nge to be closed to about 5500 yards, guiding his aim at first
by the blaze on the Monmouth, and then for a time ceasing fire.
Shortly before 8 o'clock a huge column of flame shooting up between
the stacks of the _Good Hope_ marked her end. The _Monmouth_
sheered away to westward and then northward with a heavy list that
prevented the use of her port guns. An hour later, at 9.25, with
her flag still flying defiantly, she was sunk by the _Nuernberg_
at point blank range. The _Glasgow_, which had fought throughout
the action, but had suffered little from the fire of the German
light cruisers, escaped in the darkness.

[Illustration: BATTLE OF CORONEL, NOV. 1, 1914

From _Official British Naval History_, Vol. I.]

"It is difficult," writes an American officer, "to find fault with
the tactics of Admiral van Spee; he appears to have maneuvered so
as to secure the advantage of light, wind, and sea, and to have
suited himself as regards the range."[1] The _Scharnhorst_ was hit
twice, the _Gneisenau_ four times, and the German casualties
were only two men wounded.

[Footnote 1: Commander C. C. Gill, NAVAL POWER IN THE WAR, p. 51.]

[Illustration: ADMIRAL VON SPEE'S MOVEMENTS]

This stinging blow and the resultant danger aroused the new Board
of Admiralty to energetic moves. Entering the Atlantic, the German
squadron might scatter upon the trade routes or support the rebellion
in South Africa. Again, it might double westward or northward in the
Pacific, or pass in groups of three, as permitted by American rules,
through the Panama Canal into the West Indies. Concerted measures
were taken against these possibilities. Despite the weakening of the
Grand Fleet, the battle cruisers _Invincible_ and _Inflexible_
under Admiral Sturdee, former Chief of Admiralty Staff, sailed on
November 11 for the Falkland Islands. Their destination was kept
a close secret, for had the slightest inkling of their mission
reached German ears it would at once have been communicated to von
Spee.

After the battle, the German admiral moved slowly southward, coaling
from chartered vessels and prizes; and it was not until December
1 that he rounded the Horn. Even now, had he moved directly upon
the Falklands, he would have encountered only the _Canopus_, but he
again delayed several days to take coal from a prize. On December
7 the British battle cruisers and other ships picked up in passage
arrived at the island base and at once began to coal.

Th