On 14th September von Spee's squadron touched at Apia, and on the 22nd two of his cruisers arrived off Papeete, in Tahiti, one of the loveliest of the Pacific Islands. A small French gunboat was sunk, and the town was bombarded. Then his squadron of five warships with attendant colliers concentrated near Valparaiso, and he was ready, like a twentieth-century Drake, to prey ruthlessly upon the merchantmen that came round the Horn.
Von Spee did not expect that he would go unmolested. He knew that Britain had a squadron which was even then cruising northwards along the coast of Chile, under the command of a renowned seaman, Sir Christopher Cradock. But this squadron was all too weak to meet him in fair fight. It consisted of two armoured cruisers, the _Good Hope_ and the _Monmouth_, the light cruiser _Glasgow_, and an armed liner, the _Otranto_, the latter being incapable of engaging a ship of war. None of the vessels was speedy, and none was heavily armed. The _Canopus_, a seventeen-year-old battleship, was on its way to meet him, but had not yet arrived. Von Spee could count on sixteen 8.2-inch guns, and to oppose them Cradock had but two 9.2-inch guns. When the _Canopus_ joined him his big-gun armament would be increased by four 12-inch guns, but even then the British squadron would be inferior in weight of broadside to the German squadron. Nor had the British any advantage of speed. The _Glasgow_ could do 26 knots an hour, but the _Monmouth_ could only do 23. In big guns, speed, and armour the Germans were greatly superior. Cradock was hourly expecting reinforcements, but for some reason they were not forthcoming. One of his officers wrote as follows on 12th October: "We think the Admiralty have forgotten their trade-route squadron 10,000 miles from London town. Five German cruisers against us. Pray that we may prevent them concentrating."
They had concentrated, as we know, and Cradock had now to decide whether he would give battle with his three cruisers or wait for the arrival of the _Canopus_. He was a dashing, fearless officer, and he took the risk. He sent off a wireless message to the _Canopus_: "I am going to attack the enemy now," and ordered speed to be increased to 17 knots. It is doubtful whether the _Canopus_ ever received the message, for the enemy was "jamming the wireless"--that is, was sending out bogus messages to interfere with the messages of the British flagship. At any rate, the _Canopus_ did not join Cradock, and he steamed without her towards the foe.