Nautical · Wargame

The Pursuit of von Spee

At the outbreak of the First World War the greatest concentration of German warships outside of the North Sea was the famed East Asiatic Squadron. Winner of the Kaiser's Cup for two consecutive years, a competition testing the gunnery of His Majesty's warships, the East Asiatic Squadron was commanded by Admiral Maximilian von Spee. The East Asiatic Squadron was made up of fast and modern ships. The flagship was the Scharnhorst, a fast armoured cruiser with 8.2" guns. Her sister-ship, the Gneisenau, boasted the same specifications. In addition to these two armoured cruisers, there were the light cruisers Leipzig, Nürnberg, and Emden, all very fast and armed with 4.1" guns. This fleet provided the greatest threat to Allied shipping outside of the north Atlantic.

1–2 players120 minlight difficulty

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About the game

What is The Pursuit of von Spee

Spee had several options when news of the war reached him. The greatest concentration of Allied merchant shipping in the region was at the approaches to the Red Sea, where convoys from India, China, and Australia passed through the Suez Canal. But there were no places for German ships to coal in the Indian Ocean, and operating there would bring Spee into contact with the Royal Navy China Station and the powerful but slow Triumph. Operating in the northern Pacific was ruled out because of the powerful Japanese fleet, easily the largest in the Pacific. Operating around the Dutch East Indies and Australia was also discarded because it would bring the East Asiatic Squadron within the sights of the Australia, a battlecruiser with 12" guns. With few options, Spee decided to head across the Pacific where he could indirectly disrupt Allied shipping and hopefully cause enough consternation within the Royal Navy that several important ships would be detached from the Home Fleet. The south Pacific had plenty of islands from which Spee and his ships could supply and the islands also provided an effective hiding place. With luck, Spee could reach South America and coal from neutral ports there, enter the Atlantic Ocean, feast on the rich merchant shipping around Montevideo, and maybe even reach Germany.

Not all commanders concurred and the captain of the Emden proposed that his vessel would head west into the Indian Ocean where a lone ship could more easily stay hidden and coal from captured merchants. Spee agreed and the Emden sailed west while the East Asiatic Squadron sailed east, where they were expected to meet the Dresden en route from the Atlantic.

What followed was one of the greatest war time adventures at sea.

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