Submarine battles and air raids shift Baltic sea power
Reports detail a second large British air operation near Helgoland Bay with 65 planes and heavy losses on both sides. The Royal Navy claims sinking a German cruiser and damaging two others amid a week of coast attacks. Submarine actions include Ursula sinking a Cologne-class cruiser and Salmon engaging fleets off the German coast. Oslo reports Norwegian losses and questions German submarine output.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Helgoland Bay
Germany
British Submarine Attacks Graf Spee Fleet Off North Sea
The British submarine Salmon fired six torpedoes at German ships near the Blucher class heavy cruisers after being ordered to halt. Two torpedoes reportedly hit Leipzig as fires spread, while three missed. The Graf Spee was driven to Montevideo and interned as refugees swarmed the port and naval facilities.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Bickford
Bremen
Leipzig
Winston Church
Admiralty
Graf Spee
Montevideo
Ajax
Exeter
Churchill
North Sea
Helgoland
Elbe River
Associated Press
Graf Spee Forced To Quit Port By Americas States
The Graf Spee was ordered to leave Montevideo or face internment for the war. German and Italian backing blocked an immediate departure, Uruguay consulted regional envoys, and a firm warning was issued if the ship did not depart by Sunday night. Four crew members were later arrested in Montevideo over alleged involvement in the ship s explosion.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
States
Montevideo
Uruguay
Graf Spee
Incoma
Tacoma
Admiral Graf Spee
Graf Spee Lured by Fuel Oil Bait in Atlantic Trap
Naval sources say Admiral Graf Spee’s clash with British ships Exeter Ajax and Achilles was a planned trap using fuel oil as bait. Langsdorff claimed the German ship fought at disadvantage, then sank her in Montevideo after a shell-battered 10 day fuel search.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Montevideo
Graf Spee
South Atlantic
Hans Langsdorff
Brazil
Tacoma
Exeter
Ajax
Achilles
Buenos Aires
Langsdorff
Spain
ExeterNavy clash with Graf Spee yields heavy losses
Eye witness account from a colonial governor describes Exeter engaging Graf Spee thinking it was Scheer. The Exeter took multiple hits, losing 61 killed and 23 wounded as Achilles and Ajax pursued Graf Spee to Montevideo where she blew up. British casualties totaled 72 dead and 31 wounded. Germans suffered 36 dead and 60 wounded. The account highlights the wounded who continued to bear their fate.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
London
Exeter
Graf Spee
Admiralty
Admiral Scheer
Falkland Islands
mLage Sinsen
Falklands
Man
Achilles
Ajax
Montevideo
Also Mentioned on This Page
Waesat
Ana de
Air Ministry
Messerschmidt
Royal Navy
Air Force
Oslo
Glitre
New York
Ursula
Elbe
Koln
Salmon
Bluscher
Admiral Hipper
Scharnhost
Gneisenau
Hipper
Bluecher
E. O. B. Bickford
Russia
North Sea War
Foreign Office
Admiral Graf. Spee
Naval
Miles
Britain
Norway
Spee
Americas
Sears Ie
Rouse
DIAL
Sears. Roebuck and CO
S. Salina
Syracuse
Wes
America
Prince Albert
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