The Naval Battle of Coronel, 1914 ⚓ World War 1 at Sea

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In the waters off the coast of central Chile an encounter unfolded on 1 November 1914-the Battle of Coronel. The Imperial German Navy, under the command of Vice-Admiral Graf Maximilian von Spee, clashed with a British squadron led by Rear-Admiral Sir Christopher Cradock. The confrontation, born of misunderstandings and unexpected in its magnitude, thrust both admirals into a dangerous engagement.
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🧾 Chapters:
0:00 Introduction
📚 Sources:
Written by House of History
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🖼 Photos, paintings and imagery: Public Domain, Wikicommons
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#HouseofHistory #History

[@HoH]

⚓ Stop data brokers from exposing your information. Go to my sponsor aura.com/history to get a 14-day free trial and see if your personal information has been compromised!

[@danielsantiagourtado3430]

Love your content man 🎉🎉🎉❤❤❤

[@Ugly_German_Truths]

Seriously are you intentionally mangling the german names? It's not Sbie, it's "shpae". Which is easily researchable by just looking 5 minutes into any WW2 movie that involves the Battleship named after Admiral Graf Spee. Correct Pronunciation also is a part of historical accuracy and grating impreciseness is unsettling to hear.

[@brokenbridge6316]

This was an excellent video. When's part 2 coming out?

[@spikespa5208]

Tough start. Got the wrong ocean. 0:18

[@princessofthecape2078]

The Scharnhorst and Gneisenau were just neat ships. One thing that this video fails to discuss is that Cradock was repeatedly promised (and then those promises were rescinded) HMS Defence - a Minotaur-class cruiser, and a member of the last class of armored cruisers designed by Britain before the Invincible-class battlecruisers. Defence was (with her fully trained crew and 4 x 9.2 inch main battery, and extremely impressive 10 x 7.5 inch secondary battery [all distributed in TURRETS atop the main deck]), arguably more than a match for Scharnhorst or Gneisenau (and potentially both simultaneously - that was a lot of firepower). When she was ripped away and Cradock was ordered to proceed, he felt as if his personal honor was being called into question (Cradock knew that Canopus was essentially tactically useless. He might have 'hidden' under her guns, as Winston Churchill suggested, but that did not jive with the orders Cradock had received from the admiralty instructing him to bring Spee to action). Cradock was also acutely aware of the court martialing of Admiral Troubridge in the Mediterranean for events involving the Goeben, and wasn't about to fall victim to calls of cowardice. That's why this slaughter happened - because the Royal Navy underestimated Spee, and goaded Cradock.

[@rkitchen1967]

You have to admire the fatalistic courage of men like Craddick and Spee, who knew they were doomed to die, but insisted on doing their duty. I Spee's case losing his sons as well.

[@ethanpf449]

General Paul von Lettow-Volbeck's East Africa Campaign would make a great series

[@mikearmstrong8483]

"The Glasgow closed the gap towards the flagship, covering fifteen miles in mere minutes." I'd love to hear how a ship that topped out at 24 kts managed that.

[@admiralbeez8143]

At 24 knots you’ll cover 15 miles in 37.5 “mere” minutes.

[@Jake-xe4cv]

Weird this, my grandfather and great uncle were n HMS Glasgow, one of the first cruisers to be fitted with oil fired boilers as well as coal. He was an engineroom artificer. That they survived this battle was amazing or I would not be typing this. A month later in December 14 they had the revenge match and won. I went there in the Royal Navy in 1982 for the war and had my photo taken in the same position as my grandfather after the guns had ceased firing. Very little had changed in the background.

[@Jurgen-sx7om]

Awesome! Told absolutely fair and without showing bad feelings against German Naval Forces or Germany in general. Such a tragedy ,that this both great nations, had to fight against each other in history! Kind regards from Germany P.S. : One of my favourite songs , I love to hear and sing ,is "Rule Britannia." Simply wonderful!

[@Chino56751]

Flair for the dramatic. This wasn't the Nazi regime with their laundry list of atrocities. And the Hindenburg exploding, or the Titanic sinking was a " tragedy ". This is just taking care of business.

[@mohammedsaysrashid3587]

It was an informative and wonderful historical coverage of the coronel naval battle in WW1 between British and German fleets. Thank you( house of history ) channel for sharing

[@geechyguy3441]

Damn it really shows how the intensity of WW1 shocked everybody. Imagine being part of the British navy and hearing that you just suffered your first defeat in 100 years

[@eldritchia]

The story of the Emden is pretty epic

[@TheManofthecross]

which one? (and yes I went there with azure lane for reference.)

[@theobessiris9681]

Great video. Naval actions of WW1 receive scant attention unless it's the battle of Jutland. I can't wait for the battle of the Falkland Islands and hope you do many more on this subject.

[@Hillbilly001]

Well done as always. Cheers from Tennessee

[@davidhughes8357]

Hello neighbor.

[@danielsantiagourtado3430]

These naval battles are very interesting! Suggestion: the battle of actium!

[@bogdananghel2498]

12:54 "covering 50 miles in mere minutes" You wot m8?

[@KHK001]

Great video as always HOH!

[@Andromeda1605]

That was a very informative and detailed account of the details leading up to, and,the Battle of Coronel. I knew about the engagement as a young distant cousin who I found while researching on Ancestry was lost when the Monmouth was sunk. The RN extracted their revenge a few weeks later at the Battle of the Falkland Islands sinking the Gneisenau and Von Spee’s flagship the Scharnhorst which went down with all hands.

[@Physiker17]

Just one thing @11:53 you say "Among the turbulent south Atlantic waves..." but the engagement took place in the Pacific, right?

[@Dashiane]

this, this is a battle in the pacific coast

[@CristinaMarshal]

A quick quip from me, but can I just say how bloody brilliant and damn smooth this video looks!; And the ships' and their wakes, look so satisfying - bully to you!

[@jimsackmanbusinesscoaching1344]

There are two critical elements of this battle that you did not mention. 1 - Craddock's decision to engage could partly have been due to the soon-to-be court martial of Rear-Admiral Ernest Charles Troubridge. He was already set for trial at the time of the battle for cowardice in pursuit of the Goeben. It is quite possible that Craddock might have assumed that he would be court martialed if he did not attack. 2 - The "technical difficulties" that were faced by the Canopus were not real. The chief engineer was facing a bout of mental illness at the time. He reported these difficulties to the captain of the Canopus. Edit: A fuller and more complete retelling of this battle is here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hICkqHWlj610a80

[@JamesP.Tarpey-nw7qn]

A vague recollection of this battle returned to me in 1982. When I was the Falklands invasion happened I was the only person who knew the Argentinian military hadn't invaded some islands north of Scotland.😊

[@franksposato6072]

Someday, could you please cover the life and events of Admiral Lawrence DuBose? One of the most underrated USN captains of WW2 and the only man to sink a Japanese carrier with gunfire.

[@milspecsg]

He is decorated but it was a combination of gunfire from 4 cruisers and 9 destroyers under his command.

[@Navegante2305]

And the only reminder of the event in the city of Coronel is a small monolith in a plaza.

[@Dr.Zergling]

Yay my favorite historical period!

[@lukaszwawszczak3108]

Great video. Hope to see more of the topic. Thanks

[@LA_Viking]

Not a fan of WWI, I was delightfully surprised by the quality and content of this video. Very well done.

[@napoleonibonaparte7198]

Von Spee and Yamamoto: Realising what they do will not really stop the eventual massive reprisal.

[@davidhughes8357]

Excellent detail as always combined with a real feeling of what it might have been like to have actually been there. Thank you!

[@sof5858]

Please cover the revenge, Battle of Falkland Island 🇫🇰

[@giuseppeboemi927]

Always a pleasure.

[@nathanappleby5342]

This battle reminds me of the opening stages of the Second Boere War where the British forces were of poor quality while the Boers had the latest in European weaponry and had superior marksmanship. Their primary weapon was the German Mauser rifle not to mention they like the Germans at Coronel had superior leadership. Craddock like the British generals at the beginning of the Boer War made unwise tactical decisions for the sake of accomplishing a mission which in both cases were in vain. The British weaponry at Coronel like their tactics in the Black Week battles were underprepared and ended disastrously. However, with an improvement in tactics and more reinforcements the British broke through to the besieged cities in South Africa and in the South Atlantic when they received better quality ships, we all know what happened. Looking forward to the next video.

[@janlindtner305]

Nice to have your lectures back where they belong, in a smooth flow to us and thank you for that. Really instructive lecture, now just follow Von Spee on his route until he has to throw down the gauntlet and the circle is complete.👍👍👍Merry Chrismas❤👍🤟

[@snarky_user]

11:48. Those turbulent South Atlantic waves were actually turbulent South Pacific waves.

[@Platanis2008]

11:51 "among the turbulent South Atlantic waves"??? 🤔 12:51 the Glasgow covered 50 miles in mere minutes??? 🤔

[@etops8086]

Okay, good - I'm glad I wasn't the only one that thought that. The battle took place in the South Pacific.

[@SamTheEnglishTeacher]

Error at 11:52 - looks to me like it's south Pacific, not south Atlantic

[@spikespa5208]

Hey, he *said* it was the Atlantic, twice. Must be true....... . And according to one map used, the Falkland Islands stretch all the way to a couple hundred miles south of Cape Horn.

[@Historic_Events.Explained]

Really like this type of videos!

[@georgeamanor-boadu6771]

Amazing how they performed all these maneuvers without radars.

[@tombogan03884]

There actually wasn't much wrong with HMS Canopus. The biggest problem was the Chief Engineer having a nervous breakdown without anyone noticing. Notice the problems were all gone by the Battle of the Falklands .

[@argyrisperiferakis6404]

Nice video but the terminology used is wrong. There terms "heavy cruiser" and "light cruiser" are anachronistic. In this era the terms "armoured cruiser", "scout cruiser" and "protected cruiser" should be used instead. Also the distances between the ships are way too short even allowing for a reduced scale for illustration purposes

[@aprilonpot]

my great uncle died on HMS good hope R.I.P.

[@johnpauljones4190]

Hi! I would like to ask more of theese WW1 naval battle! This video was amazing ,much respect.

[@OhioDan]

Excellent video. One has to wonder if waiting for the Canopus before bringing on any sort of engagement would have made the difference.

[@notthefbi7932]

Just in time for my cardio workout 👍

[@theodoresmith5272]

I was thinking more like early 420.

[@notthefbi7932]

@@theodoresmith5272 No matter what time of the day it is for anybody😉 These videos always fit in perfectly 😁

[@henryniemann5692]

Hello to all ship lovers, what makes me wonder is, that in the video Scharnhorst and Gneisenau where classified as "Heavy Cruiser" instead as armoured cruiser, like their British opponents. Heavy cruiser was a classification that was invented much later, mainly after the Washington naval treaty.

[@dohcsmr1175]

Well done Sir! I have binge watched you 4 posts and looking forward to your future stories. Your intelligence, research skills and build up is outstanding. All the best to you!

[@HoH]

Welcome aboard!

[@thor498]

The british admiral being fully aware that he was abput to get his ass kicked was very sad to here

[@JoãoCarlosRamos-m5z]

The batlle was in pacific no atlantic.

[@minhthunguyendang9900]

5:39 Von Spee raid on Tahiti was for the coal reserves there, but instead he wasted ammo & didn’t get the coal. At Coronel, altho he won, ammo & coal shrank further. & when the Avengers of Coronel appeared, it was his turn. f

[@howardbursee307]

Do a video for Franz Von Hipper, please. And thank you.

[@ThePalaeontologist]

Some 'triumph'. Cradock was completely outmatched (not as an admiral, in terms of what units he had available to him) and he knew he was going to his death. It was a total mismatch, as much if not more dreadful than the later revenge the Royal Navy won at the Falklands. Cradock did what he could but he knew he had absolutely no business going up against Spee with his more modern cruisers. In turn, they were obliterated by Britain's new battlecruisers (cruiser hunter-killers) being used properly in the role they were really best at (you know, not being put in a line of battle Jutland style, acting like dreadnoughts)

[@johnfisher9692]

Absolutely correct, In fact the six I class ships were not really Battlecruisers, despite being later re-rated as such because it sounded more powerful. They were conceived, designed, built and commissioned as Dreadnought Armoured Cruisers. Their role was to hunt down enemy cruisers raiding civilian shipping and destroy it with little to no cost to themselves, which they did. When used in the role they were designed for they were excellent ships, they were never intended to face Battleship level guns such as those carried by Hippers Light Fast Battleships of 1st Scouting Group.

[@melchiorvonsternberg844]

What nonsense are you writing? This "revenge" in the Falklands was only possible because von Spee wanted to save the lives of his men and believed he could escape. If he had chosen an offensive option,. then the British squadron would have fared badly. When he reached the Falklands to cut off British communications he could easily have attacked. Because the British vessels were lying in the harbor with its pants down, its boilers almost cold, and was in the process of bunkering coal. This would have been a clay pigeon shooting, with the Germans' significantly better aiming and fire control and their far superior ammunition, on practically immobile targets. If I were the British, I wouldn't give a shit about winning the Falklands. Because this success was not possible because of a British decision, but only because of the fact that the German Comodore von Spee valued the lives of his men more than a glorious battle...

[@noepictalesmember1865]

Spee is pronounced different. Besides the shp at the beginning the double- "e" make a sound like a long "a". Even different from that, but i do not know any similar sounds in english language. In german it's the same like in: Kaffee, See, Schnee, Klee, Idee

[@mmiYTB]

If the British did not court martial Radm. Troubridge for his action against Goeben in the Mediterranean, they could have saved the Good Hope and Monmouth crews to fight another day, as Radm. Cradock would not have forced the fight. But he decided to rather die in action against superior force than face a court martial like Troubridge's.

[@JTIrons]

This reminds me of BazBattles

[@nomooon]

10:43 how Glasgow managed to slip away, ..... and when it slipped away knowing the trap, it didn't radio Cradock about the trap.... 18:36 Glasgow only had 5 wounded while sailing from the end to the front of the British line getting shot at by all German ships... Glasgow is legendary in this battle.

[@chesterzimmerman7752]

The mighty German empire will live on in the stories told

[@flycatchful]

Past Tense

[@legatemichael]

Another good video

[@redsrbest3]

Maybe I am pedantic, but could you include compass points in the representations. I love the animation graphics, but, just watched Coronel, would be nice, to at least have a N for North Cardinal. Just a thought, otherwise, keep up the great work.

[@HoH]

The map generally has the top facing north, 99 out of 100 videos.

[@LewisPulsipher]

I have always heard Von Spee's name pronounced Shpay. No e sound.

[@PappaKnugen]

I think it would be pronounced much like Schpee

[@LewisPulsipher]

@@PappaKnugen My recollection from two years of German 50 years ago is Shpay. Though I rely on how I've heard it pronounced on other videos.

[@Folgeantrag]

As a German i must correct you. The Admirals Name was "Spee" pronounced with a long e and not "Spay"

[@pavelslama5543]

4:53 What is the source for that information? Every source I have states their top speed at about 23.5kts for BOTH ships of the Scharnhorst class. How would they get such a different numbers, when neither ever got a replacement for their original engines.

[@braviodambe2371]

Did you guys take inspiration from bazbattles? (fire content btw)

[@michaelhouse6606]

South Pacific* 11:53

[@jude_the_apostle]

Only 14 percent of the sailors who fought at Coronel survived.

[@zillsburyy1]

14:00

[@tombogan03884]

The Capt. of a British gunboat in East Africa had recently "Hauled down it's colors" after being pounded to junk by SMS Konigsberg. The Captain was court martialed for cowardice. This definitely had an influence on his decision to fight.

[@jsdc002]

Britain lost the battle of Lake Erie in 1813 which was a "squadron" sized battle. Six American ships against nine British ships?

[@MightyJosh1985]

11:52. They are in the Pacific Ocean not Atlantic

[@ogfoundation]

👍 How about the raids/ naval battles on Lake Champlain in 1775/76? Green Mtn Boys and Benedict Arnold doing work and setting the victorious dominoes in motion...

[@snarky_user]

Is your narration done by text-to-speech software, because the pronunciation of 'von Spee' is near-insulting?

[@eisenelch1194]

Thanks for the video. One remark: its Gneisenau with a G, not Neisenau - saying it like that sounds like saying Glasgow without the G. After all, its german, not french

[@alejochavez7891]

Es el océano pacifico...no el Atlántico...donde de dio el encuentro...

[@g.m.5448]

Coronel is not in the south Atlantic, but in the south Pacific.

[@JerryStolar-s5q]

There are several faults with this Otranto was ordered to flee. German ships could do a maximum twenty knots.

[@jflossie583]

mayby not your cup of tea, but mayby about a litlle skirmish in belgium, battle of the silver helmets?

[@andrewhayes7055]

50 miles in mere minutes!!!!!

[@williamburroughs9686]

Since you asked. I would like to know why this war started? I know about the assassination but to start a world war over it sounds crazy. Also, and more importantly. I would like to know why the Allies were so harsh on Germany? Why they robbed and oppressed Germany and annexed the two other nations that were apart of the axis powers. Including the one that the war started in. This horrible oppression was the main reason for WWII.

[@danishkfd]

There were many contributing factors. As for start of the war: 1) tensions were really high and every nation was eager to fight. They prepared for the war for decades now. 2) France huge resentment towards Germany. In 1870 when Germany was still Prussia, tried to unite with other German states into Germany and France tried to stop it. Prussia invaded France and absolutely destroyed France and humiliated it as France was such a great power. Germany United, took alsace Lorraine after the war. French found a new nemesis. In 1905 i think when morrocan crisis happened. Over the status of Morocco Germany intervened and alot of international conferences later France and Germany relations worsened. 2) Britain and Germany had good enough relations. But when wilhelm II took power he massively expanded imperial German navy to establish a colonial empire which threatened the British naval dominance and both entered a naval arms race and innovations of dreadnoughts worsened it. 3) every nation had its claim somewhere and in a war tried to take advantage and gain their claims. Austria Hungary wanted to dominate Balkan politics and the issue is Russia which had it's allies in Balkans marking enemity between 2 nations. Ottomans wanted their former glory.

[@danishkfd]

Harsh? Allies knew it was tough. Britain thought it was too harsh and could cause future wars. Italy felt it lost too much and got almost nothing for it. France was content with the humiliation of Germany. Austria Hungary was far more destabilized even before the war and it was disbanded. Same goes for Ottomans too, except Kemal pasha of turkey managed to overturn treaty and managed to unite turkey.

[@gigachadicuspriminicus7558]

The greek cruiser one would have been more interesting

[@dejecegamer2923]

Spanish civil war naval batles. Please

[@LewisPulsipher]

Craddock was a fool. Leaders can make so much difference.

[@elvinsmatthew]

the battle of the cocos island in 1914 the allies first victory

[@grahamdominy8309]

the battle of Coronel took place in the South pacific, not the South Atlantic! Otherwise very good.

[@davidhunt8685]

Good one Von

[@Spectre1776]

You should cover the Korean and Japanese navel battles or the Dutch and English too

[@StevenSmith-dc1fq]

Gripping. Like a book you can't put down.

[@tristanrainey5080]

Spay

[@naomilove5580]

Sagrippa

[@charlesjohnson6777]

Ah yes ww1 when each ship had like 900 types of different armaments instead of one main gun 😢😢. Awesome video hoh 😊

[@Lapsontheboy]

Alright i hope that Zgermans won -oh wait-shizen!

[@Dilley_G45]

Downvote for calling SMS Emden "infamous". Anti-German bias has so far not been a trait of this channel. Hope you do better next time. Emden was a very successful warship

[@HoH]

What a ridiculously harsh comment due to misinterpreting my words.

[@spikespa5208]

The word used should have been just "famous". Karl von Müller showed great civility during his raid in the Indian Ocean. Nothing infamous about it.

[@andreavoigtlander1087]

I guess you will do 2 German Victories and 2 British Victories. Better then nothing. Though i dont particularly enjoy to see germany lose in WWI. It always makes me sad. ): But i got of topic. I loved this video. There is this video from "Historiograph" that is so much worse. He was so pro british. His video is kinda garbage in my opinion. He even called von Speer a Nuisance. But well i am pretty biased if it comes to WWI especially. So yeah. But im Happy that you are more Fair. (:

[@mbryson2899]

As a neutral observer I must agree if Historiograph actually called von Spee's squadron a mere nuisance. It did very, very little to impact shipping and only managed to sink two irrelevant, obsolete armored cruisers before it was annihilated at the Falklands. Overall, the Kaiser's surface warships were notoriously ineffective in affecting trade, with the notable exception of the _SMS Emden,_ of course. Do you have any facts or examples that would show that they were even remotely effective or worthwhile? If so, I would enjoy learning about it.

[@mbryson2899]

@fabianvoigtlander1042 He occupied the Entente for a hair over four months. Honestly, how was that a success?

[@md.harunorrashid2117]

Are you from Poland?

[@Thomas_Name]

Bias aside I think Historiograph's videos are quite good. One of the best history channels on KZbin imo.

[@MarcusAgrippa390]

I hate to be the one to tell you this but Germany lost the whole war... At sea. And on land. But as a history buff the only thing that should matter is what is historically accurate. History of any kind simply means that the event has already happened.

[@CaspCic]

Germans never 'lurke' - pls don't use that word so extensively.

[@antred11]

The German name "Spee" is pronounced more like spay ... it's not exactly that, but certainly closer than your spee-pronunciation.

[@KalebRandalLoshbough]

Plz never stop making video Oscar

[@EllroyMcBong]

Good documentary, but it would have been better if you would have pronounced "von Spee" correctly: kzbin.info/www/bejne/baXaf6B6qcl0h8k

[@korosuke1788]

I can't listen to this. "Spee" in English sounds soooo far from "Schpeh" and sooo close to pee. Unwatchable.

[@Chaz_Enjoyer]

Histograph is arse in comparison to you

[@harryshriver6223]

A resounding victory for the Germans and another humiliating defeat of the British. One would hope, they would take their threat more seriously in the future of World War I. I imagine they did and sought revenge for their fallen sailors and officers.

[@obvious-troll]

The Germans got destroyed by the Royal Navy a few days later at the Battle of the Falklands "another humiliating defeat of the British" Another humiliating defeat? Another? This was their first defeat in over a century!

[@spikespa5208]

You "....imagine..." there was revenge? Uhhh.......yeah.

[@harryshriver6223]

@@spikespa5208 It is my opinion, which honestly you don't have to agree with my assumptions or assertions. You are free to make your own summations, fair enough?

[@spikespa5208]

Just said that there was little to imagine about what the RN's response would be, and was.

[@harryshriver6223]

@@spikespa5208 No te preocupes, amigo y nunca se le olvido sus derechos, sabes que?

[@FeralUrchin]

The lengthy and early interruption by your advertizer "Aura" is totally unacceptable. I'm blocking your channel.

[@bobns509]

"Heavy Cruiser" didn't even exist as a Class in WW1. Only "Armoured cruiser", which shows how your video lack historic accuracy. I fully understand that you have that urge to find whatever "fact" to show how Germans were overwhelmingly stronger, yet, you are trying to do that only by skewing the facts. Let's see will you tell your public that every single british ship was at least One Class above German Ships in a Falkland battle?

[@marcostation1000]

In my country we say. Your are faker than england history

[@georgeamanor-boadu6771]

Amazing how they performed all these maneuvers without radars.

[@Historic_Events.Explained]

Really like this type of videos!

[@philjohnson1744]

I always find naval warfare fascinating. Nice video.