The Battle of the Falkland Islands. By Commander H. Spencer-Cooper.
(Cassell. 6s. net.)—The author of this interest- ing book was in the Cornwall,' which, in company with the Glasgow,' sank the Leipzig' in the decisive action of December 8th, 1914. His account of the battle, in which Admiral Sturdee destroyed all Count von Spee's ships except the Dresden,' is lucidly written, and contains some picturesque details. The Cornwall,' for example, sustained eighteen direct hits in four hours, but the only casualty on board was a pet canary. The author describes the doings of the German China squadron in the Pacific and of the German cruisers in the Atlantic, and shows that Admiral Cradock's gallant fight against hopeless odds off Coronel on November 1st, 1914, at any rate checked Count von Spec and gave time for our squadron in the South Atlantic to be reinforced. The German Admiral after his victory hesitated. Had he sailed through the Straits of Magellan at once, he might have been off the river Plate by November 15th, playing havoc with our South American trade. His delay was fatal both to him and to the German commerce-raiders who counted on his support. The Karlsruhe,' as we now know, was sunk by an internal explosion on November 4th, 1914, off the northern coast of Brazil. The others were sunk or hunted off the seas by our cruisers. The Falklands battle was an even more important victory than it seemed at the time. If any of Count von Spee's ships had made good their escape, they might have given us very serious trouble.
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