This month, seventy years ago, the German Reich suffered its first defeat of the war. It came at the hands of the Royal Navy in the first naval battle of the war, which occurred on our side of the Atlantic Ocean.
    On September 3, 1939, The United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, and the Republic of France declared that a state of war existed between their countries and the German Reich.
    Europe had been edging toward war for some time, and even though the pace had quickened, France and Britain were not prepared for war.  Germany wasn’t prepared for war with France and Britain either.  Indeed, when informed of the declarations of war against his country, Adolf Hitler is reputed to have turned to his foreign minister Joachim von Ribbentrop, and asked, “Now what do we do?”  Within the week, the Union of South Africa and Canada had added themselves to the list of Germany’s enemies.
    But the Germans had certainly foreseen the possibility of war with Britain and France. To that end, the Kriegsmarine had ensured that by September 1, 1939, two of its three pocket battleships, Admiral Graf Spee and Deutschland, were in position on the High Seas to commence commerce raiding if, and when, war came. They were called “pocket battleships” because they were larger and more heavily armed and armored, than a heavy cruiser, but not as large or quite as heavily armed or armored, as a modern battleship. Each of the pocket battleships sported six 11-inch and eight 5.9-inch (150mm) guns, and had a speed of 28 knots. The weight of these ships was listed at 12,000 tons but was probably closer to 20,000 tons.
    The Admiral Graf Spee was named for Admiral Maximilian Graf (Count) von Spee, who commanded a German Cruiser Squadron in the Imperial German Navy.  The Admiral’s command was defeated by the British during the First World War, near the Falkland Islands, in the South Atlantic, on December 8, 1914. Admiral Graf von Spee, and both of his sons, died during that engagement.
    September 3, 1939 found the Admiral Graf Spee in the South Atlantic under the command of Kapitän zur See Hans Langsdorff.  The Spee did not get into the war until September 30, 1939, when it sighted the British steamer Clement, carrying 20,000 cases of kerosene from New York to Salvador, Brazil. The German warship stopped the steamer, made sure her crew was safely off, then sank her.
    Soon the Admiralty learned that a German commerce raider was operating in the South Atlantic, but it would be several weeks before it was properly identified. At that time, British warships stationed in the South Atlantic came under the command of Vice-Admiral George D. Oyly-Lyon, who was headquartered in Freetown, Sierra Leone, on the west coast of Africa. A part of his command included the South American Division, under the command of Commodore Henry Harwood Harwood.  The Commodore’s command consisted of the cruisers Exeter, Ajax and Cumberland.  Exeter, at 8,390 tons, was armed with six 8-inch guns. Ajax carried eight 6-inch guns, and Cumberland had eight 8-inch guns.
    As the information concerning the identity of the enemy warship was being collected at the Admiralty, plans were being made to find and sink it. The Admiralty ordered the cruisers Effingham, Emerald, Enterprise, Norfolk, and Capetown, battleships Revenge and Resolution and aircraft carrier Hermes, to the South Atlantic. The cruiser Achilles, which was a sister ship of the Ajax, and in the New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy, was ordered to sail from its position on the Pacific Coast of South America, to join Commodore Harwood’s unit on the other side of the continent. In addition, France contributed the battleships Dunkerque and Strasbourg, the aircraft carrier Bearn, and three cruisers.
    On December 7, the Graf Spee sank the Streonshalk 1,000 miles east of Río de Janeiro. At that time, Commodore Harwood’s unit was the closest to the enemy raider, but it was scattered along the coast of South America. The Ajax and Exeter were at Port Stanley, in the Falkland Islands, for refit and much needed rest.  The Cumberland was in the Río de la Plata, and the Achilles was patrolling off Río de Janeiro.
    Commodore Harwood and his staff met in the chartroom of the Ajax, and attempted to predict the course of the Graf Spee. The Commodore estimated that the raider could be at Río de Janeiro on the morning of December 12, or the Río de la Plata by the next morning, or the Falkland Islands by the following morning. But which one? And, it could go west or north.  Admiral Lyon thought the raider would go north. But Commodore Harwood thought that, with the large “...number of ships...” and the, “...very valuable grain and meat trade...,” the Río de la Plata would be the raider’s next target, and, “...was the vital area to defend.” He would, “...therefore arrange to concentrate their [his] available forces in advance of the time at which it was anticipated the raider might start operations in the area.” He ordered Cumberland to the Falkland Islands for a refit, but to be ready to sail on short notice, and the other three ships to rendevous off the mouth of the Río de la Plata by December 12, 1939.  By 7:00 A.M., on that morning, the three cruisers met 230 miles east of Montevideo.  Montevideo is the capital of Uruguay, and is located near the mouth of the Río de la Plata. At noon, the Commodore sent the captains of the Achilles and Exeter his plan of battle in the event he had guessed correctly. That evening, the three ships practiced their manoeuver and gunnery.
    At 5:54 A.M. the next morning, lookouts on the Graf Spee spotted something - 17 miles away.  A few minutes later, one of the ships was identified as H.M.S. Exeter.  She was accompanied by two smaller ships which appeared to the Germans to be destroyers. They thought they were probably protecting a convoy. Kapitän Langsdorff ordered full speed ahead.  Battle flags were hoisted. Five minutes later, the Kapitän was told that the two smaller ships were light cruisers of the Ajax class.
    It was not until almost 15 minutes after the Germans spotted the British, that the British saw the Germans, because the German ship was taller. Even then, the first that the British saw was smoke. The Exeter was ordered to investigate at 6:14 A.M.  Two minutes later, the Exeter’s Captain, Frederick S. Bell, signaled the Commodore, that, “I think it is a pocket battleship.”
    By this time, the Graf Spee, having learned that it was facing three cruisers, instead of one cruiser and two destroyers, had turned from its collision course and was preparing for a running fight. At 6:17 A.M., it opened fire with its 11-inch guns, at the Exeter.  A broadside from those guns weighed 4,140 pounds, compared to 1,600 pounds of the Exeter’s 8-inch broadside, and the 900 pounds of the other two cruisers’ broadsides.  And, of course, the Graf Spee had superior range and armor.  Four minutes after opening on the Exeter, Graf Spee scored its first hit on the Exeter.  Two minutes later, the Exeter returned fire.
    The Achilles opened fire at 6:22 A.M., and the Ajax, a minute later, at a range of 19,000 yards. Commodore Harwood’s plan was to attack the German ship on both sides in the hopes of dividing the more powerful ship’s fire.
    By 7:07 A.M., four of Exeter’s six, 8-inch guns, were out of action.  The Achilles and Ajax were, as yet, unscathed.  However, at a distance of eight and 3/4 miles, the range was too great for the six-inch guns of the British. So Commodore Harwood ordered the range closed. With that, the British gunners began scoring some hits. But even at four miles, the six-inch guns had limited effect against the Graf Spee’s five and 1/2-inch thick armor.  And, it was coming at a cost. Half of Ajax’s guns were soon inoperable. All of Exeter’s 8-inch guns were silenced. However, one of Exeter’s 8-inch shells had destroyed the German battleship’s raw fuel processing system, leaving it with only 16 hours of fuel - insufficient for a return to the Fatherland.
    At 7:40 A.M., when Commodore Harwood elected to break off the action until dark, the British had definitely suffered the most. By this time, Exeter was useless as a fighting ship and the Ajax had been seriously damaged. However, the Graf Spee did not escape completely unscathed.  One 5.9-inch gun had been put out of action, and she had used over half of her 11-inch ammunition. The British were even lower on ammunition. More important was the damage to its fuel processing system.
    For the rest of the day, the two British cruisers tailed the Graf Spee as she headed west! In the meantime, Commodore Harwood had ordered the Cumberland to join him.
    At 10:00 P.M., the Admiral Graf Spee, entered the Río Plate, towards Montevideo.  The two British cruisers stayed at the mouth of the river, which was 120 miles wide, for the night. Reinforcements were on the way. The Cumberland would arrive within 24 hours.  The Commodore also, “...learned that the [carrier] Ark Royal, [battleship] Renown, [cruisers] Neptune, Dorsetshire, Shropshire, and three destroyers, were all closing on the Plate, but none of them could reach me for at least five days.”
    The selection of Montevideo was unfortunate since, although Uruguay was neutral, it leaned to the British, while down the coast was the Argentinian port of Mar del Plata. Although Argentina was also neutral, it leaned the other way.
    International law allowed a belligerent warship to remain in a neutral port only 24 hours. However, that was modified by a provision which gave the host nation the discretion to allow a longer stay if more extensive repairs were needed. In order to avail themselves of this provision, the Germans allowed inspections by Uruguayan and British officials. The inspection revealed that the ship had been hit between 30 and 60 times, damaging one 5.9-inch gun, the starboard anti-aircraft guns, the rangefinders, the spotter plane and the control tower. In addition, there were two holes below the waterline. The Germans kept the fuel problem a secret, and it remained a secret for the next 60 years.
    Publicly, the British were pressing the Uruguayans to force the German warship to leave, on the grounds that it was still seaworthy. However, international law prohibited a warship from leaving a neutral harbor within 24 hours of the departure of a commercial vessel under the flag of its enemy. So the British arranged that a British or French ship leave every 24 hours. In this way, the British were gaining time for the arrival of reinforcements to Commodore Harwood.
    Finally, Kapitän Lansdorff was told he must leave Montevideo on December 17, or ship and crew would be interned. They had requested two weeks in which to effect the repairs. When that was denied, some of the German diplomats, suggested that the ship’s guns be turned on the Uruguayan capital. The Germans did not want internment, because they were afraid that some of the warship’s secrets would then be revealed to the British. As a matter of fact, der Fürhrer had personally ordered, “No internment in Uruguay.”
    On Sunday, December 17, 1939, three quarters of a million people, expecting to see the battle resume, lined the Uruguayan coast from the capital to the beaches of Punte del Este and watched as the Admiral Graf Spee weighed anchor and left the Montevideo harbor at 6:15 P.M. After she had gone four miles, the warship stopped and as explosions began wracking her, became engulfed in flames and slowly sank. She had been scuttled by her crew without firing another shot. Arrangements had been made for the crew to be picked up by the Argentines. They were then interned in and around Buenos Aires. Although a few escaped and returned to the Fatherland, many remained, taking up with the local señoritas, marrying and starting families. The 36 members of the ship’s crew who died in the battle are buried in Montevideo.
    Initially, most of the ship’s superstructure was above water, but, over the years, it settled in the mud, until today, only the tip of its mast remains above the surface.
    In addition to the Clement and Streonshalk, the following merchantmen were sunk by the pocket battleship: Newton Beach, Huntsman, Africa Shell, Trevanian, Doric Star, and Tairoa.
    The man of the hour, Henry Harwood Harwood, was promoted to Rear Admiral with his commission dating from December 13, 1939.
    After France and Britain declared war on Germany, Grand Admiral Eric Räder was so depressed, because this was five years before Hitler told him to expect a war, that he said, “The surface forces...are so inferior in number and strength to those of the British Fleet that, even at full strength, they can do little more than show that they know how to die gallantly....” Langsdorff’s crew couldn’t even do that! And Langsdorff, after scuttling his ship, scuttled himself in a hotel room in Buenos Aires on December 19, 1939. He is buried in a German cemetery there.
    A British film, entitled “The Battle of the River Plate” was released in 1956. The following year it was released in the U.S. under the title “Pursuit of the Graf Spee.”  Filming had begun on the 16th anniversary of the battle. The River Plate Association of Auckland sent a message to the crew saying, “Congratulations on choice of day. Hope your shooting will be as successful as ours!” Anthony Quayle portrayed Commodore Harwood. John Gregson was cast as Captain Bell, while Peter Finch was Kapitan Langsdorff. The Achilles and Cumberland appeared as themselves.
    In 2004, a project was begun to raise the ship. It is a navigational hazard and Montevideo hoped it would become a tourist attraction. However, the Uruguayan government stopped the operation this year.

Mr. Wimbrow writes from Ocean City, Maryland, where he practices law representing those persons accused of criminal and traffic offenses, and those persons who have suffered a personal injury through no fault of their own.    

In last month’s article, The Coconut Times erroneously reported that Captain Kennedy received the Victoria Cross.  He did not.  The Coconut Times regrets the error.