Sinking of the Graf Spee

The Sinking of the Graf Spee These are the actual radio broadcasts from Dec 17-18, 1939 about the sinking of the German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Speeoff Uruguay in South America. Graf Spee was a German pocket battleship of 10,000 tons launched in 1936. The Graf Spee was more heavily gunned than any cruiser and had a top speed of 25 knots and an endurance of 12,500 miles (20,000 km). The Graf Spee had sunk several merchant ships in the Atlantic before being attacked by a British search group consisting of the cruisers Exeter, Ajax, and Achilles. The damage on the 13th to Graf Spee forced her to seek refuge in Montevideo, Uruguay for several days to make repairs. On the 17th Graf Spee left Montevideo and was scuttled by the crew. Captain Langsdorff of the Graf Spee committed suicide three days later. Most of the crew had been secretly taken off when they were in port and the rest were rescued after the ship being scuttled.