The day that the Admiralty issued its order, the East Asia Squadron appeared at occupied German Samoa. Its apparent movement to the west, and the continuing depredations of the light cruiser in the Bay of Bengal, caused the Admiralty to conclude that Vice-Admiral Graf Maximilian von Spee, commander of the East Asia Squadron, meant to rendezvous with "Emden" in the south western Pacific and cancelled the transfer of "Defence" to Cradock's command. Two days later the Admiralty messaged Cradock that von Spee was moving away from South America and that he should search the south western coast of South America for German ships without worrying about keeping his ships concentrated, but failed to inform him that "Defence" would not now be sent to him.