Graf Spee Scuttled: Captain Chooses Destruction
Captain Hans Langsdorff scuttled the pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee in Montevideo harbor rather than face the Royal Navy warships waiting offshore, ending the first major naval chase of World War II. Three days later, Langsdorff shot himself in a Buenos Aires hotel room, wrapped in the Imperial German naval ensign.
December 17, 1939
87 years ago
Key Figures & Places
World War II
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Montevideo
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Battle of the River Plate
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Hans Langsdorff
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German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee
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World War II
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Battle of the River Plate
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Admiral Graf Spee
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Hans Langsdorff
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Montevideo
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Uruguay
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Gregorio Conrado Álvarez
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Desaparición forzada
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crimes against humanity
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Siege of Sevastopol (1941–1942)
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Borneo
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Derecho de autor en Uruguay
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Ulm
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Ulmer Münster
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