The Battle of the River Plate: A Grand Delusion

by Richard Woodman, Christopher Summerville (Editor)

Overview

A study and reassessment of the major World War II battle in the South Atlantic between the British and German navies.

The Battle of the River Plate was the first major naval confrontation of the Second World War, and it is one of the most famous. The dramatic sea fight between the German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee and the British cruisers Exeter, Ajax, and Achilles off the coast of South America caught the imagination in December 1939. Over the last sixty years the episode has come to be seen as one of the classics of naval warfare. Yet the accepted interpretation of events has perhaps been taken for granted and is ripe for reassessment, and that is one of the aims of Richard Woodman’s enthralling new study.

Praise for The Battle of the River Plate: A Grand Delusion

“This author has made it all so very riveting, it really is a book which is hard to put down until finished.” —Royal Geographical Society

“Graphic, thought provoking—highly recommended.” —Britain at War

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781844689538
Publisher:	Pen & Sword Books Limited
Publication date:	01/31/2020
Series:	Campaign Chronicles
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	176
File size:	5 MB

About the Author

Richard Woodman is a distinguished, prize-winning maritime author. He served at sea from the age of sixteen, spent eleven years in command, spent six years in operational management and is today an Elder Brother of Trinity House. The author of a number of novels, his historical studies include Arctic Convoys 1941-1945, Malta Convoys 194-1943, The Real Cruel Sea: The Merchant Navy in the Battle of the Atlantic 1939-1943 and a five volume History of the British Merchant Navy.

Table of Contents

List of Maps and Illustrations     vii
Background: Sly Advance: The Cruise of the Admiral Graf Spee, April 1928-August 1939     1
Campaign Chronicle     10
5 August-29 September: 'The Curtain Lifts'     12
30 September-9 October: 'We Are, You See, at War'     23
10-21 October: 'A Serious Strain...'     33
22 October-1 December: 'Even at the Risk of Losing the Ship'     41
The Allied Hunt
25 October-12 December: 'The Weakness of Our Intelligence...'     54
The Admiral Graf Spee
2-12 December: 'No Alternative but to Obey'     58
13 December, Midnight-06.17: 'A Fine Target'     74
British Cruiser Squadron (Force G)
2-12 December: 'The Plate ... Was the Vital Area'     78
13 December, Midnight-06.00: 'The Squadron Was in Position...'     88
The Admiral Graf Spee
13 December, 06.00-06.17: 'Signalled for Identification'     90
British Cruiser Squadron (Force G)
13 December, 06.00-06.17: 'I Think It Is a Pocket Battleship'     90
The Battle of the River Plate: Morning Action
13 December, 06.17-07.00: 'We Zigzagged Continually at High Speed...'     92
13 December, 07.00-08.00: 'She Looked Vicious and Efficient'     104
The Battle of the River Plate: Chase to the West
13 December, 07.00-08.06: 'On Course for the River Plate'     106
13 December, 08.06-19.15: 'No Prospect of Shaking off the Shadowers'     109
The Battle of the River Plate: Evening Action
13 December, 19.15-Midnight: 'Gloriously Silhouetted Against the Afterglow'     117
Three Days of Uncertainty
14-16 December: 'This is Not a Friendly Port to Germany'     121
Sunset
17 December: 'That Was That'     133
Aftermath     139
21 December, 1939-1946: 'Home is the Sailor...'     140
Analysis     147
Roll of Honour     156
Bibliography     157
Index     159