Battle of the Falkland Islands

2025-10-27T20:01:40Z

51.9.18.12:

{{Short description|Naval battle of the First World War}}
{{About|the 1914 naval battle|the 1982 war|Falklands War}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2017}}

{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict = Battle of the Falkland Islands
| partof = the [[World War I|First World War]]
| image = Battle of the Falkland Islands, 1914 (retouched).jpg
| caption = ''Battle of the Falkland Islands'', [[William Lionel Wyllie]]
| date = 8 December 1914
| place = Off the [[Falkland Islands]], [[South Atlantic]]
| coordinates = {{coord|52|29|58|S|56|9|59|W|display=inline,title}}
| result = British victory<ref name="DBS">{{cite book |last= Jaques|title=Dictionary of Battles and Sieges|page=346}}</ref><ref name="MHBS">{{cite book | last = Scott & Robertson|title=Many Were Held by the Sea: The Tragic Sinking of HMS Otranto|page=16}}</ref>
*Destruction of the [[East Asia Squadron]]
| combatant1 = {{flagcountry| United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland}}
| combatant2 = {{flagcountry|German Empire}}
| commander1 = {{flagdeco|United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|naval}} [[Doveton Sturdee]] {{flagdeco|United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|naval}} [[John Luce (Royal Navy officer)|John Luce]]
| commander2 = {{flagdeco|German Empire|naval}} [[Maximilian von Spee]]{{KIA}}
| strength1 = 2 battlecruisers 3 armoured cruisers 2 light cruisers 1 armed merchant cruiser 1 grounded pre-dreadnought
| strength2 = 2 armoured cruisers 3 light cruisers 3 transport ships
| casualties1 = 10 killed 19 wounded 2 battlecruisers damaged 2 armored cruisers damaged
| casualties2 = 1,871 killed 215 captured 2 armoured cruisers sunk 2 light cruisers sunk 2 transports scuttled
|campaignbox={{Campaignbox Command of the Oceans 1914-1915}}{{Campaignbox Atlantic 1914–1918}}
}}

The '''Battle of the Falkland Islands''' was a [[First World War]] naval action between the British [[Royal Navy]] and [[Imperial German Navy]] on 8 December 1914 in the South Atlantic. The British, after their defeat at the [[Battle of Coronel]] on 1 November, sent a large force to track down and destroy the German [[East Asia Squadron|cruiser squadron]]. The battle is commemorated every year on 8 December in the [[Falkland Islands]] as a [[Public holidays in the Falkland Islands|public holiday]].

Admiral Graf [[Maximilian von Spee]] commanding the German squadron of two [[Scharnhorst-class cruiser|armoured cruisers]], {{SMS|Scharnhorst||6}} and {{SMS|Gneisenau||2}}, the [[light cruiser]]s {{SMS|Nürnberg|1906|6}}, {{SMS|Dresden|1907|2}} and {{SMS|Leipzig|1905|2}}, and the [[Collier (ship)|colliers]] SS ''Baden'', SS ''Santa Isabel'', and SS ''Seydlitz''<ref name=WW1F>[http://www.worldwar1.co.uk/falkland.html Battle of the Falkland Islands] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200410163125/http://www.worldwar1.co.uk/falkland.html |date=10 April 2020 }} -names the three German auxiliary ships and states that ''Bristol'' and ''Macedonia'' sank the colliers ''Baden'' and ''Santa Isabel'', while 'the other collier', ''Seydlitz'', escaped.- ''www.worldwar1.co.uk'', accessed 7 December 2019</ref><ref name=BB>[https://www.britishbattles.com/first-world-war/battle-of-the-falkland-islands/ Battle of the Falkland Islands] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200410163119/https://www.britishbattles.com/first-world-war/battle-of-the-falkland-islands/ |date=10 April 2020 }} -SS ''Seydlitz'' listed as a 'hospital ship'- ''www.britishbattles.com'', accessed 7 December 2019</ref> attempted to raid the British supply base at [[Stanley, Falkland Islands|Stanley]] in the Falkland Islands. The British squadron consisting of the [[battlecruiser]]s {{HMS|Invincible|1907|6}} and {{HMS|Inflexible|1907|2}}, the armoured cruisers {{HMS|Carnarvon||6}}, {{HMS|Cornwall|1902|2}} and {{HMS|Kent|1901|2}}, the [[armed merchant cruiser]] HMS ''Macedonia'' and the light cruisers {{HMS|Bristol|1910|6}} and {{HMS|Glasgow|1909|2}} had arrived in the port the day before.

Visibility was at its maximum, the sea was placid with a gentle breeze, and the day was bright and sunny. The vanguard cruisers of the German squadron were detected early. By nine o'clock that morning, the British battlecruisers and cruisers were in pursuit of the German vessels. All except ''Dresden'' and ''Seydlitz'' were tracked down and sunk.

==Background==
The British battlecruisers each mounted eight {{convert|12|in|mm|abbr=on|0}} guns, whereas Spee's best ships (''Scharnhorst'' and ''Gneisenau'') were equipped with eight {{convert|210|mm|in|abbr=on|1}} pieces. The battlecruisers could make {{convert|25.5|knots|lk=on|1}} against Spee's {{convert|22.5|knots|1|}}, so the British battlecruisers not only significantly outgunned their opponents, but could outrun them too. The obsolete [[pre-dreadnought battleship]] {{HMS|Canopus|1897|6}} had been grounded at [[Stanley, Falkland Islands|Stanley]] to act as a makeshift defence battery for the area.

===Spee's squadron===
[[File:Scharnhorst2.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.35|SMS ''Scharnhorst'', flagship of the German squadron]]

At the outbreak of hostilities, the German [[East Asia Squadron]] commanded by Spee was outclassed and outgunned by the Royal Navy and the [[Imperial Japanese Navy]]. Spee and the High Command did not believe [[German colonial empire|Germany's Asian possessions]] could be defended and doubted the squadron could even survive in that theatre. Spee wanted to get his ships home and began by heading southeast across the Pacific, although he was pessimistic about their chances.

Spee's fleet won the [[Battle of Coronel]] off the coast of [[Coronel, Chile]], on 1 November 1914, where his ships sank the cruisers {{HMS|Good Hope|1901|6}} (Admiral [[Christopher Cradock]]'s flagship) and {{HMS|Monmouth|1901|2}}. After the battle, on 3 November, ''Scharnhorst'', ''Gneisenau'' and ''Nürnberg'' entered [[Valparaíso]] harbour and were welcomed as heroes by the [[German Chileans|German population]]. Von Spee declined to join in the celebrations; when presented with a bouquet of flowers, he refused them, commenting that "these will do nicely for my grave".<ref>Massie, 2004, p. 237, citing Pitt pp. 66–67.</ref> As required under international law for belligerent ships in neutral countries, the ships left within 24 hours, moving to [[Mas Afuera]], {{convert|400|mi|nmi km|lk=on|abbr=on}} off the Chilean coast. There they received news of the loss of the cruiser {{SMS|Emden|1906|6}}, which had previously detached from the squadron and had been raiding in the [[Indian Ocean]]. They also learnt of the [[Siege of Tsingtao|fall]] of the [[Jiaozhou Bay Leased Territory|German colony at Qingdao]] in China, which had been their home port. On 15 November, the squadron moved to [[Bahia San Quintin]] on the Chilean coast, where a ceremony was held to award 300 [[Iron Cross]]es, second class, to crew members, and an Iron Cross first class to Admiral Spee, after news of the battle reached Kaiser [[Wilhelm II]] in Berlin.<ref>Massie, 2004, pp. 251–52</ref>

Spee's officers counselled a return to Germany.{{citation needed|date=September 2018}} The squadron had used half its ammunition at Coronel, after previously expending some in its [[Bombardment of Papeete]]; the supply could not be replenished, and it was difficult even to obtain coal. Intelligence reports suggested that the British ships {{HMS|Defence|1907|6}}, ''Cornwall'' and ''Carnarvon'' were stationed in the [[Río de la Plata|River Plate]], and that there had been no British warships at Stanley when recently visited by a steamer. Spee had been concerned about reports of a British battleship, ''Canopus'', but its location was unknown. On 26 November, the squadron set sail for [[Cape Horn]], which they reached on 1 December, then anchored at [[Picton Island]], where they stayed for three days distributing coal from a captured British collier, the ''Drummuir'', and hunting. On 6 December, the British vessel was scuttled and its crew transferred to the auxiliary ''Seydlitz''. The same day Spee proposed to raid the Falkland Islands in order to destroy the British wireless transmitter located there before setting course for Germany. The raid was unnecessary because the squadron now had as much coal as it could carry. Most of Spee's captains opposed the raid, but he nevertheless decided to proceed.<ref>Massie, 2004, pp. 253–56</ref>

===British preparations===
On 30 October, retired [[Admiral of the Fleet]] [[John Fisher, 1st Baron Fisher|Lord Fisher]] was reappointed [[First Sea Lord]] to replace Admiral [[Prince Louis of Battenberg]], who had been forced to resign because of public outcry against a German prince running the British navy, though Louis had been British and in the Royal Navy since the age of 14. On 3 November, Fisher was advised that Spee had been sighted off Valparaíso and acted to reinforce Cradock by ordering ''Defence'', already sent to patrol the eastern coast of South America, to reinforce his squadron. On 4 November, news of the defeat at Coronel arrived. The blow to British naval prestige was palpable, and the British public was rather shocked. As a result, the battlecruisers ''Invincible'' and ''Inflexible'' were ordered to leave the [[Grand Fleet]] and sail to [[Plymouth]] for overhaul and preparation for service abroad. Fisher took the opportunity to appoint the Chief of Staff at the Admiralty, Vice-Admiral [[Doveton Sturdee]], as Commander-in-Chief, South Atlantic and Pacific, to command the new squadron from ''Invincible''.<ref>Massie, 2004, p. 248</ref>

On 11 November, ''Invincible'' and ''Inflexible'' left HMNB [[HMNB Devonport|Devonport]], although repairs to ''Invincible'' were incomplete and she sailed with workmen still aboard. Despite the urgency of the situation and their maximum speed of around {{convert|25|knots}}, the ships were forced to cruise at {{convert|10|knots|0}} to conserve coal in order to complete the long journey south across the Atlantic. The two ships were also heavily loaded with supplies. Although secrecy of the mission was considered important so as to surprise Spee, Lieutenant Hirst from ''Glasgow'' heard locals discussing the forthcoming arrival of the ships while ashore at [[Portuguese Cape Verde|Cape Verde]] on 17 November; however the news did not reach Spee. Sturdee arrived at the [[Abrolhos Marine National Park|Abrolhos Rocks]] on 26 November, where Rear-Admiral [[Archibald Peile Stoddart]] awaited him with the remainder of the squadron.<ref>Massie, 2004, p. 249</ref>

Sturdee announced his intention to depart for the Falkland Islands on 29 November. From there, the fast light cruisers ''Glasgow'' and ''Bristol'' would patrol seeking Spee, summoning reinforcements if they found him. Captain [[John Luce (Royal Navy officer)|John Luce]] of ''Glasgow'', who had been at the Battle of Coronel, objected that there was no need to wait so long and persuaded Sturdee to depart a day early. The squadron was delayed during the journey for 12 hours when a cable towing targets for practice-firing became wrapped around one of ''Invincible''{{'}}s [[propeller]]s, but the ships arrived on the morning of 7 December. The two light cruisers moored in the inner part of [[Stanley Harbour]], while the larger ships remained in the deeper outer harbour of [[Port William, Falkland Islands|Port William]]. Divers set about removing the offending cable from ''Invincible''; ''Cornwall'''s boiler fires were extinguished to make repairs, and ''Bristol'' had one of her engines dismantled. The famous ship {{SS|Great Britain||6}}—reduced to a coal bunker—supplied coal to ''Invincible'' and ''Inflexible''. The [[armed merchant cruiser]] ''Macedonia'' was ordered to patrol the harbour, while ''Kent'' maintained steam in her boilers, ready to replace ''Macedonia'' the next day, 8 December; Spee's fleet arrived in the morning of the same day.<ref>Massie, 2004, pp. 249–51</ref>

An unlikely source of intelligence on the movement of the German ships was from Mrs Muriel Felton, wife of the manager of a sheep station at [[Fitzroy, Falkland Islands|Fitzroy]], and her maids Christina Goss and Marian Macleod. They were alone when Felton received a telephone call from Port Stanley advising that German ships were approaching the islands. The maids took turns riding to the top of a nearby hill to record the movements of the ships, which Felton relayed to Port Stanley by telephone. Her reports allowed ''Bristol'' and ''Macedonia'' to take up the best positions to intercept. The Admiralty later presented the women with silver plates and Felton received an [[Order of the British Empire|OBE]] for her actions.<ref>{{cite journal|title=United Empire|volume=14|year=1923|page=687}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=The Falkland Islands|page=100|author=Ian J. Strange|publisher=David & Charles|year=1983|isbn=0715385313}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=A Naval History of World War I|page=99|author=Paul G. Halpern|publisher=Naval Institute Press|year=1995|isbn=1557503524}}</ref><ref>{{London Gazette|issue=30576|supp=y|page=3287|date=15 March 1918|access-date=5 December 2019}}</ref>

==Battle==
{{more citations needed section|date=December 2014}}
[[File:Falklandschlacht.jpg|thumb|The Battle of the Falkland Islands; North is to the left in this diagram]]

===Opening moves===
Spee's cruisers—''Gneisenau'' and ''Nürnberg''—approached Stanley first. At the time, most of the British fleet was coaling, but under short notice to steam. Some believe that had Spee pressed the attack, Sturdee's ships would have been easy targets,<ref>"...the prospects should the Germans press home an attack without delay was far from pleasant." Corbett, J.S. ''British Official History – Naval Operations.'' (London: H.M. Stationery Office, 1921) vol. I, chapter XXIX, cited in Baldwin, Hanson W. ''World War I: An Outline History.'' (New York: Grove Press, 1962) p. 46</ref> although this is a subject of conjecture as two ships were under steam acting as guardships and the battleship ''Canopus'' was also present. The Germans were surprised by gunfire from an unexpected source - the ''Canopus'', which had been grounded as a guardship and was behind a hill. This was enough to check the Germans' advance. The sight of the distinctive tripod masts of the British battlecruisers confirmed to the Germans that they were facing a better-equipped enemy. HMS ''Kent'' was already making her way out of the harbour and had been ordered to pursue Spee's ships.

Made aware of the German ships, Sturdee had ordered the crews to breakfast, knowing that ''Canopus'' had bought them time while steam was raised.

To Spee, with his crew battle-weary and his ships outgunned, the outcome seemed inevitable. Realizing his danger too late, and having lost any chance to attack the British ships while they were at anchor, Spee and his squadron dashed for the open sea. The British left port around 10:00. Spee was ahead by {{convert|15|mi|nmi km|abbr=on}}, with the German ships in line abreast heading southeast, but there was plenty of daylight left for the faster battlecruisers to catch up.

===Contact===
[[File:'Invincible and Inflexible steaming out of Port Stanley in Chase'- the start of the Battle of the Falkland Islands, 8 December 1914 RMG PW1879.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.2|''Invincible'' and ''Inflexible'' steaming out of Port Stanley in chase, a painting by [[William Lionel Wyllie]]]]

It was 13:00 when the British battlecruisers opened fire, but it took them half an hour to get the range of SMS ''Leipzig''. Realising that he could not outrun the British ships, Spee decided to engage them with his armoured cruisers alone, to give the light cruisers a chance to escape. He turned to fight just after 13:20. The German armoured cruisers had the advantage of a freshening north-west breeze, which caused the funnel smoke of the British ships to obscure their target practically throughout the action. ''Gneisenau's'' second-in-command Hans Pochhammer indicated that there was a long respite for the Germans during the early stages of the battle, as the British attempted unsuccessfully to force Admiral Spee away from his advantageous position.

Despite initial success by ''Scharnhorst'' and ''Gneisenau'' in striking ''Invincible'', the British capital ships suffered little damage. Spee then turned to escape, but the battlecruisers came within extreme firing range 40 minutes later.

HMS ''Invincible'' and HMS ''Inflexible'' engaged ''Scharnhorst'' and ''Gneisenau'', while Sturdee detached his cruisers to chase SMS ''Leipzig'' and SMS ''Nürnberg''.

HMS ''Invincible'' and HMS ''Inflexible'' turned to fire broadsides at the armoured cruisers and Spee responded by trying to close the range. His flagship SMS ''Scharnhorst'' took extensive damage with funnels flattened, fires and a list. The list became worse at 16:04, and she sank by 16:17, taking von Spee and the entire crew with her. Von Spee’s last signal was to SMS ''Gneisenau'' to try to save herself.<ref>https://www.britishbattles.com/first-world-war/battle-of-the-falkland-islands/</ref> SMS ''Gneisenau'' continued to fire and evade until 17:15, by which time her ammunition had been exhausted, and she sank at 18:02.<ref>Regan, Geoffrey. Military Anecdotes (1992) p. 13 Guinness Publishing {{ISBN|0-85112-519-0}}</ref> During her death throes, Admiral Sturdee continued to engage SMS ''Gneisenau'' with his two battlecruisers and the cruiser HMS ''Carnarvon'', rather than detaching one of the battlecruisers to hunt down the escaping ''Dresden''. One hundred and ninety of SMS ''Gneisenau'''s crew were rescued from the water. Both of the British battlecruisers had received about 40 hits between them from the German ships, with one crewman killed and four injured.

Meanwhile, SMS ''Nürnberg'' and SMS ''Leipzig'' had run from the British cruisers. SMS ''Nürnberg'' was running at full speed but in need of maintenance, while the crew of the pursuing HMS ''Kent'' were pushing her boilers and engines to the limit. SMS ''Nürnberg'' finally turned for battle at 17:30. HMS ''Kent'' had the advantage in shell weight and armour. SMS ''Nürnberg'' suffered two boiler explosions around 18:30, giving the advantage in speed and manoeuvrability to HMS ''Kent''. The German ship then rolled over and sank at 19:27 after a long chase. The cruisers HMS ''Glasgow'' and HMS ''Cornwall'' had chased down SMS ''Leipzig''; HMS ''Glasgow'' closed to finish SMS ''Leipzig,'' which had run out of ammunition but was still flying her [[battle ensign]]. SMS ''Leipzig'' fired two flares, so HMS ''Glasgow'' ceased fire. At 21:23, more than {{convert|80|mi|nmi km|abbr=on}} southeast of the Falklands, she also rolled over and sank, leaving only 18 survivors.

During the course of the main battles, Sturdee had despatched Captain Fanshawe on HMS ''Bristol'', together with HMS ''Macedonia'', to destroy the colliers.<ref name=BB/> ''Baden'' and ''Santa Isabel'' were chased, stopped, and (after removing the crews) sunk by HMS ''Bristol'' and HMS ''Macedonia'' at 19:00. ''Seydlitz'' had taken a separate course and escaped.<ref name=WW1F/><ref name=BB/>

==Outcome==
[[File:HMS Infexible Falklandy.jpg|thumb|HMS ''Inflexible'' picking up German sailors from ''Gneisenau'' after the battle]]

Casualties and damage were extremely disproportionate; the British suffered only very lightly. Among the Germans dead included Admiral Spee and his two sons, Otto von Spee of SMS ''Nürnberg'' and Heinrich von Spee of SMS ''Gneisenau''; a medal was issued in Germany commemorating the deaths of the Spees.<ref>https://www.britishbattles.com/first-world-war/battle-of-the-falkland-islands/</ref> ''Scharnhorst'' was lost with all hands. Two hundred and fifteen Germans became prisoners on the British ships. Most survivors were from the ''Gneisenau'', with nine from ''Nürnberg'' and 18 from ''Leipzig''. One of ''Gneisenau''{{'}}s officers who lived had been the sole survivor on three different guns on the battered cruiser. He was pulled from the water saying he was a first cousin of the British commander (Stoddart).<ref>Regan p. 14</ref>

Of the known German force of eight ships, two escaped: the auxiliary ''Seydlitz'' and the light cruiser ''Dresden'', which remained at large for a further three months before she was cornered by a British squadron (''Kent'', ''Glasgow'' and ''[[RMS Orama (1911)|Orama]]'') off the [[Juan Fernández Islands]] on 14 March 1915. After [[Battle of Más a Tierra|a short battle]], ''Dresden's'' captain evacuated his ship and scuttled her by detonating the main ammunition magazine.

As a consequence of the battle, the East Asia Squadron, Germany's only permanent overseas naval formation, effectively ceased to exist. [[Commerce raiding]] on the high seas by regular warships of the Kaiserliche Marine was brought to an end. However, Germany put several armed merchant vessels into service as commerce raiders until the end of the war (for example, see [[Felix von Luckner]]).

==British intelligence during the battle==
[[File:Church monuments in Canterbury Cathedral JC 03.JPG|thumb|Plaque to the 8 dead of HMS ''Kent'' in Canterbury Cathedral]]
After the battle, German naval experts were baffled at why Admiral von Spee attacked the base and how the two squadrons could have met so coincidentally in so many thousand miles of open waters. [[Wilhelm II|Kaiser Wilhelm]]'s handwritten note on the official report of the battle reads: "It remains a mystery what made Spee attack the Falkland Islands. See '[[Alfred Thayer Mahan|Mahan]]'s Naval Strategy'."<ref name=FvR>Franz von Rintelen (in English). ''The Dark Invader: Wartime Reminiscences of a German Naval Intelligence Officer'' (1998 ed.). Routledge. pp. 326. {{ISBN|0714647926}}.</ref>

It was generally believed Spee was misled by the German admiralty into attacking the Falklands, a Royal Naval fuelling base, after receiving intelligence from the German wireless station at Valparaíso which reported the port free of Royal Navy warships. Despite the objection of three of his ships' captains, Spee proceeded to attack.<ref>Halpern, p. 97</ref><ref>Massie, 2004, p. 255</ref>

However, in 1925 a German naval officer and senior [[Kriegsmarine]] spy, [[Franz von Rintelen]], interviewed Admiral [[William Reginald Hall]], Director of the Admiralty's [[Naval Intelligence Division (United Kingdom)|Naval Intelligence Division]] (NID), and was informed that Spee's squadron had been lured towards the British battlecruisers by means of a fake signal sent in a German naval code broken by British cryptographers and sent on a purloined German telegraph form.<ref name=FvR/> (Similarly, on 14 March 1915, {{SMS|Dresden|1907|6}} was intercepted by British ships in the [[Battle of Más a Tierra]] while taking on coal at sea in a location identified by NID codebreakers.)<ref>Beesly, Patrick (1982). ''Room 40''. London: Hamish Hamilton Ltd. pp. 77–78. {{ISBN|0241108640}}.</ref>

==''Scharnhorst'' wreck==
The wreck of [[SMS Scharnhorst|''Scharnhorst'']] was discovered on 4 December 2019, approximately {{convert|98|nmi}} southeast of Stanley at a depth of {{cvt|1610|m}}.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-50670743 |title=German WWI wreck Scharnhorst discovered off Falklands |author= |date=5 December 2019 |website=BBC News |access-date=5 December 2019 |archive-date=5 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191205122602/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-50670743 |url-status=live }}</ref>

==References==
===Notes===
{{Reflist}}

===Bibliography===
* {{cite book |title=Coronel and the Falklands |last=Bennett |first=Geoffrey |author-link=Geoffrey Bennett (historian) |year=1962 |publisher=B. T. Batsford Ltd |location=London }}
* {{cite book |title=A Naval History of World War I |last=Halpern |first=Paul |location=United States |year=1994 |publisher=United States Naval Institute |isbn=1-85728-295-7 }}
* {{cite book |title=Coronel and the Falklands |last=Irving|first=John |year=1927 |location=London| publisher=A. M. Philpot, ltd.}}
* {{cite book |title=Dictionary of Battles and Sieges: A Guide to 8,500 Battles from Antiquity through the Twenty-first Century|last=Jaques|first=Tony|year=2007 |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=9780313335389}}
* McNally, Michael (2012). ''Coronel and Falklands 1914; Duel in the South Atlantic''. Osprey Campaign Series #248. Osprey Publishing. {{ISBN|9781849086745}}
* {{cite book |title=[[Castles of Steel: Britain, Germany, and the Winning of the Great War at Sea]] |last=Massie |first=Robert K. |author-link=Robert K. Massie |year=2004 |location=London |publisher=[[Jonathan Cape]] |isbn=0-224-04092-8}}
* {{cite book |title=Many Were Held by the Sea: The Tragic Sinking of HMS Otranto|last=Scott|first=R Neil |year=2012 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=9781442213425}}
* {{cite book|last1=von Ritelen|first1=Franz|title=The Dark Invader|date=1933|publisher=The Bodley Head/Penguin Books|location=London}}

==External links==
* [http://www.gwpda.org/naval/j0600000.htm Description of the battle from the diary of Captain JD Allen RN (HMS ''Kent'')]
* [http://www.worldwar1.co.uk/falkland.html Battle of the Falkland Islands]
* [http://www.gwpda.org/naval/corfalkp.htm Battles of Coronel and the Falklands – a Pictorial Look]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20131211094725/http://www.swmaritime.org.uk/article.php?articleid=529&atype=l Sailing vessel Fairport and her appearance during the battle]
* {{Cite Collier's|wstitle=Falkland Islands, Battle of|short=x}}
* [https://en.mercopress.com/2019/12/05/discovery-of-ww1-german-battlecruiser-sms-scharnhorst-in-falklands-waters Discovery of WW1 German Battlecruiser SMS Scharnhorst in Falklands waters]

{{Commons category|Battle of the Falkland Islands}}

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[[Category:History of the Falkland Islands]]
[[Category:Atlantic operations of World War I|Falkland Islands]]
[[Category:Naval battles of World War I involving the United Kingdom|Falkland Islands]]
[[Category:Naval battles of World War I involving Germany|Falkland Islands]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1914]]
[[Category:20th century in the Falkland Islands]]
[[Category:1914 in South America]]
[[Category:December 1914 in South America]]
[[Category:Germany–United Kingdom military relations]]

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Battle of the Falkland Islands