Since the beginning of the war engagements between the two navies had been sporadic but, at Heligoland Bight on 28th August 1914, a British cruiser force under the command of Vice-Admiral Sir David Beatty routed a German squadron and sank three cruisers, with the loss of only 35 lives, mainly aboard the cruiser Arethusa. In November, however, the German battle-cruisers Gneisenau and Scharnhorst with three light cruisers defeated an inferior British force off Coronel, on the coast of Chile. The old cruisers Monmouth and Good Hope went to the bottom with the loss of all on board. In retaliation, and to prevent the destruction of the coaling station there, two British battle-cruisers, Invincible and Inflexible, were sent to the Falklands where they intercepted and sank all but one of the…
