100 years ago: Britain's first naval defeat of WWI

The Battle of Coronel – the first humiliating defeat at sea for the Royal Navy since 1812 (against the United States).

http://www.worldwar1.co.uk/coronel.html

In five weeks time it will be the centenary of the Battle of the Falkland Islands, where most of the victorious German fleet was sunk, although the light cruiser Dresden survived until the following March.