lectocom (April 24, 2008 at 5:57 am)

At the funeral of the dead Graf Spee crew a wreath was laid by the British Merchant Navy men who had been Graf Spee's prisoners. Pity that couldn't have been mentioned.

lectocom (April 24, 2008 at 5:54 am)

Actually, at that time there was no NZ Navy as such, and Achilles was part of the New Zealand Division of the (British) Royal Navy.

behahve1 (April 6, 2008 at 6:02 pm)

Scharnie and Gniesey "Ugly Sisters"?Blasphemy!

GDHouston (March 10, 2008 at 7:24 pm)

The HMNZS Achilles was part of the New Zealand Navy

swanningaround (March 10, 2008 at 6:47 pm)

I always thought there was a New Zealand warship involved in this battle too. Three British and one German are mentioned. I was told there were three British and one New Zealand ship involved on the allied side.

ImperatorMortis (February 26, 2008 at 2:28 pm)

But if one looks at the advantages, a pair of surface raiders can haul in a far greater prize than a solo one. Look at the 'ugly sisters', Gneisenau and Scharnhorst. They were very successful during the beginning of the war, sinking the carrier HMS Glorious.

ImperatorMortis (February 26, 2008 at 2:26 pm)

The Deutschland class had cruiser armour though. It's always a compromise between firepower, armour or speed. 6 inch shells might have been able to pierce the armour.

32silvercoins (February 6, 2008 at 9:14 pm)

The Lützow and Admiral Scheer were ready for combat operations when Graf Spee was sent outJust Imgaine if all 3 had been in the Atlantic wreaking havoic

GDHouston (February 6, 2008 at 5:34 pm)

Yes 3 to 1 makes the acturacy difficult. However two of the vessels were light cruisers. Their 6" shots couldn't have done really too much damage

footmarshian (February 6, 2008 at 5:09 pm)

yes 3 ships on to 1 its always the shame if it was one on one that German battle ship would have won