My Grandfather served on Achilles and was in this battle so very many thanks for posting it here.

Many thanks! I liked the pictures of ordinary British sailors and people. Many bear the marks of people who've had rough lives. We shouldn't forget that this war came on the tail of the Great Depression.

Here in New Zealand the Battle of the River Plate became a local legend owing to the Achilles. So almost 50 years later when in a remote junkyard in rural France I happened across a brass ship’s bell engraved Graf Spee I had to buy it. Yes, I knew it was too small to be a battleship bell but the reference counted. I think it might have come from a later Rhine river-boat, but never mind. I brought it back to NZ, cleaned it up and had an old salt add a special hand-woven bell lanyard. It has now been our front “door bell” for the last 30 or so years. Not a genuine memento of the battle but a good reminder just the same!

Thanks for this video. The day 'Graf Spee' blew up was my first birthday 17th December 1939, in Montevideo. But just my mother, me and a b'day cake were at home, everybody was on the coastal area watching the drama -including my dad. He was a friend of the Uruguayan minister of Defence, Gen. Alfredo Campos, who wrote a book on this episode and gave a copy to dad which I still have, as a priceless account of the battle.

I had no idea such footage existed of all these events. Thank you for uploading. Struck by the scenes of so many ordinary men, so patriotic, so enduring, so brave.

It is a completely different feeling, when you see the authentic archive footage, instead of the movie made by cinematographers many years later. Brave Commonwealth sailors !!!!

My uncle Jack was on Ajax. He later served on the Prince of Wales with everything that that entailed. He was lost at sea for a few months until they were finally rescued from a desert island.

Thanks for this.. HMS Achillles became HMNZS Achillles and is a big part of NZ naval history.. thanks from New Zealand 👍🇳🇿

It's one of my favourite war films of the 1950s. They did a great job of making it into a film.

Brings back some great memories. I still have that whole series, 6 hours of footage on VHS, my grandad gave it me when I was kid 👍🏻

At the end of the day captain Langsdorff was an honourable man . He was not prepared to sacrifice his men for Hitler. He made sure they were safe and then shot himself

Great video!!! Thanks for sharing!!!!

A really valuable post script. Thank you.

G'day Tony, Thank you so much for putting this old footage together so well to tell the tale of the 'suicide' of the Admiral Graf Spee and the costly aftermath of the action that ended the damage this huge ship caused. The images, even today, show us how rough, ready and, obviously, tough life was aboard HM Ships during WW2. Nothing like the squeaky clean ships and sailors one sees in old war movies from the 50s and 60s. Here you had the one of the RN Captains voicing how fortunate he thought he was to encounter an enemy ship at sea. What many land lubbers don't realise is, especially these days, that naval engagements were, during both world wars, almost always, fights to the death. A long standing naval tradition, after the removal of the Prize Rules, was that one fought the enemy until you sank his ship; no quarter given. Unlike land forces who can honourably make 'tactical withdrawals', navies, then, had no such policy. Even the most famous exception to this rule, the Battle of Jutland, saw an enormous loss of life as more than one huge RN ship simply exploded and broke up behind clouds of black smoke and fire when their magazines took direct hits. Only following that significant loss did HM's ships chase the German fleet until it became clear that further engagement would not be possible. It was, famously, said of the Admiral in charge of the Jutland force that he was the only man in the Empire that had the power to lose the war in a single afternoon. Both fleets returned to port. Both sides claimed victory, especially the Germans as they had inflicted the greater damage. However, for the rest of The Great War the German surface fleet never again posed a danger to the Royal Navy who blockaded their opponents, assuring they would not leave their moorings for the rest of the conflict. Hitler, who admitted that he had no liking for ships and was prone to seasickness, meddled with the Kriegsmarine - often bypassing his competent Admirals - to a point where most of his capital ships had to hide because they were just too big and dangerous not to be vital targets. Historically, the Germans favoured huge battleships and cruisers yet really didn't know how to use them to full effect. Which, of course, was a good thing. Even with Hitler's interference, the Kriegsmarine, particularly its U-Boats, still caused significant damage. Thanks again for this great video. Cheers, BH

His actions saved the lives of 1200 men. The Canadian town of Ajax in 2007 dedicated a street to him - "Langsdorff Drive" - and the Royal Navy, which was also spared casualties by his actions, planned to honor him in a memorial dinner at its base in Portsmouth, last December [2019]. Germany has no recognition of this man -

She gave the game away by using her searchlight one night. Allied shipping was required to report anything they saw of interest on the high seas. Only a large warship would have such a powerful light, and we didn't have anything in that area. The hunt was on. Her navigator, Jürgen Wattenberg, stole back to Germany and became the commander of U162, which sank the tanker my grandad was 3rd engineer on out in the Caribbean one night. The U-Boat motored up to the crew in their lifeboats near the sinking ship, took the name of the vessel, gave them their coordinates, and wished them good luck (in English). When the sub approached, scanning the dark water with its searchlight, the men assumed they were going to be machine-gunned. Dead men tell no tales. It was nearly two weeks before they were spotted by the US coastguard and taken into St Lucia.

My ex-wife father was chief Petty Office on Exeter at the battle of The Battle of the River Plate he was badly wounded in the action and left on the Falkland islands he was later aworded the DSM for his courage in the battle his name was Jimmy Greene when Exeter was refitted he was presented with the old telegraph wheel as he was the last man to use it my ex-wife still has it on a plack a momentom of a famous battle

Great follow up footage and a well told story. Hearts of Oak indeed!

well done to Kaptain Langsdorf for saving so many sailors

thank you for this great footage.

British sailors look so jolly and happy. Given what they'd been through that's amazing. Good chaps.

A time of well-deserved celebration and great pride in the Navy. Six more years of war ahead.

Astonishing footage ACEWEO! Great Vid! You well earned my subscription! Keep up the hard work! Much appreciated!

Loving the authentic footage.

God bless the brave men of the HMS Cossack. They gave all for King and Country. Their names will live forever on the rolls of Royal Navy's heroes.

Very interesting archives, many thanks for sharing...

Thank you for the great video of the Battle of River Plate.

The actual engagement between Graf Spee and Harwood’s cruisers is well known, or should be. The aftermath and news footage is of interest to those who delve a little deeper into history. Thanks for that

All my family was in the Royal Navy, so stories like this was meat and potatoes to us.

Great archival footage. Thank you for that. Pity the commentary didn't quite measure up. The reason this victory was so important to morale, was that in the three months since the war started the Royal Navy had suffered heavy losses. The aircraft carrier HMS Courageous had been sunk by U-29 on September 17th 1939. The battleship HMS Royal Oak had been sunk by U-47 on the 14th October. Both with heavy loss of life. The Royal Navy desperately needed a win. ammunition, a break out attempt by the Graf Spee would have been suicide.

Nice to see some different footage!

Best true account I have One man stood alone the daily mirror Saturday Feb 24 1940 That's my grandad Albert Walford

My uncle Stan Parslowe was an engineer on the Achillies. Said the craft shook from stem to stern every time a shell exploded close to them.

Crew of the Achilles did not attend the London parade, they were back in New Zealand for a parade in Auckland, their home base. Achilles had been purchased by the NZ government in 1936 to patrol and protect the south Pacific, her crew was almost all Kiwis but with a few of the original British Officer complement and sailed as HMS because NZ did not have a naval service as such until the King awarded them the HMNZS title after this battle. One of the gunners when asked how many broadsides he had fired said he guessed 20 but it turned out to be 80 ...16 hits probably was a good average if all three shot 80 each off.

The one thing I find rather homouris is that the communities along The River Plate where expecting that the battle was going to be a really good show. So, they setup areas of best view possible, the sales of binoculars went through the roof, and even betting pools were setup. They were expecting a good rip roaring naval battle and trying to make money out of it. The one commentator on the Discovery Channel that I seen about that used the term, "The Superbowl of the River Plate." as to what they were expecting. Instead what they got was the German Pocket Battleship scuttling itself. So they tried to recouping for lost money by trying to sue both Britain and Germany for not having a good naval battle. I heard about this 5 years ago or so and when I did I couldn't stop laughing. Even 60 minutes had a piece about that all that came out over 5 years ago or so.

This action was the reason my Dad decided to volunteer for the Navy when he was old enough. Not long after he was in the Atlantic on Convoy escort!

First : Great video ! Second : I've known about the battle and watched the film many times, but never seen any of this archive film before. Wherever did you find it? Third and last : Its excellently put together, with the musical accompaniment especially appropriate! Congratulations!

Graf Spee had her diesel purifier destroyed during the action, this meant she had less than 12 hours fuel left. She was doomed from that point.

What a great vid. Thanks for posting!

Beautifull documentary. Keep up the Show!

A video reflective of a bye gone era with sentiment intact and true! Very rare these days .. well done!

Great video, compilation put together very well

7:38 The holes in the bridge were made by the 11-inch shell that hit 'B' turret (Damage plated over at 7:32 ). Splinters killed everyone on the bridge, except Captain Bell. Sometimes it paid to be a warship captain. In the battle of Denmark Strait, when Hood was lost, one of Bismarck's 15-inch shells scored a direct hit on Prince Of Wales' bridge. The shell didn't explode as it passed in one side of the bridge and out the other, but, on the way through, it hit the compass binnacle. The spray of fragments killed everyone on the bridge except Captain Leach.

Amazing video. The aftermath is always forgotten. Like the "Altmark Incident" Now a subsriber.

Very enjoyable.. thank you...

I went to Nelson College in New Zealand outside the assembly hall hung the bell from HMS Achilles quite a few of the crew and I think the captain went to Nelson College and came from Nelson the bell was still in use and I can remember ringing the bell

At a time when British vicissitudes at sea were going to have to face one of the most difficult and dangerous moments in WW2 somehow the country and Malta was kept afloat which can only be attributed to astonishing pluck and bravery from all ranks both in the RN and merchant marine. Without them the UK would have been literally sunk.

Great stuff. Thanks

Wow !!! And this was Exeter tidied up. Imagine her condition when she limped into Port Stanley. All these boys must have been thrilled to set foot ashore again. Sad looking at Exeter's crew knowing the fate that awaited many of them

Wonderful!!

Thanks for a brilliant video, lots of unseen film. Made me feel so very of being British. Excellent narration as well. More please

Years later in German papers from the Graf Spee they found out why she was blown up. The had diesel engines but ran on a highly purified fuel that had to be superheated by a boiler prior to use. This purification system was foolishly placed outside the armor belt and was destroyed in the battle. The Graf Spee had only 24 hours of usable fuel when she broke off the battle. Then they found this system could not be repaired in less than months if at all outside German home ports. So unable to get away they blew her up.

Superb video and view of a win in a very dark days my late mothers who would have been about 16 told me it brought a great releif to People during very dark days......especially as mentioned by other commentaters UK was fighting yet another war 20 years after the Great War and the great depression had taken a heavy toll of lives resorces and health, We are very lucky as we cone out of Covid not to have the difficult task that the superb dedicated resolute wartime generation had to bear thru ww2 there really were a tough generation...

amazing footage.

Great video of times and people now long gone.

Excellent presentation.......

thank you for share video

The ship shown at the start is either Gneisenau or Scharnhorst, not a Panzerschiff.

I never will get over the fact that the movie used a USN CL as a stand-in for the Graf Spee. And RN, RNZN, & Indian Navy cruiser for the RN ships. I think the Indian Navy ship was the original Ajax. One of those cruisers was an actual participant.

The town of Ajax, in Ontario, Canada, named after HMS Ajax, named a street after Langsdorff, as they had already done for Harwood, and many others from the squadron of cruisers.

Really pleased to hear that the bill is in the war Morial always thought it was so special and I was wondering whether it was still at Nelson CollegeThank you for letting me know where it is

HMNZS Achilles "Y" turret at Devonport Naval Base, Auckland.

The best part of whole video is at 8:04. That's why I gave it a Thumbs Up.

This is from the late Roland R. SMITHS royal navy time capsules, pre dvd era videos, approx 8x1hrs.

I was a Sea Cadet in the 80s here in Auckland ,New Zealand ,It was TS Achillies and we knew our history of the Ship that our unit was named after ,Also ACDC played a big concert at the River Plate lolI heard a rumour many years ago that when the HMNZS Achillies was going to scrap they were going to float it up Meola creek and have it as a museam close to the Aeroplanes that MOTAT has on display there ,pity it never happened,I think we had parts of the ship on our Bridge we had there ,pity i didnt pay much attention back then i was more into our Orliaron 20mm auto cannon thing and a big Bofor gun to lol

Should be shown to the current political class here. Here are true friends like NZ when push comes to shove. Not the charlatans they claim are friends. Great video.

ughh man it just burns me up when people call it a "pocket battleship" instead of a heavy cruiser when referring to its class

Our uncle Tommy was on the Cossack during this time & at the time of the Altmark incident. Only mentioned it a few times & served the full 6 1/2 years in the R.N.

The first ship in this movie is Battlecruiser Gneisenau

Sehr gut. Danke.

“The Navy’s Here” and so they were! Just taken delivery of my 1/700 HMS Ajax model, just need Exeter and Achilles now.....oh and Cossack! 😎😜

Thanks Ace, cheers ears, yours aye Stax.

I am from Uruguay, 84. Graf Spee was scuttled the very day of my 1st birthday, Dec. 17, 1939. My father saw HMS Ajax when she visited Montevideo in Jan. 1940. He said she looked like a destroyer rather than a cruiser ! He wondered how Capt. Harwood could battle the bigger, powerful Graf Spee with such a light force. Decades later my father and I met former British Ambassador Sir Eugen Millington-Drake who was on duty in 1939. He had many friends in Uruguay and talked very little about the battle.

Exeter, a great place to live!

Amazing history lest we forget

Who is the narrator? I've never heard that accent before. He sounds like a combination of Englishman and Southern American.

EXETER was nicknamed "PEPPERPOT" after arrival in Devonport with all her damage visible

The Royal Navy has never scuttled a ship - fight to the death.

On a drab and dull day, THE BATTLE CRUISER Exeter returned home... at 5:40 BATTLE CRUISER? Just like Hood and Renown? No, Sport -- HEAVY cruiser with eight inch guns, not fifteen inch.

Achilles a New Zealand navy light cruiser

The ‘real’ story? What wrong with the current story?

God bless them all.

Very brave seamen

I didn't know that part about how complex the diesel system was and how he only had hours of propulsion. If he had left port to fight it would have been a suicide mission. He could have fought it out and caused alot of English casualties but eventually he would have lost propulsion and been a sitting duck for being dispatched by English guns and torpedoes. He wasn't going to do that to the men under his command. He was a Honorable man who had the courage to do what few men then and nobody today would do.

Inspiring.

I thought it was going to be the Celtic v Racing club of Argentina match of 1967. Damn!

This narration I can't figure out. I hear a New Zealand accent but also a Virginian/southern part as well which could be the case for sure but I just wonder if maybe this is computer generated narration which in no way takes away from the video, just stating what I hear. Like the video stated what an uplift for the people of the UK to have given the enemy a black eye at sea when things were not looking so good. Thanks for the video always enjoy WW 2 naval docs.

In those days, Great Britain really ruled the seas

Some very rare footage in this video. I had an uncle who was at the battle of the river Plate - I don't know which ship he was on. It was something which he never talked about.

My Uncle Bill was a rating on Achilles at that time. If Ludorf had come out fighting I fear it may have been a different story.

I believe the first Pocket Battleship pictured, with Hitler in the foreground is the Admiral Scheer. The second one pictured was originally named the Deutschland but was renamed Lutzow in 1940.

I'll keep watching but I notice at 00.01 seconds in the ship is not the Graf Spee

Langsdorf saved thousands of lives by sinking the ship. 900 crew were interned for the rest of the war. At least the same number of Brits were also saved. Compare losses on HMS Hood, Bismarck .

Correct. Saffers fought in the Desert War. And Battle of Britain. Sailor Malan.

In all the comments I have read/seen there is never any mention of the fact that there were no more 11" shells left as they had all been used up

An uncle survived on the Achillies.

I can't see just what the title means. Cut and paste , not much of anything.

would have been interesting if the captain had handed the ship over to uruguay. that would have been quite an increase in uruguayan naval strength for a long time to come. im thinking of the goben and the turks.

First 5 seconds names Graf Spee, shows Scharnhorst. Otherwise bloody good footage here

A pity the movie already starts wrong with the Scharnhorst or Gneisenau sailing off.