Battle of Coronel November 1st 1914

I started collecting WW1 Micronauts with the ships present at the battle of Coronel. At the time, you couldn't find a GHQ model for SMS Nürnberg, so I substituted SMS Bremen in its stead, and acquired both HMS Canopus and SS Otranto from another manufacturer. I added HMS Defense, which barely missed being present in the South East Pacific at that time.

Coronel… A forgotten battle today, but one from which the mind recedes with horror at te image of the savagery of the combat, of its  terrifying conditions, of the horrible butcher’s bill at the end of it, of the utter absurdity of it all : 2 commanders trapped in the rigid code of honor of 19th century European aristocracy fought a battle that could but doom them and their crews to destruction : Craddock, hopelessly outmatched by the superior German squadron, Von Spee trapped by geography and logistics, fully aware that after his victory, a merciless chase would be on. And yet they fought, in the cold water of Southern Chile, in a stormy November night…

The British

Good Hope, launched in 1901, and already an obsolete design, with half of her secondary 6’’ battery out of action in moderate weather conditions, without modern targeting equipment, barely good enough to show the White Ensign in far off backwaters. Sunk with all hands.

Monmouth, throwing a heavy, but desperately outranged punch, one of the 10 County class cruisers launched in 1901. Sunk with all hands.

Glasgow, a modern light cruiser, with the punch to outfight German light cruisers and the speed to outrun Scharnhorst and Gneisenau. Heavily damaged, retreated and was present for retribution at the battle of the Falklands.

HMS Defense, somewhat of an unlucky ship. Flagship of Admiral Troubridge during the Goeben chase, its squadron retreated when admiral Troubridge, who was court-martialed for his decision, wisely renounced to intercept. It could have been present at Coronel as it was ordered to join Craddock’s forces but  the order was cancelled as the Germans were still in the Pacific at that time. It met a fiery death at Jutland, the 4th Royal Navy ship lost to a magazine explosion that day.

The Germans

SMS Scharnhorst & Gneisenau, possibly the best armored cruisers ever built. Heart of the East Asian Squadron, they were also reputed to be the best gunnery specialists of the whole German Navy. The reservists on board Good Hope & Monmouth never stood a chance against them. Likewise, they were utterly outgunned, out-sped, out-armored when they had to tackle HMS Invincible & Inflexible at the Falklands, 2 battlecruisers specifically designed to destroy marauding armored cruisers.

SMS Dresden, Leipzig & Bremen (to substitute for SMS Nürnberg). Unlike their heavier brothers, they were outdated ships, sporting a light armament compared to their British counterparts. Their crews, however, like in the rest of the squadron, were top notch.  Nürnberg also gave the derelict Monmouth the coup de grâce at Coronel.

The French

Lastly, and because I cannot think of another page to display it, the French semi-dreadnought Vergniaud of the Danton class. After taking part in the battle of Antivari at the beginning of the war, the Vergniaud spent the remainder of the war in lackluster - but risky, as illustrated by the torpedoing of its sister ship the Danton, -  blockading duties. Part of the allied task force at Sebastopol during teh Russian Civil War, its crew took part in the  mutiny that affected numerous French ships in that occurrence.