View of the German armoured ship (pocket battleship) Panzerschiffe Admiral Graf Spee. The Admiral ...

View of the German armoured ship (pocket battleship) Panzerschiffe Admiral Graf Spee. The Admiral Graf Spee was commissioned in 1936 and in September 1939 was released for operations against Allied merchant shipping in the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans, sinking 10 British ship between then and December 1939. On 13 December 1939 she met the cruiser pack of the British South American Squadron consisting of the heavy cruiser HMS Exeter and light cruisers HMS Ajax and HMNZS Achilles and the resulting battle became known as the Battle of the Plate River which took place off the coast of Montevideo in Uruguay. The Admiral Graf Spee put Exeter out of action, seriously damaged Ajax and slightly damaged Achilles before taking refuge in the Montevideo harbour on 14 December to undertake her own repairs - the water purification and desalination plant was destroyed and the kitchens wrecked. Under international law, ships could take refuge in neutral countries for repairs for a maximum of 24 hours unless otherwise specified by the host country. Uruguay gave the Admiral Graf Spee 72 hours to complete all repairs and also allowed the crew members to land and bury their 36 dead. The Admiral Graf Spee was unable to complete her repairs by 8pm on 17 December as specified, and wishing to avoid the waiting British ships, the Captain, Hans Langsdorff ordered his ship outside the Montevideo Harbour and to prepare to be scuttled. The crew were transferred to the German Merchant Ship Tacoma and later to various Argentine tugs and were all interned by Uruguayan authorities. However they were later transferred to Argentina where they remained for the rest of the war. Just after sunset, the Admiral Graf Spee was blown up by a number of well placed charges, causing it to sink intact in the shallow waters with much of the ship remaining above the water line. Captain Langsdorff committed suicide in the Naval Arsenal in Buenos Aires, where the officers were being held. He was found on the morning of 20 December, with a gunshot wound to the head and wrapped in the ships ensign.