took
along the light cruisers _Carnarvon_, _Kent_, and _Cornwall_, the
second-class cruiser _Bristol_, and the converted liner _Macedonia_. The
_Canopus_ and the _Glasgow_, now repaired, all joined the squadron,
which was commanded by Admiral Sturdee. The vessels coaled at Stanley,
Falkland Islands, and while so engaged on December 8 were warned by a
civilian volunteer watcher on a near-by hill that two strange vessels
had made their appearance in the distance. British naval officers
identified them and other vessels which were coming into view as the
ships of Von Spee's squadron, the one which had been victorious off
Coronel.

During the interval that had elapsed since that engagement these German
ships had not been idle. Von Spee knew that the _Glasgow_ had gone to
the Falklands and that there were important wireless stations there, but
he put off going after those prizes and picked up others. The _Nuernberg_
had cut communication between Banfield and Fanning Islands. Two British
trading ships had fallen victims to the _Dresden_, and four more had
met the same end at the hands of the _Leipzig_. For coal and other
supplies Von Spee had been relying on the Chilean ports, but now came
trouble between him and the port authorities, for England was accusing
the South American nation of acting without regard to neutrality. It was
for this reason that Von Spee turned southward to take the Falkland
Islands. The world at large, and of course Von Spee, had no knowledge of
the ships which had set out from Plymouth for the Falklands on the
eleventh of the month, so he approached in full expectation of making
not only a raid but for occupation. He knew that he would have to
exchange shots with the _Glasgow_ and perhaps some small ships, and he
believed the islands weakly defended by forts, but there was nothing in
that to defer his attack. The result--the lookout near Stanley had
reported the oncoming warships _Gneisenau_ and _Scharnhorst_, followed
by the rest of the German squadron. German guns were trained on the
wireless station, and great was the surprise of the unfortunate Von Spee
and his officers when there was heard the booming of guns which they
knew immediately must be mounted on warships larger than their own.
Their scouting had been defective, and the presence of the _Inflexible_
and _Invincible_ had till then not been discovered. They then reasoned
that these were the guns of the _Canopus_--a critical and fatal error.