Maximilian von Spee faced an isolated command with few plausible routes home. Scuttling the squadron and taking its crews overland through Asia would have created political and logistical problems. The sailors were equipped for service at sea, not an extended land campaign, and abandoning the ships also raised the question of what to do with the overseas garrison. Taking the armoured cruisers and their escorts across the Pacific preserved a fighting force despite its weak long-term position.
Chapter · 55:08-58:40
Von Spee's seaborne escape problem
An overland escape required abandoning the ships and moving sailors without suitable land equipment across Asia; sailing east preserved von Spee's cruiser force.