Battle of Más a Tierra The Battle of Más a Tierra was a First World War sea battle fought on 14 March 1915 , near the Chilean island of Más a Tierra , between a British squadron and a German light cruiser . The battle saw the last remnant of the German East Asia Squadron destroyed , when was cornered and sunk in Cumberland Bay . Background . After escaping from the Battle of the Falkland Islands , and several auxiliaries retreated into the Pacific Ocean in an attempt to commence raiding operations against Allied shipping . These operations did little to stop shipping in the area , but still proved troublesome to the British , who had to expend resources to counter the cruiser . On 8 March , his ship low on supplies and in need of repairs , the captain of the " Dresden " decided to hide his vessel and attempt to coal in Cumberland Bay near the neutral island of Más a Tierra . By coaling in a neutral port rather than at sea , " Dresden " s Captain Lüdecke gained the advantage of being able to intern the ship if it was discovered by enemy vessels . British naval forces had been actively searching for the German cruiser and had intercepted coded wireless messages between German ships . Although they possessed copies of captured German code books , these also required a " key " which was changed from time to time . However , Charles Stuart , the signals officer , managed to decode a message from " Dresden " for a collier to meet her at Juan Fernandez on 9 March . A squadron made up of the cruisers and along with the auxiliary cruiser cornered the " Dresden " in the bay on 14 March , challenging it to battle . Battle . " Glasgow " opened fire on " Dresden " , damaging the vessel and setting it afire . After returning fire for a short period of time , the captain of " Dresden " decided the situation was hopeless as his vessel was vastly outgunned and outnumbered , while stranded in the bay with empty coal bunkers and worn out engines . Captain Lüdecke gave the order to abandon and scuttle his vessel . The German crew fled the cruiser in open boats to reach the safety of the island , which was neutral territory . The British cruisers kept up their fire on " Dresden " and the fleeing boats until the light cruiser eventually exploded , but it is unclear whether the explosion was caused by the firing from the British ships or from scuttling charges set off by the Germans . After the ship exploded , the British commander ordered his ships to capture any survivors from " Dresden " . Three Germans were killed in action and 15 wounded . The British suffered no casualties . Aftermath . With the sinking of " Dresden " , the last remnant of the German East Asian Squadron was destroyed , as all the other ships of the squadron had been sunk or interned . The only German presence left in the Pacific Ocean was a few isolated commerce raiders , such as SMS " Seeadler " and " Wolf " . Because the island of Más a Tierra was a possession of Chile , a neutral country , the German Consulate in Chile protested that the British had broken international law by attacking an enemy combatant in neutral waters . The wounded German sailors were taken to Valparaíso , Chile for treatment , where one later died of wounds received during the action . The 315 of " Dresden " s crew who remained were interned by Chile until the end of the war , when those who did not wish to remain in Chile were repatriated to Germany . One of the crew — Lieutenant Wilhelm Canaris , the future admiral and head of Abwehr — escaped internment in August 1915 and made it back to Germany , where he returned to active duty in the Imperial Navy .