 At the end of September , Cradock made his first fruitless search of the Tierra del Fuego area and later detached three of his ships to search up the Chilean coast , reaching Valparaiso on 15 October , while Good Hope returned to Port Stanley , in the Falkland Islands , to recoal and to reestablish communications with the Admiralty . He received word on 7 October that Spee 's ships were definitely bound for the Cape Horn region and waited for the elderly predreadnought battleship Canopus to reinforce his squadron . She was in poor mechanical condition when she arrived at Port Stanley and required time to make repairs . Good Hope sailed on 22 October without her , going around Cape Horn , while Canopus and three colliers departed the following day , taking the shorter route through the Strait of Magellan . 
