Spee immediately turned to close and signalled his ships to open fire at 19:04, when the range closed to . Spee's flagship, "Scharnhorst", engaged "Good Hope" while "Gneisenau" fired at "Monmouth". The German shooting was very accurate, with both armoured cruisers quickly scoring hits on their British counterparts while still outside six-inch gun range, starting fires on both ships. Cradock, knowing his only chance was to close the range, continued to do so despite the battering that Spee's ships inflicted. By 19:23 the range was almost half of that when the battle began and the British ships bore onwards. One shell from "Gneisenau" blew the roof off "Monmouth"s forward turret and started a fire, causing an ammunition explosion that completely blew the turret off the ship.