December 1939
Battle of River Plate
Commands the HMS Achilles during the Battle of the River Plate
Historical place archive
Browse historical events and people recorded at River Plate in Great Britain. The records below are rendered directly from the World History Database into this page's initial HTML.
Commands the HMS Achilles during the Battle of the River Plate
A major propaganda victory for the British during the Phony War, Churchills reputation is enhanced
Harwood orders Ajax, Achilles and Exeter to concentrate off the River Plate before his predicted arrival of the German raider.
Harwood's three cruisers conduct manoeuvres and rehearse the tactics intended for an encounter with a German pocket battleship.
A near miss from Graf Spee damages Achilles and briefly disrupts the cruiser's course during the morning battle.
After Exeter is forced out of the fight, Parry keeps Achilles engaged alongside Ajax against the German raider.
Parry's HMS Achilles opens fire with six-inch guns while operating with Ajax against Graf Spee.
Parry's cruiser helps shadow Graf Spee toward Montevideo after Harwood breaks off the close daylight engagement.
A heavy Graf Spee hit disables Ajax's X turret and jams Y turret, sharply reducing the flagship's available firepower.
Harwood presses the two light cruisers closer to bring their six-inch guns effectively into action against Graf Spee.
Ajax launches its Fairey Seafox aircraft to assist observation and spotting during the engagement.
Woodhouse's cruiser launches torpedoes during the close phase of the action, forcing Graf Spee to manoeuvre away.
Woodhouse brings HMS Ajax's six-inch guns into action as Harwood's flagship closes from a separate bearing.
Around 07:40 Harwood turns away, intending to shadow Graf Spee and renew the fight later under more favourable conditions.
Harwood separates Exeter from Ajax and Achilles so Graf Spee must divide its fire or leave one British group less engaged.
After communications are wrecked, Exeter uses improvised methods, including men relaying orders, to keep steering the damaged cruiser.
An 11-inch hit and splinters devastate Exeter's bridge, killing or wounding most personnel there and injuring Bell.
Bell's cruiser fires a starboard torpedo salvo at Graf Spee, but the German ship's manoeuvre causes the weapons to miss.
Bell's HMS Exeter opens fire with eight-inch guns soon after Graf Spee begins the engagement.
Harwood detaches Exeter to investigate smoke on the horizon before the contact is identified as Admiral Graf Spee.
With forward turrets disabled, flooding increasing and electrical systems failing, Bell withdraws Exeter from the main action.
Harwood keeps Ajax and Achilles in contact as the damaged German ship steams toward the River Plate estuary.
When Graf Spee turns toward the badly damaged Exeter, Harwood orders Ajax and Achilles to close and draw German fire away.
Provenance
These entries are generated from stored World History Database records whose country and place fields match Great Britain and River Plate. Names, dates, event labels and descriptions are reviewed and normalised as the database develops. Historical place names may not match modern administrative boundaries.
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