Admiral Graf Spee - Admiral Graf Spee The Admiral Graf Spee, often called Graf Spee for short, was a pocket battleship launched by Germany in 1934 and named after the World War I Admiral Graf Maximilian von Spee. In 1939 the Graf Spee sank a number of merchant ships in the south Atlantic Ocean and Indian Ocean, with the first on September 30. The Allies formed seven hunting groups in the Atlantic and one in the Indian Ocean to look for her, totalling three battleships, four aircraft carriers, and 16 cruisers. More groups were assembled later. On December 13 1939, she was found by the British Hunting Group G - the 8-inch gunned cruiser HMS Exeter, and 6-inch gunned light cruisers HMS Ajax and HMNZS Achilles - in the Battle.
Maximilian von Spee - Maximilian von Spee Count (Graf) Maximilian von Spee was a German naval officer, born in Copenhagen, Denmark on 22 June 1861, who joined the Imperial German Navy in 1878. In 1887-1888 he commanded the Cameroon ports, a German colony in Africa. Before the First World War he held a number of senior positions relating to weapons development, before being appointed Chief of Staff of the North Sea Command in 1908, rising to Rear Admiral in 1910 and being given command of the German East Asian Cruiser Squadron in 1912, basing in Tsingtao, China. From the outbreak of the First World War his command concentrated on destroying British commercial and troop shipping, with considerable success. As Japan enetered the war, Spee's squadron moved to South America. At the Battle.
Hans Langsdorff - most famous for his command of the Panzerschiff (pocket battleship) Admiral Graf Spee during the Battle of the River Plate. Langsdorff was born on the island of Rügen in 1894, the eldest son of a family with legal and religious traditions rather than a naval tradition. In 1898 the family moved to Düsseldorf, where they were neighbours of the family of Count (Graf) Maximilian von Spee, who was to become a German naval hero (while losing his entire command) in the Battle of the Falkland Islands in 1914. Influenced by his honoured neighbours, Langsdorff entered the Kiel Naval Academy against his parent's wishes in 1912. During the First World War the then-Lieutenant Langsdorff won his first Iron Cross at the Battle of Jutland in 1916 and subsequently worked in minesweepers. In.
Herbert Wohlfarth - April 1933. After the usual training he spent more than a year on the cruiser Admiral Graf Spee. In May 1937 he joined the U-boat force, and like many of the later successful commanders received a solid pre-war training under Karl Dönitz. After some months as aide-de-camp in the Third Flotilla "Lohs", in September 1938 he became watch officer on U-16. On 19 October 1939 Oberleutnant zur See Wohlfarth took command of U-14. On his first three patrols he sank nine mostly smaller ships in Scottish and Norwegian waters. The fourth patrol with U-14 was for him, as for most other commanders during Operation Hartmut against Norway, without success. On 15 June 1940 Wohlfarth commissioned U-137, also a Type IIB boat, referred to as Einbaum (dugout canoe). But these small boats.
HMS Exeter - repeated actions against the French, in 1702 off Newfoundland, in 1705 when she captured the frigate Thétis, in 1711 in the Mediterranean and at the Battle of Quiberon Bay, and in 1748 at the Siege of Pondicherry. Samuel Hood, 1st Viscount Hood of Whitley, subsequently an Admiral and an important figure in British Naval history, served briefly on this vessel. HMS Exeter ( -1784) The third HMS Exeter was a 64-gun Third rate. She earned Battle Honours in 1782 at Sadras, Providien, Negapatam and Trincomalee. She was burned as unseaworthy in 1784. HMS Exeter (1928-1942) The best known is the fourth HMS Exeter, a York class heavy cruiser that saw important action in World War II. She was built by Devonport Dockyard, Plymouth, Devon. Laid down on 1 August 1928, she.
HMNZS Achilles - Achilles started patrolling the west coast of South America looking for German merchant ships, but by 22nd October she had arrived at the Falkland Islands, where she was assigned to the South American Division under Commodore Harwood and allocated to Force G (HMS Exeter and HMS Cumberland). In the early morning of 13th December a force of Achilles, HMS Ajax and HMS Exeter detected smoke on the horizon, which was confirmed to be a pocket battleship, thought to be the Admiral Scheer, at 0616. A fierce battle ensued, at a range of approximately 20,000 yards/metres. Achilles took some damage, her captain, W.E. Parry RN being injured, but fortunately only four crew members were killed in the battle, compared to 36 of Graf Spee's crew killed. The range reduced to about 4.
HMS Ajax - on 1 March 1934, and completed on 12 April 1935. Ajax served on the America and West Indies Station from completion, then part of South American Division on the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939. Operating off the River Plate, she intercepted the German merchantmen Carl Fritzen, Olinda, and Ussukuma. She was the flagship of Commodore Henry Harwood's Force G during the hunt for the Admiral Graf Spee. Ajax was hit seven times during the Battle of the River Plate on 13 December 1939. Under repair until July 1940, she then moved to the Mediterranean. On October 11/12 1940 she engaged Italian forces, sinking the torpedo boats Airone and Ariel, and badly damaging the destroyer Artigliere, which was later sunk. Ajax participated in the Battle of Cape Matapan.
HMS Renown - in September 1939, just after the outbreak of the Second World War. Renown's high speed made her a valuable asset during World War II. In late 1939, she was sent to the South Atlantic to search for the German armored ship Admiral Graf Spee. She covered minelaying operations along the Norwegian coast in early April 1940 and, on the 9th of that month, engaged the German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, damaging the latter. Later in 1940 and into 1941, she operated with Force "H", based at Gibraltar to provide strategic presence in both the Atlantic and Mediterranean. While with Force "H", she participated in a bombardment of Genoa, Italy, in February 1941. After Home Fleet service in 1942-43, Renown was sent to join the Eastern Fleet in the Indian Ocean. Operating.
USS Wyoming (BB-32) - departed Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on 6 October and completed the fitting-out process at the New York Navy Yard, Brooklyn, New York, before she joined the fleet in Hampton Roads, Virginia. Reaching the Tidewater area on 30 December 1912, she became the flagship of Rear Admiral Charles J. Badger, Commander, United States Atlantic Fleet, soon thereafter. Sailing on 6 January 1913, the new battleship visited the soon-to-be-completed Panama Canal and then conducted winter fleet maneuvers off Cuba before she returned to Chesapeake Bay on 4 March. After gunnery practice off the Virginia capes, on the southern drill grounds, Wyoming underwent repairs and alterations at the New York Navy Yard between 18 April and 7 May. She then participated in war games off Block Island between 7 May and 24 May, a period of.
USS Quincy (CA-39) - Spain during the height of the Spanish Civil War. Quincy passed through the Straits of Gibraltar 26 July and arrived at Malaga, Spain, 27 July to assume her duties. While in Spanish waters, she operated with an international rescue fleet that included the German pocket battleships Deutschland, Admiral Graf Spee, and Admiral Scheer. Quincy evacuated 490 refugees to Marseilles and Villefranche, France, before being relieved by Raleigh (CL-7) 27 September. Quincy returned to the Boston Navy Yard 5 October for refit preparatory to final acceptance trials which were held 15-18 March 1937. She got underway for the Pacific 12 April to join Cruiser Division 7, transited the Panama Canal 23-27 April and arrived at Pearl Harbor 10 May. Quincy sortied with Cruiser Divisions, Pacific Fleet, 20 May on a tactical exercise.
Doveton Sturdee - Doveton Sturdee, 1859–1925, was a British admiral. He entered the Royal Navy in 1871 and rose to become Chief of War Staff at the Admiralty on the outbreak of World War I. In December 1914, he decisively defeated the German squadron under Graf Maximilian von Spee at the Battle of the Falkland Islands, for which he was made a baronet. Sturdee commanded a squadron at the Battle of Jutland in 1916, became an admiral in 1917, and was made Admiral of the Fleet in 1921..
1914 - 1 - St. Petersburg, Russia changes its name to Petrograd. September 5 - World War I: First Battle of the Marne begins - Northeast of Paris, the French 6th Army under General Michel-Joseph Maunoury attack German forces who are advancing on the capital. Over 2 million troops will fight in the battle and 100,000 will be killed or wounded in this significant Allied victory. September 6 - French and British counterattack at Marne ends German advance on Paris. September 26 - The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) established by the Federal Trade Commission Act. October 9 - World War I: Siege of Antwerp - Antwerp, Belgium falls to German troops. October 29 - World War I:: Ottoman warships shell Russian Black Sea ports: Russia, France and Britain declare war on November.
Battlecruiser - it to take out destroyers, cruisers, and other smaller ships before the battlecruiser ever got into the range of their smaller guns or torpedoes, while its speed would enable it to escape enemy battleships. The idea was mainly conceived by Admiral Jackie Fisher. The first battlecruisers were HMS Inflexible, HMS Invincible and HMS Indomitable, all completed in 1908. They had armor 6 or 7 inches thick along the side of the hull and over the gunhouses, whereas a comparable battleship of the period had armor 11 or 12 inches thick. Originally known as battle cruisers, these ships had a top speed of 26 knots compared to 20 - 21 knots for a contemporary battleship. They were armed with 12 inch (305 mm) guns, just like battleships. Soon after the British, the.
Battle of the River Plate - first major naval battle of World War II, which resulted in the eventual sinking of the German pocket battleship - heavy cruiser Admiral Graf Spee by scuttling, ending her successful three-month campaign against British merchant shipping. The British force, comprising the heavy cruiser HMS Exeter (six 8" guns) and light cruisers HMS Ajax and HMNZS Achilles (both eight 6" guns), engaged the German cruiser close to the estuary of the Rio de la Plata, or Silver River, between Argentina and Uruguay. Following intense gunnery action where the German cruiser had the advantage of longer range and heavier guns, while the British were able to divide fire, the Graf Spee eventually headed for Montevideo harbour in Uruguay. Exeter had been severely damaged in the battle, and British propaganda efforts were made to.
Battle of Coronel - the coast of central Chile. During the battle, a Royal Navy squadron commanded by Rear-Admiral Sir Christopher Craddock was met and defeated by the superior German forces led by Vice-Admiral Graf Maximilian von Spee. This was the first British naval defeat of the war. The Royal Navy, with Japanese assistance, had spent the early months of the war searching for the German East Asiatic commerce-raiding squadron known to be operating under Admiral Spee in the Pacific (Spee having moved from Tsingtao in China once Japan entered the war on Britain's side), without success. The British learned from an intercepted radio communication in early October of a plan devised by Spee to prey upon shipping in the crucial trading routes along the west coast of South America. Patrolling South America at that.
Battle of the Falkland Islands - German navies on 8 December 1914. Fresh from his success at the Battle of Coronel, off the coast of Chile, where the German force outgunned British, sinking Admiral Cradock's flagship in the process, Admiral Graf Maximilian von Spee's East Asia Cruiser Squadron - whose primary target was merchant and troop shipping in the South Atlantic - sped towards Port Stanley, in the Falkland Islands. His intention was to raid the British radio station and coaling depot there. Unknown to Spee however, a British squadron, including two fast, modern battle cruisers, HMS Invincible and HMS Inflexible, were at that same time coaling at Port Stanley, sent by First Sea Lord Admiral Fisher to avenge the British defeat at Coronel. Each of the British battle cruisers were fitted with eight 12-inch guns, whereas.
The Battle of the River Plate (movie) - Plate (movie) The Battle of the River Plate (US title:Pursuit of the Graf Spee) is a 1956 British movie written, produced, and directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. It portrays the eponymous naval battle of 1939, between a Commonwealth force of three cruisers (HMS Exeter, HMS Ajax and HMNZS Achilles) and the German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee. Unlike most British war movies of the time, The Battle of the River Plate is notable in treating the German sailors as honourable opponents rather than as cardboard cut-out "Huns". The ships engaged in the battle were portrayed by: HMS Cumberland portrayed herself and Exeter HMS Sheffield portrayed Ajax INS Delhi (formerly HMNZS Achilles) portrayed herself USS Salem portrayed Admiral Graf Spee. HMS Birmingham was used by the production as a camera.
Timeline of the Second World War - of Eastern Poland by the Soviet Union. 28: Warsaw surrenders; Polish government in exile set up in Paris. October 1: Conscription of British men aged between 20 and 22 begins. 2: The Hel peninsula Polish defence forces surrender to German forces. 5: The Kock battle, the last battle of the Polish defence, between Polesie group under the command of General Kleeberg and German forces. 9: Hitler issues orders for preparation of invasion of Belgium, France, Luxembourg and the Netherlands. November 30: The Soviet Union invades Finland. December 7: Italy again declares its neutrality. 13: Battle of the River Plate. 17: Admiral Graf Spee scuttled in Montevideo harbour. 14: Russia expelled from the League Of Nations. 18: The first Canadian troops arrive in Europe. 1940 January 1: Conscription extended in Britain: all.
SMS Gneisenau - the German East Asia cruiser squadron based at Qingdao (then Romanised as Tsingtao) in China under Vice-Admiral Graf Maximilian von Spee. On the outbreak of the First World War the flotilla left Qingdao after Japan entered the war on the Allied side and engaged in a period of commerce raiding before encountering and defeating a weaker British force at the Battle of Coronel on 1 November. On 8 December the squadron launched an attack on the Falkland Islands but encountered a much more powerful British force which proceeded to destroy its opponents in the Battle of the Falkland Islands. Gneisenau was lost with all hands. Technical data Length: 145 metres. Beam: 21.6 metres. Draught: 8.4 metres. Displacement: 12,985 tons. Maximum speed: 22.5 knots. Range: 5120 nautical miles at 12 knots, or.
Phony War - Neville Chamberlain was under constant attack. A vote of confidence in his government was won by 281 to 200, but 41 of Chamberlain's Conservative colleagues had voted against him whilst 60 had abstained. The humiliated Chamberlain found it impossible to continue to lead a Conservative government or form a government of national unity (in Britain called a "national government") around him. On May 10 Chamberlain resigned his premiership whilst retaining his leadership of the Conservative Party. The King, George VI, appointed Winston Churchill, who had been a consistent opponent of Chamberlain's policy of appeasement, as his successor and Churchill formed a new coalition government which included Conservative, Labour and Liberal representatives. Later that same day, German troops marched into Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxemburg. The Phony War was over. The only.
