River Plate, battle of

River Plate, battle of, fought off this South American river on 13 December 1939 between the German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee and an Allied naval task force. Admiral Graf Spee, armed with six 28 cm. (11 in.) guns, was commanded by Captain Hans Langsdorff. She had left Germany with her supply ship Altmark before war began and later sank nine ships in the Indian Ocean and South Atlantic before her engines began to malfunction. Langsdorff, anxious to increase his score before steaming to Germany for repairs, returned via the River Plate to intercept a convoy he knew was in that area, a move anticipated by Commodore Henry Harwood, whose Force G was one of eight formed to hunt Langsdorff down. Harwood lay in wait with two light cruisers, Ajax and the New Zealand Achilles, and the larger Exeter. (A fourth cruiser, Cumberland, arrived after the battle.) Langsdorff saw the British first and, thinking they were the convoy, he steamed straight at them. In the 80-minute battle which followed Harwood tried to divide the German warship's gunfire by attacking from two directions. But Langsdorff concentrated on Exeter which was soon forced to withdraw, and when Ajax and Achilles were also damaged Harwood disengaged. But instead of driving home his advantage, Langsdorff entered the port of Montevideo in neutral Uruguay that night because, as well as having problems with his engines, his damaged ship was now unseaworthy for the long haul back to Germany. Nevertheless, it is hard to see what he hoped to gain for he was given just 72 hours to leave by the Uruguayan government.

British reinforcements ordered to the scene were not due until 19 December, but Langsdorff, misled by false British signals and by his gunnery officer's assertion that he had seen the British battle-cruiser Renown approaching, assumed they were already in position. Langsdorff was ordered to scuttle his ship if he could not fight his way up river to Buenos Aires but internment was forbidden him. When the time limit expired on 17 December, he sank his ship in neutral waters and committed suicide. The encounter was greeted by the British as a victory and a much-needed boost for their morale. See also sea power.