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The victorious Allies seized all of
Germany’s large warships at the end
of World War One. After the Washington
Treaty of 1921 stated Germany should be
allowed to build warships up to 10,000
tons for defensive purposes, the German
Navy designed a new type of warship
classed as a pocket battleship. The first
of these ships named Deutschland
entered service in 1933, 4,000 tons over
the treaty recommendations. The second
ship in this class Admiral
Scheer entered service in 1934 and
a third Admiral Graf
Spee followed in 1936.
The outbreak of World War Two saw
Graf Spee assigned to
operate in the South Atlantic. Between
September 30th and December 7th 1939,
Graf Spee sunk nine Allied
cargo ships. On December 13th, the three
British cruisers Ajax,
Achilles and Exeter made an
attack on the German raider. All of
Exeter’s 8-inch guns were
destroyed early in the battle, this
forcing her captain to set a course for
the Falklands to undergo repairs. Even
though two of Ajax 6-inch guns
were knocked out, her crew continued to
fight on. Relentless attacks by the
British ships forced the captain of
Graf Spee to make a run for
Montevideo to undergo repairs. With
Uruguay having declared a state of
neutrality in the war, they granted the
German’s three days to make repairs
before leaving. Captain Hans Langsdorff
of the Graf Spee received
false information at that time leading
him to believe the two remaining cruisers
had been joined by capital ships. Just as
it looked like Graf Spee
was about to leave port and make a run
for safety, her crew set of a series of
explosions to scuttle their ship at the
entrance of the port.
Below, Graf Spee after being
scuttled in Montevideo Harbor.
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