Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1914-12-10
THE BRITISH SEA-VICToRY.

s. Details are lacking as to the strength of the
& British feet that engaged and defeated the
German squadron off the Falkland Islands on
Tuesday morning, but when the full story is
known, we shall probably find that the British
took no chances of meeting a foe superior in
gun power 1t will be strange if the British
fleet was not of superior strength in the num-
Der of guns it was able to train on the danger
Gus Germans ~-" i !
The battle off Coronel on November was
an easy victory for the Germans largely be-
cause of this superior power in their batteries.
The Good Hope was a 1000 ton battleship yet
she carried only two 9-inch guns. The Mon
mouth, bettered 5000 tons and her largest guns
were 6-inch. The Glasgow had only two 6-inch
guns. Against these were pitted the S.2-inch
guns of the Scharnhorst and the Gneisenau,
eight apiece, making formidable battery, be-
sides the lighter guns of the same two and of
the Dresden, Leipzig and Nurnberg
The defeat of the British trio caused consid-
cradle criticism of the British admiralty on the
ground that a weak squadron had been sent to
meet the comparatively strong German vessels.
1t was easy to predict, after this battle, that
the admiralty would send tout a feet whose
strength without question of doubt was
superior to that of the Germans. 1t could af-
ford to do nothing else
Several weeks ago q British feet of ten yes
sells was reported hedded for the Panama Canal.
This was shortly after the naval battle off Coro-
nell The presumption was that the British
ships were being sent through the canal to hunt
down the Germans in the Pacific. 1t may have
been that the Germans believed this, and it
may have been that the British admiralty re-
lied upon their believing it. At any rate it
seems probable now that the British feet, in
stead of passing through the canal, turned
south and went down the coast, far enough out
to be well away from the lane of merchant
travel up and down South America and still
close enough in for quick dash should the
enemy be heard from along the coast-lne. If
this theory is correct, the Germans meanwhile
steamed south along the Chilean coast to avoid
the superior feet reported planning to come
through the canal from the Atlantic. There
was no report of the Germans passing through
the Straits of Magellan, so they must have
rounded Cape Horn and then turned up the
South American coast.
It was on November 80 that the German feet
was reported on the Atlantic coast OF South
America and at that time the Star Bulletin
forecast the naval battle, news Of which reached
Honolulu yesterday.
BY its victory in this battle easily the most
important of the war-the British navy has
more than evened up the score, Yet it is a
battle that counts comparatively little toward
the ultimate victory or defeat for either side.
1t was only question of time when the Ger
man squadron would be defeated or forced into
neutral ports.
The Nurnberg and Dresden must ultimately
be sunk or forced to intern and the audacious
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES Karlsruhe will probably
also be hunted down. When these are ac
counted for, Germany s navy will be those YES
sells now riding securely behind Heligoland, at
Wilhelmshaven and in the Baltic,
ii will be good news to many people in Homo