The Battle of the River Plate was the first naval battle in the
Second World WarWorld War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. The
GermanThe Kriegsmarine was the name of the German Navy during the Nazi regime . It superseded the Kaiserliche Marine of World War I and the post-war Reichsmarine. The Kriegsmarine was one of three official branches of the Wehrmacht, the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany.The Kriegsmarine grew rapidly...
pocket battleshipThe Deutschland class was a series of three panzerschiffe , a form of heavily armed cruiser, built by the Reichsmarine officially in accordance with restrictions imposed by the Treaty of Versailles...
had been
commerce raidingCommerce raiding or guerre de course is a form of naval warfare used to destroy or disrupt the logistics of an enemy on the open sea by attacking its merchant shipping, rather than engaging the combatants themselves or enforcing a blockade against them.Commerce raiding was heavily criticised by...
since the start of the war in September 1939. One of the hunting groups sent by the British Admiralty to search for Graf Spee, comprising three
Royal NavyThe Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
(RN)
cruiserA cruiser is a type of warship. The term has been in use for several hundreds of years, and has had different meanings throughout this period...
s, , and (the last of the
New Zealand DivisionThe New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy was formed in 1921 and remained in existence until 1941. It was the precursor to the Royal New Zealand Navy .Originally the British Royal Navy provided total security for the colony of New Zealand...
), found and engaged their quarry off the
estuaryAn estuary is a partly enclosed coastal body of water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea....
of the
River PlateThe Río de la Plata —sometimes rendered River Plate in British English and the Commonwealth, and occasionally rendered [La] Plata River in other English-speaking countries—is the river and estuary formed by the confluence of the Uruguay River and the Paraná River on the border between Argentina and...
off the coast of Argentina and
UruguayUruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
in South America. was also part of the hunting group, but she was refitting in the
Falkland IslandsThe Falkland Islands are an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean, located about from the coast of mainland South America. The archipelago consists of East Falkland, West Falkland and 776 lesser islands. The capital, Stanley, is on East Falkland...
.
In the ensuing battle, Exeter was severely damaged and forced to retire, while all other ships sustained moderate damage. Graf Spee′s fuel system was crippled. The Ajax and Achilles shadowed the German ship until it entered the port of
MontevideoMontevideo is the largest city, the capital, and the chief port of Uruguay. The settlement was established in 1726 by Bruno Mauricio de Zabala, as a strategic move amidst a Spanish-Portuguese dispute over the platine region, and as a counter to the Portuguese colony at Colonia del Sacramento...
, the capital city of
neutralA neutral power in a particular war is a sovereign state which declares itself to be neutral towards the belligerents. A non-belligerent state does not need to be neutral. The rights and duties of a neutral power are defined in Sections 5 and 13 of the Hague Convention of 1907...
Uruguay, to effect urgent repairs. After the Graf Spees captain
Hans LangsdorffHans Wilhelm Langsdorff was a German naval officer, most famous for his command of the Panzerschiff Admiral Graf Spee during the Battle of the River Plate. He held the rank of Kapitän zur See....
was told that his stay could not be extended beyond 72 hours, he
scuttledScuttling is the act of deliberately sinking a ship by allowing water to flow into the hull.This can be achieved in several ways—valves or hatches can be opened to the sea, or holes may be ripped into the hull with brute force or with explosives...
his damaged ship rather than face the overwhelmingly superior force that the British had led him to believe was awaiting his departure.
The battle ended with repairable damage to the British contingent, while the German surface fleet suffered the loss of one its few
capital shipThe capital ships of a navy are its most important warships; they generally possess the heaviest firepower and armor and are traditionally much larger than other naval vessels...
s.
Background
Admiral Graf Spee had been at sea at the start of the Second World War in September 1939, and had sunk several merchantmen in the Indian Ocean and South Atlantic Ocean without loss of life, due to her captain's policy of taking all crews on board before sinking the victim.
The Royal Navy assembled nine forces to search for the surface raider. Force G—the South American Cruiser Squadron—comprised the heavy cruiser HMS Exeter of 8390 LT with six 8 in (203.2 mm) guns, and two
Leander-classThe Leander class was a class of eight light cruisers built for the Royal Navy in the early 1930s that saw service in World War II. They were named after mythological figures, and all ships were commissioned between 1933 and 1936...
light cruiserA light cruiser is a type of small- or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck...
s, both of 7270 LT (7,386.7 t) with eight 6 in (152.4 mm) guns—HMS Ajax and Achilles. Although technically a heavy cruiser because of her 8 in (203.2 mm) guns, Exeter—with her six guns (three turrets of two guns each)—was a scaled-down version of the County class, such as HMS Cumberland, which had four twin 8 in (203.2 mm), two each forward and aft. The force was commanded by Commodore
Henry HarwoodAdmiral Sir Henry Harwood Harwood, KCB, OBE , was a British naval officer who won fame in the Battle of the River Plate.-Early life:...
from Ajax, which was captained by
Charles WoodhouseAdmiral Sir Charles Henry Lawrence Woodhouse KCB was an officer of the Royal Navy.-Naval career:Woohouse joined the Royal Navy in 1906. He served in World War I and specialized in gunnery. In 1935 he was appointed Assistant Director of Naval Equipment at the Admiralty.He captained in the Battle...
. Achilles was of the New Zealand Division (precursor to the
Royal New Zealand NavyThe Royal New Zealand Navy is the maritime arm of the New Zealand Defence Force...
) and captained by Edward Parry. Exeter was captained by
F. S. BellCaptain Frederick Secker Bell CB of the Royal Navy was the commander of during the Battle of the River Plate in December 1939.He was educated at Matfield Grange, Kent and the Royal Naval Colleges at Osborne and Dartmouth...
. A
County-classThe County class was a class of heavy cruisers built for the British Royal Navy in the years between the First and Second World Wars. They were the first post-war cruiser construction for the Royal Navy and were designed within the limits of the Washington Naval Conference of 1922...
heavy cruiser— of 10000 LT with eight 8 in (203.2 mm) guns—was refitting in the Falkland Islands at the time, but was available at short notice.
Following a raider-warning radio message from the merchantman Doric Star, which was sunk by Graf Spee off South Africa, Harwood suspected that the raider would try to strike next at the merchant shipping off the River Plate estuary between Uruguay and Argentina. He ordered his squadron to steam toward the position
32° southThe 32nd parallel south is a circle of latitude that is 32 degrees south of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses the Atlantic Ocean, Africa, the Indian Ocean, Australasia, the Pacific Ocean and South America....
,
47° westThe meridian 47° west of Greenwich is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, Greenland, the Atlantic Ocean, South America, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole....
. Harwood chose this position, according to his despatch, due to its being the most congested part of the shipping routes in the South Atlantic, and therefore the point where a raider could do the most damage to enemy shipping. A Norwegian freighter saw Graf Spee practising the use of its searchlights and radioed its course toward South America.
The three cruisers rendezvoused off the estuary on 12 December and conducted manoeuvres. Harwood's combat policy of three cruisers versus one pocket battleship was to attack at once day or night. If day, the ships would attack as two units, Exeter separate from Ajax and Achilles. If night, the ships would remain in company in open order. By attacking from two sides, Harwood hoped to give his lighter warships a chance of overcoming the German advantage of greater range and heavier broadside by dividing the enemy's fire.
Although outgunned by Graf Spee and therefore at a tactical disadvantage, the British did have the upper hand strategically. Any raider returning to Germany would have to run the blockade of the North Sea, and it might be reasonably expected that an engagement would therefore take place with the Home Fleet. For victory, the British only had to damage the raider enough so that she was unable to make either the journey and/or unable to fight the subsequent battle with the Home Fleet (by contrast the Germans would have to destroy the Allied force without being severely damaged themselves). Furthermore, because of overwhelming numerical superiority, the loss of even all three cruisers would not have severely dented Allied naval capabilities, whereas Graf Spee was one of the Kriegsmarine′s
capital shipThe capital ships of a navy are its most important warships; they generally possess the heaviest firepower and armor and are traditionally much larger than other naval vessels...
s. The British could afford to risk a tactical defeat if it brought overall strategic victory.
The battle
On 13 December, the ships sighted each other and closed. Admiral Graf Spee—despite having correctly identified Exeter—initially suspected that the two light cruisers were smaller destroyers and that the British ships were protecting a merchant convoy, the destruction of which would be a major prize. Since Graf Spee′s reconnaissance aircraft was out of service, Langsdorf relied on lookouts for this information. He decided to engage, despite having received a broadly accurate report from the German naval staff on 4 December outlining British activity in the River Plate area. This report included information that Ajax, Achilles, Exeter and Cumberland were patrolling the South American coast. Langsdorf realised too late that he was facing three cruisers. Calling upon the immediate acceleration of his diesel engines, he closed the enemy squadron at 24 kn (29.2 mph; 47 km/h) in the hope of engaging the steam-driven British ships before they could work up from cruising speed to full power. This strategy may seem an inexplicable blunder. Langsdorf could perhaps have manoeuvered to keep the British ships at a range where he could destroy them with his 11 in (279.4 mm) guns while remaining out of the effective range of their smaller 6- and 8-inch guns. On the other hand, he knew the British cruisers had a 4 kn (4.9 mph; 7.8 km/h) speed advantage over Graf Spee and could in principle stay out of range should they choose to do so—standard cruiser tactics in the presence of a superior force—while calling on reinforcements.
The British executed their battle plan: Exeter turned north-west, while Ajax and Achilles—operating together—turned north-east to spread Graf Spee′s fire. Graf Spee opened fire on Exeter at 19000 yd (17,373.6 m) with her six 11 in (279.4 mm) guns at 06:18. Exeter opened fire at 06:20, Achilles at 06:21, Exeter′s aft guns at 06:22 and Ajax at 06:23. From her opening salvo, Graf Spee′s gunfire proved fairly accurate, her third salvo straddling Exeter. At 06:23, an 11 in (279.4 mm)
shellA shell is a payload-carrying projectile, which, as opposed to shot, contains an explosive or other filling, though modern usage sometimes includes large solid projectiles properly termed shot . Solid shot may contain a pyrotechnic compound if a tracer or spotting charge is used...
burst just short of Exeter, abreast the middle of the ship. Splinters from this shell killed the torpedo tubes' crews, damaged the ship's communications, riddled the ship's funnels and searchlights and wrecked the ship's
WalrusThe Supermarine Walrus was a British single-engine amphibious biplane reconnaissance aircraft designed by R. J. Mitchell and operated by the Fleet Air Arm . It also served with the Royal Air Force , Royal Australian Air Force , Royal Canadian Air Force , Royal New Zealand Navy and Royal New...
aircraft just as it was to be launched for gunnery spotting. Three minutes later, Exeter suffered a direct hit in her "B"-turret, putting it and its two guns out of action. Shrapnel swept the bridge, killing or wounding all bridge personnel except the captain and two others. Captain Bell's communications were wrecked. Communications from the
aftAft, in naval terminology, is an adjective or adverb meaning, towards the stern of the ship, when the frame of reference is within the ship. Example: "Able Seaman Smith; lay aft!". Or; "What's happening aft?"...
conning position were also destroyed, and the ship had to be steered via a chain of messengers for the rest of the battle.
Meanwhile, Ajax and Achilles closed to 13000 yd (11,887.2 m) and started making in front of Graf Spee, causing her to split her main armament at 06:30, and otherwise use her 5.9 in (149.9 mm) guns against them. At 06:32, Exeter fired two
torpedoThe modern torpedo is a self-propelled missile weapon with an explosive warhead, launched above or below the water surface, propelled underwater towards a target, and designed to detonate either on contact with it or in proximity to it.The term torpedo was originally employed for...
es from her starboard tubes but both missed. At 06:37, Ajax launched her
Fairey Seafox spotter
floatplaneA floatplane is a type of seaplane, with slender pontoons mounted under the fuselage; only the floats of a floatplane normally come into contact with water, with the fuselage remaining above water...
from its
catapultAn aircraft catapult is a device used to launch aircraft from ships—in particular aircraft carriers—as a form of assisted take off. It consists of a track built into the flight deck, below which is a large piston or shuttle that is attached through the track to the nose gear of the aircraft, or in...
. At 06:38, Exeter turned so that she could fire her port torpedoes, and received two more direct hits from 11 in (279.4 mm) shells. One hit "A"-turret and put it out of action, the other entered the hull and started fires. At this point Exeter was severely damaged, having only "Y"-turret still in action, a 7°
list, was being flooded and being steered with the use of her small boat's
compassA compass is a navigational instrument that shows directions in a frame of reference that is stationary relative to the surface of the earth. The frame of reference defines the four cardinal directions – north, south, east, and west. Intermediate directions are also defined...
. In return, one of Exeter′s 8 in (203.2 mm) shells penetrated two decks, then exploded in Graf Spee′s funnel area—destroying her raw fuel processing system and leaving her with just 16 hours fuel, insufficient to allow her to return home.
Thus, from 06:38, Graf Spee was doomed; she could not make the fuel system repairs (of this complexity) under fire. Two-thirds of her anti-aircraft guns were knocked out as well as one of her secondary turrets. There were no friendly naval bases within reach. She was not seaworthy and could make only the neutral port of Montevideo.
At approximately 06:36, Admiral Graf Spee hauled around from an easterly course, now behind Ajax and Achilles, toward the northwest and laid smoke. This position brought Langsdorf roughly parallel to Exeter. By 06:50, Exeter listed heavily to starboard, taking water forward. Nevertheless, she still steamed at full speed and fired with her one remaining turret. Forty minutes later, water splashed in by an 11 in (279.4 mm) near-miss short-circuited Exeter′s electrical system for that turret. Captain Bell was forced to break off action. This would have been the opportunity to finish off Exeter. Instead, the combined fire of Ajax and Achilles drew Langsdorf's attention as both ships closed.
At 06:56, Ajax and Achilles turned to starboard to bring all their guns to bear, at 07:10 causing Admiral Graf Spee to turn away and lay a smokescreen. At 07:10, the two light cruisers turned to reduce the range from 8 mi (7 nmi; 12.9 km), even though this meant only their forward guns could fire. At 07:16, Graf Spee turned to port and headed straight for the heavily damaged Exeter, but fire from Ajax and Achilles forced her at 07:20 to turn and fire her 11 in (279.4 mm) guns at them, who turned to starboard to bring all their guns to bear. Ajax turned to starboard at 07:24 and fired her torpedoes at a range of 4.5 mi (3.9 nmi; 7.2 km), causing Graf Spee to turn away under a smokescreen. At 07:25, Ajax was hit by an 11 in (279.4 mm) shell that put "X"-turret out of action and jammed "Y"-turret, causing some casualties. By 07:40, Ajax and Achilles were running low on resources and the British decided to change tactics, moving to the east under a smokescreen. Harwood decided to
shadowSurveillance is the monitoring of the behavior, activities, or other changing information, usually of people. It is sometimes done in a surreptitious manner...
Admiral Graf Spee and try to attack at night when he could attack with torpedoes and better utilise his advantage of speed and manoeuvrability while minimising his deficiencies in armour. Ajax was again hit by an 11 in (279.4 mm) shell that destroyed her mast and caused some casualties. Graf Spee continued on a south-westward course.
The pursuit
The battle now turned into a pursuit. Captain Parry of Achilles wrote afterwards: 'To this day I do not know why the Admiral Graf Spee did not dispose of us in the Ajax and the Achilles as soon as she had finished with the Exeter. The British and New Zealander cruisers split up keeping about 15 mi (13 nmi; 24.1 km) from Graf Spee. Ajax kept to the German's port and the Achilles to the starboard. At 09:15, Ajax recovered her aircraft. At 09:46, Harwood signalled to the Cumberland for reinforcement, and the Admiralty also ordered ships within 3000 mi (2,606.9 nmi; 4,828 km) to proceed to the River Plate. At 10:05, Achilles had overestimated Graf Spee′s speed, and she came into range of the German guns. Graf Spee turned and fired two three-gun salvoes with her foreguns. Achilles turned away under a smokescreen.
According to Pope, at 11:03 a merchant ship was sighted close to Graf Spee. After a few minutes, Graf Spee called Ajax on W/T using both ships' pre-war call-signs, with the signal: "please pick up lifeboats of English steamer". The German call-sign was DTGS, confirming to Harwood that the pocket-battleship he had engaged was indeed Graf Spee. Ajax did not reply but a little later the British flagship closed with SS Shakespeare with its lifeboats still hoisted and men still on board. Graf Spee had fired a gun and ordered them to stop, but when they did not obey orders to leave the ship Langsdorff decided to continue on his way, and Shakespeare had a lucky escape. The shadowing continued for the rest of the day until 19:15, when Graf Spee turned and opened fire on Ajax, which turned away under a smokescreen.
It was now clear that Graf Spee was entering the River Plate Estuary. Since the estuary had sandbanks, Harwood ordered the Achilles to shadow the Graf Spee while Ajax would cover any attempt to double back through a different channel. The sun set at 20:48, with Graf Spee
silhouetteA silhouette is the image of a person, an object or scene consisting of the outline and a basically featureless interior, with the silhouetted object usually being black. Although the art form has been popular since the mid-18th century, the term “silhouette” was seldom used until the early decades...
d against the sun. Achilles had again closed the range and Graf Spee opened fire, forcing Achilles to turn away. During the battle, a total of 108 men had been killed on both sides, including 36 on Graf Spee.
Graf Spee entered Montevideo in
neutralA neutral power in a particular war is a sovereign state which declares itself to be neutral towards the belligerents. A non-belligerent state does not need to be neutral. The rights and duties of a neutral power are defined in Sections 5 and 13 of the Hague Convention of 1907...
Uruguay, dropping anchor at about 00:10 on 14 December. This was a political error, since Uruguay, while neutral, had benefited from significant British influence during its development, and it favoured the Allies. The British Hospital, for example (where the wounded from the battle were taken) was the leading hospital in the city. The port of
Mar del PlataMar del Plata is an Argentine city located on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, south of Buenos Aires. Mar del Plata is the second largest city of Buenos Aires Province. The name "Mar del Plata" had apparently the sense of "sea of the Río de la Plata region" or "adjoining sea to the Río de la Plata"...
on the Argentine coast and 200 mi (173.8 nmi; 321.9 km) south of Montevideo would have been a better choice for Graf Spee.
Also, had Graf Spee left port at this time, the damaged Ajax and Achilles would have been the only British warships that it would have encountered in the area.
Trap of Montevideo
In Montevideo, the 13th
Hague ConventionThe Hague Conventions were two international treaties negotiated at international peace conferences at The Hague in the Netherlands: The First Hague Conference in 1899 and the Second Hague Conference in 1907...
came into play. Under Article 12, "...belligerent war-ships are not permitted to remain in the ports, roadsteads, or territorial waters of the said Power for more than twenty-four hours...", modified by Article 14 "A belligerent war-ship may not prolong its stay in a neutral port beyond the permissible time except on account of damage..." British diplomats duly pressed for the speedy departure of the Graf Spee. Also relevant was Article 16, of which part reads, "A belligerent war-ship may not leave a neutral port or roadstead until twenty-four hours after the departure of a merchant ship flying the flag of its adversary."
The Germans released 61 captive British merchant seamen who had been on board in accordance with their obligations. Langsdorff then asked the Uruguayan government for two weeks to make repairs. Initially, the British diplomats in Uruguay—principally
Eugen Millington-DrakeBritish diplomat Sir Eugen John Henry Vanderstegen Millington-Drake, KCMG, was born 26 February 1889, the son of Henry Millington-Drake. In 1920 he married Lady Effie Mackay, daughter of the 1st Earl of Inchcape, and they had four children. He died 12 December 1972.He was educated at Eton and...
—tried to have Admiral Graf Spee forced to leave port immediately. After consultation with London, which was aware that there were no significant British naval forces in the area, Millington-Drake continued to openly demand that Graf Spee leave. At the same time, the British secretly arranged for British and French merchant ships to steam from Montevideo at intervals of 24 hours, whether they had originally intended to do so or not, thus invoking Article 16. This kept Graf Spee in port and allowed more time for British forces to reach the area.
At the same time, efforts were made by the British to feed false
intelligenceMilitary intelligence is a military discipline that exploits a number of information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to commanders in support of their decisions....
to the Germans that an overwhelming British force was being assembled, including
Force HForce H was a British naval formation during the Second World War. It was formed in 1940 to replace French naval power in the western Mediterranean that had been removed by the French armistice with Nazi Germany....
(the
aircraft carrierAn aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...
and the
battlecruiserBattlecruisers were large capital ships built in the first half of the 20th century. They were developed in the first decade of the century as the successor to the armoured cruiser, but their evolution was more closely linked to that of the dreadnought battleship...
), when in fact only the heavy cruiser was nearby. Cumberland—one of the earlier
County class cruiserThe County class was a class of heavy cruisers built for the British Royal Navy in the years between the First and Second World Wars. They were the first post-war cruiser construction for the Royal Navy and were designed within the limits of the Washington Naval Conference of 1922...
s—was only a little more powerful than Exeter, with two more 8 in (203.2 mm) guns. She was no match alone for Admiral Graf Spee, whose guns had much longer range and fired much heavier shells. Cumberland arrived at 22:00 on 14 December, after steaming at full speed for 36 hours from the Falkland Islands. Overwhelming British forces (HMS Renown, Ark Royal, , , and ) were en route, but would not assemble until 19 December. For the time being, the total force comprised the undamaged Cumberland, and the damaged Ajax and Achilles. To reinforce the propaganda effect, these ships—which were waiting just outside the 3 mi (2.6 nmi; 4.8 km) limit—were ordered to make smoke, which could be clearly seen from the Montevideo waterfront.
The Germans, however, were entirely deceived, and expected to face a far-superior force on leaving the River Plate. Graf Spee had also used two-thirds of her 11 in (279.4 mm) ammunition and had only enough left for approximately a further 20 minutes of firing, which was hardly sufficient to fight her way out of Montevideo, let alone get back to Germany.
While the ship was prevented from leaving the harbour, Captain Langsdorff consulted with his command in Germany. He received orders that permitted some options, but not
internmentInternment is the imprisonment or confinement of people, commonly in large groups, without trial. The Oxford English Dictionary gives the meaning as: "The action of 'interning'; confinement within the limits of a country or place." Most modern usage is about individuals, and there is a distinction...
in Uruguay. The Germans feared that Uruguay could be persuaded to join the Allied cause. Ultimately, he chose to
scuttleScuttling is the act of deliberately sinking a ship by allowing water to flow into the hull.This can be achieved in several ways—valves or hatches can be opened to the sea, or holes may be ripped into the hull with brute force or with explosives...
his ship in the River Plate estuary on 17 December, to avoid unnecessary loss of life for no particular military advantage, a decision that is said to have infuriated
Adolf HitlerAdolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
. The crew of Admiral Graf Spee was taken to Buenos Aires, Argentina, where Captain Langsdorff committed suicide on 19 December. He was buried there with full military honours, and several British officers who were present attended. Many of the crew members were reported to have moved to Montevideo with the help of local people of German origin. The German dead were buried in the "Cementerio del Norte" in Montevideo.
Aftermath
The German
propagandaPropaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....
machine had reported that Admiral Graf Spee had sunk a heavy cruiser and heavily damaged two light cruisers while only being lightly damaged herself. Graf Spees scuttling however was a severe embarrassment and difficult to explain on the basis of publicly available facts. The battle was a major propaganda victory for the British during the
Phony WarThe Phoney War was a phase early in World War II – in the months following Britain and France's declaration of war on Germany in September 1939 and preceding the Battle of France in May 1940 – that was marked by a lack of major military operations by the Western Allies against the German Reich...
, and the reputation of First Lord of the Admiralty
Winston ChurchillSir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
was enhanced. Exeter limped to the Falkland Islands for emergency repairs and later to
DevonportHer Majesty's Naval Base Devonport , is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy . HMNB Devonport is located in Devonport, in the west of the city of Plymouth in Devon, England...
for a 13-month refit.
Prisoners taken from merchant ships by Admiral Graf Spee who had been transferred to her supply ship Altmark were freed by a boarding party from the British destroyer , in the
Altmark IncidentThe Altmark Incident was a naval skirmish of World War II between the United Kingdom and Nazi Germany, which happened on 16 February 1940. It took place in what were, at that time, neutral Norwegian waters...
(16 February 1940)—whilst in
JøssingfjordJøssingfjord is a fjord located within the municipality of Sokndal in south-western Norway.The fjord is known as the location of the Altmark Incident, where, during World War II, on February 16, 1940, the British destroyer Cossack managed to free prisoners taken by the Admiral Graf Spee from the...
, at the time neutral Norwegian waters. Prisoners who had not been transferred to Altmark had remained aboard Graf Spee during the battle, and were released on arrival in Montevideo.
On 22 December 1939, over 1,000 sailors from Graf Spee were taken to
Buenos AiresBuenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...
, Argentina, and interned there; at least 92 were transferred during 1940 to a camp in Rosario, some were transferred to
Club Hotel de la VentanaClub Hotel de la Ventana was a large, luxurious hotel resort, built by the Buenos Aires Great Southern Railway and opened in 1911 near Villa Ventana, 17 km from the town of Sierra de La Ventana, in the southeast of the Province of Buenos Aires, Argentina....
in
Buenos Aires ProvinceThe Province of Buenos Aires is the largest and most populous province of Argentina. It takes the name from the city of Buenos Aires, which used to be the provincial capital until it was federalized in 1880...
and another group to
Villa General BelgranoVilla General Belgrano, a small mountain village of 6,260 inhabitants is named after the creator of the Argentine flag Manuel Belgrano and located in a lush green valley of Calamuchita in the hills in the Province of Córdoba in central Argentina.-History:...
, a small town founded by German immigrants in 1932. Some of these sailors later settled there. There are many stories, but little reliable information, about their later wartime activities, including escapees illegally returning to the German armed forces, espionage, and clandestine German submarine landings in Argentina. After the war, many German sailors settled permanently in various parts of Uruguay, some returning after being repatriated to Germany. Rows of simple crosses in the Cementerio del Norte, in the north of the city of Montevideo mark the burial places of the German dead. Three sailors killed aboard Achilles were buried in the
British Cemetery in Montevideo, while those who died on Exeter were buried at sea.
Plans to raise the wreck are discussed in the article on .
Intelligence gathering and salvage
Immediately after her scuttling, the wreck of Admiral Graf Spee rested in shallow water, with much of the ship's superstructure remaining above water level, but over the years, the wreck subsided into the muddy bottom and today only the tip of the mast remains above the surface.
The first salvage from the ship was most likely carried out by Royal Navy intelligence teams which recovered the highly advanced
Seetakt radarThe shipborne Seetakt radar was developed in the 1930s and was used by the German Navy during World War II.In Germany during the late 1920s, Hans Hollmann began working in the field of microwaves, which were to later become the basis of almost all radar systems. In 1935 he published Physics and...
not destroyed in the scuttling. In any event, a radar expert was sent to Montevideo shortly after the scuttling and reported a rotating aerial, probably for gunlaying, transmitting on either 57 or 114 centimetres. In February 1940, the wreck was boarded by U.S. Navy sailors from the light cruiser .
In 1997, one of Admiral Graf Spee′s 5.9 in (149.9 mm) secondary gun mounts was raised and restored; it can now be seen outside Montevideo's National Maritime Museum.
In February 2004, a salvage team began work raising the wreck. The operation is in part being funded by the government of Uruguay, in part by the private sector, as the wreck is now a hazard to navigation. The first major section, the 27 LT (27.4 t) heavy gunnery control station, was raised on 25 February 2004. It is expected to take several years to raise the entire wreck. Director
James CameronJames Francis Cameron is a Canadian-American film director, film producer, screenwriter, editor, environmentalist and inventor...
is filming the salvage operation. After it has been raised, it is planned that the ship will be restored and put on display at the National Marine Museum.
Many German veterans do not approve of this restoration attempt, as they consider the wreck to be a
war graveA war grave is a burial place for soldiers or civilians who died during military campaigns or operations. The term does not only apply to graves: ships sunk during wartime are often considered to be war graves, as are military aircraft that crash into water...
and an underwater historical monument that should be respected. One of them—Hans Eupel, a former specialist torpedo mechanic, 87 years old in 2005—said that "this is madness, too expensive, and senseless. It is also dangerous, as one of the three explosive charges we placed did not explode."
On 10 February 2006, Graf Spee′s gilt-bronze eagle stern ornament was recovered. This spread-wing statue of a Nazi eagle with a wreath in its talons containing a swastika was attached to the stern, not the bow like traditional figureheads. It was a common feature of pre-war Nazi warships. In other cases, it was removed for a variety of practical reasons upon the outbreak of the war, but because Graf Spee was already at sea when the war began, she went into action (and was scuttled) with it attached, thus permitting its recovery. To protect the feelings of those with painful memories of
Nazi GermanyNazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
, the
swastikaThe swastika is an equilateral cross with its arms bent at right angles, in either right-facing form in counter clock motion or its mirrored left-facing form in clock motion. Earliest archaeological evidence of swastika-shaped ornaments dates back to the Indus Valley Civilization of Ancient...
at the base of the figurehead was covered as it was pulled from the water.
Legacy
In 1956, the film
The Battle of the River PlateThe Battle of the River Plate is a 1956 British war film by director-writer team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, starring John Gregson, Anthony Quayle and Peter Finch...
(U.S. title: Pursuit of the Graf Spee) was made of the battle and Admiral Graf Spees end, with
Peter FinchPeter Finch was a British-born Australian actor. He is best remembered for his role as "crazed" television anchorman Howard Beale in the film Network, which earned him a posthumous Academy Award for Best Actor, his fifth Best Actor award from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, and a...
as Langsdorff. Finch portrayed Langsdorff authentically as a gentleman, in contrast to the treatment of German characters in some other post-war films. HMS Achilles, which had been recommissioned in 1948 as
HMIS DelhiThe INS Delhi was a Leander class cruiser built for the Royal Navy in 1933 as HMS Achilles, and commissioned into the New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy in 1937 as HMNZS Achilles...
, flagship of the Royal Indian Navy, played herself in the movie. HMS Ajax was "played" by HMS Sheffield, HMS Exeter by HMS Jamaica and HMS Cumberland by herself. Graf Spee was portrayed by the U.S. heavy cruiser Salem.
The battle was for many years re-enacted with large-scale model boats throughout the summer season at Peasholm Park in the UK seaside resort of Scarborough. The re-enactment now portrays an anonymous battle between a convoy of British ships and an unspecified enemy in possession of the nearby shore.
After the battle, the new town of
Ajax, OntarioAjax is a town in the Durham Region in the Greater Toronto Area.The town is named for the HMS Ajax a Royal Navy cruiser that served in World War II. Ajax is a part of the Greater Toronto Area and the...
in Canada, was named after HMS Ajax. Many of its streets are named after Admiral Harwood's crewmen on Ajax, Exeter and Achilles.
The names of each ship, and the commander of Force G, have also been used for Cadet Corps. The Royal Canadian Sea Cadet Corps (RCSCC) Ajax #89 in Guelph, Ontario; the Navy League Cadet Corps (NLCC) Achilles #34 in Guelph, Ontario; the Navy League Wrenette Corps (NLWC) Lady Exeter (now disbanded) and the camp shared by all three corps, called Camp Cumberland (this camp no longer exists. It was decommissioned around 1999). RCSCC Harwood #244 and NLCC Exeter #173 are situated in Ajax, Ontario.
According to an article in the German language paper Albertaner on 6 October 2007, a street in Ajax, Ontario was named after Captain Langsdorff, this despite protests by some Canadian veterans. Steve Parish, the mayor of Ajax, defended the decision, declaring that Langsdorff had not been a typical Nazi officer. An accompanying picture shows Langsdorff at the funeral of his crew members who were killed in the battle. He is saluting with a naval salute, while people beside and behind him—even some clergymen—are giving the Fascist salute. The picture is credited to Diego Lascano (Gilby Collection).
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