Spee, making a leisurely voyage back to the Atlantic, wanted to destroy the radio station at Port Stanley and sent the armoured cruiser and the light cruiser to see if the harbour was clear of British warships on the morning of 8 December. They were spotted at 07:30, although the pre-dreadnought , grounded in Stanley Harbour to defend the town and its wireless station, did not receive the signal until 07:45. Sturdee was not expecting an engagement and most of his ships were coaling – and hence temporarily defenceless. The armoured cruiser and the light cruiser had one or both of their engines under repair. The armed merchant cruiser "Macedonian" was patrolling the outer harbour entrance while the armoured cruiser was anchored in the outer harbour, scheduled to relieve the "Macedonian" at 08:00. The German ships were not expecting resistance and the first salvo from "Canopus"s guns at 09:20 caused them to sheer off from their bombardment of the wireless station and fall back on Spee's main body.