After the Battle of the River Plate on 13 December 1939, the German “pocket battleship” Admiral Graf Spee withdrew to the roadstead off Montevideo.
Beginning of The End
The ships that had fought her … HMS Exeter and the cruisers HMS Ajax and HMNZS Achilles … also headed towards the River Plate, and later that night they were joined by the heavy cruiser HMS Cumberland.
Exeter had been badly damaged and was out of action, but Graf Spee still had good speed and a working main battery. Even so, her ammunition was running low … roughly a third of her main-gun shells and about half of her 150 mm rounds remained.
She also needed repairs far beyond what Uruguay could allow under international law, which limited her stay to just seventy-two hours.
British intelligence officers in Montevideo then spread a rumour that a powerful Royal Navy squadron … including the battlecruiser HMS Renown and the carrier HMS Ark Royal … was waiting outside the estuary.
Believing this force to be real, Captain Hans Langsdorff contacted Kriegsmarine headquarters several times, offering a choice between internment in Argentina or scuttling the ship.
A breakout attempt was not considered viable!
Hitler
After consultations between Admiral Raeder and Hitler, Langsdorff received a clear order: destroy the ship.
On the evening of 17 December 1939, Admiral Graf Spee left Montevideo to crowds lining the waterfront.
She anchored four miles offshore in the River Plate, and around 20:00 her crew set off explosive charges. The ship burned and exploded for nearly three days. All 1,100 crewmen were safely taken to Buenos Aires.
Three days later, on 20 December, Captain Hans Langsdorff took his own life in a Buenos Aires hotel, believing it his duty as the ship’s commander.
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