Prisoners who had not been transferred to Altmark had remained aboard Admiral Graf Spee during the battle; they were released on arrival in Montevideo. On 22 December 1939 over 1,000 sailors from Admiral Graf Spee were taken to Buenos Aires and interned there; at least 92 were transferred during 1940 to a camp in Rosario, some were transferred to Club Hotel de la Ventana in Buenos Aires Province and another group to Villa General Belgrano, a small town founded by German immigrants in 1932.
The British combat instructions for engaging a pocket battleship with a cruiser squadron (which had been devised by Harwood during his period at the Royal Naval War College between 1934 and 1936) specified an attack at once, day or night.
The British combat instructions for engaging a pocket battleship with a cruiser squadron (which had been devised by Harwood during his period at the Royal Naval War College between 1934 and 1936) specified an attack at once, day or night.
The Battle of the River Plate was fought in the South Atlantic on 13 December 1939 as the first naval battle of the Second World War.
The Kriegsmarine heavy cruiser , commanded by Captain Hans Langsdorff, engaged a Royal Navy squadron, commanded by Commodore Henry Harwood, comprising the cruisers , (on loan to the New Zealand Division) and . Graf Spee had sailed into the South Atlantic in August 1939, before the war began, and had begun commerce raiding after receiving appropriate authorisation on 26 September 1939.
Three days later, Langsdorff committed suicide. ==Background== Admiral Graf Spee had been at sea at the start of the Second World War in September 1939, and had sunk several merchantmen in the Indian Ocean and South Atlantic Ocean without loss of life, due to her captain's policy of taking all crews on board before sinking the victim. The Royal Navy assembled nine forces to search for the surface raider.
Olynthus replenished HMS Ajax and Achilles on 22 November 1939, and Exeter on 26 November, at San Borombon Bay.
To reinforce the propaganda effect, these ships — which were waiting just outside the three-mile limit — were ordered to make smoke, which could be clearly seen from the Montevideo waterfront. On 15 December 1939, Olynthus refuelled Ajax, which proved a difficult operation; the ship had to use hurricane hawsers to complete the replenishment.
Prisoners who had not been transferred to Altmark had remained aboard Admiral Graf Spee during the battle; they were released on arrival in Montevideo. On 22 December 1939 over 1,000 sailors from Admiral Graf Spee were taken to Buenos Aires and interned there; at least 92 were transferred during 1940 to a camp in Rosario, some were transferred to Club Hotel de la Ventana in Buenos Aires Province and another group to Villa General Belgrano, a small town founded by German immigrants in 1932.
Prisoners who had not been transferred to Altmark had remained aboard Admiral Graf Spee during the battle; they were released on arrival in Montevideo. On 22 December 1939 over 1,000 sailors from Admiral Graf Spee were taken to Buenos Aires and interned there; at least 92 were transferred during 1940 to a camp in Rosario, some were transferred to Club Hotel de la Ventana in Buenos Aires Province and another group to Villa General Belgrano, a small town founded by German immigrants in 1932.
In February 1940, the wreck was boarded by US Navy sailors from the light cruiser . In 1964 a memorial to the ship was erected in Montevideo's port.
The Achilles, which had been recommissioned in 1948 as HMIS Delhi, flagship of the Royal Indian Navy, played herself in the film.
The figurehead was stored in a Uruguayan naval warehouse following German complaints about exhibiting "Nazi paraphernalia". ==Legacy== In 1956, the film The Battle of the River Plate (US title: Pursuit of the Graf Spee) was made of the battle and Admiral Graf Spee's end, with Peter Finch as Langsdorff and Anthony Quayle as Harwood.
In February 1940, the wreck was boarded by US Navy sailors from the light cruiser . In 1964 a memorial to the ship was erected in Montevideo's port.
Part of it is Admiral Graf Spee's anchor. In 1997, one of Admiral Graf Spee's secondary gun mounts was raised and restored; it can now be seen outside Montevideo's National Maritime Museum. In February 2004, a salvage team began work raising the wreck.
34 in Guelph, Ontario; the Navy League Wrenette Corps (NLWC) Lady Exeter (now disbanded) and the camp shared by all three corps, called Camp Cumberland (this camp no longer exists; it was decommissioned around 1999).
Part of it is Admiral Graf Spee's anchor. In 1997, one of Admiral Graf Spee's secondary gun mounts was raised and restored; it can now be seen outside Montevideo's National Maritime Museum. In February 2004, a salvage team began work raising the wreck.
The first major section, the heavy gunnery control station, was raised on 25 February 2004.
One of them, Hans Eupel, a former specialist torpedo mechanic, 87 years old in 2005, said that "this is madness, too expensive and senseless.
It is also dangerous, as one of the three explosive charges we placed did not explode". On 10 February 2006, the , 400 kg eagle and swastika crest of Admiral Graf Spee was recovered from the stern of the ship.
According to an article in the German language paper Albertaner on 6 October 2007, Steve Parish, the mayor of Ajax, defended the decision, declaring that Langsdorff had not been a typical Nazi officer.
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