Graf Spee's Raiders: Challenge to the Royal Navy, 1914-1915 Review

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(More customer reviews)The story of the German East Asia Cruiser Squadron in the first months of World War I is largely forgotten. Mr. Yates brings to life the story of the courageous men who served under Admiral von Spee, and the equally courageous men who sought, fought, and, ultimately destroyed the Kreuzergeschwader. It is a story of great courage, seamanship, and nobility on the high seas.Mr. Yates does not sugar coat in his analysis of the blunders made, first by the British Admiralty, in sending a force of antiquated cruisers, with conflicting orders, to meet von Spee, which results in a crushing German victory at Coronel--the first sea battle ever fought by the German navy. This nasty blow to British pride in turn leads to the Admiralty's decision to send two of their most modern battle cruisers to hunt von Spee. Yates relates to the reader the sense of inevitability that pervaded the German force after Coronel, awfully realized at the Falklands, where the British finally destroy the German East Cruiser Squadron. Yates also tells the story of the other German cruisers who preyed on the high seas in the opening months of the war: the Emden, Karlsruhe, and Konigsberg, all of whom had succesful careers as raiders before meeting their respective fates. However, the fulcrum of the book remains the exploits of the German East Cruiser Squadron, and its remarkable, brief, and violent career. It is a book that leaves you with nothing but admiration for the men who sailed in the German and British ships, their selflessness, and their courage.

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