Graf Spee

My article on the Battle of the River Plate is available in the latest issue of Warship: International Fleet Review. Main bits:

From a technical standpoint, the Battle of the River Plate vindicated German naval architecture; Graf Spee proved an exceptionally powerful unit for her size, more than the equal of a trio of Royal Navy cruisers whose combined displacement nearly doubled her own. It is unlikely that many Washington Treaty cruisers could have done as well, much less at the end of an extended raiding cruise. Rather, Graf Spee was lost because of German intelligence and command failures. The British victory in the South Atlantic in December 1939 was the result not of the Royal Navy’s overwhelming material advantage, or of its technological capabilities, but instead of its tenacity, audacity, and political acumen. Commodore Harwood accepted battle without overwhelming advantage, yet husbanded his resources carefully enough to avoid the loss of any of his ships.