nemy men-of-war.

In its present strength and position, the German "fleet in being"
constituted a serious menace, for to assemble an adequate force
against it on either side of Cape Horn would mean to leave the
other side dangerously exposed. It was with a keen realization of
this dilemma that Admiral Cradock in the British armored cruiser
_Good Hope_ left the Falklands on October 22 to join the _Monmouth,
Glasgow_, and auxiliary cruiser _Otranto_ in a sweep along the west
coast. The old battleship _Canopus_, with 12-inch guns, but only 12
knots cruising speed, was properly judged too slow to keep with the
squadron. It is difficult to say whether the failure to send Cradock
reenforcements at this time from either the Atlantic or the Pacific
was justified by the preoccupations in those fields. Needless to
say, there was no hesitation, _after_ Coronel, in hurrying ships to
the scene. On November 1, when the Admiralty Board was reorganized
with Admiral Fisher in his old place as First Sea Lord, orders
at once went out sending the _Defense_ to Cradock and enjoining
him not to fight without the _Canopus_. But these orders he never
received.

The composition of the two squadrons now approaching each other
off the Chilean coast was as follows:

---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Name | Type |Displace-| Belt | Guns |Speed
| | ment |armor | |
-------------|-----------------|---------|------|--------------------|-----
Scharnhorst |Armored cruiser | 11,600 |6-inch|8-8.2", 6-6" | 23.5
Gneisenau |Armored cruiser | 11,600 |6-inch|8-8.2", 6-6" | 23.5
Leipzig |Protected cruiser| 3,250 |none |10-4" | 23
Nuernberg |Light cruiser | 3,450 |none |10-4" | 24
Dresden |Light cruiser | 3,600 |none |10-4" | 24
-------------|-----------------|---------|------|--------------------|-----
Good Hope |Armored cruiser | 14,000 |6-inch|2-9.2", 16-6", 14-3"| 24
Monmouth |Armored cruiser | 9,800 |4-inch|14-6", 8-3" | 24
Glasgow |Light cruiser | 4,800 |none |2-6", 10-4" | 26.5
-------------|-----------------|---------|------|--------------------|-----
Canopus | | | | |
(not engaged)|Coast defense | 12,950 |6-inch|4-35 cal. 12", 12-6"| 16.5
-----