Comments by "doveton sturdee" (@dovetonsturdee7033) on "Falklands 1914: Von Spee's Last Stand" video.

When in Valparaiso harbour after the Coronel action, Spee was entertained by the German business community to dinner. At one point, a German businessman proposed the toast 'Damnation to the British Navy!' Spee refused the toast, remained in his seat, but when everyone else had resumed theirs, rose, raised his glass, and quietly said, 'I drink to the memory of a gallant and honourable foe.' As it says on the memorial to Cradock & his ships in York Minster, 'God forbid that I should do this thing, to flee away from them. If our time be come, let us die manfully for our brethren, and let us not stain our honour.'
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No, she didn't. She received several hits, but no serious damage. She certainly didn't need to flood a magazine.
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The Admiralty assumed that Cradock would have had a Ship of Force, HMS Canopus, in company. They did not expect hime to engage without her. Equally, had Canopus been there, Spee would probably have avoided action.
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Odd that Geoffrey Bennett didn't mention this in his book. Neither have I encountered any such reference. Sturdee's force only arrived at the Falklands the day before Spee did.
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@wedgeantillies66 That was presumably von Rintelen, claiming to have got the information from 'Blinker' Hall. There are, however, a few problems with the claim :- Why did the Admiralty not inform Sturdee of this ruse as it could only work if his ships were in the Falklands when von Spee arrived? There was very limited direct radio communication, if any, between London and its own ships let alone with von Spee. There is no indication from the conduct of operations in the Pacific and Atlantic that the British Admiralty had access to German naval codes. It seems inconceivable that a British admiral would discuss secret naval matters with anyone, let alone a notorious German saboteur like von Rintelen.
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@wedgeantillies66 I don't suppose at this distance in time anyone can hope to know for sure. I would have thought that, if Spee hoped to make a final raid on British shipping before heading home, the Plate would indeed have been a better choice, just as Langsdorff did in 1939. Just possibly, however, Spee might have believed that a raid on Port Stanley's coaling station would have had greater propaganda effect, and might even have given him an opportunity to coal his ships by a landing. This assumes, of course, that he did not know that Canopus was already there, as she would have a threat to his squadron with her 12 inch guns.
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Ironically, the flag signal flown by the British flagship as she left apparently read 'Friends in Peace, Friends Forever.'
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@Hollows1997 Have you ever heard about the dinner given for Von Spee, after Coronel, when his ships arrived in Valparaiso? He was entertained by the prominent German business community there, and during the course of the meal, one of them rose to his feet and proposed the toast 'Damnation to the British Navy.' Von Spee alone refused the toast, but after the rest had resumed their seats, he stood, raised his glass, and said 'I drink to the memory of a gallant and honourable foe.'
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Cradock's squadron was hardly superior. His two armoured cruisers were long obsolete and only recently re-activated from the reserve fleet, with scratch crews. The respect both sides showed each other, both at Coronel and subsequently at the Falklands, is certainly memorable.
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