The Lion and the Eagle: v. 2: The Antagonists by David J. Gregory

Author:David J. Gregory
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Publisher: David Gregory in conjunction with Writersworld
Published: 2014-10-16T04:00:00+00:00

It was now about 3.30, and, for all the punishment they had taken, the German ships were still in a tight line ahead formation and engaging their opponents with regular and accurate salvoes. Hits were continuously being registered on Invincible, but, whilst superficial damage was caused to the upperworks and sea boats, none of them were of any real consequence to the vessel’s fighting capabilities. These remained unimpaired throughout the action. In the meantime, the 12-inch shells from the British battlecruisers were wrecking the German ships. Scharnhorst had lost most of her signalling apparatus and was so obviously in extremis that Captain Maerker of the Gneisenau signalled to the flagship asking whether Spee was still alive. ‘I am all right so far’, came the reply, ‘what have you hit?’ Shortly afterwards, Spee made the penultimate signal of his life. It was to Maerker, and referred to the difference of opinion they had had as to the best use of the East Asiatic Squadron on its way, hopefully, back to Germany. Against the majority opinion, led by Maerker, Spee had decided on the descent on the Falklands. As Scharnhorst entered her last agonies, Spee’s signal was particularly poignant. It read, ‘You were right after all.’

By 4pm, Scharnhorst was still in the lead, but she was utterly ruined, and was slowing to a crawl whilst shells continued to pour into her tortured hull. There were no survivors to describe her condition, but the few that were rescued from the Gneisenau gave graphic accounts of the state of their own ship in its last moments, and the flagship must have been in a similar state of utter destruction. Just before the end, one last signal was made to Gneisenau: ‘Keep away and try to save yourself.’ This was probably from Maximillian von Spee, as a junior officer would not have been likely to give such a categorical order to a senior captain. In any case, the flagship had reached the end of her endurance. A few more minutes elapsed, and then, quite abruptly, it was all over. Scharnhorst, which, to the end, had been firing what remained of her guns with the precision that had characterised the reputation of her squadron, suddenly went silent. By this time she was a blazing wreck, and scarcely had way on. With the last of her momentum she suddenly lurched out of line towards the British ships, and then very rapidly capsized and sank. There were no survivors, as the battle moved remorselessly on and away from her grave.

Now there was only the Gneisenau. As the shattered remnants of Scharnhorst sank beneath the waves, the emotions of those left alive on her sister may well be imagined. For the whole life span of the two ships, they had operated as an inseparable unit. As was to be the case with a later pair of sister ships in the Second World War, the name of one was always spoken in conjunction with that of the other, and the crew of Gneisenau were in no doubt that their vessel would soon rejoin her compatriot.

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