“They were a brave lot” he writes; “one man stood aft and held the ensign flying in his hands until the ship went under.”

  Kent lost four men killed and twelve wounded, and but for the heroism of Sergeant Charles Mayes might have been entirely lost with every man onboard her. His action is thus recorded:

  “A shell burst and ignited cordite charges in the casement, and a flash of flame went down the hoist into the ammunition passage. Sergeant Mayes picked up a charge of cordite and threw it away. He then got hold of a fire hose and flooded the compartment, extinguishing the fire in some empty shell-bags which were burning.”

  For this brave act he was awarded the Conspicuous Gallantry Medal.

  It was one single shell which caused most of the casualties on Kent, which did not get within range of Nuernberg until an hour and a half after the chase began. Firing went on from Nuernberg until half-past six, and then Kent ceased firing also, but as Nuernberg would not haul down her colours Kent opened fire again at a range of 3300 yards.

  “Fire was finally stopped five minutes later on, the colours being hauled down, and every preparation was made to save life.”

  This was not much , for it will be remembered that Kent had burned her boats after her coal had run short.

  “We do what we can with life-buoys and lumps of wood paid astern, but it’s mighty little; it’s loppy sea and dreadful cold. The ‘mollyhawks’ are swooping around, and the vultures of the sea, the Albatrosses, are attacking the drowning German sailors seeking to peck out their eyes.”

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  This concludes the specific QUOTE on Kent’s engagement. However, and in context, a new QUOTE starts below.

QUOTE

  Von Spee’s [the German admiral] delay cost him his entire squadron with the exception of one unit [Dresden, although she was later destroyed], the loss of his life and that of his two sons and over 2000 Germans, against seven or eight British killed and four wounded. The outburst of fury in Germany when the news became generally well known, which was not for a considerable time after the event, was unparalleled. Some of the comments in the German papers read like the ravings of paranoiac. And the fact is that the Battle of the Falkland Islands dealt a terrible blow to Germany’s position as a naval Power. It wiped out the only Squadron she had left, outside the fleet buried in the Kiel Canal, and removed all danger to British trade routes. The work was complete when Bremen disappeared, and Dresden and Karlsruhe amongst cruisers, and Kronprinz Wilhelm and Prince Eitel Friedrich, were successively disposed of.

  So great was the German fury that even the cool and cautious heads of the German Admiralty seemed temporarily to have lost all self-control. There can be no doubt that the attack on our East Coast on December 16 was by way of retaliation , a foolish act dictated by spite rather than by policy.

  This morning a German cruiser force made a demonstration upon the Yorkshire coast, in the course of which they shelled Hartlepool, Whitby and Scarborough. A number of their fastest ships were employed for this purpose, and they remained for about an hour on the coast. They were engaged by patrol vessel on the spot. As soon as the presence of the enemy was reported a British patrolling squadron endeavoured to cut them off. On being sighted by British vessels the Germans retired at full speed, and favoured by the mist, succeeded in making good their escape.

  A number of civilians, mainly women and children, were killed on this occasion by the German squadron. It was a pitiful revenge for the defeat off the Falklands.

  Much of Germany's latest naval activity, which has been limited to submarine work, has been even more pitiful.

UNQUOTE