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The Battle of the River Plate was the first naval battle in the Second World War and the first one of Battle of the Atlantic in South American waters. The German cruiser ''Admiral Graf Spee'' had been located in the ''South Atlantic'' a long time before the war began, and had been commerce raiding after the war began in September 1939. One of the hunting groups sent by the British Admiralty to search for ''Graf Spee'', comprising three Royal Navy (RN) cruisers, , and (the last from the New Zealand Division), found and engaged their quarry off the estuary of the River Plate close to the coast of Argentina and Uruguay in South America. In the ensuing battle, ''Exeter'' was severely damaged and forced to retire; ''Ajax'' and ''Achilles'' suffered moderate damage. The damage to ''Graf Spee'', although not extensive, was critical; her fuel system was crippled. ''Ajax'' and ''Achilles'' shadowed the German ship until she entered the port of Montevideo, the capital city of neutral Uruguay, to effect urgent repairs. After ''Graf Spees captain Hans Langsdorff was told that his stay could not be extended beyond 72 hours, he scuttled his damaged ship rather than face the overwhelmingly superior force that the British had led him to believe was awaiting his departure.〔Churchill 1948, pp. 525–526.〕 ==Background== ''Admiral Graf Spee'' had been at sea at the start of the Second World War in September 1939, and had sunk several merchantmen in the Indian Ocean and South Atlantic Ocean without loss of life, due to her captain's policy of taking all crews on board before sinking the victim. The Royal Navy assembled nine forces to search for the surface raider. Force G—the South American Cruiser Squadron—comprised the heavy cruiser HMS ''Exeter'' of with six guns in three turrets, and two ''Leander''-class light cruisers, both of with eight guns—HMS ''Ajax'' and ''Achilles''. Although technically a heavy cruiser because of the calibre of her guns, ''Exeter'' was a scaled-down version of the ''County'' class, which had eight guns. The force was commanded by Commodore Henry Harwood from ''Ajax'', which was captained by Charles Woodhouse.〔Churchill 1948, p. 516〕 ''Achilles'' was of the New Zealand Division (precursor to the Royal New Zealand Navy) and captained by Edward Parry. ''Exeter'' was commanded by Captain Frederick Secker Bell. A ''County''-class heavy cruiser— of —was refitting in the Falkland Islands at the time, but was available at short notice.〔Churchill 1948, p. 519〕 Force G was supported by the oilers RFA ''Olna'', ''Olynthus'', and ''Orangeleaf''. ''Olynthus'' replenished HMS ''Ajax'' and ''Achilles'' on 22 November 1939, and HMS ''Exeter'' on 26 November, at San Borombon Bay. ''Olynthus'' was also directed to keep observation between Medanos and Cape San Antonio, off Argentina south of the River Plate estuary (see chart below). Following a raider-warning radio message from the merchantman ''Doric Star'', which was sunk by ''Graf Spee'' off South Africa, Harwood suspected that the raider would try to strike next at the merchant shipping off the River Plate estuary between Uruguay and Argentina. He ordered his squadron to steam toward the position 32° south, 47° west. Harwood chose this position, according to his despatch, because of its being the most congested part of the shipping routes in the South Atlantic, and therefore the point where a raider could do the most damage to enemy shipping.〔 A Norwegian freighter saw ''Graf Spee'' practising the use of its searchlights and radioed its course toward South America. The three cruisers rendezvoused off the estuary on 12 December and conducted manoeuvres. Harwood's combat policy of three cruisers versus one pocket battleship was to attack at once, day or night. If during the day, the ships would attack as two units, with ''Exeter'' separate from ''Ajax'' and ''Achilles''. If at night, the ships would remain in company, but in open order. By attacking from two sides, Harwood hoped to give his lighter warships a chance of overcoming the German advantage of greater range and heavier broadside by dividing the enemy's fire.〔Barnett, 83.〕 By splitting his force, Harwood would force the Germans to split their fire, reducing its effectiveness or by keeping it focused on one opponent, other vessels could attack without fear of return fire. Although outgunned by ''Graf Spee'' and therefore at a tactical disadvantage, the British did have the upper hand strategically. Since any raider returning to Germany would have to run the blockade of the North Sea and it might reasonably be expected that an engagement would therefore take place with the Home Fleet. For victory, the British only had to damage the raider enough so that she was either unable to make the journey and/or unable to fight the subsequent battle with the Home Fleet (by contrast the Germans would have to destroy the Allied force without being severely damaged). Because of overwhelming numerical superiority, the loss of even all three cruisers would not have severely dented Allied naval capabilities, whereas ''Graf Spee'' was one of the Kriegsmarine's few capital ships. The British could afford to risk a tactical defeat if it brought strategic victory. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Battle of the River Plate」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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