"Canopus" was still some south of Cradock when he encountered Spee's squadron, and the German ships were faster than the British cruisers, preventing Cradock from rejoining "Canopus". In the ensuing Battle of Coronel, the East Asia Squadron sank both of Cradock's armoured cruisers and damaged "Glasgow"; by the time Cradock was defeated, "Canopus" was still away. "Glasgow" and "Otranto" escaped to the south and rendezvoused with "Canopus". Spee broke off the pursuit of the fleeing British ships when he became aware that "Canopus" was in the area, writing the following day that, "against this ship, we can hardly do anything. If they had kept their forces together we should most likely have come off second best." Shortly after news of the battle reached Britain, the Royal Navy ordered all naval forces in the region to consolidate; this included the remnants of Cradock's command, along with the armoured cruisers , , and . In addition, a pair of battlecruisers— and —were detached from the Grand Fleet to hunt down and destroy Spee's squadron.