presented inviting targets. Even with night fall, the burning superstructures of Good Hope and Monmouth guided the German gunners. Good Hope was engaged by Scharnhorst. Eight 8.2 inch guns versus two 9.2 inch. The third salvo put the forward 9.2 inch gun out of action and was followed by serious hits to the forepart, upper bridge and foretop. An internal explosion tore Good Hope. After less than an hour of battle she was gone. The ship was left silent and dead in the water. Von Spee lost contact around 2000 and ordered his light cruisers to search for the two large British ships that were presumably damaged and to finish them with torpedoes, Good Hope was not found but went down around this time. Her end was not seen in the darkness and the driving rain; 926 lives were lost - 52 officers, 871 ratings Northern Ireland - Service in the Royal Navy - In Remembrance Issue 5 Page !6 and 3 canteen staff. There were no survivors. On board were at least 3 from Northern Ireland. Gneisenau engaged Monmouth and stayed out of range of Monmouth's 6 inch guns and with devastating results. Monmouth’s foremost 6 inch turret was blown off and the forecastle was set on fire. Monmouth was hit by between 30 and 40 shells, many amidships. The after part of the ship went on fire and Monmouth tried to break away to the west. It was found around 2100 by the light cruiser Nürnberg which had just reached the area of battle. By then Monmouth was flooded, down by the bows and listing so far to port the port guns could not bear. Nürnberg stayed on that side and opened fire, then stopped to allow Monmouth to strike, she did not. Nurnberg closed on her and lit her up with searchlights. From a range of less than 2,000 yards, Von Schonberg, captain of Nurnberg, opened fire once more. Monmouth turned over, her Ensign still flying. She fought to the last. But it was indeed “a Black Day for the Black Prince”. Monouth’s green crew of recruits and reservists had fought valiantly though ineffectively. With his ship burning and disabled, Monmouth's captain had ordered Glasgow to flee and warn Canopus, rather than attempt to tow his ship to safety. When Monmouth capsized around 2120, 734 lives were lost - 42 officers and 692 ratings. There were no survivors except 4 men previously landed on Albrohos Rocks as lookouts who escaped the action. The seas were too rough for Nürnberg to lower boats. There were at least 14 on board Monmouth known to be from Northern Ireland. Northern Ireland - Service in the Royal Navy - In Remembrance Issue 5 Page !7 The citizens of the region of Chile where the Battle of Coronel took place participated in one way or another in this event. The Battle was so close to the coast, that the flashes of the guns could clearly be seen from the beach and from the nearby hillsides. The citizens of Coronel had a really astonishing view of the whole event. A few of the casualties were washed up on the beaches, most of them without any means of identification, except of course the known fact that they were British seamen. A number of them were buried in a specific corner of the cemetery at Coronel, and there is a version that states that some more were buried in a private Anglican cemetery at Quidico, further south from Coronel, where a British family owned a rural property. At some time during the 1960s, British officials initiated negotiations for the repatriation of the remains of these casualties. The strategic outcome of the battle The Battle of Coronel was a tragic defeat for the British Squadron. Good Hope and Monmouth were lost with all hands. Glasgow and Otranto escaped with minor damage. The German Squadron was barely touched. Casualties at Coronel were one-sided. Cradock lost 1,654 killed and both of his armoured cruisers. The Germans escaped with only three wounded. On the plus side, the German ships expended a serious amount of shells. Scharnhorst used up 422 of her 8 inch shells, leaving her with about 350, and Gneisenau Northern Ireland - Service in the Royal Navy - In Remembrance Issue 5 Page !8 expended 244 leaving about 500.