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re about 15,000 yards distant. Cradock ordered the speed of his squadron to seventeen knots. He then signalled by wireless to the _Canopus_, 'I am going to attack enemy now'. [Sidenote: At closer range.] [Sidenote: Only gun flashes to direct fire.] [Sidenote: The _Good Hope_ blown up.] The sun was setting. The western horizon was mantled by a canopy of gold. Von Spee's man[oe]uvre in closing in nearer to the shore had placed him in an advantageous position as regards the light. The British ships, when the sun had set, were sharply outlined against the glowing sky. The Germans were partly hidden in the failing light and by the mountainous coast. The island of Santa Maria, off Coronel, lay in the distance. Von Spee had been gradually closing to within 12,000 yards. The appropriate moment for engaging seemed to be approaching. A few minutes after sunset, about seven o'clock, the leading German cruiser opened fire with her largest guns. Shells shrieked over and short of the _Good Hope_, some falling within five hundred yards. As battle was now imminent, the _Otranto_ began to haul out of line, and to edge away to the south-west. The squadrons were converging rapidly, but the smaller cruisers were as yet out of range. The British replied in quick succession to the German fire. As the distance lessened, each ship engaged that opposite in the line. The _Good Hope_ and the _Monmouth_ had to bear the brunt of the broadsides of the _Scharnhorst_ and the _Gneisenau_. The _Glasgow_, in the rear, exchanged shots with the light cruisers, the _Leipzig_ and the _Dresden_. The shooting was deadly. The third of the rapid salvos of the enemy armoured cruisers set the _Good Hope_ and the _Monmouth_ afire. Shells began to find their mark, some exploding overhead and bursting in all directions. In about ten minutes the _Monmouth_ sheered off the line to westward about one hundred yards. She was being hit heavily. Her foremost turret, shielding one of her 6-inch guns, was in flames. She seemed to be reeling and shaking. She fell back into line, however, and then out again to eastward, her 6-inch guns roaring intermittently. Darkness was now gathering fast. The range had narrowed to about 5,000 yards. The seven ships were all in action. Many shells striking the sea sent up columns of white spray, showing weirdly in the twilight. It was an impressive scene. The dim light, the heavy seas, the rolling of the vessels, distracted the aim. So
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