Do you know something about this boat? It was destroyed infront of my city.

There were two binos on board, one was lost...the other have it my grandmother in law

The sailors were rescued and some stay here, others move to Argentine and others returned home (I think), their captain commited suicide.

It was the only chapter of WW2 that happends in my country.

L

Hello,
If you were to type in the name of the ship in your search engine, space on screen, area, etc. you will find more information than you probably ever wanted to know. Quite a story and the British were not going to permit the ship to leave the harbor and I thought that the Captain may have scuttled the ship as well as killing himself?? Not sure about that matter.

Yes he scuttled (destroy?) the ship and later he kill himself, wearing his uniform in an hotel room...I think, not sure.

The binos belonged to the bridge command ? thay were two, but one was lost during the sinking.

L

The Graf Spee was scuttled when the British fooled the Germans in to believing that a battlecruiser had arrived and was waiting just outside the River Plate. In fact there was only 3 small cruisers , HMS Exeter,HMS Achilles and HMS Ajax waiting. The Graf Spee had already fought a prolonged battle with these cruisers . The captain of the Graf Spee , Hans Langdorff also had only a short time in port before he had to sail from Montivideo as it was a neutral port.So as so often happened the British tricked thre opponents and the Germans sank ther own ship.There is a book called the Battle of the River Plate by Dudley Pope.
Mark

The Admiral Graf Spee was one of three German “pocket battleships†which were built to circumvent earlier treaties on the maximum size war ships the Germans were permitted to have following WW1.

Her mission was to sink allied commercial shipping in the South Atlantic /Indian Ocean and she was very successful at this. She took nine allied ships but interestingly no British seamen lost there lives in any action by the Graf Spee.

Her Captain, Hans Langsdorff, was a German Officer and Gentleman of the old school and allowed the crews to abandoned ship before eventually sinking them. Captured officers were taken on board the Graf Spee where they were treated very well.

The British Squadron which eventually caught up with the Graf Spee consisted of the Exeter, a heavy cruiser, (8†guns) and the Ajax, and the Achilles (both 6†guns) which were light cruisers. As already mentioned they were very much outgunned by the Graf Spee. In the initial battle, Langsdorff concentrated his efforts against the Exeter which sustained sustained considerable damage and had to withdraw from the affray and head for the Falklands.

Apparently Langsdorff could not understand the suicidal attack by such inferior forces and judged that the British were trying to hold him in the area while heavy reinforcements arrived. This was partly true as another squadron consisting of the of five warships including the aircraft carrier Ark Royal had been odered to the scene but they were at least 6 days away.

Remarkably and against all odds, the 3 cruisers had also managed to inflict quite a bit of damage on the Graf Spee so eventually Langsdorff broke off and headed for the River Plate and the neutral waters of Montevideo.

Once he was holed up there, his choices became limited. If he stayed, his ship would be interned…if he ran for it, he had unknown British forces waiting for him or he could scuttle the ship.

Montevideo was already a hot bed of British and German intelligence operations. The British organised a numbers of “leaks†including a huge order for fuel oil that indicated to the Germans a formidable force waited for them. Consequently Langsdorff ordered the Graf Spee to be scuttled and then took his own life some say when he found out he had been duped.

Before the ship was actually scuttled, the authorities allowed Langdorff and his entire crew ashore to bury some 30 odd German sailors killed in the previous battle. At their request captured allied Officers who were on the ship at the time also attended the service as a remark of respect. Interestingly below is a photo showing most of the Germans sailors and the local priests offering the Nazi salute during the service while Langsdroff himself offers the German Naval salute.


This story holds a particular interest to me as one of my father’s relatives served on the Ajax…

Due to poor intelliegence the Kaptian scuttled her.

Hello Pete E,
I read your post with great attention and what a different world we live in today.
Many have smelled, tasted, heard ,etc. the so called "fog of battle..." and to hear and see the amazing feats of nation's military forces, fantastic engineering such as the ships mentioned, highly trained minds of those manning the ships and all end up in early demise reminds me of what a waste it all was and how foolish the people were who started and perpetuated the waste of human intelligence and ingenuity. Much has changed since those days, but then again, much is still the same for we are again forced to defend our ways and life from those who would destroy all we know. It is good to be able to channel our thoughts to fine firearms and future hunts.
Favor Center!!
dsiteman

Sure is interesting seeing a couple of CATHOLIC PRIESTS giving a Nazi salute!!

Hello;
Don't forget, the Pope of the day was pretty chummy with the Nazis. Ah, how times have changed.
Grizz

Hello the campfire:
I had a Argentine made .45 1911A1. The steel in these pistols was said to have been made from the armor belt of the Graf Spee. What ever the truth was of that story, It was a well made pistol and shoot better than many Colts I have had. I bought it for $25.00 in the 60's and traded it for two ex mil .45's last year. The Graf Spee was a sister ship tothe Bismark wasn't it? I remember a good movie abot the Graf Spee tat I wish that I could find again. The courage shown on both sides make it an example of the best traditions of the navel forces.
The Priests were blessing the soul of the depated, not saluting.
Judge Sharpe, a poor widows son.

The website:

http://www.grafspee.com

indicates that the Deutschland, Admiral Scheer and Admiral Graf Spee were the three sister pocket battleships.

Intersting book, by the way.

Also:

The Bismarck and the Tirpitz were sister ships.

The Scharnhorst and Gneisenau were sister ships.

see: http://www.kbismarck.com/gwarships.html

Hello the campfire:
I stand corrected on the sister ships. I wish that I knew (and had the time to learn more) about the role of the South American Countries in WWII.
Judge Sharpe, a poor widows son.

The movie:

"Pursuit of the Graf Spee"

The USS Salem starred as the German Pocket Battleship "Admiral Graf Spee" in the 1956 English film, "The Battle of the River Plate". The film was released in the United States in 1957 under a different title, "Pursuit of the Graf Spee".

Widely regarded as one of the best and most intelligent British war dramas of the 1950s, The Battle of River Plate is the story of Britain's first significant naval victory in WW2. John Gregson heads the cast as Captain Bell, skipper of the Exeter, one of several vessels engaged in pursuit of the "indestructable" Geman battleship Graf Spee. Taking refuge in the neutral harbor of Montevideo, the Graf Spee is covertly protected by the Uruguayan government. Eventually, however, German captain Langsdorff (Peter Finch) is faced with a difficult decision: either stand his ground and fight a losing battle against the Exeter and its sister ships, or scuttle the Graf Spee and save the lives of his crew. Battle of the River Plate was released in the US as Pursuit of the Graf Spee.



see: http://www.uss-salem.org/museum/history/movie_star.htm

Move detailed info about the movie here:
Pursuit of the Graf Spee