The Admiralty command crisis behind Coronel

One explanation for the British failure is an Admiralty distracted by press attacks on First Sea Lord Louis of Battenberg and by Winston Churchill's operational intervention. Its newly assembled war staff had not established a disciplined process for converting political direction into precise naval orders, allowing Churchill to send operational messages in his own wording. Ernest Troubridge's court-martial after declining battle with Goeben and Breslau then sent serving admirals a powerful warning about the consequences of refusing action. Although Troubridge was acquitted, his seagoing career was effectively over, and Cradock knew it. Cradock therefore received vague instructions in an institutional climate that strongly rewarded engagement even when his ships, speed, and information argued for restraint.