River Plate 1939 The Sinking of the Graf Spee

100 Pages·2016·63.17 MB·English

by  Angus Konstam

RIVER PLATE 1939
The sinking of the Graf Spee
RRendezvous with Altmark
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INDIAN
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ANGUS KONSTAM ILLUSTRATED BY TONY BRYAN
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Author Illustrator
Angus Konstam hails from the Orkney Islands, and is the Tony Bryan is a freelance illustrator of many years' experience
author of over 85 books, 60 of which are published by Osprey. who lives and works in Dorset. He initially qualified in
This acclaimed and widely published author has written Engineering and worked for a number of years in Military
several books on maritime history, including The Battle of the Research and Development, and has a keen interest in military
River Plate, Piracy: The Complete History and A Naval Miscellany. hardware – armour, small arms, aircraft and ships. Tony has
A former naval officer and maritime archaeologist, he then produced many illustrations for partworks, magazines and
served as the Curator of Weapons at the Tower of London books, including a number of titles in the New Vanguard series.
and as the Chief Curator of the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum
in Key West, Florida. He now works as a full-time author and
historian, and lives in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Other titles in the series
CAM No: 232 • ISBN: 978 1 84908 383 6 CAM No: 247 • ISBN: 978 1 84908 605 9 CAM No: 248 • ISBN: 978 1 84908 674 5
CAM No: 255 • ISBN: 978 1 78096 154 5 CAM No: 268 • ISBN: 978 1 4728 0271 2 CAM No: 288 • ISBN: 978 1 4728 0896 7
CAM171 Cover.indd 2
CAMPAIGN 171
RIVER PLATE 1939
The Sinking of the Graf Spee 
ANGUS KONSTAM ILLUSTRATED BY TONY BRYAN 
Series editor Marcus Cowper
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This electronic edition published in 2016 by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc AUTHOR’S NOTE
Unless otherwise noted, all images are supplied by the Stratford Archive.
First published in Great Britain in 2016 by Osprey Publishing,
PO Box 883, Oxford, OX1 9PL, UK THE WOODLAND TRUST
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OSPREY PUBLISHING IS PART OF BLOOMSBURY PUBLISHING PLC
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criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN: 978 1 4728 1795 2
PDF e-book ISBN: 978 1 4728 796 9
e-Pub ISBN: 978 1 4728 1797 6
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CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION 4
CHRONOLOGY 5
THE STRATEGIC SITUATION 9
OPPOSING PLANS 12
German plans British plans
n
OPPOSING COMMANDERS 17
German commanders British commanders
n
OPPOSING FORCES 21
German forces British forces
n
THE CAMPAIGN 32
Breakout into the Atlantic Passive waiting The first victim Off the African coast A return to
n n n n
Africa Sojourn in the Indian Ocean The African hunting ground Hunting the Graf Spee Enemy in
n n n n
sight! A two-pronged attack Giving chase The pursuit Montevideo The final act
n n n n n
THE AFTERMATH 88
THE BATTLEFIELD TODAY 92
FURTHER READING 94
INDEX 95

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INTRODUCTION
At noon on Sunday 3 September 1939, some 650 nautical miles to the south-
east of the Cape Verde islands, a powerful German warship was loitering in
mid-ocean as her captain waited for orders. She was making a little over 5
knots – barely enough to maintain steerage way in the long powerful swell
of the mid-Atlantic. A mile astern of her the supply ship Altmark followed in
her wake, matching the warship’s course and speed. Two days earlier the two
ships had rendezvoused at a pre-arranged spot far from the busy shipping
lanes, almost exactly midway between Africa and South America and 450
nautical miles north of the equator. Now they were biding their time. While
the off-duty crew were enjoying the warmth of the sun, either sunbathing
or dangling fishing lines over the rail, others were going through their daily
routine and making sure the warship was ready for action at a moment’s
notice. The warship was the KMS Admiral Graf Spee, a Panzerschiff
(armoured ship) of a little over 16,000 tons – a ship whose mission was to
wreak havoc on the enemy’s sea lanes. At that moment there was no enemy,
but everyone on board expected that to change at any moment.
Two days before, German Panzers had smashed their way across the
Polish border and the opening shots of what would fast become a new world
war had been fired. As war clouds gathered, the Graf Spee and the Altmark
had slipped out of the port of Wilhelmshaven on the German North Sea coast
and disappeared into the vastness of the Atlantic. The Altmark was there to
provide logistical support to the Graf Spee as she prowled the sea lanes of the
South Atlantic. The Graf Spee was virtually custom-built for the job. She was
fast, powerful and deadly, and with the help of the Altmark she could stay
at sea almost indefinitely. All her crew needed was the word – the radioed
The Panzerschiff Admiral Graf
Spee, anchored in the outer
roads of Montevideo after the
battle. For four days, as her
captain and crew buried their
dead and tried to repair their
ship, she was the centre of a
diplomatic storm.
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A highly dramatized impression
of the sinking of the Graf Spee,
seemingly at the hands of the
British battlecruiser Renown.
Although painted for a British
magazine based on
photographs of the scuttling,
the artist couldn’t resist making
the Royal Navy directly
responsible for her destruction.
orders that would set the hunt in motion. On the Graf Spee’s bridge, her
commander, Kapitän zur See Hans Langsdorff sat talking to his First Officer,
Kapitän zur See Walter Kay.
Then, a little after 12:30pm, the wireless officer appeared on the bridge
and handed Langsdorff a page torn from a signal pad. It was an uncoded
signal sent by the British Admiralty to all British warships and merchant
ships, and the Graf Spee had picked it up. The signal read, ‘Total Germany’.
Langsdorff realized this probably meant that war had been declared between
Britain and Germany, but he decided to wait for verification. It came at
1:15pm. This time the signal came from the navy’s Seekriegsletiung (Naval
Warfare Command), or ‘SKL’. It read, ‘Hostilities with Britain to be opened
immediately’. Now there was no doubt. Kay assembled the crew on the
quarterdeck, and Kapitän Langsdorff told them the news: the Graf Spee was
now at war, and her hunt in the South Atlantic was about to begin.

CHRONOLOGY
The cruise of the Graf Spee, August–December 1939
5 August supply vessel Altmark sails from Wilhelmshaven.
21 August Graf Spee sails from Wilhelmshaven.
1 September rendezvous between Graf Spee and Altmark off Canary Islands.
3 September war declared between Britain and Germany.
11 September Graf Spee’s floatplane spots Cumberland and Langsdorff avoids her.
30 September SS Clement captured and sunk while her crew take to the lifeboats.
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1 October crew of SS Clement reach South America; Admiralty is informed that raider is at large in the South
Atlantic.
5 October SS Newton Beech captured and added to Langsdorff’s force as a prison ship.
7 October SS Ashlea sunk.
8 October prisoners transferred to the Ashlea and SS Newton Beech sunk.
9 October Altmark sighted by aircraft from Ark Royal but misidentified.
10 October SS Huntsman captured and added to Langsdorff’s force as prison ship.
15 October Graf Spee refuels at sea from Altmark.
17 October prisoners transferred to Altmark and Huntsman sunk.
22 October SS Trevanion captured and sunk; distress call sent.
28 October Graf Spee refuels at sea from Altmark.
3 November Graf Spee rounds Cape of Good Hope and enters the Indian Ocean.
15 November SS Africa Shell captured and sunk in the Mozambique Channel.
16 November Langsdorff heads back towards the South Atlantic.
26 November Graf Spee effects rendezvous with Altmark.
27 November work begins on the alteration of Graf Spee’s appearance.
2 December SS Doric Star captured and sunk; distress call sent.
3 December SS Taiora captured and sunk; Langsdorff sets course for the River Plate.
6 December Graf Spee refuels at sea from Altmark and prisoners transferred.
7 December SS Streonshalh captured and sunk; Langsdorff learns of River Plate convoy.
9 December Harwood orders Exeter and Achilles to join Ajax off the River Plate.
11 December Graf Spee prepares for action by abandoning her disguise.
12 December Exeter and Achilles rendezvous with Ajax off the River Plate. Harwood calls council of captains.
Battle of the River Plate, 13 December 1939
6:10am–6:14am ships of Commodore Harwood’s squadron sight funnel smoke to the north-north-west.
6:16am Exeter turns to port to engage enemy independently.
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6:18am Graf Spee opens fire.
6:20am Exeter opens fire.
6:22am Achilles and Ajax open fire.
6:23am Exeter straddled by Graf Spee’s third salvo.
6:24am Graf Spee straddled and hit by Exeter’s third salvo.
6:25am Exeter straddled and then hit twice on the bridge and ‘B’ turret; turret put out of action.
6:28am Graf Spee turns her guns on the light cruisers.
6:32am Exeter launches spread of torpedoes from starboard launcher.
6:37am Graf Spee turns away from British ships and makes smoke.
6:37am Ajax flies off her Fairey Seafox.
6:38am Graf Spee turns her guns on Exeter again.
6:40am Achilles hit in her director tower, Exeter hit on ‘X’ turret; turret put out of action.
6:43am Exeter launches spread of torpedoes from her port launcher.
6:46am Exeter alters course to port.
6:56am Graf Spee breaks off and turns away from pursuing light cruisers, making smoke.
7:14am Harwood orders light cruisers to increase speed and close the range.
7:16am Graf Spee turns to port and Harwood orders corresponding turn to starboard.
7:18am Graf Spee hit amidships.
7:22am Ajax launches a spread of four torpedoes.
7:25am Ajax straddled and hit twice in ‘X’ and ‘Y’ turrets; both turrets out of action.
7:30am Exeter suffers power failure in ‘Y’ turret; all main guns now out of action.
7:32am Graf Spee launches torpedoes at light cruisers.
7:38am Ajax and Achilles cease fire to conserve ammunition.
7:40am Exeter breaks off action.
7:45am light cruisers makes smoke.
7:49am Graf Spee ceases fire and steams towards Montevideo.
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7:50am Harwood orders light cruisers to give chase.
The pursuit
8:10am aircraft reports condition of Exeter to Harwood.
10:00am Graf Spee briefly opens fire on Achilles. 
11:07am Exeter re-establishes radio contact with Harwood.
11:15am Harwood requests support from Exeter but told ‘all guns out of action’.
1:40pm Exeter detached from the squadron and ordered to proceed to the Falkland Islands for repairs.
7:15pm Graf Spee turns and fires at Ajax. 
8:10pm Ajax turns away and breaks off the pursuit.
8:48pm Graf Spee and Achilles exchange fire.
9:30pm Graf Spee fires first of series of salvos.
10:00pm Achilles just 10,000 yards astern of Graf Spee. 
10:40pm Graf Spee approaches the entrance of Montevideo and asks permission to enter port.
10:45pm Achilles bears away to the south-east, thereby ending the action.
11:45pm Graf Spee enters Montevideo harbour.
Graf Spee in Montevideo
14 December Cumberland joins Harwood off Montevideo.
Force K ordered to River Plate from Pernambuco.
15 December British stop pressing for Graf Spee’s departure.
Burial of the German dead in Montevideo.
16 December SS Ashworth sails from Montevideo thus delaying the German departure by 24 hours.
17 December
6:00pm Graf Spee proceeds to sea with skeleton crew.
9:30pm Skeleton crew abandons ship 4 miles from shore.
11:00pm Graf Spee scuttled.

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