Falklands 1914: Von Spee's Last Stand

#BattleOfTheFalklandIslands #Historigraph #CuriosityStream

[merkavamayhem]

When the Royal Navy sends two battlecrusiers named Invincible and Inflexible commanded by someone called Sturdee, you're gonna have a bad day.

[dwaynehicks]

Got to admire the respect both navies gave each other after the battle .

[bredsheeran]

One heart warming thing that comes out of old naval battles: the enemy usually always stops to pick up the people floating in the water

[florianlipp]

Germany did get her revenge on HMS Invincible two years later: she was sunk during the battle of Jutland.

In WWII, Germany had a pocket battle ship named after von Spee.
She fulfilled quite a smilar role as her namesake: commerce raiding in the South Atlantic.
And while von Spee accidentally stumbled on the British at the Falklands, while wrongly assuming them to be at the River Plate in 1914, the ship Graf Spee accidentally stumbled on the British forces at the River Plate and fought them there in 1939.

[Gingerbreadley]

It always amazes me how admirable naval commanders are. Not abandoning their slower ships, commanding from one of the least protected places on a ship going down with their ship etc etc

[yeoldeyoungin]

Not only did Von Spee die, but his only 2 sons as well in this battle. This left 1 daughter to carry on his line; I’m not sure what happened to her.
Later a coin was struck in his honor showing him with his two young sons.

[NickPenlee]

A healthy respect existed between navies in those days.
When HMS Hood was sunk the crew of the Bismarck didn't celebrate for too long; minutes.
When Ted Briggs heard of Bismarck's demise then he too didn't show anything but sadness for her crew.
Admirable.

[Paludion]

I had no idea the british were almost caught flat-footed at the Falklands by Spee.
When I heard the first time about Spee and his squadron, it was only about his victory in the Coronel Isles and then his destruction at Falklands, that's it !

Thank you for your videos !

[yuuboi]

The exchange of messages between Sturdee and Pochhammer is quite saddening...

[historigraph]

Re-uploaded to fix an error with the animation in the first edition!

[Yakko]

These men engaged in lethal combat with each other had more respect and honor than all too many rival politicians these days sadly.

[dale]

The time honored German tradition of poking the Royal Navy a bit too much and getting destroyed because they were way to far out to sea with a small fleet

[baltulielkungsgunarsmiezis]

There is a reason when Bismark was sunk the admirals involved sayed that the germans put up a fight like in the days of the German Imperial Naivy.

[MrDiggityaus]

Spare a thought for those sailors that when they turned around to face the fleet, they all knew they would not see home, almost certainly not even see tomorrow, and that their floating house of a couple of hundred meters were about to get pummelled by a concentration of heavy shells.

[Big_E_Soul_Fragment]

*Mr. Von Spee, I want off this wild ride!*
*THE RIDE NEVER ENDS*


Here before the reupload lmao

[thomasgray]

Von Spee: sinks two Cruisers beating a naval squadron.

Royal navy:





So, you have chosen... Death.

[danielpothier]

The ending here may very well be the best part. The heartfelt exchange between commanders. Warriors and gentlemen. Tragic

[joshthomas-moore]

I wonder if Von Spee knew that once he smashed Craddocks forces that he had just kicked up the hornets nest that hit him.
Also this story is very similar to the story after the sinking of HMS Hood, the Royal Navy come down on enemy with far greater firepower then the battle the Royal Navy lost.

[Caratacus]

Good call on using Massie and his Castles of Steel book. It's an amazing piece of work 👍

[michaelmorgan]

This video & the Coronel video were excellent & concise descriptions of those 2 battles & the aftermath. Well done.