The Battle of the River Plate

On this day in 1939, the first major surface action of World War Two took place off the coast of South America, when a squadron of cruisers of the Royal Navy engaged the German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee. The three cruisers of the Royal Navy would be roughly handled by the Graf Spee, but…

On this day in 1939, the first major surface action of World War Two took place off the coast of South America, when a squadron of cruisers of the Royal Navy engaged the German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee. The three cruisers of the Royal Navy would be roughly handled by the Graf Spee, but in turn inflicted critical damage to her. The damage was not a direct threat to the ship, but through some diplomatic maneuvers, and some disinformation, led German commander, Captain Langsdorff, to scuttling the Graf Spee rather than facing a battle he felt he could not win. 

 

 

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Responses to “The Battle of the River Plate”

  1. CTII Raven

    Interesting – brings a new concern when someone asks for “Intelligence Data”

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  2. ewok40k

    dat feeling when you delete enemy Leander with your Graf Spee 28cm citadelling…
    “revenge for River Plate!”

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  3. SFC Dunlap 173d RVN

    The Graf Spee was in port for a while while negotiations were ongoing. Langsdorff was quite the ships Captain, fond of his crew and proud of his ship. He’s buried in Montevideo if memory serves.

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  4. Quartermaster

    He’s buried in the German section of the La Chacarita Cemetery in Buenos Aires. He took the ships launch to the Argentine side after scuttling, wrote a letter to the German Ambassador then shot himself.

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  5. Paul L. Quandt

    A very moving film, thank you for sharing.
    Paul L. Quandt

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  6. SFC Dunlap 173d RVN

    Thanks QM for the correction. I was caught up reading the story of the ship, but more so the Captain of the ship.

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  7. ewok40k

    https://worldofwarships.eu/en/news/videos/hny-devs/
    okay heads up free duke of youk to get in coming campaign…
    as well as the iced skin for scharnhorst, i presume?

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