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1 the Battle of the River Plate. 13 December 1939 Memorial

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1 the Battle of the River Plate. 13 December 1939 Memorial The Battle of the River Plate. 13 December 1939 Memorial dedicated 12 April 2014 The 75th Anniversary Year Frequently-asked questions. These notes written by Henry, Stephen (sons of Admiral Henry Harwood) and Jonathan Harwood (grandson) and Malcolm Collis Archivist of the HMS Ajax & River Plate Veterans Association primarily for the guides at the National Memorial Arboretum and HMS Ajax Website and for those who wish to have ready access to the important facts. Contents 1 Battle description 2 75th Anniversary events, 2014 3 Frequently-asked questions FAQs A. Background. 1 What were Captain Langsdorff’s orders? 2 What were Commodore Harwood’s orders? 3 Why did Graf Spee head for the area off the River Plate? 4 Why did Commodore Harwood concentrate his force off the River Plate? 5 Why did Captain Langsdorff choose to attack the British warships? 6 What were the relative strengths of the two forces? 7 How did Harwood dispose his ships, and why? 8 Why did Graf Spee not use its superior gun range to destroy the British cruisers? 9 What logistic support did the two sides have? FAQs B. The Battle. 10 Why did the British not fly air-reconnaissance on the morning of the 13th December? 11 What part did Graf Spee’s radar play in the battle? 12 Why did Graf Spee not finish off Exeter? 13 Why didn’t Graf Spee sink all three ships? 14 Damage - overview 15 Damage to Graf Spee. 16 Damage to HMS Exeter 17 Damage to HMS Ajax 18 Damage to HMS Achilles. 19 Why didn’t Graf Spee divide the fire from its two 11 inch guns and engage Exeter with one and Ajax/Achilles with the other? 20 Ships’ capabilities remaining after the action. 21What happened in the battle after Exeter was ordered to withdraw? 22 Why did Captain Langsdorff decide to run for Montevideo? 23What part did the Uruguayan gunboat, Uruguay play in the action? FAQs C. The Montevideo Phase. 24 How long could Graf Spee permitted to stay in Montevideo harbour? 25 Why did the British first try to persuade the Uruguayans to force Graf Spee out of Montevideo and then tried to persuade them to keep her in? 26 What part did the cruiser HMS Cumberland play? 27 What were the Germans’ problems in Montevideo? 28 What were the British problems during this time? 29 What was Hitler’s reaction to the Graf Spee crisis? 1 30 What happened to Graf Spee’s crew after the scuttling? 31 Why did Captain Langsdorff shoot himself after the scuttling? 32 How many people were killed or died of wounds in the battle? 33 How many honours and awards were bestowed on the British side? FAQs D. Aftermath. 34 Why has the story lasted so long? 35 Attitudes of the British and German captains. 36 How has history treated Captain Langsdorff? 37 How did Rear Admiral Harwood’s subsequent career develop? 38 How did the careers of the three naval captains develop? 39 What is the significance of the flag (pennant) with the red cross on white seen covering the memorial prior to its unveiling and depicted on Commodore Harwood’s bench? 40 What happened to the three Royal Navy ships after the battle? Part 6 41 Bibliography. Suggest further reading. 42 Films, videos and websites. 2 Part 1 Battle description. “THIS GREAT ACTION WILL LONG BE TOLD IN SONG AND STORY” Winston Churchill – First Lord of the Admiralty – February 1940. The Battle of the River Plate 13th December 1939 This is a story about how 3 battleships, 3 aircraft carriers and 14 crusers in 7 Hunting Groups searched for the GS and how the weakest force of 3 cruisers found her and the action which led to her destruction. The Second World War against Nazi Germany had been waged for three months. At sea Britain had lost the passenger liner, Athenia, the armed merchant cruiser, HMS Rawalpindi, the battleship HMS Royal Oak and the aircraft carrier HMS Courageous. There was very little good news for Britain and France. In the South Atlantic Captain Langsdorff in the German pocket battleship, Admiral Graf Spee had been sinking British merchant ships since September 1939. Commodore Harwood, commanding Royal Navy Hunting Group G, had studied the area and knew the attraction to a German raider of the rich pickings of British merchant ships leaving the River Plate estuary (between Argentina and Uruguay in South America). The Germans claimed that their pocket battleships could out-gun any ships faster than them and outrun any ship with heavier armament. In early December 1939 Harwood received enemy reports from the British freighters Doric Star and Tairoa as they were captured and sunk. He calculated that if the raider chose to head for South America she would probably arrive in the area off the River Plate on the morning of the 13th December. With this in mind, Harwood ordered the cruisers, HMS Ajax, Achilles and Exeter to concentrate there the previous day (12th December). They met at the pre-arranged time and exercised their action plan. On the morning of 13th December HMS Exeter was ordered to investigate smoke that was spotted on the horizon. She soon signaled, “I think it is a pocket battleship”. The three ships had finally met Admiral Graf Spee and at 0617 they went into action, following Harwood’s orders, “Attack at once, by day or night”. At first Graf Spee concentrated her fire on Exeter. Ajax and Achilles then closed on Graf Spee at speed, drawing her fire and causing significant upper deck damage and loss of morale. Graf Spee's Captain Langsdorff later said, “They came at me like destroyers”. At 0636 Graf Spee about-turned to the west, from where she started her retreat. With 66 of her crew killed, Exeter later retired from the battle badly damaged. By 0725 Ajax and Achilles had closed to within 4 miles from Graf Spee. Harwood then decided to open the range and shadow her. However Graf Spee steadied and concentrated her fire again on Ajax and Achilles. Ajax fired a salvo of torpedoes to encourage Graf Spee to maintain her westward course, which she did, but shortly afterwards Graf Spee obtained a hit on Ajax which put her two after-turrets out of action. Achilles also suffered severe damage to her director control tower from a near-miss. This was Graf Spee's chance to turn on the pursuers and regain the initiative but it was not taken. Captain Langsdorff chose to break off the action and head for port in Montevideo, the capital of neutral Uruguay. Whether this was the result of a confused state because of wounds and concussion, a sense of defeat or to preserve the lives of his men we do not know. In Montevideo Langsdorff requested 14 days to repair Graf Spee’s damage but Uruguay, a neutral country keeping strictly to the Hague Convention, allowed only 72 hours stay in harbour. Knowing that escape was not an option, Admiral Graf Spee was scuttled on 17th December. Two days later, after addressing the ship's company and spending the evening with his officers, Captain Langsdorff shot himself. The ship's company were interned in Argentina and Uruguay. On return home the men of HMS Ajax and HMS Exeter were feted in London by King George VI and Winston Churchill (First Lord of the Admiralty at the time). HMS Achilles' crew were similarly feted in their home town of Auckland, New Zealand. To the people of Britain, the Battle of the River Plate brought the first victory of the Second World War and boosted the country's 3 morale. As Winston Churchill said at the celebratory London Guildhall luncheon in February 1940, “In a dark cold winter it warmed the cockles of the British hearts”. The Battle of the River Plate is remembered as being the last of the old-style sea battles fought without aircraft (other than Ajax’s Seafox spotter plane) or radar, where the speed of ships, their firepower and the tactics employed won the day. For the Royal Navy this battle was an expression of the centuries-old tradition of achieving mastery of the seas through the offensive spirit in battle and a willingness to take risks. As the First Sea Lord, Admiral Pound said at the time, “It set a standard for the war, a matter of great importance”. Part 2 2014; events to commemorate 75th Anniversary of the Battle. The memorial at the National Memorial Arboretum was dedicated and unveiled on 12 April 2014. It was designed and constructed by H.L. Perfitt Ltd, Diss, Norfolk, in conjunction with The Battle of the River Plate Memorial Committee. It is made of a single slab of black Indian granite, inscribed on both sides, with a grey granite pavement depicting the relative shell sizes of the four ships to convey the inequity of the firepower. Granite benches are dedicated to Commodore Harwood and the three Captains of the British ships to allow visitors time to relax and reflect. A buried time capsule has the inscription “Sealed herein are the names of those who served in HMS Ajax, HMS Achilles, HMS Exeter and Admiral Graf Spee including those who gave their lives whilst serving their country also those who, 75 years later, supported the commissioning and dedication of this memorial on 12 April 2014.” In June 2014 the HMS Ajax and River Plate Association visited the Town of Ajax in Ontario, Canada where Admiral Harwood’s day uniform was presented to the town by his grandsons, Jonathan and Ben Harwood.
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