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Second World War History > Early Victory - the Admiral Graf Spee Timeline

Early Victory - the Admiral Graf Spee Timeline

The Allies gained an early morale victory against Germany in the containment and elimination of the Admiral Graf Spee.

Authored By Staff Writer

The KMS Deutschland and KMS Admiral Graf Spee wreaked a certain level of havoc against Allied merchant shipping throughout the Atlantic. Such was their destruction that at least eight hunter groups were formed to eliminate them.

The Admiral Graf Spee was one of Germany's "pocket battleships", designed to outrun targets if it could not destroy them. The vessel was ultimately commanded by Captain Hans Langsdorff and set sail from Wilhelmsaven for the North Atlantic in mid-August of 1939. British Royal Navy vessels eventually caught up with the Admiral Graf Spee in the South Atlantic and crippled her enough at the Battle of River Plate to make harbor in Montevideo, Uruguay.

However, the Admiral Graf Spee, along with her captain, would never see Germany again in one of the early key victories for the struggling Allies.

Total Graf Spee Battleship Events: 17

1939
Monday
August 21st

The German battleship Graf Spee leaves Wilhelmshaven for the North Atlantic. She is commanded by Captain Hans Langsdorff. Her supply ship is the Altmark, which also leaves Wilhelmshaven.

1939
Wednesday
September 27th

The German battleships Deutschland and Graf Spee are let loose on Allied shipping convoys in the North Atlantic.

1939
Saturday
September 30th

The Graf Spee claims her first merchant vessel, the British freighter Clement, in the waters of the South Atlantic.

1939
Sunday
October 1st

The Graf Spee goes on to sink four more Allied merchant vessels during the month of October.

1939
Wednesday
November 15th

The Graf Spee sinks the oil tanker Africa Shell off the coast of Madagascar.

1939
Monday
November 20th

The Graf Spee begins her return to a pre-designated waiting area in the South Atlantic. British cruisers Ajax, Achilles, Exeter and Cumberland begin pursuit.

1939
Wednesday
December 13th

The Graf Spee adds three more vessels - the Doric Star, Tairoa, Streonshalh - to its list of sunken Allied targets. She begins her voyage towards River Plate near Uruguay for a final combat patrol.

1939
Wednesday
December 13th

The Graf Spee is spotted in the early morning hours by Commodore H. H. Harwood's British cruiser squadron.

1939
Wednesday
December 13th

At 6:14 AM, the Graf Spee opens fire on the British heavy cruisers Ajaz and Exeter.

1939
Wednesday
December 13th

At 6:40 AM, the British cruiser Achilles is damaged by shell splinters from the Graf Spee's guns.

1939
Wednesday
December 13th

At 6:50 AM, the British cruiser Exeter is heavily damaged by the Graf Spee, leaving only one turret functional and in flames.

1939
Wednesday
December 13th

At 7:25 AM, the British cruiser Ajax loses two of her turrets to the Graf Spee.

1939
Wednesday
December 13th

By 7:40 AM, the British cruisers Ajax and Achilles break battle and trail out of range of the Graf Spee's guns, though still in pursuit.

1939
Wednesday
December 13th

At 8:00 AM, Captain Langsdorff orders his lightly damaged Graf Spee towards the port at Montevideo in Uruguay with British ships in close pursuit.

1939
Wednesday
December 13th

At approximately 12:00 PM, Graf Spee enters the harbor at Montevideo, Uruguay, with the intention on having her damaged repaired. With political pressure from Britain, the Uruguayan government offers the Graff Spee only 72 hours rest.

1939
Sunday
December 17th

Graf Spee Captain Hans Langsdorff mistakenly believes there to be a large Royal Navy contingent waiting for his exit out of Montevideo harbor. As such, he orders the Graff Spee scuttled. The German vessel is effectively eliminated from the war.

1939
Wednesday
December 20th

Choosing honor over justice, Captain Hans Langsdorff commits suicide, officially ending the reign of the Graf Spee.

Second World War History

1939:

• Blitzkrieg!
• Early Victory
• The Atlantic Theater
• "Winter War"

1940:

• Invasion of the Low Countries
• The RAF Bombing Campaign
• Rescue at Dunkirk
• The Battle of Britain
• Operation Compass
• Operation Judgement
• The Balkans Invasion

1941:

• Sink the Bismarck!
• The Invasion of Crete
• Operation Barbarossa
• The Arctic Convoys
• The Siege of Leningrad
• The Battle of Sevastopol
• Soviet Offensive - Battle for Russia
• The Attack on Pearl Harbor
• Japanese Conquest of the Pacific

1942:

• Kharkov
• Operation Blue
• The Battle of Coral Sea
• From Gazala to Tobruk
• The Battle of Midway
• Operation Jubilee
• The Battle of El Alamein
• Guadalcanal
• The Solomon Islands
• Operation Torch
• Kokoda Trail
• Stalingrad

1943:

• Kasserine Pass
• The Schweinfurt Raids
• Kursk
• Operation Husky
• Battle of Tarawa

1944:

• The Landings at Anzio
• Monte Cassino
• "Big Week"
• D-Day
• Operation Bagration
• Beyond Normandy
• The Warsaw Uprising
• Operation Market Garden
• The Battle of the Bulge

1945:

• The Push to the Oder River
• Battle of Okinawa
• The Fall of Berlin

EVENTS BY WAR YEAR:

• 1939
• 1940
• 1941
• 1942
• 1943
• 1944
• 1945

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MISC:

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• WW2 Statistics

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