Battle of the River Plate 13th December 1939

At the outbreak of the Second World War the British cruisers HMS Exeter and HMS Ajax were sent to the South Atlantic where they were joined by HMNZS Achilles and began to patrol  the seas around the River Plate.

On December 13th 1939 the British squadron, under the command of Commodore Harwood, sighted a German ship which had been causing havoc with shipping in the area. Exeter was sent to investigate. The vessel was Graf Spee - a German pocket battleship named after Admiral Graf von Spee of Battle of the Falklands fame.

Graf Spee immediately opened fire on Exeter, crippling the British vessel with its massive guns. Ajax and Achilles were firing on Graf Spee’s port bow, but their salvoes were falling short and when Ajax began to take damage the three British ships turned away. Exeter was unable to continue and began to limp back to Stanley. Commodore Harwood decided to close on the German ship and bring all guns of Ajax and Achilles to bear. After a rapid and successful exchange, he again withdrew and shadowed Graf Spee at a distance of 15 miles.

The German ship had taken a battering, but her engines were undamaged and  the main guns intact. Langsdorff decided the vessel was no longer seaworthy and headed to Montevideo, Uruguay. The British squadron waited outside territorial waters.

On December 17th, Graf Spee weighed  anchor and headed out of Montevideo harbour. Late in the evening, watched by thousands of people gathered around the harbour, Graf Spee  was rent by a series of explosions. The ship keeled over and sank. Unable to escape the waiting British squadron, Langsdorff had scuttled the ship as ordered by Hitler. Reportedly heart-broken by the loss of  his ship, Langsdorff wrote a letter taking full responsibility for the  scuttling of Graf Spee and shot himself.

The British fleet returned to Stanley to lick their wounds. 64 were killed in the battle, with 45 wounded. Exeter had suffered particularly and while she was  being repaired her crew were billeted with families in Stanley. The  hospital was full with injured from the battle. Camp residents also rallied to help, sending eggs, meat and other supplies to Stanley - including 96 packets of cigarettes!

Whilst in Stanley, four crew members of the HMS Exeter who had suffered injuries during the Battle died of their wounds. Funeral services were held at the Cathedral in December and January which were well attended by their shipmates and the local people. The four men, Frank Legg, Richard Powton, Arthur Edward Collins and Wilfred A Russell, were buried with full Naval Honours in Stanley Cemetery.

Two Islanders, Stewart Berntsen and Stoker Gleadell, were part of Exeter’s ships company.