Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1914-11-05
GERMANS WIN
NAVAL VICTORY
British Fleet Met Off the
Coast of Chile By Enemy
and Badly Defeated
TWO SHIPS BELIEVED
SENT TO THE BOTTOM
Winners Do Not Lose a Man
in Brilliant Action; to
Inferno the Losers

Valparaiso, Chile, Nov. 4.-The vic.
tory of the German fleet, under Ad-
miral Won Spec, consisting of the ar
mored cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneis-
enau and the light cruisers Nurnberg,
Leipsic and Bremen, over the British
| squadron, made up of the cruisers Mon
mouth, Goodhope and Glasgow and the
transport Otranto, commanded by
Rear Admiral Cradock, continues the
sensation of the hour here.
That the Germans were able to sink
or scatter the British squadron with
only minor damage to their own ships
and casualty list of only two wound
ed is subject Of wonder.
The Monmouth is known to have
been lost with practically all of her
crew, as result of this first big naval
fight of the war; the Goodhope was
severely damaged and on fire when she
escaped under cover of darkness and
it is believed here that she went to
the bottom while the Glasgow. and the
Otranto took refuge in a Chilean port.
The Scharnhorst, Gneisenau and
Nurnberg were still in the harbor early
today, coaling and provisioning, in pre-
paration for steaming away later in the
day. 1t is supposed they will relieve
the cruisers Lepsic and Bremen,
which have the Glasgow and Otranto
bottled up in the port of Talcahuano,
eight miles northwest of Conception.
It would seem like madness FOR these
British ships to leave this haven of re-
disnlantled and interned unless a SUI
Tn
should make its appearance and 90 to-
their relief.
Admiral Won Spec, in his official re-
port of the battle, which took place
Sunday afternoon off the Chilean is
land Of ST. Maria. says the action last
ed only an hour, being discontinued at
nightfall when the British were forced
to give way.
"The Goodhope," he says, was then
so badly damaged that she was unable
to resist and could only make her
escape protected by the darkness.
'The Monmouth, under Identical con-
ditions, tried to escape but was follow
ed by small cruiser and was sunk
with few shots. Owing to the hurri-
cane that was blowing no boats could
be lowered and consequently there was
a terrible loss of life"
The German admiral in noting the
escape of the Glasgow and the Otran-
to, says it was due to their speed and
the darkness.
Details of the fight, picked up from
informal conversations with German
officers. who came ashore. from the
warships show that the Germans, ow
ing to the superior range of the guns
on the cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneis-
enau, opened fire when six miles away.
AS the ships closed and the range came
down to distance of four miles the
British ships were able to reply but by
that time they were already seriously
damaged
The Germans declare that the Brit
ish fought heroically but that their ar
tillery was ineffective against the SUI
perior weight of metal that the Ger
mans were able to pour from the more
modern guns of the armored cruisers.
It is stated, however, that the light
German cruisers pluckily closed in on
the British and took part in the battle
One of them, it appears from the Off
cial report, gave the Monmouth her
death blow as, crippled and in flames,
she tried to escape,