Admiral Graf Spee
|
|||||||||||||||
|
Admiral
Graf Spee was a Deutchland class pazerschiff built in
Wilhelmshaven and launched in June 1934. Under the Spanish
Civil War a few years later, she did five
"non-intervention" patrols to Spain. At the outbreak of
world war two she was in the South Atlantic to attack the
Allied shipping. Between September and December 1939 she
sunk nine ships. 13.December she fought against three
British cruisers at the battle River Plate, HMS Ajax, HMS
Achilles and HMS
Exeter who was heavily damaged and had to return to
base. But also Graf Spee also took damage during the
battle and her fuel system was crippled. They were forced
to seek harbor in Montevideo in neutral Uruguay, closely
shadowed by the remaining British cruisers. Kapitän zur
see Hans Langsdorrf believed a large British force was on
its way to meet him when they had to leave harbor, and
with much of the ammunition spent he decided to scuttle
her. 17.December 1939 she sank down to a depth of 19
meter, and three days later Langsdorrf took his own life.
The wreck was partly salvaged from1942 to 1943, and in
2006 and 2007 the swastika, artillery rangefinder and one
of the cannons was salvaged.
|
|||||||||||||||
Picture: Admiral Graf Spee Courtesy of Worldwar Photos Last updated: January 2021
|
|||||||||||||||