MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Falklands remembers losses at the battle of Coronel

A poppy wreath hangs from the memorial tablet of those lost on November first 1914 from HMS Good Hope and HMS Monmouth.

The Falkland Islands also remembers those involved in the naval battle of Coronel off the coast of Chile with the loss of 1,600 lives. In effect a memorial tablet is dedicated in Stanley’s cathedral to Rear Admiral Christopher Cradock and the Officers, Warrant Officers and Men of HMS Good Hope and HMS Monmouth lost at Colonel on 1 November 1914.

On that date five German cruisers commanded by Admiral Maximilian Graf von Spee smashed the British squadron. The Royal Navy loses 2 ships and 1,575 men; the Germans suffered 3 wounded.

A month later, 8 December the British catch von Graf von Spee's fleet off the Falklands and destroy it. The British squadron was under the command of Vice Admiral Doveton Sturdee.

The memorial tablet to those lost at Coronel on 1 November 1914 from HMS Good Hope and HMS Monmouth was paid for from offertories given at a memorial service held in Stanley Cathedral on 29 November 1914. It was unveiled on 2 July 1916.

The tablet is near to the Governor’s pew in Stanley Cathedral. Then Falklands Governor, Sir William Allardyce held a dinner for Admiral Craddock and his officers before they set out on 22/23 October for an encounter that the Governor and Craddock both knew had not the slightest chance of success.