December 13, 1939 - British ships engage Admiral Graf Spee (right) in the Battle of the River Plate. Tasked with raiding Allied shipping in the South Atlantic, the German pocket battleship Graf Spee was hunted by the Royal Navy during late 1939. Brought to battle by Commodore Henry Harwood's Force G off the estuary of the River Plate, Captain Hans Langsdorff succeeded in mauling the cruiser HMS Exeter but suffered a critical hit to his ship's fuel processing plant. Forced into neutral Montevideo, Uruguay, Langsdorff was unable to secure permission for his ship to remain long enough to make repairs. The victim of effective British false intelligence, he came to believe that a large force had gathered off the River Plate to intercept him. Unable to remain and fearing destruction at sea, he scuttled Graf Spee in the River Plate on December 17. Did Langsdorff make the right decision?
Photograph Source: Public Domain
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