The Deutschland class heavy cruiser Admiral Graf Spee was ordered scuttled by her commander, Hans Langsdorff, when he received false reports of approaching British naval forces that likely would have captured her as she lay at anchor in Montevideo harbor.
The Graf Spee, also known as a pocket battleship in the German Kriegsmarine, had battled a trio of pursuing British cruisers and inflicted heavy damage during the Battle of the River Plate. However, she had also suffered significant damage herself and been forced to take refuge in the neutral harbor only to be told by local authorities she would have to get underway and leave within 72 hours.
Admiral Langsdorff and his crew had seen considerable success in putting Allied ships on the ocean bottom, but their luck ran out when she tangled with the British cruisers. Parts of her superstructure are still visible above the waterline in the Uruguayan harbor.
Many have wondered if the Graf Spee had managed to escape and continued to maraud against Allied shipping for a few more years the damage it inflicted would have affected the outcome of the war, but, just as with speculations over the Bismarck's fate, these will have to remain conjecture.
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