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Letters
The Wreck of Graf Spee (See the article: The Battle of the River Plate) I saw a show recently on the History Channel about the Graf Spee. The show was pretty informative, but essentially ended with the scuttling of the ship, the removal of the crew to Buenos Aires, and Langsdorf' suicide.
Thanks--
Thank you for your message. To try and answer your questions in the order you posed them. 1. The ship entered Montevideo Harbour, but it was bottled up by the British cruisers, and a huge game of bluff ensued, the British giving the impression they had a large force of Naval ships awaiting the German ship's exit, and Captain Langdorff decided to remove most of his crew, and then scuttle his ship in the entrance to the River Plate, close to the port of Montevideo, and she sank in about 8 meters of water. He then shot himself. The remains of the ship are still there today, although about 8,000 tons of mud bury her hull. The ship has broken into pieces. I don't believe the wreck is or was a hazard to shipping, as they have left the wreck there for over 60 years, one assumes if it were a hazard, the port authorities would have taken suitable action many years ago. I think it is merely time and the corrosive action of salt water that has taken its toll on the wreck over many years. No I have not seen any more photos of the wreck. I am sending you a map showing the position of the wreck, a description of the salvage op, and some detail of the battle, and a picture of the ship on fire at the time of the action. I trust you find this of interest. Regards,
Map showing wreck site of Graf Spee
Pleased to be able to help in a small way. Regards,
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