Battle of the River Plate, The Hunt for Graf Spee - Animated
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The battlecruiser Admiral Graf Spee is roaming the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, sinking merchant shipping at will. At last, the Royal Navy find her, and a ferocious engagement off the River Plate in South America will decide her fate.
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Research and Script by Jordan Weaver
Music: www.purple-planet.com
What do you think of the new channel intro?
It's great!
its good
I liked it, the movement of the fighter at the end seemed to jerk very slightly at the beginning of the approach. Almost unnoticeable.
It is great :P
That's a kick ass intro
ahh, a solid hit to the searchlight repair workshop. that would really put a spanner in the works
Well it would certainly leave you in the dark...
Personally I think it puts a spotlight on things...
Seven years bad luck.
That’s the best 😂
@@billpetersen298 but for who. The royal navy or the kroegsmarine?
When you sink a ship through diplomacy
He really had zero chance.
He was a good man for not just throwing the lives of his men away.
Ahh, a servant of the emperor
@@molnibalage83
There was a carrier heading that way, and everyone would know exactly when the GS left.
Pure suicide to leave.
@@molnibalage83 While one should in every way critisize anyone who served for and under the command of the Third Reich, we should not forget, that by not committing his ship to the imminent battle, Langsdorff saved his crew. For a naval officer and gentleman, this act is commendable.
"I prefer 1000 young living people to 1000 dead heroes."
@@molnibalage83
Yeah? And your point?
It would have been tracked for a short time, until the carrier planes were within range.....
Like I said, not a chance.
I love the sunken ship symbol. Extremely elegant.
It came up quite unexpected and certainly put a smile on my face. Great attention to detail.
Strangely I liked it too.
I listened to the video and didn't watch it. Can you give me a timestamp?
*Fun fact:*
Prior this battle, there was already a town in Ontario, Canada, named Exeter, however, what was then a hamlet east of Toronto became Ajax; it's two main streets are Harwood Avenue and Achilles Road.
I am sure that there are many German descendants of the Graf Spee crew who would not be alive today if it were not for captain Langsdorf's actions. As an Englishman I admire him for putting his crew first.
As an American, I agree.
As a former soldier, having seen ambitious officers and senior NCO’s completely shaft people to further their own careers, I have respect for Langsdorf.
Saving his men rather than a bravado show of force to “go down fighting” really says a lot about his devotion to his men.
I agree. My grandfather Willhelm served in the 5th division of the Spee. I'm here in this world thanks to Captain Langsdorf's decitions of protecting his creew...
It was very sad that Langsdorff felt he had to take his own life. He was clearly a very talented captain and from what I know very honourable looking after the merchant sailors he picked up from the merchantmen he sunk very well. He was part of a wicked regime though and he obviously knew what fate awaited him for not fighting to the end.
Another great reproduction. Love the new intro too.
Sorry but killing merchant ships with no defenses is not a soldier thing. He was part of the evil that ravaged Europe.
one less Nazi in the world I have no problems with him killing himself... he laid on his bed did it on a Nazi flag on his bed... say's it all.
Interesting fact. A street in Ajax, Ontario, Canada is named after him in his honor (Langsdorff Drive). The town is named after one of the British cruisers and its streets the participants of the battle.
@@colincampbell3679 from memory I don’t think Langsdorff was actually a Nazi.
Still a nazi tho
If I'm not mistaken Langsdorf shot himself after wrapping himself in an Imperial German Flag in his Hotel Room. Showing to the world that he was a patriotic german but not a nazi.
Same thing at this point
@@touko_nanami which is a shame as they shouldn't be but that's the way things go. Judge history but modern standards
100% correct. His captives also testified, to the man, that he was a true gentleman.
@@touko_nanami Right. That's what you get when you make a pact with the devil.
He wrapped himself in the Graf Spee’s battle ensign.
"Out run any warship more powerful than it, and outfight any warship faster than it." They say while refusing to make eye contact with Renown and Repulse.
That was based upon the pocket battleships being in good health. The Graff Spee was wounded and it would have been pointless to send the crew to the bottom when the British Navy had such a warm welcome prepared off the coast.
@@jamiecole2096 The Graf Spee could only go about 26 knots. Renown and Repulse could go 32.
That being said. Graf Spee was designed to hunt merchants. Which were not typically guarded at all, unless in convoys. And when sailing in convoys the escorts were usually destroyers, corvettes, light cruisers and heavy cruisers. All of which Graf Spee could deal with.
These ships were designed in the late 1920s (and started entering service in the first half of the 1930s). At that time the German navy was still called "Reichsmarine" and was preparing itself for a potential conflict with France (basically navy planners thought that the conflict with Poland was very likely, and in such event France might come to Poland's aid). They didn't think conflict with Great Britain was likely, and even if such conflict were to erupt, the German navy could not stand any chance against the Royal Navy anyways, so why bother. In that context, Panzerschiffe were indeed designed to outfight anything faster, and outrun anything more powerful (that their most likely opponents could deploy)
In fact, as an answer to the threat posed by Graf Spee and her sisters, France started building battleships/battlecruisers (people will still argue over what to call them) of the Dunkerque class, that were both faster and more powerful than Panzerschiffe.
@@PrivateMemo It wasn't unknown for convoys to be protected by battleships. The Ramillies, for example, was widely used in this role in 1941. Being a First World War dreadnaught she could only do 21/22 knots, not fast enough to chase German surface raiders around the Atlantic, but with enough punch to deter attack.
@@superted6960 I know. But that's exactly the point. The convoys were mostly protected by old, obsolete and slow battleships when they were escorted by capital ships.
My uncle was on the HMS Ajax, as was my father from 1946 until he was transferred to HMS London in 1948. In a strange coincidence both were crew on British Warships that saw action and consequently had films made of the incidents. My uncle, with “Battle of the River Plate”, and my Father with “ Yangtze Incident”. I’m proud of them both.
Amazing video detailing one of the weird pieces of history of Uruguay. As an uruguayan its been really nice to see the representation in video of what i have read in books, saw in a museum (we have pieces of the Graf Spee in exposition), and, the stories i heard from that day. My 94 old grandmother (13 years old at the time), always told me how everyone was freaking out about the possibility that the Graf Spee open fire in Montevideo, the tension of that 3 days, and how everyone gather in the coast line the moment the ship departure from the port, and how it was possible to see the moment that the ship exploded. Great video! and sorry for my english
Your English is basically perfect
@@Connor-tz3rp better than most people who only speak English.
@@claytonross859 A lot better!
Your English is fine
Hey thank you for the added insight
The story of how my granddad ended up in Argentina. In his diary he wrote that it was fairly easy to slip out of the detention camp and head out into the night. I will always remember him.
Read in my Times life books That langsdorff was a humane captain and avoided killing crew of the ships he sunk, he took them on board and released them at ports, at the river plate some stayed to eat with him after he released them.
Correct.
Humane? He torpedoed shipping vessels! Coward, id say.
@@petersrightbut8297 that is not a good metric of his valor, neither is it relevant. it merely states while he had the opportunity to sail away he stayed and picked up crew men of enemy ships to release rather than capture.
Going back after shooting an unarmed merchant ship, and saving the civilian survivors is a measure of high valor? At that point, you may as well finish the job! He may not have liked the nazi party but make no mistake, he killed civilians ,a wartime criminal.
@@petersrightbut8297 Welcome to war. Cutting off supply lines is a well practiced tactic.
The scuttle crew was transferred to the Graf Spee auxiliary ship, the Tacoma. The Uruguay government interned the Tacoma.
In 1966, I was abroad the British merchantman Royston Grange, when we anchored in Montevideo harbour to wait for a loading berth.
We were stern to stern with the Tacoma and in sight of the wreck of the Graf Spee. A memorable trip indeed.
The Achilles went into battle flying the N.Z. flag. Its the first time that New Zealanders fought under their own flag.
You mean the first time for New Zealand to have their flag fly under their own flag for their Navy
Yes the first time any Kiwi fought under the NZ flag.Before then kiwi s fought under the union jack.@@emmeriankiwi6993
HMNZS Achilles - She was launched in 1931 for the Royal Navy, loaned to New Zealand in 1936 and transferred to the new Royal New Zealand Navy in 1941. A Leander Class Light Cruiser. In Basic training of the Royal New Zealand Navy HMNZS Achilles is the name of the Division I trained under. Rivalry to the other Division named HMNZS Leander 50 Trainees per division. This was back in 1976. Still think of the name Achilles with pride.
Didn't New Zealand navy vessels fly the same White Ensign as the Royal Navy and other Commonwealth ships during the war?
Isn't the main gun from Achilles now in Devonport dockyard in Auckland?
About 12 years ago my ship (USS Pearl Harbor) did a 6 month cruise around South America. While in Buenos Aires a few of us went to the La Chacarita Cemetery and found Captain Langsdorff grave and Eva Peron's crypt. It was the biggest cemetery I have ever seen!
This dude is awesome, his work is second to none.
Thank you!
My Grandfather was a gunner on the HMNZS Achilles, and I've watched all your awesome videos and always hoped that you might do this one.
Magnificent video, another banger!
Thank you so much ❤️
Your grandfather and his crewmates really did have balls of steel.
My great uncle was Henry Harwood
@@DahmFiodh An amazing, courageous and gutsy captain. They would've made it without your grandfather. A man among men💪🏻
My Grandfather was also on the HMMZS Achilles. He was a Signalman... I believe he said Yeoman of Signals but I can't be 100% sure as he crossed the bar over 25 years ago.
At that battle?
It's oddly poetic to me that Graf Spee was sunk in the same general area, on nearly the exact same day, as her namesake did 25 years earlier in the first world war.
I though he was a man and not a ship?
@@benwilson6145yes, he died in the battle of the Falkland Islands onboard the sms Scharnhorst.
To his credit, not a single merchantman lost his life, out of the nine ships that he took out on his raid in the Southern Atlantic. Captain Langsdorff should be remembered for that as well.
Are we really meant to thank Langsdorff for the luck that unarmed sailors had for not happening to be in the position where the shells hit? Or are you trying to claim that he deliberately hit the merchantmen in places he knew the crew would not be? He was fighting for the Nazi regime and needs no manufactured accolades.
@@wekapeka3493 He let them leave the ships prior to destroying them, I think he even gave them the option of being taken prisoner or take to their life rafts. I could be wrong about that though, I don't trust my memory on that. The greater point is that he was abiding by the the rules of war. I think that should be respected. It was not by accident that none of them died.
@@wekapeka3493 The German captain evacuated the merchant ships before sinking them.
Always a good day when I see a new transmission from the Ops Room👍🏽👌🏽
Last time I was this early, German navy was still a bunch of coastal patrols.
As a proud U.S. NAVY veteran I salute those brave sailors of both Navies. It's obvious that they all bravely carried out their duties under fire and fought valiantly in the finest traditions of their respective Navies.
In the film 'The Battle of the River Plate' the part of the Graf Spee was played by a U.S. Navy heavy cruiser. The USS Salem if memory serves me.
@@kinsmansteve USS Salem did a fantastic portrayal of the Graf Spee. She is still in existence as a museum ship.
My grandad, Richard Devine, was on the Exeter and was mentioned in dispatches for this action.
Outstanding! I've been waiting for thid with baited breath since you posted the script on Patreon. I was brought up on stories like the hunts for the Graf Spee and the Bismarck, and when I was small my father often sang Sink The Bismarck to me before bed. The value of the Graf Spee's radar played a big part in getting me to major in engineering.
Glad you enjoyed it!
_"bated breath"_
Edit: Sorry, you're quite correct sir
I was baited -- so to speak -- into making that dubious pun by seeing the script. I'm afraid this was simply poor writing rather than an error, but thank you for your concern. Try using commas next time, or perhaps an em dash.
I watched the bazbattles's video on graf spee and it skipped alot of the story of what happened and there is much more revealed in this one but the quality can be improved they both could do so good if they collaborated or started working together bazbattles has amazing high quality videos while operation room is really well done despite the virtuals not being outstanding
My grandfather is from Uruguay. He told me of a ex Graf Spee sailor who rented a room from his family some time after the war.
"Battlecruiser"
"Out run any warship more powerful than it, and outfight any warship faster than it."
*forgetting about Renown, Repulse and Hood*
The battle cruiser can outrun more ships and outfight any warship
Hood: no
bloody right . . .
yeah, the Deutschlands were bascially glorified heavy cruisers, a far cry from a proper battlecruiser
@@xxnightdriverxx9576 To be fair to the Deutschland's, their heavy guns were more than anything any Heavy Cruiser carried, and they were wickedly fast considering how heavy those 11in guns are and being carried on essentially a Cruiser frame. But when you're against the entire might of the British navy, they might as well have been carrying pop guns once they got in a real fight.
And forgetting about every aircraft carrier. German surface raider doctrine only worked if they weren't fighting the navy with the largest carrier force (then second).
Langsdorff knew that he couldn't escape. It was not the cruisers he feared (Cumberland would have posed some threat, but he could probably have broken out into the Atlantic).
The problem was that the hit by Exeter which destroyed his fuel processing plant had cut his available fuel to about 18 hours of sailing, so he could never get his ship home.
He was also low on shells, meaning he wouldn't be able to put up a fight for long.
@@darkdill Correct. His galley and desalination plant had been destroyed, meaning he couldn't feed or water his crew, and the bow had also been damaged, which would have caused problems in a North Atlantic swell.
Amazing work retelling this TOR! One of those Kiwis that served on HMNZS Achilles was my late Uncle Ngata Bertram Walker. After completing his training Ngata's first posting just the following day was to Achilles on 29 August - I think he went with a group of newly trained seamen and I'm not sure the Navy meant to take them to sea so young - but when War was declared, since they were already at sea the decision was made to have them stay on board I understand. Ngata was a Boy Steward - and I believe was just over 15 yrs by that stage when he joined Achilles. So when War was declared, Achilles went to patrol the west South American coast. They arrived at Falkland Is 22 October and joined Harwood's Force G.
Nobody that covers this topic ever seems to relay the major reasons for bringing Graf Spee into port. While the captain would have loved to sail practically anywhere else, the British had landed two "critical" hits, one being the destruction of the fuel purification plant. Though Graf Spee had plenty of fuel, she couldn't make it burn without damaging her boilers.
For those that enjoy a good lecture, The Chieftain has a great video with more detail into the pre-battle goings-on, the minute-by-minute actions of the battle, and the diplomatic silliness that followed, however it lacks presentation and any animations or representations for twice the runtime.
I think its her engines that would be damaged not boilers. The engines were already underperforming and required overhaul.
@@benwilson6145 I'm so used to warships having steam turbines or at least reciprocating steam engines that I never considered she'd have a bunch of two-strokes...thus she had no boilers.
Yeah. 8 Diesel engines.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_cruiser_Admiral_Graf_Spee#Scuttling
In addition to losing the Oil Purification apparatus she also lost her Desalinization Equipment so she couldn't make fresh water. With that and the other damage she'd suffered this was a ship that wasn't suited to a return trip to Germany from where she was at.
What I don't understand - is why they went to Uruguay instead of going to Argentina in the first place. Buenos Aires isn't that much further away ... I just don't understand.
I've noticed in other naval battles where the commander was wounded - but not killed or disabled - he would not give up command - and because of his wounding - may have made questionable decisions. You also see this with Kurita Off Samar.
.
@@BobSmith-dk8nw Uruguay had a LARGE German minority population. You could actually navigate -- as a tourist -- back then -- speaking German. That was not true of Argentina... though it also had a fair number of Germans. The captain was hoping that friendly folks would help the Graf Spee out.
@@BobSmith-dk8nw The water plant was even more critical than the fuel distillery. When warm, even crappy fuel could burn in her engines -- and they'd never be shut off. Then it would be a simple matter of engine repair when the ship reached Germany. ( As if that could ever happen. ) Like Bismarck in 1941, Graf Spee was on a one-way mission. No WAY could she ever hope to sail past the entire RN.
Thankyou for this video - such a clear and concise summary. My great-grandad was serving on the Ajax at the time of the battle, so I'm always happy to find out more about it (he had one of the most important jobs on the ship - he was stationed in the galley 😉)!
I recognise most of those ships, they are in loads of other historic battles. just tells you how they got around and battle hardened crews
The amount of firepower the Royal Navy had available world wide during ww2 was absolutely unbelievable.
not as unbelievable as the Japanese to be honest
ummmm....but the US Navy caught up pretty danged quick and has never looked back !
@@goobfilmcast4239 no one ever said otherwise
@@goobfilmcast4239 It won't last.
@@xGoodOldSmurfehx Never heard of the Japanese operating in the Atlantic or Mediterranean, have you? Maybe Felton can dig something up.
At least he saved his men from death. Fascinating how decision making is affected by imperfect information!
19th December speech to his men
"It will surely be debated all over the world whether the destruction of of our ship was right or not, whether it is would not have been braver to resume the battle with the enemy and died a sailors death. Each of us would have done that gladly without a murmur, I propose giving you the proof that I was not lacking in personal courage"
The men did not gather the implication of these words until the following morning. Captain Langsdorff was found dead in his room where he had shot himself.
The merchant marine, were so vital, yet so unappreciated. My still alive father in law, was too young for the military, but served in those waters, and around the world.
I always love these vids as even though I know a lot about the battle and what happens seeing it visualised is so much better than listening or reading about it
Absolutely - something gets lost in translation when you read words on a page
Anyone up for seeing the Falklands war on this channel?
Phaire Couchpotato he did a video on the Vulcan bomber raid. But yes would love to see him do the entire Falklands war
Great video! This naval battle is really under-covered and is good to see.
Glad you like it!
Huh... "undercovered"?
It's actually covered very well. There's tons of excellent sources on the battle and the politics surrounding it. But few, if ANY, cover it as well as this fantastic channel!!
Very nice film, cleared a number of details. My father was stationed on the USS Ralph Talbert and was there when the Graf Spee was destroyed. He talked a ship mate into taking him out in a motor whale boat so he could get some close-up photos, which he did. Said they had parts of the ship flying all around him.
Oh man, just in time after playing WoWS matches with Graf Spee and Exeter. Perfect timing
Exquisite
If only we could get Ajax and Achilles !
@@mrwdpkr5851 we have Leander, which is the class of ship those are, but I agree, having both in the game would be fun. If WOWs still cared about operations, this battle would be fun to play.
@@lunaball2112 I didn't know Leander was the same class as Achilles and Ajax . Thanks . I'll keep a lookout for Leander next Time I play GS !
@@mrwdpkr5851 Yeah, they are both Leander Class, the Leander ended up in the New Zealand Navy. Be cool if Ajax and Achilles were playable. cheers!
The ship that the Graf Spee transfered her crew to was the SS Tacoma a cargo/passenger ship beloning to HAPAG. This ship was later seized by Uruguay for breach of neutrality.
My grandad was on the Clement,the first ship sunk.
@Dragonburst according to wikipedia captain and chief engineer of SS Clement were taken prisoners and rest of the crew were given time to abandon ship safely before sinking it
As mentioned in the comments, the Achilles was flying the New Zealand Naval Ensign. The first battle for the ships crew under that ensign. When she returned to New Zealand the crew were given the freedom of the city in Auckland and paraded down Queen Street plus I understand they did a similar parade in Wellington.
Perhaps as a sequel to this of sorts you could do a time lapse of the Altmark Incident.
my uncle fought in the battle of the River plate on the Exeter,he also should have been on the Hood but he had Quinsies which in them days was usually fatal but he did take part in the sinking of the Bismark.he ended the war in a japanese POW camp after being sunk[dont know what ship}. at the end of war the Japanese commander surrendered to him and gave him his Samurai sword.his name was Alfred lewis.
I recommend the 1955 film, it is reasonably accurate as far as I know.
Yeah great film
One of the films that I we sit down watch, no match how far in to the film it is.
Don’t think any other naval film has one of the ships actually present starring
@@snebbywebby2587 HMS Cumberland wasn't it? Also I think Ajax was portrayed by her sister ship HMS Jamaica, which was part of the naval force that sank the Scharnhorst in the North Cape. Sadly all 3 Deutschland class ships were sunk before war's end.
@@swanner95 it was Achilles or by that stage INS Delhi. Commissioned 1933, loaned NZ Division RN 1936, recommissioned HMNZS Achilles on formation of RNZN in 1941, returned to RN 1946, sold to India 1948 and scrapped 1978. Her Y turret is at the main entrance to HMNZS Philomel, Devonport, Auckland
Archive photos from Montevideo show that the Graf Spee had received substantial damage, and 36 dead...thus, not the one sided battle often portrayed by other history channels. Well done, very well researched and presented. Gallant Exeter...pummeled by the Nazis, sunk by the Japanese.
An even more interesting story concerned the pursuit of the oiler ALTMARK as she tried to make it back to Germany with allied merchantmen aboard (and maltreated). British intelligence tracked her and she endeavoured to hide in a fjord in Norway where she was boarded by a landing party from the destroyer HMS COSSACK and the prisoners freed. COSSACK's CO, CAPT Phillip Vian caused a major diplomatic incident which was by and large ignored after the German invasion of Norway. In May 1941 COSSACK and her sisters conducted a number of torpedo and gun attacks against the German battleship BISMARCK prior to her destruction by HMS KING GEORGE V and RENOWN
A most excellent episode... Though I do believe that some of the issue was that the crew of the Graf Spee thought it was one Cruiser and 2 destroyers due to the Leanders only having a single funnel... And a nice opening intro cannot go wrong with a Spitfire...
I really enjoyed this video - and I'm nearing the end of watching ALL of your presentations! I just wanted to say thank you SO much for putting these on, they are all absolutely enthralling, I've enjoyed them all so much. This is a subject that has captivated me since I was a very small chap and - well, they're all just absolutely brilliant! Please do keep them coming. Bravo!!
Wow, thank you!
Very nice
I would like to add that the Ajax enter into uruguaian waters during the battle
She psss between Lobos Island and the continente
Someones calls this battle as the Batlle of Punta del Este
When I found *The Operations Room* I immediately watched everything; I've been through all of them twice since then.
Looks like another marathon tonight - beginning here . . .
Regards,
Kev
Great presentation of this brutal naval battle. Force G showed great bravery in confronting a pocket battleship with vastly superior armaments and capability. Like the new introduction and nice to see advertisers supporting a channel which clearly puts a lot of effort into presentation and research.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Great video, amazingly well done. Just to add some more interesting info, when the Graf Spee got to Montevideo port, 36 german soldiers who didnt make it alive, were buried in the Cementerio del Norte, while injured soldiers were taken to the Hospital Militar. The Graf Spee also had prisioners, from the merchants that were sunk by it, all of them were released. We have the Graf Spee's "eagle" in a museum, it was recovered from under the sea years ago. It is, however, covered with a blanket, due to its nazi symbol.
The amount of Royal Navy ships astounds me. Then I realized, the US Navy had even more warships approaching the end of the war meaning that the Axis stands no chance at all.
The USN had an insane amount of ships and a huge portion of those ships were state of the art vessels with everything from radar-assisted fire control systems to proximity fuse high explosive ammunition.
@@bluntcabbage6042 The US got radar tech from the British.
@Pat-Anno How many naval battles did all those experienced captains and crews win?
@Pat-Anno The German Navy was a huge waste of resources, part of the diversion of resources away from the Ostkrieg where the war was decided.
@Pat-Anno That's just not the case. Both Axis and Allied forces had plenty of experienced captains and crews.
What's more, the majority of high ranking Japanese naval officers were _trained by the British._ They utilized British strategic concepts and doctrines to form their own strategy.
A tactic that worked out so well for them, they decided to go for a sequel in May 1941.
Great new intro and congratulations on your new sponsor.
Really enjoying seeing your channel go from strength to strength. Well done Sir.
I'd love to see you do a video about the battle of the North Cape. One of the few engagements of WWII where I can say I've been on the bridge of the flagship!
He forgot to say Captain Hans Langsdorff wrapped himself up in the imperial German flag not the swastika and then shot himself. His suicide note read “for a captain with a sense of honor, it goes without saying that his personal fate cannot be separated from that of his ship.”
That's absolutely not true. The naval flag had a swastika on it since 35.
@@not-a-theist8251 Yes it is true. And he wrapped him self in the imperial flag, you know from the German empire.
@@history9034 no it's not flag. It was a Nazi flag
@@not-a-theist8251 I can see you don’t like hearing facts about history. It’s a simple Google search it’ll literally say he wrapped himself up in the imperial German flag which was from the German empire and then shot himself.
@@history9034... I've read a bunch of German articles about it and they don't say that. Go figure.
The name of the flag is the same. "Reichskriegsflagge" which can be translated to 'empirial war flag' but
The design changed. The flag had a swastika on it since 1935. Thats the historical truth. A 5 second Google search will confirm that but maybe you just do good research the ext time before you talk trash like that
This is a translation issue and you're wrong.
For lazy people, the actual video starts at 1:26
This is a very interesting story. I recently got back into World of Warships and picked this ship up. It's as terrifying and dangerous as described. Giant guns rip small ships apart and big ships have trouble catching it.
Wow.. even with the main Fire Control out on Graf Spee, they still are able to exact tremendous damage on the enemy... now that is some gunnery skill.
Drachinifel th-cam.com/video/6weg2nkgVtc/w-d-xo.html Mentioned that HMS Exeter with rangefinders out had an officer standing on the rear guns sighting them in for the hits that disabled Graf Spee.
Ah this was one of my suggestions from a while ago. Glad it got picked up.
This is making want to watch The Battle Of The River Plate. Great film, though I think I prefer The Cruel Sea.
As always, great work. And a good starting off point for me to learn more on line about the battle. Thank you.
The quality of your videos just keep getting better and better. Definitely one of my favorite military history channels on youtube along with Mark Felton
Brilliant. I love these historical strategy breakdowns. Gives you a real insight into the minds of the commanders.
Outrun anything that can defeat her? Did the Kriegsmarine completely forget about Hood, Renown, and Repulse?
Absolutely correct, any one of them was capable of sinking her without worry.
Most merchants were not escorted by capital ships like the Hood, Renown and Repulse though.
Exactly. This sentence is often repeated when people talk about the Deutschland class. Also the fact that they are called pocket battleships really just twists the truth. In reality they were just another overglorified heavy cruiser. Except much slower. Yes they had bigger guns, but only 6 of them (compared to most heavy cruisers which carried 8-10 guns). They were also rather poorly protected, with only a 80mm thick belt and 45mm thick deck, this is below average even for a cruiser.
@@PrivateMemo Unless the Germans are known to be in the area and a task force is dispatched. Ergo; Here.
Well, battlecruisers as a whole were designed to outfight anything that could catch them, and outrun anything that could outfight them. Of course, just because some ship is classified as a "battlecruiser" doesn't mean that there couldn't be another battlecruiser out there that was faster/more powerful than it was. By that logic, there could only be one class of ships that could be called "battlecruisers", as every slower/less powerful battlecruiser could be defeated by that class of ship.
In simple terms: battlecruiser is a class of ship that had cruiser-level armour and speed, while having battleship-class armament. So overall, they outgun cruisers, while they can't outfight a battleship. And Graf See was that. And there might be other battlecruisers out there that were even faster and had bigger guns.
Every single story featured in a video on this channel would be worth a movie.
There is a great film of this battle made in the 50s
THANK YOU
For changing the intro sound into something that doesn't give me tinnitus
7:20 Harwood had planned for this moment ordering the squadron split to engage Graf Spee on both sides lessening the threat of the German being able to concentrate all guns on a single target.
The same tactic I would suggest that Lancelot Holland should have used in his engagement with Bismarck.
Fun Fact: Langsdorff was knock out cold for I think 20 minutes when Exeter fired a salvo on the Graf Spee.
> 1v3s a British task force
> refuses to sink any of them even though they are clearly at a disadvantage
>leaves
>scuttles ship
She is my favorite ship in the game "World of Warships". I use high explosive shells in her 6 turrets which often cause the enemy ship to burn. I also launch torpedoes as a means of forcing the enemy ship to change its heading. At close range she is a real brawler and her small guns punish anything within reach.
I would like to see you do the largest naval battle since world war 2. Operation praying mantis
HMNZS Achilles was a NZ navy ship from 1937? 60% of her crew were New Zealanders
The Royal New Zealand Navy was formed on 1 October 1941. Only after that date could ships have the prefix HMNZS. At River Plate, Achilles belonged to the New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy so had the prefix HMS. She did fly the NZ ensign during the battle however.
@@kendallblue7420 you are so right mate. But i was hoping to hear NZ mentioned as it was a great start for our navy.
Your videos are fascinating for those of us interested in the terrible business of war. Some of the nuances may be lost, but you make the overall plan of battle crystal clear.
Keep up the excellent work!
Ajax Ontario Canada is named after this event. The Allied boats and their crewmen all have streets named after them, save a few, Lansdorf had a street, but the name was changed.
At 6:03 - German intelligence warns of British cruiser, Langsdorff presses on. Bad move. Seldom mentioned is the fact Brits boarded the scuttled Graf Spee and got intelligence on it's FMG 39 G(gO) radar.
Yes, I've wondered why he didn't choose deeper waters to scuttle. Perhaps he thought he encounter British vessels before getting far enough out.
@@Inkling777 Three mile territorial limit
Love your vids mate. keep up the good work!
Thanks, will do!
Admiral Graf Spee was the first model i ever built. Great video!
Nice!
Great channel -one of my favorite battles on this vid
I've always liked the old 50's film portraying this engagement. It was probably 'The Battle of the RIver Plate' which sparked my interest in naval warfare history.
Ding. Ding. BOOOOM!
This the only channel I use notifications for. J love the videos man
I appreciate that
The one channel I'm 100% OK with paid promotions in. You deserve to get paid for the awesome material you produce, far better than my schooling experience.
It's a good day when there's a new operations room video!
As a Dutchman I must inform you that the map you use that includes my country is incorrect. On it, the province of Flevoland is present. The land for that province was reclaimed in the 50s and 60s and was not present before that time. It's a nitpick, I know.
His map also has Lake Volta, which wasn't formed until 1960 something...
6 8" guns plus 16 6" guns far outgun 6 11" guns any day. Especially when Graf Spee has to go almost fully broadside in order to fire all 6 guns. It's more like 22 guns to 3.
Except that Harwood to my mind made a major blunder in ordering EXETER to investigate the initial sighting of smoke vice sending an aircraft. And make that 22 smaller calibre guns to six. As it transpired, EXETER found herself alone and out gunned by the panzerschiff. A ship that had an impressive gunnery capability. Except for the individual ship's tenacity and especially Hooky Bell's Harwood could have lost his squadron as happened in the same area in WWI with Cradock's squadron.
once again, top notch video by the operations room.
I like these types of short documentary the subs of these channels are criminally underated.
Last time I was this early the bismarck was unsinkable
“Outrun anything it can’t sink, but sink anything it can’t outrun” Laughs in Hood, Renown and Repulse
Just add "most" and it´s right. ;)
Astonishing work by the diplomats.
Love the new intro! This is definitely my favorite naval video yet.
thank you!
Great videos for history nerds. Could you do one on the german invasion of Crete?
Someone said River Plate? El más grande del mundo!
When a merchant ship sailing in the middle of nowhere and suddenly a pocket battleship going rampage...
I know about this battle but it's amazing someone actually made a video talking about it
Have you thought about doing the Falkland war in this format?
The voyage across the Atlantic was a deadly one. US Navy sailors who completed the journey received the famous anchor tattoo.
Operations Room makes any topic sound understandable and easy to listen to. If his voice convinces me to watch a SurfShark ad, I know I'm hitched on his narration
Amazes me that a heavy cruiser has an open bridge. Nutty.