The Battle of the River Plate: The First Naval Battle of the Second World War

At dawn on 13 December 1939, smoke was seen on the horizon; HMS Exeter was told to close in and investigate.\n\nTwo minutes later a dramatic signal was sent from the British cruiser - 'I think it is a pocket battleship.' It was.\n\nThe Deutschland-class heavy cruiser Admiral Graf Spee, marauder of the South Atlantic shipping, had sailed into a trap.\n\nThree smaller British cruisers closed in on a German warship which, so Hitler had boasted, could out-sail any ship powerful enough to damage her, and out-gun any ship able to keep up with her - an invincible ship. So began the Battle of the River Plate, story which has its duplicates in British naval history, but which nevertheless brought pride and inspiration into the hearts of a nation unwillingly at war once again. A terrible battle was fought that day off the coast of South America, a naval encounter in the finest Nelson tradition - and true to that tradition, victory went to the men with the finest armament of all, courage. This .