The story of the Battle of the River Plate form actual footage. These clips were taken from "The Royal Navy at War - A Sailors View" compiled by Roland Smith. www.1st-take.c...
Here in New Zealand the Battle of the River Plate became a local legend owing to the Achilles. So almost 50 years later when in a remote junkyard in rural France I happened across a brass ship’s bell engraved Graf Spee I had to buy it. Yes, I knew it was too small to be a battleship bell but the reference counted. I think it might have come from a later Rhine river-boat, but never mind. I brought it back to NZ, cleaned it up and had an old salt add a special hand-woven bell lanyard. It has now been our front “door bell” for the last 30 or so years. Not a genuine memento of the battle but a good reminder just the same!
"Battle of the River Plate": One of my all-time favorite movie moments is when the English floatilla off the Uruguayan coast sends one of their own to check out the smoke on the horizon. The message comes back: "ENEMY IN SIGHT!"
I had no idea such footage existed of all these events. Thank you for uploading. Struck by the scenes of so many ordinary men, so patriotic, so enduring, so brave.
It is a completely different feeling, when you see the authentic archive footage, instead of the movie made by cinematographers many years later. Brave Commonwealth sailors !!!!
Thanks for this video. The day 'Graf Spee' blew up was my first birthday 17th December 1939, in Montevideo. But just my mother, me and a b'day cake were at home, everybody was on the coastal area watching the drama -including my dad. He was a friend of the Uruguayan minister of Defence, Gen. Alfredo Campos, who wrote a book on this episode and gave a copy to dad which I still have, as a priceless account of the battle.
Many thanks! I liked the pictures of ordinary British sailors and people. Many bear the marks of people who've had rough lives. We shouldn't forget that this war came on the tail of the Great Depression.
My uncle Jack was on Ajax. He later served on the Prince of Wales with everything that that entailed. He was lost at sea for a few months until they were finally rescued from a desert island.
My ex-wife father was chief Petty Office on Exeter at the battle of The Battle of the River Plate he was badly wounded in the action and left on the Falkland islands he was later aworded the DSM for his courage in the battle his name was Jimmy Greene when Exeter was refitted he was presented with the old telegraph wheel as he was the last man to use it my ex-wife still has it on a plack a momentom of a famous battle
At the end of the day captain Langsdorff was an honourable man . He was not prepared to sacrifice his men for Hitler. He made sure they were safe and then shot himself
@@WgCdrLuddite if you can't say anything decent about an honourable person, who isn't in a position to defend themselves then maybe you ought to keep your snide remarks to yourself
Given what became of the Imperial German ‘South East Asia’ fleet (composed of several modern and powerful vessels) - see Coronel & the Falklands. - it is entirely conceivable that Langsdorff wanted to ‘go out in a blaze of glory’ like the outdated British ships at Coronel (where one of my relatives was lost). But was under orders from German High Command not to give the British such an opportunity & so took his own life.
@@pcka12 yes that well could be true.. Have you read the book by Captain Bell of the Africa Shell. His ship was sunk by Langsdorff. His crew was taken by the Altmark but all the captured officers were kept on board Graf Spee . Bell became quite close to Langsdorff and they had long conversations. . Langsdorff was of the old school and was not a Nazi .
@@michaeldryden4639 I have not read that book, but I had heard the story. I knew an old gent who had been an aircraft mechanic on the British light cruiser (was it Ajax?) I asked him about his recollections of the battle & he said “ we were locked down below & there were a lot of loud bangs” - which may well have been the experience of many of the crew of these ships - except in the case of Harry Pierce Ancill at Coronel “then we drowned in the dark in exceedingly cold water”, if he was not scalded to death or torn apart by HE before. So Langsdorff at least saved his crew from that fate!
His actions saved the lives of 1200 men. The Canadian town of Ajax in 2007 dedicated a street to him - "Langsdorff Drive" - and the Royal Navy, which was also spared casualties by his actions, planned to honor him in a memorial dinner at its base in Portsmouth, last December [2019]. Germany has no recognition of this man -
Langsdorff was a honourable German as were virtually all of the German Navy in the second world war, and I believe that Jewish staff in the German Navy were protected
G'day Tony, Thank you so much for putting this old footage together so well to tell the tale of the 'suicide' of the Admiral Graf Spee and the costly aftermath of the action that ended the damage this huge ship caused. The images, even today, show us how rough, ready and, obviously, tough life was aboard HM Ships during WW2. Nothing like the squeaky clean ships and sailors one sees in old war movies from the 50s and 60s. Here you had the one of the RN Captains voicing how fortunate he thought he was to encounter an enemy ship at sea. What many land lubbers don't realise is, especially these days, that naval engagements were, during both world wars, almost always, fights to the death. A long standing naval tradition, after the removal of the Prize Rules, was that one fought the enemy until you sank his ship; no quarter given. Unlike land forces who can honourably make 'tactical withdrawals', navies, then, had no such policy. Even the most famous exception to this rule, the Battle of Jutland, saw an enormous loss of life as more than one huge RN ship simply exploded and broke up behind clouds of black smoke and fire when their magazines took direct hits. Only following that significant loss did HM's ships chase the German fleet until it became clear that further engagement would not be possible. It was, famously, said of the Admiral in charge of the Jutland force that he was the only man in the Empire that had the power to lose the war in a single afternoon. Both fleets returned to port. Both sides claimed victory, especially the Germans as they had inflicted the greater damage. However, for the rest of The Great War the German surface fleet never again posed a danger to the Royal Navy who blockaded their opponents, assuring they would not leave their moorings for the rest of the conflict. Hitler, who admitted that he had no liking for ships and was prone to seasickness, meddled with the Kriegsmarine - often bypassing his competent Admirals - to a point where most of his capital ships had to hide because they were just too big and dangerous not to be vital targets. Historically, the Germans favoured huge battleships and cruisers yet really didn't know how to use them to full effect. Which, of course, was a good thing. Even with Hitler's interference, the Kriegsmarine, particularly its U-Boats, still caused significant damage. Thanks again for this great video. Cheers, BH
She gave the game away by using her searchlight one night. Allied shipping was required to report anything they saw of interest on the high seas. Only a large warship would have such a powerful light, and we didn't have anything in that area. The hunt was on. Her navigator, Jürgen Wattenberg, stole back to Germany and became the commander of U162, which sank the tanker my grandad was 3rd engineer on out in the Caribbean one night. The U-Boat motored up to the crew in their lifeboats near the sinking ship, took the name of the vessel, gave them their coordinates, and wished them good luck (in English). When the sub approached, scanning the dark water with its searchlight, the men assumed they were going to be machine-gunned. Dead men tell no tales. It was nearly two weeks before they were spotted by the US coastguard and taken into St Lucia.
Crew of the Achilles did not attend the London parade, they were back in New Zealand for a parade in Auckland, their home base. Achilles had been purchased by the NZ government in 1936 to patrol and protect the south Pacific, her crew was almost all Kiwis but with a few of the original British Officer complement and sailed as HMS because NZ did not have a naval service as such until the King awarded them the HMNZS title after this battle. One of the gunners when asked how many broadsides he had fired said he guessed 20 but it turned out to be 80 ...16 hits probably was a good average if all three shot 80 each off.
I don't the Germans really believed that BS they know She could not get home so the scuttled the ship which was on of 3 option there other to was interment or sunk in action
The actual engagement between Graf Spee and Harwood’s cruisers is well known, or should be. The aftermath and news footage is of interest to those who delve a little deeper into history. Thanks for that
@George Buller: May I respond in kind! What ship? My Dad was on HMS Keats, a corvette. Having read about them I seriously don't know how he did it! Sadly, I'm not much of a sailor. I get a bit green on wet grass! Lol
My granddad was in the navy during the war and he use to get really uptight when the battle of the river plate was on saying that's not what happened only time I ever heard him talk of the war
Great archival footage. Thank you for that. Pity the commentary didn't quite measure up. The reason this victory was so important to morale, was that in the three months since the war started the Royal Navy had suffered heavy losses. The aircraft carrier HMS Courageous had been sunk by U-29 on September 17th 1939. The battleship HMS Royal Oak had been sunk by U-47 on the 14th October. Both with heavy loss of life. The Royal Navy desperately needed a win. ammunition, a break out attempt by the Graf Spee would have been suicide.
not just her diesel purifier she also lost her Fresh water filtration system and most of her fresh water tanks had been compromised, so the crew wouldn't have had anywhere near enough drinking water to make it home
Years later in German papers from the Graf Spee they found out why she was blown up. The had diesel engines but ran on a highly purified fuel that had to be superheated by a boiler prior to use. This purification system was foolishly placed outside the armor belt and was destroyed in the battle. The Graf Spee had only 24 hours of usable fuel when she broke off the battle. Then they found this system could not be repaired in less than months if at all outside German home ports. So unable to get away they blew her up.
Aha moment. Your info answered a question about which I had long wondered. So the A. Graf Spee could take on some lower grade fuel and distill off the fuel the engines could actually use. And the ship could not hang out for more than 72 hrs in Montevideo without violating neutrality.
@@somaday2595 I have also heard it said (or read it written) that the advanced Graf Spee had a bakery to make bread, rather than carrying ship's biscuit, and that the bakery was also irreparably damaged. Probably a factor, but not as big a one as not having enough fuel.
I worked for a German engine manufacturing company. One of my colleagues was a nephew of Langsdorf. He mentioned that these particular vessels had two stroke diesel engines which were directly mounted on the steel structure. So vibration transmission throughout ships hull caused the gun barrels to vibrate when underway. Therefore accurate shots at full away would be compromised. For a running battle with the British fleet would be a difficult task, it would be necessary to reduce power, perhaps even stopping engines to get the gun accuracy needed for the sea battle.
This seems well wide of the mark when you examine the evidence of the battle...Graf Spee was travelling at, or around 24 knots, when she handed out a damned good beating to HMS Exeter...straddling her with her third salvo and hitting her repeatedly thereafter so as to require Exeter to break off the action. @@quantummike912
The one thing I find rather homouris is that the communities along The River Plate where expecting that the battle was going to be a really good show. So, they setup areas of best view possible, the sales of binoculars went through the roof, and even betting pools were setup. They were expecting a good rip roaring naval battle and trying to make money out of it. The one commentator on the Discovery Channel that I seen about that used the term, "The Superbowl of the River Plate." as to what they were expecting. Instead what they got was the German Pocket Battleship scuttling itself. So they tried to recouping for lost money by trying to sue both Britain and Germany for not having a good naval battle. I heard about this 5 years ago or so and when I did I couldn't stop laughing. Even 60 minutes had a piece about that all that came out over 5 years ago or so.
@freebeerfordworkers 1st Manassas did not go quite the way those spectators wanted. They were caught up in the rout of the Union army and found themselves fleeing in panic back to Washington.
7:38 The holes in the bridge were made by the 11-inch shell that hit 'B' turret (Damage plated over at 7:32 ). Splinters killed everyone on the bridge, except Captain Bell. Sometimes it paid to be a warship captain. In the battle of Denmark Strait, when Hood was lost, one of Bismarck's 15-inch shells scored a direct hit on Prince Of Wales' bridge. The shell didn't explode as it passed in one side of the bridge and out the other, but, on the way through, it hit the compass binnacle. The spray of fragments killed everyone on the bridge except Captain Leach.
I went to Nelson College in New Zealand outside the assembly hall hung the bell from HMS Achilles quite a few of the crew and I think the captain went to Nelson College and came from Nelson the bell was still in use and I can remember ringing the bell
At a time when British vicissitudes at sea were going to have to face one of the most difficult and dangerous moments in WW2 somehow the country and Malta was kept afloat which can only be attributed to astonishing pluck and bravery from all ranks both in the RN and merchant marine. Without them the UK would have been literally sunk.
First : Great video ! Second : I've known about the battle and watched the film many times, but never seen any of this archive film before. Wherever did you find it? Third and last : Its excellently put together, with the musical accompaniment especially appropriate! Congratulations!
I recall there was a wartime propaganda documentary made about the Battle of the River Plate. The best thing about it was that some of the British sailors involved were interviewed and awkwardly described what they did. I saw it around the turn of the century, so my memory of it isn't that sharp, but it was enjoyable predecessor to the 1956 Powell and Pressburger film, albeit with a fair bit of propaganda and morale raising stuff in it.
The very first ship seen is a panzerschiffe, the second from about 0.10 seconds is the KMS Deutschland later re-named Lutzow, both Gneisenaua and Scharnhorst had three main battery turrets
I never will get over the fact that the movie used a USN CL as a stand-in for the Graf Spee. And RN, RNZN, & Indian Navy cruiser for the RN ships. I think the Indian Navy ship was the original Ajax. One of those cruisers was an actual participant.
The ship used for Graf Spee was a CA type heavy cruiser, not a CL type light cruiser. USS Salem was a Des Moines class heavy cruiser and is now a museum ship. No "pocket battleships" survived the war and no other suitable ships were available at the time so the US navy lent the cruiser as a stand-in.
The Indian ship INS Delhi was originally Achilles. When she was scraped one of her turrets was sent to New Zealand and is on display at the main gate of HMNZS Philomel
Wow !!! And this was Exeter tidied up. Imagine her condition when she limped into Port Stanley. All these boys must have been thrilled to set foot ashore again. Sad looking at Exeter's crew knowing the fate that awaited many of them
Superb video and view of a win in a very dark days my late mothers who would have been about 16 told me it brought a great releif to People during very dark days......especially as mentioned by other commentaters UK was fighting yet another war 20 years after the Great War and the great depression had taken a heavy toll of lives resorces and health, We are very lucky as we cone out of Covid not to have the difficult task that the superb dedicated resolute wartime generation had to bear thru ww2 there really were a tough generation...
I was a Sea Cadet in the 80s here in Auckland ,New Zealand ,It was TS Achillies and we knew our history of the Ship that our unit was named after ,Also ACDC played a big concert at the River Plate lolI heard a rumour many years ago that when the HMNZS Achillies was going to scrap they were going to float it up Meola creek and have it as a museam close to the Aeroplanes that MOTAT has on display there ,pity it never happened,I think we had parts of the ship on our Bridge we had there ,pity i didnt pay much attention back then i was more into our Orliaron 20mm auto cannon thing and a big Bofor gun to lol
...same calibre main armament as Scharnhorst and Gneisenau. The term 'pocket battleship' was coined in the 1930s to describe a vessel that was 'more powerful than any cruiser, and faster than any battleship.' I guess you had to be there.
@@juliusschwencke142 the original classification for the ship was as a "Panzerschiff" which means "armored ship" in german since it did have larger caliber guns than most heavy cruisers but did not have very much armor and had a cruiser like speed of 28 knts and torpedos. the term "pocket battleship" was just a nickname that the british came up with just like how the nicknames for the tiger 2 came to be as "royal tiger" and "king tiger" to a lot of allied soldiers. and the Scharnhorst class were a pair of battlecruisers with rather small caliber guns compared to other nations battlecruiser/battleships
@@wolfie5777 the Navy museum here in Auckland has comparative facsimile rounds from the cruisers that were involved in the pursuit. Graf Spee's are huge in comparison. May only have had six, but they could certainly ruin your day.
My Great Uncle, George Manning, Stoker 1st Class was killed in action during the Battle of the River Plate, serving onboard HMS Exeter. He was buried at sea en route to the Falkland Islands.
Our uncle Tommy was on the Cossack during this time & at the time of the Altmark incident. Only mentioned it a few times & served the full 6 1/2 years in the R.N.
He may well have been on HMS Cossack as part of the 4th Destroyer Flotilla under Capt Philip Vian during the Bismarck chase, where Cossack together with the other 4 destroyers of the flotilla bravely harried the Bismarck right through the night of 26/27th May 1941prior to her sinking the following morning. Respect to your uncle's service.
Should be shown to the current political class here. Here are true friends like NZ when push comes to shove. Not the charlatans they claim are friends. Great video.
Really pleased to hear that the bill is in the war Morial always thought it was so special and I was wondering whether it was still at Nelson CollegeThank you for letting me know where it is
I am from Uruguay, 84. Graf Spee was scuttled the very day of my 1st birthday, Dec. 17, 1939. My father saw HMS Ajax when she visited Montevideo in Jan. 1940. He said she looked like a destroyer rather than a cruiser ! He wondered how Capt. Harwood could battle the bigger, powerful Graf Spee with such a light force. Decades later my father and I met former British Ambassador Sir Eugen Millington-Drake who was on duty in 1939. He had many friends in Uruguay and talked very little about the battle.
The town of Ajax, in Ontario, Canada, named after HMS Ajax, named a street after Langsdorff, as they had already done for Harwood, and many others from the squadron of cruisers.
Cold Aussies indeed! Today it is -7 Celsius, the lake out front is frozen over and it is snowing. Yes, your term is correct! We are in the Ottawa area now, not up north where it gets REALLY cold.
Langsdorf saved thousands of lives by sinking the ship. 900 crew were interned for the rest of the war. At least the same number of Brits were also saved. Compare losses on HMS Hood, Bismarck .
A huge number of the German crew escaped from Argentina to Peru. From there they were taken by Japanese ships to Japan , then across Russia on the Trans Siberian Railway to Germany.
I believe the first Pocket Battleship pictured, with Hitler in the foreground is the Admiral Scheer. The second one pictured was originally named the Deutschland but was renamed Lutzow in 1940.
@@juliusschwencke142 Correct. First ship pictured looks like Gneisenau.with main mast close astern of funnel, and appears to have a clipper bow. Scharnhorst's was further astern when she had the same bow fitted.
On a drab and dull day, THE BATTLE CRUISER Exeter returned home... at 5:40 BATTLE CRUISER? Just like Hood and Renown? No, Sport -- HEAVY cruiser with eight inch guns, not fifteen inch.
Some very rare footage in this video. I had an uncle who was at the battle of the river Plate - I don't know which ship he was on. It was something which he never talked about.
@@kansasross His wife, my aunt, told us about his service when I was a boy. Like most men who served and saw action during WWII they seldom talked about it. My grandfather served on the front line during WWI and he too never talked about it. I too have served and have seen action and I don't talk about it either. Your question is pretty inane given what we all know, except perhaps you, about those who served and saw action during the world wars.
@@Argyll9846 Thank you for your response. As no American took part in this famous battle, your grandfather must have been a Kiwi,-ANZAC, Australian, British or perish the thought, German. Which was it?
@@kansasross My Grandfather was English and believe he was in an artillery gunner. I think he was at the Somme but don't know for sure as neither of my grandparents would talk about the war. Both grandparents lost family on the front line during that dreadful conflict and I know it was painful for them to talk about it.
@@Argyll9846 So pleased to learn of the adventures of your grandfather and uncle; so glad I asked. I feel sure you are much pleased and proud of their service in such historically momentous times. Life at sea, despite all the glamorous movies, is a hard life. In time of war when cannon and shot and bombs and human life are expendable, life at sea adds far more danger and the likelihood of mere chance shortening one's life is almost like the toss of a coin. I spent three years of my life at sea in time of war. My ship was fully armed but never in great danger. In her I made a ten-month voyage around the world, a rare occurance for a US Navy vessel. Six months of it was spent in the Persian Gulf where no man of us saw so much as a woman's face. For six months! Off the coast of East Africa I came very close to losing my life to Dengue Fever. In Rio de Janeiro I met and fell in love with a beautiful young woman who was Miss Brasil and Miss Universe. Life has a curious balance that evens things out at the end. So I must tell you, I never felt that anything ever happened to me so awful or so wonderful that I didn't want to tell about it to my grandsons. Not to my mother or my wife though. ~ Kansas Ross
The enthusiasm for scuttling seems to have been largely restricted to the German navies of both world wars. What is really bizarre is the argument that if, for example, Bismarck's crew attempted to scuttle her right at the end, then she wasn't really sunk by the British, which is often put forward by Bismarck lovers.
@@dovetonsturdee7033 scuttling of the Bismarck is BS they was no office off higher enough rank to order the scuttling at the end of the battle plus like someone said in another video all the scuttling charges were in the captain office which was sad to have been destroyed during the battle
I didn't know that part about how complex the diesel system was and how he only had hours of propulsion. If he had left port to fight it would have been a suicide mission. He could have fought it out and caused alot of English casualties but eventually he would have lost propulsion and been a sitting duck for being dispatched by English guns and torpedoes. He wasn't going to do that to the men under his command. He was a Honorable man who had the courage to do what few men then and nobody today would do.
would have been interesting if the captain had handed the ship over to uruguay. that would have been quite an increase in uruguayan naval strength for a long time to come. im thinking of the goben and the turks.
This narration I can't figure out. I hear a New Zealand accent but also a Virginian/southern part as well which could be the case for sure but I just wonder if maybe this is computer generated narration which in no way takes away from the video, just stating what I hear. Like the video stated what an uplift for the people of the UK to have given the enemy a black eye at sea when things were not looking so good. Thanks for the video always enjoy WW 2 naval docs.
My Grandfather served on Achilles and was in this battle so very many thanks for posting it here.
Here in New Zealand the Battle of the River Plate became a local legend owing to the Achilles. So almost 50 years later when in a remote junkyard in rural France I happened across a brass ship’s bell engraved Graf Spee I had to buy it. Yes, I knew it was too small to be a battleship bell but the reference counted. I think it might have come from a later Rhine river-boat, but never mind. I brought it back to NZ, cleaned it up and had an old salt add a special hand-woven bell lanyard. It has now been our front “door bell” for the last 30 or so years. Not a genuine memento of the battle but a good reminder just the same!
That's a cool story kiwi. What a great doorbell. You oughta pass it down to grandkids etc. Family heirloom.
Cheers from Aussie
"Battle of the River Plate": One of my all-time favorite movie moments is when the English floatilla off the Uruguayan coast sends one of their own to check out the smoke on the horizon. The message comes back: "ENEMY IN SIGHT!"
Could it have been a German souvenir bell from the launching of the ship?
I had no idea such footage existed of all these events. Thank you for uploading. Struck by the scenes of so many ordinary men, so patriotic, so enduring, so brave.
It is a completely different feeling, when you see the authentic archive footage, instead of the movie made by cinematographers many years later. Brave Commonwealth sailors !!!!
Yes, take note of the hat of the officer on the bridge when they fired a salvo ...it seemed to almost lift off his head.
Thanks for this video. The day 'Graf Spee' blew up was my first birthday 17th December 1939, in Montevideo. But just my mother, me and a b'day cake were at home, everybody was on the coastal area watching the drama -including my dad. He was a friend of the Uruguayan minister of Defence, Gen. Alfredo Campos, who wrote a book on this episode and gave a copy to dad which I still have, as a priceless account of the battle.
Many thanks! I liked the pictures of ordinary British sailors and people. Many bear the marks of people who've had rough lives. We shouldn't forget that this war came on the tail of the Great Depression.
yes indeed and look how jolly they are the morale was very high
well done to Kaptain Langsdorf for saving so many sailors
Thanks for this.. HMS Achillles became HMNZS Achillles and is a big part of NZ naval history.. thanks from New Zealand 👍🇳🇿
Back when we had a defense force we could be proud of
It's one of my favourite war films of the 1950s. They did a great job of making it into a film.
My uncle Jack was on Ajax. He later served on the Prince of Wales with everything that that entailed. He was lost at sea for a few months until they were finally rescued from a desert island.
Wow!!!!
So was Uncle Jack lucky or unlucky? A crewman aboard a beat up ship and a sunk ship but a survivor nonetheless.
My ex-wife father was chief Petty Office on Exeter at the battle of The Battle of the River Plate he was badly wounded in the action and left on the Falkland islands he was later aworded the DSM for his courage in the battle his name was Jimmy Greene when Exeter was refitted he was presented with the old telegraph wheel as he was the last man to use it my ex-wife still has it on a plack a momentom of a famous battle
At the end of the day captain Langsdorff was an honourable man . He was not prepared to sacrifice his men for Hitler. He made sure they were safe and then shot himself
In other words : he bottled it.
@@WgCdrLuddite if you can't say anything decent about an honourable person, who isn't in a position to defend themselves then maybe you ought to keep your snide remarks to yourself
Given what became of the Imperial German ‘South East Asia’ fleet (composed of several modern and powerful vessels) - see Coronel & the Falklands. - it is entirely conceivable that Langsdorff wanted to ‘go out in a blaze of glory’ like the outdated British ships at Coronel (where one of my relatives was lost). But was under orders from German High Command not to give the British such an opportunity & so took his own life.
@@pcka12 yes that well could be true.. Have you read the book by Captain Bell of the Africa Shell. His ship was sunk by Langsdorff. His crew was taken by the Altmark but all the captured officers were kept on board Graf Spee . Bell became quite close to Langsdorff and they had long conversations. . Langsdorff was of the old school and was not a Nazi .
@@michaeldryden4639 I have not read that book, but I had heard the story.
I knew an old gent who had been an aircraft mechanic on the British light cruiser (was it Ajax?) I asked him about his recollections of the battle & he said “ we were locked down below & there were a lot of loud bangs” - which may well have been the experience of many of the crew of these ships - except in the case of Harry Pierce Ancill at Coronel “then we drowned in the dark in exceedingly cold water”, if he was not scalded to death or torn apart by HE before.
So Langsdorff at least saved his crew from that fate!
His actions saved the lives of 1200 men. The Canadian town of Ajax in 2007 dedicated a street to him - "Langsdorff Drive" - and the Royal Navy, which was also spared casualties by his actions, planned to honor him in a memorial dinner at its base in Portsmouth, last December [2019].
Germany has no recognition of this man -
Langsdorff was a true naval officer and a gentleman, quite out of step with the Nazis he worked for.
Langsdorff was a honourable German as were virtually all of the German Navy in the second world war, and I believe that Jewish staff in the German Navy were protected
Brings back some great memories. I still have that whole series, 6 hours of footage on VHS, my grandad gave it me when I was kid 👍🏻
Great follow up footage and a well told story. Hearts of Oak indeed!
G'day Tony, Thank you so much for putting this old footage together so well to tell the tale of the 'suicide' of the Admiral Graf Spee and the costly aftermath of the action that ended the damage this huge ship caused. The images, even today, show us how rough, ready and, obviously, tough life was aboard HM Ships during WW2. Nothing like the squeaky clean ships and sailors one sees in old war movies from the 50s and 60s. Here you had the one of the RN Captains voicing how fortunate he thought he was to encounter an enemy ship at sea.
What many land lubbers don't realise is, especially these days, that naval engagements were, during both world wars, almost always, fights to the death. A long standing naval tradition, after the removal of the Prize Rules, was that one fought the enemy until you sank his ship; no quarter given. Unlike land forces who can honourably make 'tactical withdrawals', navies, then, had no such policy.
Even the most famous exception to this rule, the Battle of Jutland, saw an enormous loss of life as more than one huge RN ship simply exploded and broke up behind clouds of black smoke and fire when their magazines took direct hits. Only following that significant loss did HM's ships chase the German fleet until it became clear that further engagement would not be possible. It was, famously, said of the Admiral in charge of the Jutland force that he was the only man in the Empire that had the power to lose the war in a single afternoon.
Both fleets returned to port. Both sides claimed victory, especially the Germans as they had inflicted the greater damage. However, for the rest of The Great War the German surface fleet never again posed a danger to the Royal Navy who blockaded their opponents, assuring they would not leave their moorings for the rest of the conflict.
Hitler, who admitted that he had no liking for ships and was prone to seasickness, meddled with the Kriegsmarine - often bypassing his competent Admirals - to a point where most of his capital ships had to hide because they were just too big and dangerous not to be vital targets. Historically, the Germans favoured huge battleships and cruisers yet really didn't know how to use them to full effect. Which, of course, was a good thing. Even with Hitler's interference, the Kriegsmarine, particularly its U-Boats, still caused significant damage.
Thanks again for this great video. Cheers, BH
She gave the game away by using her searchlight one night. Allied shipping was required to report anything they saw of interest on the high seas. Only a large warship would have such a powerful light, and we didn't have anything in that area.
The hunt was on.
Her navigator, Jürgen Wattenberg, stole back to Germany and became the commander of U162, which sank the tanker my grandad was 3rd engineer on out in the Caribbean one night.
The U-Boat motored up to the crew in their lifeboats near the sinking ship, took the name of the vessel, gave them their coordinates, and wished them good luck (in English).
When the sub approached, scanning the dark water with its searchlight, the men assumed they were going to be machine-gunned. Dead men tell no tales.
It was nearly two weeks before they were spotted by the US coastguard and taken into St Lucia.
God bless the brave men of the HMS Cossack. They gave all for King and Country. Their names will live forever on the rolls of Royal Navy's heroes.
I say God bless the brave service men on both sides.
A time of well-deserved celebration and great pride in the Navy. Six more years of war ahead.
Crew of the Achilles did not attend the London parade, they were back in New Zealand for a parade in Auckland, their home base. Achilles had been purchased by the NZ government in 1936 to patrol and protect the south Pacific, her crew was almost all Kiwis but with a few of the original British Officer complement and sailed as HMS because NZ did not have a naval service as such until the King awarded them the HMNZS title after this battle. One of the gunners when asked how many broadsides he had fired said he guessed 20 but it turned out to be 80 ...16 hits probably was a good average if all three shot 80 each off.
RNZN from October 1941.
I don't the Germans really believed that BS they know She could not get home so the scuttled the ship which was on of 3 option there other to was interment or sunk in action
The actual engagement between Graf Spee and Harwood’s cruisers is well known, or should be.
The aftermath and news footage is of interest to those who delve a little deeper into history.
Thanks for that
Loving the authentic footage.
My uncle Stan Parslowe was an engineer on the Achillies. Said the craft shook from stem to stern every time a shell exploded close to them.
Same with my grandad
This action was the reason my Dad decided to volunteer for the Navy when he was old enough.
Not long after he was in the Atlantic on Convoy escort!
My thanks to him! My late father also fought in WWII in the Royal Navy.
@George Buller: May I respond in kind! What ship? My Dad was on HMS Keats, a corvette. Having read about them I seriously don't know how he did it! Sadly, I'm not much of a sailor. I get a bit green on wet grass! Lol
@@PercyPruneMHDOIFandBars He did about 3 years on HMS Port Quebec. She was a minesweeper. Later, he served on HMS Grecian
@George Buller: Minesweepers! One of the essential but oft forgotten jobs. A brave man indeed your Dad!
Best true account I have One man stood alone the daily mirror Saturday Feb 24 1940 That's my grandad Albert Walford
My granddad was in the navy during the war and he use to get really uptight when the battle of the river plate was on saying that's not what happened only time I ever heard him talk of the war
Then he would have known my grandfather Sergeant George Puddifoot, RM.
@@PlymouthPilgrim1975 they were kid’s back with haplh
All my family was in the Royal Navy, so stories like this was meat and potatoes to us.
Bless em' all.🍻
Thank you for the great video of the Battle of River Plate.
Great archival footage. Thank you for that. Pity the commentary didn't quite measure up. The reason this victory was so important to morale, was that in the three months since the war started the Royal Navy had suffered heavy losses. The aircraft carrier HMS Courageous had been sunk by U-29 on September 17th 1939. The battleship HMS Royal Oak had been sunk by U-47 on the 14th October. Both with heavy loss of life. The Royal Navy desperately needed a win.
ammunition, a break out attempt by the Graf Spee would have been suicide.
A really valuable post script. Thank you.
Graf Spee had her diesel purifier destroyed during the action, this meant she had less than 12 hours fuel left. She was doomed from that point.
She would probably just have been shadowed until RN reinforcements arrived anyway.
not just her diesel purifier she also lost her Fresh water filtration system and most of her fresh water tanks had been compromised, so the crew wouldn't have had anywhere near enough drinking water to make it home
Plus her ammunition was depleted.
The kitchen was blasted too. Good luck crossing the Atlantic on tinned pork.
Years later in German papers from the Graf Spee they found out why she was blown up. The had diesel engines but ran on a highly purified fuel that had to be superheated by a boiler prior to use. This purification system was foolishly placed outside the armor belt and was destroyed in the battle. The Graf Spee had only 24 hours of usable fuel when she broke off the battle. Then they found this system could not be repaired in less than months if at all outside German home ports. So unable to get away they blew her up.
Aha moment. Your info answered a question about which I had long wondered. So the A. Graf Spee could take on some lower grade fuel and distill off the fuel the engines could actually use. And the ship could not hang out for more than 72 hrs in Montevideo without violating neutrality.
@@somaday2595 I have also heard it said (or read it written) that the advanced Graf Spee had a bakery to make bread, rather than carrying ship's biscuit, and that the bakery was also irreparably damaged. Probably a factor, but not as big a one as not having enough fuel.
I worked for a German engine manufacturing company. One of my colleagues was a nephew of Langsdorf. He mentioned that these particular vessels had two stroke diesel engines which were directly mounted on the steel structure. So vibration transmission throughout ships hull caused the gun barrels to vibrate when underway. Therefore accurate shots at full away would be compromised. For a running battle with the British fleet would be a difficult task, it would be necessary to reduce power, perhaps even stopping engines to get the gun accuracy needed for the sea battle.
This seems well wide of the mark when you examine the evidence of the battle...Graf Spee was travelling at, or around 24 knots, when she handed out a damned good beating to HMS Exeter...straddling her with her third salvo and hitting her repeatedly thereafter so as to require Exeter to break off the action. @@quantummike912
The one thing I find rather homouris is that the communities along The River Plate where expecting that the battle was going to be a really good show. So, they setup areas of best view possible, the sales of binoculars went through the roof, and even betting pools were setup. They were expecting a good rip roaring naval battle and trying to make money out of it. The one commentator on the Discovery Channel that I seen about that used the term, "The Superbowl of the River Plate." as to what they were expecting. Instead what they got was the German Pocket Battleship scuttling itself. So they tried to recouping for lost money by trying to sue both Britain and Germany for not having a good naval battle. I heard about this 5 years ago or so and when I did I couldn't stop laughing. Even 60 minutes had a piece about that all that came out over 5 years ago or so.
@freebeerfordworkers 1st Manassas did not go quite the way those spectators wanted. They were caught up in the rout of the Union army and found themselves fleeing in panic back to Washington.
"The Superbowl of the River Plate." What a totally stupid comment! No respect!
"Superbowl" as a term was coined almost 30 years after the River Plata battle en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Bowl
7:38 The holes in the bridge were made by the 11-inch shell that hit 'B' turret (Damage plated over at 7:32 ). Splinters killed everyone on the bridge, except Captain Bell.
Sometimes it paid to be a warship captain. In the battle of Denmark Strait, when Hood was lost, one of Bismarck's 15-inch shells scored a direct hit on Prince Of Wales' bridge. The shell didn't explode as it passed in one side of the bridge and out the other, but, on the way through, it hit the compass binnacle. The spray of fragments killed everyone on the bridge except Captain Leach.
Bell was not the only survivor: there were 2 others. On POW, Captain Leach and one other man survived.
@@MrHistorian123 Noted.
I went to Nelson College in New Zealand outside the assembly hall hung the bell from HMS Achilles quite a few of the crew and I think the captain went to Nelson College and came from Nelson the bell was still in use and I can remember ringing the bell
..ship's bell is currently on long term loan to Auckland War Memorial Museum.
Nice to see some different footage!
Absolutely. I don't think I have ever seen this footage before.
Very interesting archives, many thanks for sharing...
thank you for this great footage.
Astonishing footage ACEWEO! Great Vid! You well earned my subscription! Keep up the hard work! Much appreciated!
Great video!!! Thanks for sharing!!!!
A video reflective of a bye gone era with sentiment intact and true! Very rare these days .. well done!
Pre Wokeworld a time when people loved their country and respected the armed forces 🇬🇧
At a time when British vicissitudes at sea were going to have to face one of the most difficult and dangerous moments in WW2 somehow the country and Malta was kept afloat which can only be attributed to astonishing pluck and bravery from all ranks both in the RN and merchant marine. Without them the UK would have been literally sunk.
Amazing video. The aftermath is always forgotten. Like the "Altmark Incident" Now a subsriber.
First : Great video ! Second : I've known about the battle and watched the film many times, but never seen any of this archive film before. Wherever did you find it? Third and last : Its excellently put together, with the musical accompaniment especially appropriate! Congratulations!
Hi Peter, I purchased a box set of "Royal Navy at War - A sailors view" and it was part of the story. Lots more and I can highly recommend the set.
I recall there was a wartime propaganda documentary made about the Battle of the River Plate. The best thing about it was that some of the British sailors involved were interviewed and awkwardly described what they did. I saw it around the turn of the century, so my memory of it isn't that sharp, but it was enjoyable predecessor to the 1956 Powell and Pressburger film, albeit with a fair bit of propaganda and morale raising stuff in it.
Great video, compilation put together very well
The ship shown at the start is either Gneisenau or Scharnhorst, not a Panzerschiff.
The very first ship seen is a panzerschiffe, the second from about 0.10 seconds is the KMS Deutschland later re-named Lutzow, both Gneisenaua and Scharnhorst had three main battery turrets
I don't think so , pause the film , the first ship has two forward turrets .
@@michaelprobert4014 Ooops ! Apologies, that one slipped by without me noticing !
Good catch!
Yep- it only lasts to about 0:07 but it's definitely one of the battlecruisers.
British sailors look so jolly and happy. Given what they'd been through that's amazing. Good chaps.
Thanks for a brilliant video, lots of unseen film. Made me feel so very of being British. Excellent narration as well. More please
Insert ‘proud’ 2nd sentence
I never will get over the fact that the movie used a USN CL as a stand-in for the Graf Spee. And RN, RNZN, & Indian Navy cruiser for the RN ships. I think the Indian Navy ship was the original Ajax. One of those cruisers was an actual participant.
The ship used for Graf Spee was a CA type heavy cruiser, not a CL type light cruiser. USS Salem was a Des Moines class heavy cruiser and is now a museum ship. No "pocket battleships" survived the war and no other suitable ships were available at the time so the US navy lent the cruiser as a stand-in.
The Indian ship INS Delhi was originally Achilles. When she was scraped one of her turrets was sent to New Zealand and is on display at the main gate of HMNZS Philomel
Wow !!! And this was Exeter tidied up. Imagine her condition when she limped into Port Stanley. All these boys must have been thrilled to set foot ashore again. Sad looking at Exeter's crew knowing the fate that awaited many of them
Superb video and view of a win in a very dark days my late mothers who would have been about 16 told me it brought a great releif to
People during very dark days......especially as mentioned by other commentaters UK was fighting yet another war 20 years after the Great War and the great depression had taken a heavy toll of lives resorces and health,
We are very lucky as we cone out of Covid not to have the difficult task that the superb dedicated resolute wartime generation had to bear thru ww2 there really were a tough generation...
Beautifull documentary. Keep up the Show!
What a great vid.
Thanks for posting!
Great stuff. Thanks
Great video of times and people now long gone.
Very enjoyable.. thank you...
Wonderful!!
I was a Sea Cadet in the 80s here in Auckland ,New Zealand ,It was TS Achillies and we knew our history of the Ship that our unit was named after ,Also ACDC played a big concert at the River Plate lolI heard a rumour many years ago that when the HMNZS Achillies was going to scrap they were going to float it up Meola creek and have it as a museam close to the Aeroplanes that MOTAT has on display there ,pity it never happened,I think we had parts of the ship on our Bridge we had there ,pity i didnt pay much attention back then i was more into our Orliaron 20mm auto cannon thing and a big Bofor gun to lol
I read somewhere she was sold to the Indian navy and served there for many years before being scraped.
This is from the late Roland R. SMITHS royal navy time capsules, pre dvd era videos, approx 8x1hrs.
ughh man it just burns me up when people call it a "pocket battleship" instead of a heavy cruiser when referring to its class
Me, too. How did you like it when HMS Exeter wales called a battle cruiser?
...same calibre main armament as Scharnhorst and Gneisenau. The term 'pocket battleship' was coined in the 1930s to describe a vessel that was 'more powerful than any cruiser, and faster than any battleship.' I guess you had to be there.
@@juliusschwencke142 the original classification for the ship was as a "Panzerschiff" which means "armored ship" in german since it did have larger caliber guns than most heavy cruisers but did not have very much armor and had a cruiser like speed of 28 knts and torpedos. the term "pocket battleship" was just a nickname that the british came up with just like how the nicknames for the tiger 2 came to be as "royal tiger" and "king tiger" to a lot of allied soldiers. and the Scharnhorst class were a pair of battlecruisers with rather small caliber guns compared to other nations battlecruiser/battleships
@@juliusschwencke142 and it only had 6 of those guns at that
@@wolfie5777 the Navy museum here in Auckland has comparative facsimile rounds from the cruisers that were involved in the pursuit. Graf Spee's are huge in comparison. May only have had six, but they could certainly ruin your day.
My Great Uncle, George Manning, Stoker 1st Class was killed in action during the Battle of the River Plate, serving onboard HMS Exeter. He was buried at sea en route to the Falkland Islands.
HMNZS Achilles "Y" turret at Devonport Naval Base, Auckland.
Our uncle Tommy was on the Cossack during this time & at the time of the Altmark incident. Only mentioned it a few times & served the full 6 1/2 years in the R.N.
He may well have been on HMS Cossack as part of the 4th Destroyer Flotilla under Capt Philip Vian during the Bismarck chase, where Cossack together with the other 4 destroyers of the flotilla bravely harried the Bismarck right through the night of 26/27th May 1941prior to her sinking the following morning. Respect to your uncle's service.
Should be shown to the current political class here. Here are true friends like NZ when push comes to shove. Not the charlatans they claim are friends. Great video.
CANZUK - the only four countries (on any side) that stood shoulder to shoulder for every single day of WW1 and WW2!
Correct Lewt. Though to be fair the largest ever British Army the one million strong 14th Forgotten Burma Army was two thirds Indian troops.
@@roysimmons3549 Yes - you always needed a lot of punkah wallah's in the sub-continent :p
@@lewtscott3346 don't belittle the Indian effort with you ignorance.
South Africa did, too.
Really pleased to hear that the bill is in the war Morial always thought it was so special and I was wondering whether it was still at Nelson CollegeThank you for letting me know where it is
The first ship in this movie is Battlecruiser Gneisenau
The best part of whole video is at 8:04. That's why I gave it a Thumbs Up.
amazing footage.
I am from Uruguay, 84. Graf Spee was scuttled the very day of my 1st birthday, Dec. 17, 1939. My father saw HMS Ajax when she visited Montevideo in Jan. 1940. He said she looked like a destroyer rather than a cruiser ! He wondered how Capt. Harwood could battle the bigger, powerful Graf Spee with such a light force. Decades later my father and I met former British Ambassador Sir Eugen Millington-Drake who was on duty in 1939. He had many friends in Uruguay and talked very little about the battle.
The town of Ajax, in Ontario, Canada, named after HMS Ajax, named a street after Langsdorff, as they had already done for Harwood, and many others from the squadron of cruisers.
That's cool, as are Canadians...
We like to think of them here as "Cold Aussies" ;)
Cold Aussies indeed! Today it is -7 Celsius, the lake out front is frozen over and it is snowing. Yes, your term is correct! We are in the Ottawa area now, not up north where it gets REALLY cold.
Langsdorf saved thousands of lives by sinking the ship. 900 crew were interned for the rest of the war. At least the same number of Brits were also saved. Compare losses on HMS Hood, Bismarck .
A huge number of the German crew escaped from Argentina to Peru. From there they were taken by Japanese ships to Japan , then across Russia on the Trans Siberian Railway to Germany.
I believe the first Pocket Battleship pictured, with Hitler in the foreground is the Admiral Scheer. The second one pictured was originally named the Deutschland but was renamed Lutzow in 1940.
..either Scharnhost or Gneisenau. Twin turrets forward. Same calibre main armament as Graf Spee
@@juliusschwencke142 Correct. First ship pictured looks like Gneisenau.with main mast close astern of funnel, and appears to have a clipper bow. Scharnhorst's was further astern when she had the same bow fitted.
Achilles a New Zealand navy light cruiser
Excellent presentation.......
On a drab and dull day, THE BATTLE CRUISER Exeter returned home... at 5:40
BATTLE CRUISER? Just like Hood and Renown? No, Sport -- HEAVY cruiser with eight inch guns, not fifteen inch.
Listen carefully. He says the battered cruiser Exeter.
Some very rare footage in this video. I had an uncle who was at the battle of the river Plate - I don't know which ship he was on. It was something which he never talked about.
If he never talked about how do you know he served?
@@kansasross His wife, my aunt, told us about his service when I was a boy. Like most men who served and saw action during WWII they seldom talked about it. My grandfather served on the front line during WWI and he too never talked about it. I too have served and have seen action and I don't talk about it either. Your question is pretty inane given what we all know, except perhaps you, about those who served and saw action during the world wars.
@@Argyll9846 Thank you for your response. As no American took part in this famous battle, your grandfather must have been a Kiwi,-ANZAC, Australian, British or perish the thought, German. Which was it?
@@kansasross My Grandfather was English and believe he was in an artillery gunner. I think he was at the Somme but don't know for sure as neither of my grandparents would talk about the war. Both grandparents lost family on the front line during that dreadful conflict and I know it was painful for them to talk about it.
@@Argyll9846 So pleased to learn of the adventures of your grandfather and uncle; so glad I asked. I feel sure you are much pleased and proud of their service in such historically momentous times.
Life at sea, despite all the glamorous movies, is a hard life. In time of war when cannon and shot and bombs and human life are expendable, life at sea adds far more danger and the likelihood of mere chance shortening one's life is almost like the toss of a coin.
I spent three years of my life at sea in time of war. My ship was fully armed but never in great danger. In her I made a ten-month voyage around the world, a rare occurance for a US Navy vessel. Six months of it was spent in the Persian Gulf where no man of us saw so much as a woman's face. For six months! Off the coast of East Africa I came very close to losing my life to Dengue Fever. In Rio de Janeiro I met and fell in love with a beautiful young woman who was Miss Brasil and Miss Universe.
Life has a curious balance that evens things out at the end. So I must tell you, I never felt that anything ever happened to me so awful or so wonderful that I didn't want to tell about it to my grandsons. Not to my mother or my wife though. ~ Kansas Ross
The ‘real’ story? What wrong with the current story?
The Royal Navy has never scuttled a ship - fight to the death.
The enthusiasm for scuttling seems to have been largely restricted to the German navies of both world wars. What is really bizarre is the argument that if, for example, Bismarck's crew attempted to scuttle her right at the end, then she wasn't really sunk by the British, which is often put forward by Bismarck lovers.
@@dovetonsturdee7033 scuttling of the Bismarck is BS they was no office off higher enough rank to order the scuttling at the end of the battle plus like someone said in another video all the scuttling charges were in the captain office which was sad to have been destroyed during the battle
Exeter, a great place to live!
thank you for share video
EXETER was nicknamed "PEPPERPOT" after arrival in Devonport with all her damage visible
“The Navy’s Here” and so they were! Just taken delivery of my 1/700 HMS Ajax model, just need Exeter and Achilles now.....oh and Cossack! 😎😜
Amazing history lest we forget
I didn't know that part about how complex the diesel system was and how he only had hours of propulsion. If he had left port to fight it would have been a suicide mission. He could have fought it out and caused alot of English casualties but eventually he would have lost propulsion and been a sitting duck for being dispatched by English guns and torpedoes. He wasn't going to do that to the men under his command. He was a Honorable man who had the courage to do what few men then and nobody today would do.
My Uncle Bill was a rating on Achilles at that time. If Ludorf had come out fighting I fear it may have been a different story.
In those days, Great Britain really ruled the seas
Very brave seamen
I thought it was going to be the Celtic v Racing club of Argentina match of 1967. Damn!
God bless them all.
Correct. Saffers fought in the Desert War. And Battle of Britain. Sailor Malan.
An uncle survived on the Achillies.
Thanks Ace, cheers ears, yours aye Stax.
would have been interesting if the captain had handed the ship over to uruguay. that would have been quite an increase in uruguayan naval strength for a long time to come. im thinking of the goben and the turks.
I'll keep watching but I notice at 00.01 seconds in the ship is not the Graf Spee
A beautiful ship but if not the Graf Spee, who is she?
@@fergusmallon1337 At a guess , based on the turrets , I would say the Scharnhorst ( or its sister ship the Gneisenau. )
@@michaelprobert4014 thank you
Who is the narrator? I've never heard that accent before. He sounds like a combination of Englishman and Southern American.
In all the comments I have read/seen there is never any mention of the fact that there were no more 11" shells left as they had all been used up
A pity the movie already starts wrong with the Scharnhorst or Gneisenau sailing off.
This narration I can't figure out. I hear a New Zealand accent but also a Virginian/southern part as well which could be the case for sure but I just wonder if maybe this is computer generated narration which in no way takes away from the video, just stating what I hear. Like the video stated what an uplift for the people of the UK to have given the enemy a black eye at sea when things were not looking so good. Thanks for the video always enjoy WW 2 naval docs.
Sehr gut. Danke.
First 5 seconds names Graf Spee, shows Scharnhorst. Otherwise bloody good footage here
I can't see just what the title means. Cut and paste , not much of anything.