Light Cruiser Leipzig
After rendezvousing at Pagan (Marianas Islands) on 13 August 1914 and detaching the light cruiser Emden westwards to raid shipping in the Indian Ocean, von Spee's squadron, consisting of the heavy cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau and the light cruiser Nürnberg, plus assorted merchant ships, set sail eastwards. They reached Eniwetok (Marshall Islands) on 19 August, where they stopped to re-coal until 22 August. At Eniwetok, the Nürnberg was detached to sail north-east to Honolulu (arriving 1 September) to send and receive dispatches from Germany. Several merchant ships were also detached to try and purchase more coal.
From Eniwetok the main squadron continued slowly east towards Christmas Island, arriving on 6 September, to find the Nürnberg waiting for them after it had stopped to destroy the British radio station on Fanning Island on its return trip from Honolulu. At Christmas Island news reached von Spee that the German colony in Samoa had been captured by 1,400 New Zealand troops on 29 August. He decided to take the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau south to Samoa while the Nürnberg escorted the merchant ships eastwards towards the Marquesas Islands, where they arrived 26 September.
The Scharnhorst and Gneisenau arrived at Samoa at dawn on the 14 September, but von Spee's plan of surprising enemy shipping at anchor was thwarted by an empty harbour. Rather than waste irreplaceable ammunition attacking the New Zealand army camp, the German ships sailed northwest until over the horizon, before heading east. On 21 September the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau arrived at Bora Bora (a French colony) where, pretending to be French cruisers, they obtained some supplies before sailing east to Tahiti. Arriving in Tahiti on 22 September the French fortress was quickly silenced and the gunboat Zelee and merchant ship Walkure sunk. The French, however, managed to set fire to the coal stocks to prevent them being captured.
The Scharnhorst and Gneisenau then turned north to rejoin the Nürnberg at the Marquesas Islands. Once reunited, the squadron headed east towards Easter Island, arriving on 12 October. At Easter Island they were joined by the light cruisers Leipzig, which had been raiding shipping on the American Pacific coast, and the Dresden, which had entered the Pacific via Cape Horn on 16 September. The combined squadron rested at Easter Island until 18 October before resuming an eastward heading via the Juan Fernando Islands to the coast of Chile. The Nürnberg and a couple of merchant vessels were dispatched to Valparaiso, while the rest of the squadron headed on a more southerly course towards Coronel, where German intelligence reported the British light cruiser Glasgow had recently refuelled.
In the western Pacific the combined British, Australian and French naval forces were busy escorting troop ships to seize the German island colonies in the region. A New Zealand force was soon ready to attack Samoa, but lacked adequate naval protection. The Australian battle cruiser Australia, and light cruiser Melbourne were assigned to meet the New Zealand force in New Caledonia, where they would be joined by the French cruiser Montcalm. The combined force attacked and captured Samoa on 29 August. The naval ships were soon withdrawn to help escort Australian army troops in capturing German territories in New Guinea.
The land war in Europe during the early months of World War 1 went very much in favour of Germany, and there was an urgent call for the Australian and New Zealand armies to be shipped to Europe as reinforcements. The New Zealand army departed for Western Australia on 16 October escorted by the British armoured cruiser Minotaur, the Japanese battle cruiser Ibuki, and the three British 3rd class cruisers stationed to protect New Zealand waters. In Western Australia the convoy joined the Australian troop ships with additional naval escort. The combined force then sailed across the Indian Ocean, detaching the light cruiser Sydney on the way to intercept the German light cruiser Emden, which had been raiding shipping in the area for several weeks. The Australian and New Zealand armies were not destined to reach Europe in 1914 as Turkey had entered the war on Germany's side and the force disembarked in Egypt, initially to protect the Suez Canal.
At the start of the war, the only British ship patrolling the eastern Pacific was the light cruiser Glasgow. Anticipating von Spee's squadron may head eastwards, a force was hastily assembled to rendezvous at the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic. In addition to the Glasgow, the force was to consist of the armoured cruiser Monmouth, detached from the 5th Cruiser Squadron stationed in the Cape Verde Islands, and two ships recently brought out of retirement, the pre-dreadnought battleship Canopus and the armoured cruiser Good Hope. Both the Canopus and Good Hope were crewed by reservists and cadets. The squadron was placed under the command of Rear Admiral Craddock, who used Good Hope as his flagship.
On arriving in the Falkland Islands, the Canopus reported engine problems and could only make 12 knots. Craddock decided the cruisers would proceed round Cape Horn immediately, with the Canopus following at whatever speed it could make. Almost as soon as the cruisers had departed, the engine problems reported by Canopus were found to be inaccurate and that the ship was capable of around 16 knots (still much slower than the cruisers top speed of 21 knots). However it was too late to recall the cruisers and Canopus followed the cruisers alone. The cruisers, joined by the armed merchant liner Otranto, reached Coronel on 31 October, aware that a German light cruiser was in the region. Some 250 miles (400 kms) to the south, the Canopus was approaching as fast as it could in heavy seas.
The stage for the Battle of Coronel on 1 November 1914 was set.