by
Robert Taylor
Beautiful print which features the German East Asiatic
Squadron Warships
at Anchor shortly before they sailed to war, 1914.
Comes with a companion print 'Scharnhorst At Anchor' $195
33" by 23"
500 signed and numbered prints
$195
comes with companion print below
Scharnhorst At Anchorage
23" by 17"
At the outbreak of World War I, Germany,s East Asiatic squadron, consisting
of two large armoured cruisers and three light cruisers under the command
of Vice Admiral Graf Spee, traveled from their base at Tsingtao in northern
China, across the western Pacific to the coast of Chile. On 1st November
they were intercepted off the Chilean port of Coronel by a British Squadron
where, enjoying a large advantage in firepower, the encounter ended with
a resounding victory for Admiral Graf Spee.
The British Admiralty reacted swiftly, dispatching a powerful naval force to the South Atlantic to confront the German squadron, and on 9th December battle commenced some 120 miles south west of the Falkland Islands. Outnumbered, outgunned, and outpaced by the British force, the Battle of the Falklands was over by nightfall. Von Spee and the entire crew of his flagship Scharnhorst perished, and with Leipzig, Nurnberg and Gneisenau also sunk, the East Asiatic Squadron was routed. Only Dresden escaped and when she was scuttled in Chilean waters four months later, the East Asiatic Squadron ceased to exist.
This painting shows ships of the East Asiatic Squadron at anchor in
a Pacific island bay prior to the outbreak of hostilities in 1914. The
ships are, left to right, the light cruisers Nurnberg and Dresden, cruiser
Gneisenau, and von Spee's flagship Scharnhorst.
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