9 December 1914; Wednesday

Busy all day. Working overtime at night taking stock. Had tea at work. Went for walk round town last thing. Stormy night. Bought Echo with account of the Fight of Falkland Islands on Nov. 8th. German Cruisers “Scharnhorst”, Gneisenau, Leipzig sunk. Dresden and Nürnberg being pursued. Admiral Sturdee in Command.1


  1. See 1 November entry on the Battle of Coronel, at which Admiral Graf Spee had been in command (the 1930s ‘pocket battleship’ Graf Spee, scuttled in the comparatively nearby River Plate after the 1939 battle of that name, was named in his memory); Spee, with 5 cruisers and 3 auxiliaries, moved from the S. Pacific to continue commerce‐raiding in the S. Atlantic (and detached the Emden for similar duties in the Indian ocean; see 10 November entry), and attempted to attack Port Stanley; Vice-Admiral Sturdee had arrived there the day before with 2 battle-cruisers and 5 other, mostly heavier cruisers. 6 of the 8 German ships (including Nürnberg) were sunk, only the Dresden and the auxiliary Seydlitz escaping; no British ships were lost; German losses were 2,200 (including Spee and his two sons), and 215 prisoners; British losses were 18 killed and 19 wounded.