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Photo # NH 86397-KN: British cruisers Exeter and Achilles in action with the German armored ship Admiral Graf Spee, 13 December 1939.  Watercolor by Edward Tufnell

Online Library of Selected Images:
-- EVENTS -- World War II in the Atlantic --
Battle of the Atlantic, 1939-1941 --

Battle of the River Plate, December 1939

At dawn on 13 December 1939 the German armored ship (or "pocket battleship") Admiral Graf Spee, cruising toward South America's Rio de la Plata (River Plate) in search of enemy merchantmen, sighted distant masts. She had been operating in the south Atlantic and Indian Oceans for three months on a successful campaign to disrupt allied shipping and tie up British and French Naval forces. Twenty-three major warships were actively hunting for her. Now the two sides were about to meet, for those masts belonged to three British cruisers, Exeter, Ajax and Achilles (the latter part of the Royal New Zealand Navy). Initially thinking these were merchant vessels, Admiral Graf Spee's Captain Hans Langsdorf headed for them, continuing his approach once their true nature was known.

British Commodore Henry Harwood, on board Ajax, also steamed toward his enemy. The opposing ships closed rapidly to gunfire range, with shooting beginning at just under 20,000 yards. Harwood divided his force, complicating Langsdorf's gunnery, but both sides began hitting early. Exeter was very seriously damaged by the German's eleven-inch guns: both of her forward eight-inch gun turrets were knocked out, her bridge crew was largely killed or wounded and fires raged amidships. She gamely remained in action until her remaining turret would no longer function. Admiral Graf Spee had also been repeatedly struck by Exeter's shells, and by six-inch projectiles from the other two cruisers. She laid a smoke screen and turned away, firing on Ajax and Achilles, and disabled two of the former's gun turrets.

An hour and twenty minutes of intense combat was followed by a long day's pursuit as Admiral Graf Spee headed for Montevideo, Uruguay, harried by Ajax and Achilles. She arrived just after midnight on 14 December and requested time to make repairs, reporting to the Uruguayans that she had been hit some seventy times. The British decided to keep the German warship in port as long as possible so they could bring up reinforcements. To this end they resorted to diplomatic trickery and broadcast misleading reports that the carrier Ark Royal and battle cruiser Renown were nearby. Captain Langsdorf, with much of his ammunition expended and his ship damaged, was soon persuaded that escape was impossible. After consulting with the German Government, in the early evening of 17 December he took his ship out into the broad river and blew her up, completely demolishing Admiral Graf Spee's after portion and leaving her a sunken, burned-out wreck.

Her crew went to Argentina where, on the night of 19-20 December 1939, Captain Langsdorf took his own life. The Battle of the River Plate, first of World War II's many great sea battles, greatly boosted British prestige and morale, but at considerable cost. The badly injured Exeter, initially thought not worth repairing, was out of the war for fifteen months. Repairs to Ajax lasted until mid-1940.

This page features, and provides links to, all the views we have concerning the December 1939 Battle of the River Plate.

For more images related to this action, see:

  • Admiral Graf Spee -- Views of the Ship's Wreck; and
  • Admiral Graf Spee -- Views of the Ship's Wreck (Part II).


    If you want higher resolution reproductions than the Online Library's digital images, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."

    Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.

    Photo #: NH 86397-KN (Color)

    Battle of the River Plate, 13 December 1939

    Watercolor by Edward Tufnell, RN (Retired), depicting the cruisers HMS Exeter (foreground) and HMNZS Achilles (right center background) in action with the German armored ship Admiral Graf Spee (right background).

    Courtesy of the U.S. Navy Art Collection, Washington, DC. Donation of Melvin Conant, 1969.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 38KB; 740 x 535 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 59658

    Admiral Graf Spee
    (German Armored Ship, 1936)

    Anchored off Montevideo, Uruguay in mid-December 1939, following the Battle of the River Plate.
    Note her camouflage.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 71KB; 740 x 520 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 59657

    Admiral Graf Spee
    (German Armored Ship, 1936)

    Anchored off Montevideo, Uruguay in mid-December 1939, following the Battle of the River Plate.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 66KB; 740 x 520 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 83003

    Admiral Graf Spee
    (German Armored Ship, 1936)

    Ship's port bow, taken while she was at Montevideo, Uruguay in mid-December 1939, following the Battle of the River Plate.
    Note crew members working over the side to repair damage from an eight-inch shell fired by the British heavy cruiser Exeter.
    The notation "The 'Moustache'" refers to the false bow wave painted on Admiral Graf Spee's bows.

    The original photograph came from Rear Admiral Samuel Eliot Morison's World War II history project working files.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 46KB; 740 x 530 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 59660

    Admiral Graf Spee
    (German Armored Ship, 1936)

    Ship's port bow, taken while she was anchored in Montevideo harbor, Uruguay in mid-December 1939, following the Battle of the River Plate.
    Note ship's badge mounted just forward of her anchors and hause pipes, false bow wave camouflage, and shell damage in the upper hull side (at right).

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 69KB; 740 x 515 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 83001

    Admiral Graf Spee
    (German Armored Ship, 1936)

    Ship's starboard bow, taken while she was at Montevideo, Uruguay in mid-December 1939, following the Battle of the River Plate.
    The notation "The 'Moustache'" refers to the false bow wave painted on Admiral Graf Spee's bows.

    The original photograph came from Rear Admiral Samuel Eliot Morison's World War II history project working files.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 48KB; 740 x 520 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 59662

    Admiral Graf Spee
    (German Armored Ship, 1936)

    View of the ship's forward superstructure, starboard side, taken while she was off Montevideo, Uruguay in mid-December 1939, following the Battle of the River Plate.
    Note the shell fragment scars in her side plating, and the antenna of a "Seetakt" radar mounted on the face of her main battery gun director (top center).

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 101KB; 740 x 580 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 59659

    Admiral Graf Spee
    (German Armored Ship, 1936)

    Close-up view of the starboard side of the ship's forward superstructure, taken at Montevideo, Uruguay in mid-December 1939, following the Battle of the River Plate.
    Note the ship's pattern camouflage, rangefinder with the antenna of a "Seetakt" radar mounted on its face, and 15cm broadside guns.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 73KB; 500 x 765 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 59663

    Admiral Graf Spee
    (German Armored Ship, 1936)

    Close-up view of the port side of the ship's forward superstructure, taken at Montevideo, Uruguay in mid-December 1939, following the Battle of the River Plate.
    A shell hole in the tower side plating is visible aft of the searchlight platform.
    Note the ship's pattern camouflage, antenna of a "Seetakt" radar mounted on the face of the main battery rangefinder, foremast and 15cm broadside guns.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 92KB; 500 x 765 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 59656

    Admiral Graf Spee
    (German Armored Ship, 1936)

    At anchor in Montevideo harbor, Uruguay in mid-December 1939, following the Battle of the River Plate.
    Note the German naval flag flying above her after rangefinder.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 86KB; 740 x 510 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 59661

    Admiral Graf Spee
    (German Armored Ship, 1936)

    View of the ship's port side, amidships, taken while she was at anchor in Montevideo harbor, Uruguay in mid-December 1939, following the Battle of the River Plate.
    Note the burned-out remains of an Arado Ar 196A-1 floatplane atop the ship's catapult, 15cm broadside guns, boat and aircraft crane, secondary gun battery director (at left), and damage to her side plating from shell fragments.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 91KB; 740 x 520 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 80976

    Admiral Graf Spee
    (German Armored Ship, 1936)

    View of the after part of the ship's superstructure, port side, taken while she was in Montevideo harbor, Uruguay in mid-December 1939, following the Battle of the River Plate.
    Note the burned-out remains of an Arado Ar 196A-1 floatplane on the ship's catapult and the German naval ensign flying from the mast mounted atop the after rangefinder.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 73KB; 740 x 505 pixels

     
    Photo #: NH 85636

    Funeral procession of Captain Hans Langsdorff
    ,
    Commanding Officer of the German Armored Ship Admiral Graf Spee

    At Buenos Aires, Argentina, 21 December 1939.
    Captain Langsdorff had shot himself on 20 December, after scuttling his ship on 17 December.

    Courtesy of Louis A. Davison, 1977.

    U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.

    Online Image: 66KB; 740 x 435 pixels

     


    For more images related to this action, see:

  • Admiral Graf Spee -- Views of the Ship's Wreck; and
  • Admiral Graf Spee -- Views of the Ship's Wreck (Part II).


    If you want higher resolution reproductions than the Online Library's digital images, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."


    Return to Naval Historical Center home page.

    Page made 8 October 2006