Events leading up to Battle

Under the condition’s of the 1918 armistice Germany was prevented from constructing full sized battleships amongst other things , so to counter this the Kriegsmarine constructed the so called "Pocket Battleships" Graf Spree and Deutschland these ship’s were armed with 2 Triple 11" turrets as well as numerous smaller guns . On the 21 August 1939 The Graf Spree slipped her moorings at Wilhelmshafen and proceeded into the Atlantic Ocean to act as a raider on convoys carrying vital supplies to Britain , she started her career on the 26 September by sinking the 5000t steamer HMS Clement and shortly thereafter she sank another 4 merchantmen Newton Beech , Ashlea , Huntsman and the Trevanion before her Captain Hans Langsdorf decided to move into the Indian Ocean . Here she was less successful and only sunk one ship the tanker Africa Shell , due to this she moved back into the Atlantic to continue her raiding. Meanwhile the British aware of her presence had a substantial fleet looking for her which included the British South Atlantic Squadron , Force ‘G’ which consisted of two 8 inch cruisers as well as two 6 inch cruisers under Commodore Henry Harwood as well as Force ‘H’ which was based in Cape Town as well as a much heavier force to the North including Battleships as well as Aircraft Carriers .

The Hunt for the Graf Spree

Shortly after her return to the Atlantic the Graf Spree struck again sinking two more ships including the Doric Star which managed to get of the R-R-R signal to indicate the presence of a raider . The task then fell to Commodore Harwood to predict the Graf Spree’s next course of action as she had two option’s open to her , she could either head north towards the safety of her home port , or she could continue on her current course and continue raiding until she reached the river plate estuary , Harwood decided that the latter was the most likely and ordered three of his cruisers the 8 inch HMS Exeter and the two 6 inch cruisers HMS Ajax and HMNZS Achilles to meet 150 miles east of River Plate on the 12 December 1939 .

The Battle Begins

On the 13 December at about 0600 hours the HMS Exeter sighted smoke and at 0614 reported that she thought that it was a pocket battleship . Commodore Harwood split his force into two units the Exeter in one and the two smaller ships Ajax and Achilles in the other . The Graf Spree closed on the Exeter and soon she had her in range and began shelling her , one shell landed amidships and killed the starboard torpedo crew as well as putting both of her seaplanes out of action , the next hit put ‘B’ turret out of action as well as sending splinters into the bridge wounding Captain Bell . The Exeter returned fire and hit the Graf Spree on the control tower causing minor damage , at this stage the two smaller cruisers homed in and closed to about 13,000 yards and attacked , this caused the Graf Spree to turn her main guns away from the now heavily damaged Exeter and engage the smaller cruisers , then the Exeter fired a salvo of torpedo’s which caused the Graf Spree to redirect her fire to the Exeter which was again hit and had another turret put out of action as well as causing a fire amidships . Then Captain Lansdorff decide to put some some range between him and the two smaller cruisers which had closed to about 5,000 yard ‘s so that he could engage them at a range more suited to his bigger guns , by this time the Exeter was badly damaged , all her turrets were out of action she was listing and taking on water . The commander of the Ajax saw what was happening and using his superior speed closed in again on the Graf Spree and started a fire on her , in the process she too was hit and had two turrets put out of action . At that time both the Achilles and the Graf Spree launched torpedo’s , none of which scored any hits . The pursuit continued until the Ajax reported that she was low on ammunition so Harwood ordered both of the smaller cruisers to resume the role of shadowing the Graf Spree at a distance of about 15 miles away . Captain Lansdorff needed to get to a port to effect repairs on his ship , although she was not badly damaged she had used much of her ammunition and had a gaping 6 foot hole in her bows as well as having much of her superstructure damaged , so Captain Lansdorff headed toward the Uruguayan port of Montevideo . The Achilles continued to pursue the Graf Spree and would sometimes close in on the battleship provoking a number of salvoes , non of which hit , the Ajax meanwhile was heading toward the south , just in case the Graf Spree doubled back . At about midnight on the 13^th the Graf Spree docked in Montevideo Harbor and the first real naval battle of World War Two was over .

The Final Stage

After the Graf Spree had docked a new battle ensued , a diplomatic one with the British insisting that the Graf Spree under the terms of the Hague Convention be made to leave the port 24 hours after arriving , Captain Lansdorff wanted to stay for 15 days to repair his ship . At this point the British started circulating rumors that a large British fleet , including the HMS Ark Royal and the HMS Renown , was lying in wait for the Graf Spree just outside of Uruguayan waters , this was total fabrication as in truth both ships were well over 1000 miles away. Harwood then changed his tactics and shortly before the Graf Spree was set to leave the Harbour a British merchantmen left the harbour . The British minister went to the Uruguayans and pointed out that under the terms of the Hauge convention a warship of an opposing nation was not permitted to leave port until 24 hours after a non combatant has left port , so the Graf Spree was delayed for a further 24 hours . Captain Lansdorff consulted with Berlin about his next move , the information he was receiving that the British fleet was waiting for him and he believed that he would not stand a chance against such a force which left him two options internment or scuttling his ship , Hitler told him that in no circumstances would interment be acceptable so on the 17 December most of the Graf Spree's crew transferred to the German tanker Tacoma . The Graf Spree then sailed out of the harbor with a skeleton crew and when she was about 4 miles out of the harbor she stopped and was rocked by six loud explosions , soon after she caught fire and blew up sinking soon after .

The Aftermath of the battle

The remaining crew of the Graf Spree were moved to Buenos Aires were they were interned until 1946 when most of them were repatriated to Germany , during this time many of the Officers escaped and made it back to Germany to continue the fight . Captain Lansdorff on the other hand faced with the defeat and destruction of his ship wrapped himself in the ships ensign and committed suicide in his hotel room . The battle of river plate was one of the last ship to ship battles in World war two , with aircraft playing no part in it . It was also the end of the ear of chivalry , in all of the ships the Graf Spree sank not a single life was lost on any of the merchantmen and at the end of the battle all of the British Officers and ratings were returned uninjured to the British .

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