Battle of the River Plate

Uncommon card · No. 94154

The Battle of the River Plate was fought in the South Atlantic on 13 December 1939 as the first British naval battle of the Second World War. The Kriegsmarine heavy cruiser Admiral Graf Spee, commanded by Captain Hans Langsdorff, engaged a Royal Navy squadron, commanded by Commodore Henry Harwood, comprising the light cruisers HMS Ajax, HMNZS Achilles (on loan to the New Zealand Division) and the heavy cruiser HMS Exeter. Graf Spee had sailed into the South Atlantic in August 1939, before the war began, and had begun commerce raiding after receiving authorisation on 26 September 1939. Harwood's squadron was one of several search groups sent in pursuit by the British Admiralty and sighted Graf Spee off the estuary of the River Plate (a.k.a. the Río de la Plata) near the coasts of Argentina and Uruguay. In the ensuing battle, Exeter was severely damaged and forced to retire, making for the Falklands; Ajax and Achilles suffered moderate damage. Damage to Graf Spee, although not extensive,...

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