STURDEE, SIR Frederick Charles Dove ton, English admiral: b. 1859. He entered the navy in 1871 and served in the Egyptian War of 1882; assistant to the director of Naval Ord nance, 1893-97; became captain in 1899 and com manded the British force in Samoa in that year ; rear-admiral in 1908. From 1900 to 1902 he was assistant director of naval intelligence, be came chief of staff in the Mediterranean fleet in 1905 and in the Channel fleet in 1907. He was made rear-admiral of the First battle squadron in 1910, and commander of the second cruiser squadron in 1912. At the outbreak of the Euro pean War Vice-Admiral Sturdee was chief of the war staff at the Admiralty. After the disas trous engagement off Coronel (q.v.), resulting in the loss of Admiral Cradock (q.v.) and three ships, Sturdee was dispatched with a squadron to deal with the German Admiral von Spee. The squadron arrived at Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands (q.v.) on 7 Dec. 1914, and
early next monring, as if by arrangement, the five German battleships accompanied by two transports arrived off Port Stanley from the direction of Cape Horn. Von Spee expected to find only the remnants of Cradock's squad don, the Canopus and Glasgow, and also in tended to seize the wireless station, at which a shell was fired at 9 A.M. Half an hour later, on coming abreast the harbor mouth, he saw the strength of the hidden British squadron. He hastily put to sea, and Sturdee's command steamed out in pursuit. The running fight Lasted all day, and by nightfall Von Spee had gone down with four of his ships and the two transports, only one, the Dresden, =Icing her escape. That vessel, however, was sunk on 14 March 1915. See WAIT, EUROPEAN: NAVAL OPERATIONS.