The cruiser stopped, dumbfounded. The
_Ortega_ then felt her way ahead, got through without a scratch, and
took her Frenchmen safe to France.
Von Spee presently rounded the Horn and made for the Falkland Islands,
the British naval base in the South Atlantic. But, only a month after
the news of Coronel had found Sir Doveton Sturdee sitting at his desk
in London as the Third Sea Lord of the Admiralty, his avenging squadron
had reached the Falklands more than eight thousand miles away. Next
morning von Spee also arrived; whereupon Sturdee's much stronger
squadron sprang out of Port Stanley and began a chase which could only
have one ending. Von Spee turned to fight, with his two armoured
cruisers against the two over-powering battle cruisers of the British,
so that his three light cruisers might "star away" at their utmost
speed, on three divergent courses, in an effort to escape. Vain hope!
Sturdee's battle cruisers sank the _Scharnhorst_ and _Gneisenau_, while
his other cruisers sank two of the three German cruisers. All the
Germans went down with colours flying and fighting to the very last.
Pages:
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313