Battle of the River Plate

E9497

World War II battle naval battle

The Battle of the River Plate was a World War II naval engagement in December 1939 in which British cruisers confronted and ultimately forced the scuttling of the German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee off the coast of Uruguay.

Aliases (2)

Statements (46)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	World War II battle → naval battle →
alsoKnownAs	La batalla del Río de la Plata →
belligerent	Kriegsmarine → Royal Navy →
casualtiesSide	British and New Zealand naval personnel → German naval personnel →
combatantShip	Admiral Graf Spee → HMNZS Achilles → HMS Ajax → HMS Exeter →
commander	Hans Langsdorff → Henry Harwood →
commandStructure	Commodore Henry Harwood’s Force G →
conflictIn	World War II →
countryInvolved	Germany → New Zealand → United Kingdom →
date	1939-12-13 →
endDate	1939-12-17 →
engagementType	surface ship action →
followedBy	scuttling of Admiral Graf Spee in Montevideo harbour →
hasParticipant	South American neutral states as diplomatic actors →
location	South Atlantic Ocean → near the Río de la Plata estuary → off the coast of Uruguay →
mediaAdaptation	The Battle of the River Plate (1956 film) →
navalFormation	South American Division of the Royal Navy →
notableFor	first major naval battle of World War II → use of cruiser squadron against a pocket battleship →
outcome	scuttling of Admiral Graf Spee →
partOf	Battle of the Atlantic →
precededBy	commerce raiding operations of Admiral Graf Spee →
relatedEvent	internment of Admiral Graf Spee in Montevideo →
relatedPlace	Montevideo → Uruguay →
result	Allied victory →
shipDamaged	Admiral Graf Spee → HMNZS Achilles → HMS Ajax → HMS Exeter →
startDate	1939-12-13 →
strategicEffect	removal of Admiral Graf Spee from Atlantic commerce raiding →
tacticalSituation	three Allied cruisers versus one German pocket battleship →
theatre	South Atlantic theatre of World War II →
year	1939 →

Referenced by (17)

Subject (surface form when different)	Predicate
Admiral Graf Spee → Deutschland class → HMNZS Achilles → HMS Ajax → HMS Exeter →	notableEngagement
Batalla del Río de la Plata →	alsoKnownAs
Commodore Henry Harwood’s Force G →	engagement
World War II battles →	hasNotableBattle
Battle of the River Plate ("The Battle of the River Plate (1956 film)") →	mediaAdaptation
Ajax, Ontario →	namedAfter
Río de la Plata ("Battle of the River Plate (1939)") →	notableEvent
Henry Harwood →	notableWork
Hans Langsdorff →	participantIn
HMNZS Achilles →	participatedIn
Altmark Incident →	precededBy
Altmark →	relatedIncident
HMS Exeter →	sustainedDamage