The Fallen of November 1, 1914

Officers Aboard HMS Good Hope, Falkland Islands, 18 October 1914
(Midshipmen in the front row)

The Battle of Coronel, November 1, 1914

The Battle of Coronel took place on 1 November 1914 off the coast of central Chile near the city of Coronel. German Kaiserliche Marine forces led by Vice-Admiral Graf Maximilian von Spee met and defeated a Royal Navy squadron commanded by Rear-Admiral Sir Christopher Cradock.  Two ships were lost, the HMS Good Hope and the HMS Monmouth.  Four young men from the Royal Canadian Navy were Midshipmen on the HMS Good Hope on which all hands were lost.  All of them were graduates of first class of the Royal Navy College of Canada, set up in 1911 shortly after the Canadian Navy itself was established in 1910.  Details of the battle, newspaper articles,and ship descriptions, and information about memorials may be found online at The Coronel Memorial.

Midshipman Malcolm Cann, 18, of Yarmouth, Nova Scotia.

Midshipman John Victor W. Hatheway, 19, of Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Midshipman William Archibald Palmer, 20, of Ottawa, Ontario.

Midshipman Arthur Wiltshire Silver, 20, of Halifax, Nova Scotia.

These young men are commemorated at the Halifax Memorial which stands in honour of the memories of the men and women of the Navy, Army, and Merchant Navy who lost their lives and have unknown graves.