The crew of HMS Kent chased and sank a German ship – despite stretching their vessel to the limit.

As we recalled last week, the armoured cruiser was among the British fleet that scored a decisive victory over the Germans off the Falkland Islands on December 8, 1914.

The Germans, who intended to take the islands and use them as a coaling base, fled when the British opened fire. The British pursued them, sinking all but two of the German ships with the loss of many lives.

The chaplain on HMS Kent, former Oxford boy Norman Kent, later wrote a detailed account of the battle which appeared in the City of Oxford High School magazine in 1915. A copy has been sent in by Alan Trinder of Wantage.

Mr Kent described how the crew had forced one of the German ships, the Nurnberg, to surrender despite suffering many problems during the chase: “HMS Kent was short of coal and all the wood in the ship that could be utilised was broken up and used for fuel until we attained a speed of over 25 knots. This we maintained for three to four hours.

“Although our scheduled horsepower is 22,000, we worked up to 27,000 and we burst all indicators in the engine room. Our previous record speed was 22.6 knots.

“We chased the Nurnberg – we heard later that in forcing the pace, she burst three boilers. Early in the engagement, a shell burst on our upper desk immediately above my head, making us realise we had an opponent worthy of us.

“The firing continued incessantly till 6.45pm when it became clear we had won and we called on the enemy to surrender. His answer was to open fire again. We gave her three or four broadsides and at 6.55pm, she hauled down her flag. She was then a blaze of fire and obviously sinking.

“We signalled that we would stay by to pick up survivors.

“Our boats were all riddled with holes and were unseaworthy, but one was hastily patched up with canvas and red lead and though it was leaking hard, it was lowered.

“At 7.27pm the Nurnberg sank and for about two hours, we did our best to pick up survivors. Many must have been killed in the action and the cold water was too much for most of the remainder. We found only 11 with any life, and of these four died on board.

“Only seven out of a whole ship’s company (2,500) survived.”

Six crew members of HMS Kent were killed and seven severely wounded, six by burns and one by a shell. The ship was hit many times, but in no vital spots. One marine was praised for picking up a burning charge which had dropped down the ammunition hoist and smothering the flames at great risk to himself.

Mr Kent wrote: “The behaviour of every man on board was magnificent. During the action, the excitement was, of course, intense, but we all had our job to do and we all did it.

“My own, for example, was to do first aid work and though the noise was deafening and the flashes of burning shells and guns firing was nerve-wracking, I never felt afraid.

“After the action, the scenes were heart-rending – drowning men all round the ship, with us able to save only a very few, and our own wounded in agony.”

Norman Kent left Oxford High School in 1898, then studied at Christ’s College, Cambridge, and became a priest in 1912. He was awarded an OBE (Military) in 1919 and remained a chaplain with the Royal Navy until 1936. He was rector at Highclere, on the Berkshire-Hampshire border, from 1938 to 1952. He died in October 1952