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The Pursuit of Admiral von Spee: Study in Loneliness and Bravery
Great for the holidays. Lesley Anne Ivory's playful cat paintings really hail in the yuletide joy! Watch her cats play under the dressed tree, amidst the tinsel and wreaths, and on the snowy window panes of Christmas. Includes 17 full-color paintings with decorative borders throughout.
179 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1969
17 people want to read
About the author
Richard Hough
140 books24 followersRichard Alexander Hough was a British author and historian specializing in naval history. As a child, he was obsessed with making model warships and collecting information about navies around the world. In 1941, he joined the Royal Air Force and trained at a flying school near Los Angeles. He flew Hurricanes and Typhoons and was wounded in action.
After World War II, Hough worked as a part-time delivery driver for a wine shop, while looking for employment involving books. He finally joined the publishing house Bodley Head, and then Hamish Hamilton, where he eventually headed the children’s book division.
His work as a publisher inspired him to turn to writing himself in 1950, and he went on to write more than ninety books over a long and successful career. Best-known for his works of naval history and his biographies, he also wrote war novels and books for children (under the pseudonym Bruce Carter), all of which sold in huge numbers around the world. His works include The Longest Battle: The War at Sea 1939-45, Naval Battles of the Twentieth Century and best-selling biographies of Earl Mountbatten of Burma and Captain James Cook. Captain Bligh and Mr Christian, his 1972 account of the mutiny on the Bounty, was the basis of the 1984 film The Bounty, starring Anthony Hopkins and Mel Gibson.
Hough was the official historian of the Mountbatten family and a longtime student of Churchill. Winston Churchill figures prominently in nine of his books, including Former Naval Person: Churchill and the Wars at Sea. He won the Daily Express Best Book of the Sea Award in 1972.
After World War II, Hough worked as a part-time delivery driver for a wine shop, while looking for employment involving books. He finally joined the publishing house Bodley Head, and then Hamish Hamilton, where he eventually headed the children’s book division.
His work as a publisher inspired him to turn to writing himself in 1950, and he went on to write more than ninety books over a long and successful career. Best-known for his works of naval history and his biographies, he also wrote war novels and books for children (under the pseudonym Bruce Carter), all of which sold in huge numbers around the world. His works include The Longest Battle: The War at Sea 1939-45, Naval Battles of the Twentieth Century and best-selling biographies of Earl Mountbatten of Burma and Captain James Cook. Captain Bligh and Mr Christian, his 1972 account of the mutiny on the Bounty, was the basis of the 1984 film The Bounty, starring Anthony Hopkins and Mel Gibson.
Hough was the official historian of the Mountbatten family and a longtime student of Churchill. Winston Churchill figures prominently in nine of his books, including Former Naval Person: Churchill and the Wars at Sea. He won the Daily Express Best Book of the Sea Award in 1972.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 22, 2026
The Pursuit of Admiral von Spee: Study in Loneliness and Bravery by Richard Hough:
In the past year I have read Robert K. Massie's "Dreadnought" and "Castles of Steel" and naturally, I've become both more interested in and quite educated on sea power in World War I. While reading "Castles of Steel", I became intrigued to learn more about the German Admiral von Spee and the deadly pursuit for him and his East Asiatic Squadron that lasted four months and many thousands of miles. A quick search showed me that not many books have been published on this very specific and unique subject in many, many years. This book was published in the 1960s, which seems more recently than it is. I had to remind myself that the book's publication was far closer to the events in the book than my reading of the book itself was. Also, when the book was written, many veterans of World War I were living and the war was in living memory. Now, living memory from the war is essentially gone (there is still one living subject of Edward VII, she was born in 1909, so maybe she does have some memories of the conflict). Lastly, I did learn that the last veteran of the Royal Navy in WWI died only in 2011.
Now to this book and the story it tells. I liked the book itself a lot, it got to the point and is short (170 pages) and wasn't too technical so the average reader can pick it up. The writing is also nothing spectacular, but that's okay with me. There are good little biographies on principal characters like von Spee, Cradock, and Sturdee. There is also a lot of information on naval ships of the day, including their sizes, gunnery, and how they operated.
So what's it about? In 1914, the world was largely controlled by European powers (just look at a map of Africa). At that time, China was an incredibly weak country and many of these powers (plus the United States and Japan) were taking advantage of its weakness. The British had Hong Kong, the Portuguese had Macao, and so on and so forth. The German Empire, late to the game and only an empire for a few decades, was desperately trying to keep up and create a colonial Empire. As a result, they acquired the port of Tsingtao (now Qingdao) on the Shandong Peninsula in China. Tsingtao was a smart little piece of Germany in the Far East, with well-manicured parks, gardens, brick houses, and a brewery that made (and still makes) Tsingtao Beer. Tsingtao hosted the East Asiatic Squadron of the Imperial Navy. All was well and good, the Germans and their commander, Admiral von Spee, a naturalist and honorable man, got on well with Chinese (as much as conquerors could) and the other Europeans in the neighborhood. Until 1914, that is...
The East Asiatic Squadron had to patrol a lot of ground. The Kaiser and Germany desperately wanted to have a grand navy like the British Empire and by 1914, they did. However, it was still not as great or far spread as the British. During August of that year the squadron found itself on the island of Panape when they heard that the war had broken out. von Spee and his men, including his two sons, knew they couldn't go back to Tsingtao, which was quickly besieged by the Japanese Navy. They knew they couldn't go to Australia or to India, where mighty British ships patrolled. They decided to make a break for it to the east, sailing their way across the Pacific and hopefully somehow back to Germany one day, destroying as many enemy ships as possible on the way.
In those days, ships were powered by coal and logistics played an incredible part of a journey. There had to be coaling stations, coal agents in foreign ports, and colliers for the process. Ships also relied on combinations of speed, armor, and gunnery, a great combination of all three was hard to come by. von Spee's principal ships were armored cruisers, slow and well protected. The maverick British ships of the day were battle cruisers, which were fast and powerful, but weakly armored. These factors would play a key role in von Spee's story.
So the Germans set off across the vast Pacific, island hopping, passing the Equator, coaling when necessarily, carrying livestock on the ships for food, bored to death over the endless ocean and curious what's happening with the war in Europe. Tsingtao falls to the Japanese, but no one can find von Spee. The British know he's loose and headed for South America and the Atlantic eventually. The main British fleet is preoccupied with containing the main German fleet in Europe, so they send a ragtag force led by Admiral Cradock, a sort of fatalistic fellow who is a ready to die for his country.
Meanwhile, von Spee and co. reach the Galapagos, where they encounter some archaeologists who have no idea the war is on. They head down the coast of Chile and suddenly hit Cradock's force off of Coronel. Cradock, who knew he was being sent off to die, is utterly destroyed and most of his ships are sunk, only the little Glasgow light cruiser survives to tell the tale. The Battle of Coronel is the first British defeat at sea in over 100 years. The Germans head into Valparaiso, Chile and party with the huge German community that lives there (except for von Spee, who went about his duty solemnly) and the British are left scrambling to destroy this rogue group of Germans.
Admiral von Spee and his men know there luck's going to run out eventually, so they make a break for it around Cape Horn, passing through terrible gales that that part of the world is known for, and head for the British-owned Falkland Islands off Argentina, thinking they're undefended due to a miscommunication. But, this time the British are ready. They've sent two of their high-powered armored cruisers lead by Admiral Sturdee, and also made a fortress out of an old battleship with heavy guns, by burrowing it in the harbor. The opposite result from the earlier battle happens, and the Germans are wiped out, von Spee and his ship go down with all hands. His two sons perish as well, and the Brits only rescue a few survivors out of a force of several thousand. Only one ship escapes.
So, the Falklands are saved and after that point there are virtually no other German ships outside of Europe. Of course, the U-Boats come later and the Battle of Jutland is fought in 1916, but the naval war sort of becomes cold after this campaign. To me, this is an utterly fascinating piece of history and also worth reading about and studying. I find von Spee's character remarkable, a true gentleman of his times. The German Empire Germans were much different than the Germans of Nazi Germany, and it's a shame that the German Empire was utterly destroyed, for it ruined a lot. I find von Spee's journey incredible, literally spanning half the globe and many different biomes. I find the fact that enemies would sink each other and then rescue each other very chivalrous, I'm not sure if that was practiced in World War II.
I wrote a long review because I wanted to remember this story well. I also know that this book needed a bit of love on Goodreads, so hopefully one day someone will find this interesting and informative.
In the past year I have read Robert K. Massie's "Dreadnought" and "Castles of Steel" and naturally, I've become both more interested in and quite educated on sea power in World War I. While reading "Castles of Steel", I became intrigued to learn more about the German Admiral von Spee and the deadly pursuit for him and his East Asiatic Squadron that lasted four months and many thousands of miles. A quick search showed me that not many books have been published on this very specific and unique subject in many, many years. This book was published in the 1960s, which seems more recently than it is. I had to remind myself that the book's publication was far closer to the events in the book than my reading of the book itself was. Also, when the book was written, many veterans of World War I were living and the war was in living memory. Now, living memory from the war is essentially gone (there is still one living subject of Edward VII, she was born in 1909, so maybe she does have some memories of the conflict). Lastly, I did learn that the last veteran of the Royal Navy in WWI died only in 2011.
Now to this book and the story it tells. I liked the book itself a lot, it got to the point and is short (170 pages) and wasn't too technical so the average reader can pick it up. The writing is also nothing spectacular, but that's okay with me. There are good little biographies on principal characters like von Spee, Cradock, and Sturdee. There is also a lot of information on naval ships of the day, including their sizes, gunnery, and how they operated.
So what's it about? In 1914, the world was largely controlled by European powers (just look at a map of Africa). At that time, China was an incredibly weak country and many of these powers (plus the United States and Japan) were taking advantage of its weakness. The British had Hong Kong, the Portuguese had Macao, and so on and so forth. The German Empire, late to the game and only an empire for a few decades, was desperately trying to keep up and create a colonial Empire. As a result, they acquired the port of Tsingtao (now Qingdao) on the Shandong Peninsula in China. Tsingtao was a smart little piece of Germany in the Far East, with well-manicured parks, gardens, brick houses, and a brewery that made (and still makes) Tsingtao Beer. Tsingtao hosted the East Asiatic Squadron of the Imperial Navy. All was well and good, the Germans and their commander, Admiral von Spee, a naturalist and honorable man, got on well with Chinese (as much as conquerors could) and the other Europeans in the neighborhood. Until 1914, that is...
The East Asiatic Squadron had to patrol a lot of ground. The Kaiser and Germany desperately wanted to have a grand navy like the British Empire and by 1914, they did. However, it was still not as great or far spread as the British. During August of that year the squadron found itself on the island of Panape when they heard that the war had broken out. von Spee and his men, including his two sons, knew they couldn't go back to Tsingtao, which was quickly besieged by the Japanese Navy. They knew they couldn't go to Australia or to India, where mighty British ships patrolled. They decided to make a break for it to the east, sailing their way across the Pacific and hopefully somehow back to Germany one day, destroying as many enemy ships as possible on the way.
In those days, ships were powered by coal and logistics played an incredible part of a journey. There had to be coaling stations, coal agents in foreign ports, and colliers for the process. Ships also relied on combinations of speed, armor, and gunnery, a great combination of all three was hard to come by. von Spee's principal ships were armored cruisers, slow and well protected. The maverick British ships of the day were battle cruisers, which were fast and powerful, but weakly armored. These factors would play a key role in von Spee's story.
So the Germans set off across the vast Pacific, island hopping, passing the Equator, coaling when necessarily, carrying livestock on the ships for food, bored to death over the endless ocean and curious what's happening with the war in Europe. Tsingtao falls to the Japanese, but no one can find von Spee. The British know he's loose and headed for South America and the Atlantic eventually. The main British fleet is preoccupied with containing the main German fleet in Europe, so they send a ragtag force led by Admiral Cradock, a sort of fatalistic fellow who is a ready to die for his country.
Meanwhile, von Spee and co. reach the Galapagos, where they encounter some archaeologists who have no idea the war is on. They head down the coast of Chile and suddenly hit Cradock's force off of Coronel. Cradock, who knew he was being sent off to die, is utterly destroyed and most of his ships are sunk, only the little Glasgow light cruiser survives to tell the tale. The Battle of Coronel is the first British defeat at sea in over 100 years. The Germans head into Valparaiso, Chile and party with the huge German community that lives there (except for von Spee, who went about his duty solemnly) and the British are left scrambling to destroy this rogue group of Germans.
Admiral von Spee and his men know there luck's going to run out eventually, so they make a break for it around Cape Horn, passing through terrible gales that that part of the world is known for, and head for the British-owned Falkland Islands off Argentina, thinking they're undefended due to a miscommunication. But, this time the British are ready. They've sent two of their high-powered armored cruisers lead by Admiral Sturdee, and also made a fortress out of an old battleship with heavy guns, by burrowing it in the harbor. The opposite result from the earlier battle happens, and the Germans are wiped out, von Spee and his ship go down with all hands. His two sons perish as well, and the Brits only rescue a few survivors out of a force of several thousand. Only one ship escapes.
So, the Falklands are saved and after that point there are virtually no other German ships outside of Europe. Of course, the U-Boats come later and the Battle of Jutland is fought in 1916, but the naval war sort of becomes cold after this campaign. To me, this is an utterly fascinating piece of history and also worth reading about and studying. I find von Spee's character remarkable, a true gentleman of his times. The German Empire Germans were much different than the Germans of Nazi Germany, and it's a shame that the German Empire was utterly destroyed, for it ruined a lot. I find von Spee's journey incredible, literally spanning half the globe and many different biomes. I find the fact that enemies would sink each other and then rescue each other very chivalrous, I'm not sure if that was practiced in World War II.
I wrote a long review because I wanted to remember this story well. I also know that this book needed a bit of love on Goodreads, so hopefully one day someone will find this interesting and informative.
January 30, 2025
There is not much Hough can add to all accounts of the WWI Coronel and Falklands battles , but in his slick writing we do get some background information on Spee and Craddock usually missing in other books. What remains is the overwhelming feeling of waste. Pointless waste of young lives , mostly out of the urge to avoid losing face or worse. Especially in case of one of the unluckiest admirals ever; Kit Craddock.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews