Steve Dunn

The Battle of Coronel on 1 November 1914, when Rear Admiral Sir Christopher Cradock and ships of his 4th Cruiser Squadron were out gunned and out matched by the German East Asiatic Squadron under Vice Admiral Maximilian Graf von Spee, was the worst British naval disaster for more 100 years; two ships, HMS Monmouth and Good Hope were lost with all hands, totalling more than 1,600 men, including Cradock. He went to his death in a forlorn hope, believing that if he could damage his opponent sufficiently to slow them down, superior forces could eventually be brought to bear.Admiral Sir John ‘Jacky’ Fisher, recently returned to the Admiralty as First Sea Lord immediately despatched two battlecruisers from the Grand Fleet to exact revenge under the command of Vice Admiral Doveton Sturdee, whom he detested and half expected to fail in this mission. And indeed, Sturdee’s force was surprised by von Spee’s ships while coaling at the Falkland Islands, but managed to get under way and perform the task for which Fisher had designed the battlecruisers: sweeping from the seas lesser craft by virtue of superior speed and gun power. The ships of the East Asiatic Squadron was sunk or scattered and von Spee and his two sons lost their lives.Tragedy and Revenge details both the battles and the events leading up to them, with the use of eye-witness accounts. It examines the ships which fought on both sides and points up the inferiority of the forces at Cradock’s disposal, resources which Churchill insisted were fit for the task of destroying von Spee. The hopelessness felt by many of the Royal Navy participants in Cradock’s little squadron is related, as is Cradock’s story, alone in the Atlantic and Pacific, and his crisis of conscience whilst staying with the governor of the Falkland Islands.The book also examines the leaders, Cradock, Churchill, Fisher, Sturdee and von Spee and the interplay of character between them. It demonstrates how Churchill’s interference, and the dispositions adopted by the Admiralty while Sturdee was Chief of the War Staff, led directly to the disaster at Coronel. The book evaluates the gap between the reality on the high seas and the perception held by those at the Admiralty, especially Churchill, and how this gap helped bring about a terrible tragedy.

By 1900, the British government and public had become gripped by a new and growing fear of invasion, not from traditional enemies such as France, but from Germany. Such terror was driven by lurid books and fanned by newspapers. These anxieties sparked off a fight between those who wanted a defence based on a larger standing army, with conscription to support it, and those who believed the Royal Navy was sufficient to defend the coast and deprecated the expense and role of a standing land force.With war declared in 1914, Britain’s coastline came under attack. Major German raids created terror, and the fear of invasion drove naval and military planning and dispositions to protect Britain’s littoral. Coastal towns such as Scarborough, Great Yarmouth, Lowestoft, Southwold and even the Outer Hebrides came under attack and landings by German troops were feared daily. Running battles were fought with these attacking forces and both ships and lives ashore were lost. Spectre of Invasion examines all of the raids made and the success or failure of them, and relates these events from the point of view of naval and civilian participants. It tells the story of the Royal Navy and its role in the defence of the British coast in the First World War and examines the strategic and political developments resultant from invasion fears. And it considers how the plans laid for coastal defence fared under the test of conflict, laying bare what it was like to be part of the battles around the British coast, both as combatant and as citizen. Finally, it looks at Britain’s inability to co-ordinate naval and military effort throughout the War.This is a thought-provoking book which combines a fast-paced narrative with fascinating insights into Britain’s predicament in the years leading up to, and through, the First World War. It will appeal to anyone interested in this era of the country’s history and the fear on invasion that stalked the country in those years.