Sunday, July 10, 2016

1914-12-8 SMS Scharnhorst

German WWI wreck Scharnhorst discovered off Falklands

The wreck of a WW1 German armoured cruiser has been located off the Falkland Islands, where it was sunk by the British navy 105 years ago. SMS Scharnhorst was the flagship of German Vice-Admiral Maximilian Graf von Spee's East Asia Squadron. It was sunk on 8 December 1914 with more than 800 men on board, including Vice-Adm von Spee himself (in 1934 a new heavy cruiser was named after him, and was scuttled after the Battle of the River Plate).

A British squadron had pursued and engaged the German squadron. HMS Invincible and HMS Inflexible inflicted substantial damage on SMS Scharnhorst, causing it to sink with all 860 people on board. The Royal Navy then gave pursuit to the remaining German ships.

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