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In the early months of World War II the German pocket battleship Graf Spee, on a spree of destruction in the south Atlantic, was bottled up by units of the British Navy in the neutral harbor of Montevideo, Uruguay.

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Transcript

Lead: In the early months of World War II the German pocket battleship Graf Spee, on a spree of destruction in the south Atlantic, was bottled up by units of the British Navy in the neutral harbor of Montevideo, Uruguay.

Tag: A Moment in Time with Dan Roberts.

Content: Sent from home port just before Germany declared war, the Graf Spee and its companion ship Deutschland sank a number of merchant ships before Deutschland sailed for home and Graf Spee headed for the rich shipping lanes of the south Atlantic. In December 1939, with over nine kills to its credit and 30 Allied warships in frantic pursuit, Captain Langsdorf of the Graf Spee determined that his engines needed reconditioning in Germany, but he wanted to go home with several more spectacular sinkings. He also decided at the time to change tactics when dealing with enemy warships. Theretofore he had been under orders to outrun those ships he could not outgun with his 11-inch armament.

On December 13th he engaged what he thought were three warships screening a merchant convoy off the coast of Uruguay in South America. His floatplane was damaged and could not scout ahead to see just who he was attacking--thus, unknowingly, Langsdorff sent the Graf Spee surging toward a hunter/attack squadron of British cruisers, including the 8-inch gun Exeter. When he realized his mistake the German commander did not break off but pursued the attack, sustaining as well as inflicting considerable damage. His problem was that he was outnumbered--and he had to turn west and seek asylum in the neutral port of Montevideo, Uruguay.

Under international law, the Graf Spee could remain for repairs only as long as it took to make the ship seaworthy. Uruguay gave them 72 hours. Langsdorf was in a lose, lose situation. The longer he remained in port the larger would be his British welcoming party when he sailed. His choices: internment for the rest of the war, a breakout into the Atlantic, or scuttling. With permission from Berlin, he chose the latter. On the afternoon of December 17th, a skeleton crew took the Graf Spee out into international waters and sent the ship to the bottom.

Accepting responsibility for the loss of his ship and the internment of the crew for the balance of the war, Langsdorf committed suicide. The saga of the raider Graf Spee was over.

At the University of Richmond, this is Dan Roberts.

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