The wreck of a German battleship sunk by the Royal Navy in a decisive First World War battle with the loss of more than 800 lives has been located off the Falkland Islands.

The SMS Scharnhorst, an armoured battlecruiser which had helped to inflict an unexpected and heavy defeat on the British navy off Chile a month before her own sinking, was found at a depth of nearly a mile in the south Atlantic.

The vessel has been the subject of a five-year search to try to locate the fleet of the German naval commander, Admiral Maximillian Graf von Spee, which was destroyed in the early days of the First World War in December 1914 in what became known as the Battle of the Falkland Islands.

Graf von Spee, who was on board his flagship the Scharnhorst, and his two sons were among 2,200 German sailors who lost their lives in the battle, which saw the Royal Navy sink or scuttle all but one of the eight-strong enemy force. The Scharnhorst alone was carrying 840 crew.

This year, the world commemorated the 101st anniversary of the end of the First World War. The dreadful conflict is often being brought back into stark focus as humanity ponders the futility of the first truly global confrontation and the senseless battles that took the lives of so many millions.

This collection of amazing photographs revisits the Western Front, the home front, and beyond, and captures the faces and places caught up in this momentous, era-defining event. Click the gallery for a pictorial journey through the Great War.

State-of-the-art technology

Mensun Bound, a Falkland Islander and marine archaeologist who was in charge of the search, said: “The moment of discovery was extraordinary. We are often chasing shadows on the seabed but when the Scharnhorst first appeared, there was no doubt that this was one of the German fleet.

The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife Sophie by Gavrilo Princip precipitated a series of events that eventually led to the outbreak of the First World War. This photograph is usually associated with the arrest of Princip, although some believe it depicts Ferdinand Behr, a bystander.

Crushing defeat

When Graf von Spee attempted a surprise attack on Port Stanley a month later, the British were ready and dispatched a force led by two heavy battlecruisers - HMS Invincible and HMS Inflexible - to chase down Graf Von Spee’s ships.

The British were helped in their efforts to spot the German force by Muriel Felton, the wife a sheep farmer on the Falklands who relayed information back to Port Stanley to keep the Royal Navy updated.

German soldiers in a railway goods wagon on the way to the front. Most combatants adopted a cheerful optimism early on in the war, as all sides expected the conflict to be a short one.

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Wreckage of key WWI German battleship sunk by Royal Navy in 1914 discovered off Falkland Islands

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© Provided by The i The wreck of a German battleship sunk by the Royal Navy in a decisive First World War battle with the loss of more than 800 lives has been located off the Falkland Islands.
The SMS Scharnhorst, an armoured battlecruiser which had helped to inflict an unexpected and heavy defeat on the British navy off Chile a month before her own sinking, was found at a depth of nearly a mile in the south Atlantic.
The vessel has been the subject of a five-year search to try to locate the fleet of the German naval commander, Admiral Maximillian Graf von Spee, which was destroyed in the early days of the First World War in December 1914 in what became known as the Battle of the Falkland Islands.
Graf von Spee, who was on board his flagship the Scharnhorst, and his two sons were among 2,200 German sailors who lost their lives in the battle, which saw the Royal Navy sink or scuttle all but one of the eight-strong enemy force. The Scharnhorst alone was carrying 840 crew.

State-of-the-art technology

The discovery, led by the Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust, was made almost 105 years to the day of the battle using state-of-the art marine technology some 110 miles south east of Port Stanley, the islands’ main town, on the third day of an operation to search 4,500 square kilometres of ocean.
Mensun Bound, a Falkland Islander and marine archaeologist who was in charge of the search, said: “The moment of discovery was extraordinary. We are often chasing shadows on the seabed but when the Scharnhorst first appeared, there was no doubt that this was one of the German fleet.
Gallery: A pictorial journey through World War One (StarsInsider)

“Almost straight away we were into a debris field that said ‘battle’. Suddenly she just came out of the gloom with great guns poking in every direction.”

Crushing defeat

The destruction of Graf von Spee’s fleet, known as the East Asia Squadron, represented a decisive moment in the early naval exchanges of the First World War. In November 1914, the Germans had inflicted a crushing defeat on the Royal Navy in the Battle of Coronel with the loss of 1,600 British lives, prompting the Admiralty to dispatch a heavily reinforced squadron to the south Atlantic to track down and destroy the Scharnhorst and the other German vessels.
When Graf von Spee attempted a surprise attack on Port Stanley a month later, the British were ready and dispatched a force led by two heavy battlecruisers - HMS Invincible and HMS Inflexible - to chase down Graf Von Spee’s ships.
The British were helped in their efforts to spot the German force by Muriel Felton, the wife a sheep farmer on the Falklands who relayed information back to Port Stanley to keep the Royal Navy updated.

Protection in law

As a result of the subsequent rout, Germany lost its only permanent overseas naval formation, leaving it unable to raid British commercial ships across a large part of the globe.
The discovery of the wreck, and together with it the last resting place of hundreds of war dead, is being followed by an application to have the wreck site protected in law.
Donald Lamont, chairman of the heritage trust, which is a charity, said: “The search had as its aim the locating of all ships of the German squadron, so that we may learn more about the battle and commemorate all who perished in it. The site of the wrecks can now be protected.”

The declaration of war sparked patriotic fervor and a real sense of duty among the Allied Powers. Pictured is a busy military recruitment office in Melbourne.

'Bittersweet'

The battle inflicted a heavy toll on the Graf von Spee family with Maximilian’s sons - Heinrich and Otto - killed on two other ships in the German force, the Gneisenau and the Nurnberg.

Wilhelm Graf von Spee, the present head of the Graf von Spee family, said the discovery of the Scharnhorst was “bittersweet”. He said: “We take comfort from the knowledge that the final resting place of so many has been found, and can now be preserved, whilst also being reminded of the huge waste of life.

“As a family we lost a father and his two sons on one day. Like the thousands of other families who suffered unimaginable loss during the First World War, we remember them and must ensure that their sacrifice was not in vain.”

angel falqués

divendres, 6 de desembre del 2019