December 8th, 1914 - The Battle of Falkland Islands

Conflict: Word War I

Combatants: British vs. Germans

Location: South Atlantic

Outcome: British victory

On December 8th f 1914, Admiral Count Maximillian von Spee's five German cruisers and three supply ships stumbled upon seven British warships refueling at the Falkland Islands. The Germans turned to flee and British Admiral Sir Frederick Sturdee ordered his fleet to pursue. By the end of the day four German cruisers and 1,800 sailors had been lost. The British did not lose a single vessel.

The Battle of the Falkland Islands 8 December 1914 by Arthur Dyce Duckworth

Points of Interest:

• Spee and both of his sons died in this battle.

• The sole surviving German cruiser, the Dresden, was sunk three months later in the Pacific.

Maximilian von Spee by Ferdinand Urbahns

Frederick Doveton Sturdee 1916 HMS Hercules by the Ministry of Information

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Sources:

Dupuy, Trevor N., Johnson, Curt, & Bongard, David L. (1992). The Harper's Encyclopedia of Military Biography. New York: Castle Books (HarperCollins).

Dupuy, R. Ernest & Dupuy, Trevor N. (1993). The Harper's Encyclopedia of Military History. New York: HarperCollins.

Eggenberger, David (1985). An Encyclopedia of Battles: Accounts of Over 1,560 Battles from 1479 B.C. to the Present. New York: Dover Publications, Inc.

Ellis, John, & Cox, Michael (2001). The World War I Databook. Bodmin, UK: MPG Books Ltd.

Keegan, John (2001). An Illustrated History of the First World War. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.