Chieftain Teaches: Battle of the River Plate

[@josefhlavsa2891]

Holy crap can you imagine Lt. Cdr. Jennings standing on the top of the turret of listing ship, shouting orders and his crew, while 11-inch shels were flying around and the ship was on the verge of sinking. These guys were just something else entirely.

[@iangreenway5580]

Josef Hlavsa they are British Officers, just look into the history of the British Military. There are literally 100’s of crazy guys/moments like this. 👍

[@Feiora]

Word has it the turret couldn't turn fast enough due to the weight of Jennings huge brass balls which were incidentally acting as additional armor for the top of the turret! ^.^

[@fjfell5979]

28 cm shells flying by would be less of a problem than muzzle blast. He would have been blown off the top every time those 8 inchers fired.

[@alterreifen]

Yeah well, if something sounds like a cheap stupid pulp fiction, it most likely is. Never underestimate war propagandas need of saucy hero stories - and so they just made them up.

[@adrianharris9091]

My dad was the gunlayer in the 'Marine's' turret on HMS Ajax when it got hit by an 11" shell from the Graff Spee which came through the turret shattered and killed all his friends. My father died before I was old enough to talk with him, but I do have a memento from the battle beside me here, a fragment of that 11" Graff Spee shell which my father had engraved and brought home to present it to my mother. It is a small piece yet is incredibly heavy, needless to say it - is my most treasured possession.

[@duncandunn1930]

Ajax city-in Canada named every street after the crews of Hms Ajax

[@steweygrrr]

Captain Langsdorf, he was an enemy but most definitely not a bad guy /salute from the grandson of one of Exeter's (I believe, he died before I was old enough to talk) firemen aka boiler operator.

[@DarkestdaysAU]

My Grandfather also served on the Exeter as a Royal Marine.

[@morgangrey4020]

A little insight from a former sailor ..Most people don't know that the German Navy and adolf hitler did NOT like each other....Neither did most of the Admirals.If you watch any film from that period..no German sailor or officer saluted with the straight arm salute,they always used a normal salute like we do,of course that irritated hitler by no means. The british,despite being enemies,had respect for the German Navy,in fact when Bismarck was sunk,the British Captains told their men not to celebrate...because they knew the horror the german sailors had just went thru and saw the germans fighting honorably as sailors.

[@MencBern]

well said mate

[@MrWoodii]

Just because he was a bad-guy, doesn't mean he was a bad guy.

[@carlgomm9699]

I really enjoy listening to things like this,such a good speaker with lots of good knowledge, please keep this up !!

[@Zakiriel]

HMS Achillies then HMNZS Achilles Then to the Indian Navy renamed Delhi. As the Delhi she was hired to play herself in the movie version of the Battle of the River Platte! So cool in my Book!

[@davefinfrock3324]

Interestingly enough, the Graf Spee was played by the USS Salem in the movie.

[@Chrinik]

Which sucks ass, because the Salem looked nothing like the Graf Spee, and they did nothing to make the ship look more like it.

[@labomemnumbazerozeroyon7085]

@@Chrinik i think flying the swastika was bad enough for the ship's image.

[@Chrinik]

I don't quite understand...

[@keithwatson1384]

Achilles still wasn't technically HMNZS at this point as the Royal New Zealand Navy hadn't even been formed. She was part of the NZ Division of the Royal Navy so still just HMS!

[@BenNewman1776]

Please make more of these, I really enjoy your history shows.

[@Redchrome1]

A wonderful retelling of the story, with new things I hadn't heard before. Thank you.

[@AudieHolland]

I have read about this and watched a movie about it ("The Battle of River Plate") so this was an incredibly detailed account of the first and last voyage of "Graf Spee."

[@ironbark1822]

One of my favourite Naval battles of WW2. Langsdorf by all accounts was an honourable, stand up guy...He was not part of the NAZI party either if I remember correctly.

[@LandersWorkshop]

Both non NS factions and NS factions were honorable.

[@troy9477]

Ironbark - He was not. The flag he fell on when he shot himself was the Kriegsmarine battle ensign and not the swastika. He felt that as a man of honor, his fate should match the ship's fate. It is said that he also eanted to show everyone that he was not afraid of death. The idea of his own death did not affect his planning or decision making, and he was concerned to the last with the welfare of his crew. A true man of honor, by all accounts

[@HeikoYowane]

The Kriegsmarine was more anchored (hahahaha) into its own set of tradition and superstitions, like all navies. As a whole they loosely adopted the nazi ideology, and never used the svastika as a symbol...

[@Riceball01]

+Heiko Yowane A minor correction. While the Kriegmarine was the least Nazi of all the Wehrmacht they did use the swastika on their battle ensigns.

[@Scoobydcs]

correct, and there were plenty of jewish officers or officers family. hitler turned a blind eye to this with the navy

[@IndianaDel1]

My Old Man's uncle was aboard HMS Ajax. After the battle he took part in the ships' company's parade through London. He brought his nephew bananas from the South Atlantic. On VE Day, now 10 years old, my Old Man was the sole member of his class that knew you had to peel a banana to eat it, as he had had one five years before!

[@stephenwoods4118]

Thank you for a good clear retelling of the battle and it's aftermath.

[@NickRatnieks]

HMS Renown was a battlecruiser although her 1930s rebuild made her look very much like the battleship Warspite after the reconstruction of her superstructure.

[@pnartg]

Every history of this battle I've ever read said that an 8" shell from Exeter damaged Graf Spee's fuel separation system, limiting her to 16 hours of usable fuel and that this was a major reason for Langsdorff's decision.

[@lamwen03]

Graf Spee was short on main battery ammo, her engines needed a refit, the fuel cleaner was wrecked (as you point out) both crew messes were wrecked, and she had bow damage so bad as to preclude the North Sea in winter. And the British fleet now knew where she was. There was nowhere for her to go. No country in SA would antagonize the British by allowing her port facilities and then let her leave.

[@christopherjames5895]

Yes i heard that

[@WOTArtyNoobs]

Yes - the fuel purification plant was destroyed by a lucky shot from Exeter. The Graf Spee only carried a limited amount of purified diesel ready for use. About 120 tonnes. They had already used a portion of that reserve during the battle by moving at speed. The rest of the fuel was impure as it was obtained by Altmark from various sources and transferred to Graf Spee when they met. The problem was that the fuel would pick up rust, dirt and other contaminants whilst in the storage tanks and that would clog in the fuel injection lines. So the fuel needed to be filtered to remove these or the diesels would become unusable. The plant could not be repaired in Montevideo, but they might have been able to do it in Buenos Aires. The problem was that they did not know if they had enough fuel to reach BA, on top of which the waters in the estuary of the River Plate were shallow and if the Graf Spee ran aground or clogged her cooling intakes, then they could be suddenly adrift and unable to fight off a much stronger Task Force. The worst result would be that Graf Spee would be captured and then put into use by the Royal Navy. A constant humiliation for Germany. So rather than risk capture, and/or the death of his crew, Langsdorf came to the conclusion that the only option was to scuttle.

[@troy9477]

This is the first of your videos i have come across. Great job. As a history buff i love this sort of content. I knew the basic sea story; it was nice to hear the full details. Great presentation and lecture.

[@davewolfy2906]

Some of the crew of HMS Cossack when boarding the Altmark used cutlasses, so, not only was it the last RN boarding action - it was the last with cutlasses.

[@Kingfisherk26]

According to the 1956 film Captain Bell of HMS Exeter, with his guns knocked out, is supposed to have said he had only one option left to "ram the begger"! Later when asked "Can you make Falklands" he is supposed to have replied from the badly damaged Exeter "Can make Plymouth if ordered".Can anyone confirm the truth of these quotes??

[@jonathanrichards593]

"Ram the beggar" is not /quite/ right. Capt. Toase RM later recalled [1] that "Very soon both A and Y turrets were put out of action because their electrical supplies were cut off, so Captain Bell said within my hearing " I'm going to ram the --------. It will be the end of us but it will sink him too"". The omitted word was "bastard", according to other accounts! At this point the Royal Navy squadron thought they were fighting the ADMIRAL SCHEER. It was only the signal sent by GRAF SPEE about the SS Shakespeare that revealed her actual identity. [1] www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/stories/15/a5776815.shtml See also my timeline at orlopdeck.net/BRP/Battle_of_the_River_Plate_timeline.html (requires Javascript).

[@jonathanrogers4200]

keep these coming. The quality of research is fantastic.

[@mcmoose64]

Thanks Nick . Best explanation of a naval action I have ever seen . Keep up the great work . .

[@lordicedewd4375]

I ve been to the Graf Spee museum in Montevideo (as a merchant navy cadet)... very nice people , greeted our group with passing colours/honours =) ... A must have been to for all naval enthousiasts

[@rafaelrivero9775]

Thank you, you are welcome here in Uruguay.

[@anchorbait6662]

Can you please turn that dang music down? It's really a bit much wearing headphones when I'm trying to listen to what you are saying. Loved the info though.

[@Aethgeir]

It's totally inappropriate for the subject too. It makes the whole lecture sound like it's supposed to be comedic.

[@NiuhiNui]

Sounds like I am playing Kerbal.

[@johnsturm3128]

Drop the music.

[@kainhall]

yup.... the music is EXTREMELY distracting...

[@awkwarddoggo05]

I kinda liked the music

[@Halinspark]

Yay, another hour long video of the Chieftain talking about stuff. I wish there were more like this or the Myths of American Armor video.

[@deanstuart8012]

I'm surprised that you missed this from the end of your video, but HMNZS Achilles/INS Delhi played herself in the 1956 film "Battle of the River Plate".

[@dk6024]

Love the technical details. They're fascinating in their own right and serve to paint in the detail of what life and operations are like. I love track tensioning..

[@adamskinner5868]

Really enjoyed that in-depth account of the battle, the more the merrier though so keep them coming please.

[@donfelipe7510]

You sir have just earned a sub, very much enjoyed your talk here since naval combat, especially British naval combat in World War II is often overlooked or maligned. I especially liked the "what happened to all the players afterward" part. I think it's worth noting the scale of the challenge the British cruisers undertook trying to tackle Graf Spee. The two Leander class light cruisers HMS Ajax and HMS Achilles while classified as cruisers were only about 1/3 larger than some destroyers and their 6'' guns would do little damage to the German ship which was designed to sustain shell hits of up to 8''. Once HMS Exeter (herself one of the older types of cruiser in the Royal Navy) was effectively knocked out it was extremely courageous of these two ships to pursue Graf Spee.

[@hawkertyphoon4537]

This was an awesome story of the events past. Like your style and "humor". Keep up this awesome work!

[@TheBimjo]

My grandmother grew up in Montevideo Uruguay. She would tell me stories of the Graf Spre. She was on the beach holding my infant mother as they watched the Graf explode. Uruguay was neutral and would not allow a prolonged stay. She remembered many of the German sailors staying behind and watching from the beach as well.

[@bwopdacat]

My teachers dad was a member aboard the HMNZS Achilles He was the cook but in battle moved gunpowder and shells

[@sanignacio1999]

Visited the Langsdorff grave in Buenos Aires a couple of times. A great man.

[@roadtrip2943]

What an intriguing and informative presentation. It completes the story told by the film pursuit of the graf spee which i have recently watched

[@DrRich-mw4hu]

Absolutely loved this video! Thank you Nick👍🤔

[@ilfarmboy]

the more serious damage on graf spee:Most of the hits scored by the British cruisers caused only minor structural and superficial damage but the oil purification plant, which was required to prepare the diesel fuel for the engines, was destroyed. Her desalination plant and galley were also destroyed, which would have increased the difficulty of a return to Germany.

[@whispofwords2590]

Poor Exeter really was an unlucky ship wasn't she? Built with fewer guns then most heavy cruisers of her time and not particularly attractive in my opinion. Nearly destroyed by what seems to me to have been unusually accurate naval fire from the graf spees 11inchers. Sunk by the Japanese not to long after and only to have her wreck salvaged illegally.

[@kimberleylinert2890]

love this telling of the GarF Spee and the light music in the back ground , this should be on the History channel, I had to laugh at the dig about the Americans ( being one my self ) I am sure we inherit much from our cousins across the pond. ;-)

[@classicfrog80]

Really a pleasure to listen to the story. But then, I guess any story presented the way Chieftain does it would be pleasure to listen to. I'm looking forward for more vids like this.

[@benwilson6145]

There was at least two more boarding of enemy vessels in WW2. Both organised by the SOE, one in Ferdinand Po West Africa and one in Goa by the Calcutta Scottish and Calcutta Light horse.

[@philipmalone1501]

Nice talk mate. Very close to the history. Liked it.

[@WildBillCox13]

Good stuff. The wider the perspective, the better the understanding when it does come.

[@grandgao3984]

A nice slice of history, rarely knew that Graf Spee had had such a success in commerce raiding prior to the final battle! Keep it up WG

[@Lyle_K]

do more of these please

[@jeronimocanton9557]

Nice video, music bit too loud. I grow up close to the town where the AGSpee crew men end up living and they recreate a German town in the hart of Argentina. Villa General Belgrano is the name of the town. As the name of the Arg ship sunk on the Falkland war 1982 bit of a coincidence.

[@Thx1138sober]

Who picked this background music? It sounds like video game music for a video game where the object is to ride a bicycle slowly through a park on a sunny Sunday afternoon.

[@thawk1435]

Paperboy for the NES?

[@danielstickney2400]

The lesson I always took from the Battle of the River Plate is no matter how many guns you have or how many shots you fire only the hits count and the German approach to getting more hits through better fire control worked better than the British approach of firing more shells. This is not to say that the British didn't care about accuracy but as the Germans had a bigger ship which usually makes for a steadier gun platform they were forced to go with the one advantage they had. However the "outrun what you can't outgun" philosophy only worked against three opponents because Graf Spee had sufficient speed and visibility to concentrate her fire on one British ship at a time while staying outside the effective range of the others. Since superior range provides no benefit if you can't see far enough to use it the outcome probably would have been very different if the visibility had been bad enough to allow the British ships to get within their effective ranges before Graf Spee opened fire. The final lesson is the value of psychological warfare as the British may not have defeated Graf Spee on the high seas but they certainly managed to defeat Captain Langsdorff in his own mind afterwards. I don't know of any Allied ship captain who just gave up like that even during their darkest days in the Pacific but those officers all had hundreds of years of Naval tradition to live up to and Langsdorff didn't. Graf Spee may have bested Exeter in this battle but when push came to shove Exeter went down fighting and Graf Spee didn't. Of course that meant most of Graf Spee's crew lived to go home which was certainly a better outcome for them so maybe tradition isn't all that it's cracked up to be.

[@fjfell5979]

Langsdorf knew the Graf Spee was finished. He did not see having the fuel and ammo needed to get to deep water so it would sink beyond any way the Brits could get a look at it. Better to destroy it so that examination would not reveal secret details, and avoid killing crew for no good reason. The Plata estuary goes way way out to sea, so long way to deep water. Langsdorf made the right call.

[@RicTic66]

One of the most interesting and honourable tales of WWII well told in this video by an excellent narrator. Sadly the horrors that were to come in this the bloodiest conflict mankind has ever known overshadow the few episodes of chivalry and humanity such as the Battle of the River Plate.

[@jaybee9269]

Love the German Arado floatplanes. They’re actually quite pretty & very much fit for purpose. (And I also very much find the music annoying.) Thanks!

[@piritskenyer]

I liked this video, please do more of these. I loved this part: "Sir, I need for you to arrange for 2000 tons of fuel oil to be ready tomorrow morning at the naval base at Marla Plata, with mooring for two capital ships. - Say that again please, slowly and clearly." Trolololo

[@fjfell5979]

Mar del Plata

[@colbeausabre8842]

Nick calls the Admiral Graf von Spee a cruiser, which is consistent with what the KM eventually did, re-rating her from an Armored Ship (Panzerschiff) to a Heavy Cruiser (Schwere Kreuzer). Anybody who dares call her a "pocket battleship" will find themselves roundly denounced, usually with comments that "The Deutschland Class were NOT battleships !" Just one tiny little problem, by international definition, they WERE battleships. I can hear the "Huhs ?!" even now. Consider this, the Washington Naval Treaty defined a "capital ship" as a warship displacing over 10,000 tons and / or mounting guns of over 8 inch /20.3 cm in caliber. Graf Spee displaced 14,650 tons and mounted 11 inch / 28 cm guns, so by treaty definition she was a battleship. - a pooly armed and armored one, but a battlewagon she was.

[@nauticalvideos2506]

I really enjoyed this. Please make more video's like this!

[@jameskachman3692]

Please do more of these!

[@jaybee9269]

In the photo at 28:40 Capt. Langsdorf is pointedly not giving a Nazi salute...I suppose he is buried in Uruguay? I have much respect for Langsdorf.

[@rafaelrivero9775]

No. After Graf Spee explodes, he take care of the wounded and deads, and went to Buenos Aires.

[@rhodes70]

Great video. Very informative and interesting! The Chieftain never disappoints

[@gordonlawrence4749]

That fills in a few of the gaps in the film. Superb vid.

[@geister3074]

up until the battle of the story sounds hilarious , Love the back ground music too helps set the mood.

[@egmcdonald4790]

Just started watching this, and I would have to disagree with your point at 1:05. The maximum displacement allowed for by the treaty was 10,000 tons, but in reality, the Admiral Graf Spee displaced closer to 15,000. That's not "a little more" than 10,000 tons, but a near 50% increase in tonnage--I, for one, cannot buy that German naval designers did this by accident.

[@orkhepaj]

they did , while converting stones to tons

[@faustopancake234]

I think Chieftain was using a sarcastic understatement there.

[@deepbludreams]

+Dinghy Sailor nobody gave a crap about the treaty as funny as that is, the Japanese and Americans skirted them and at times flat out ignored them, even though the US wrote the damned Washington treaty themselves, just look at the story of the South Dakota class battleships, they are "Treaty" battleships but they are nowhere close to their treaty specs, while designed to hit their weight limit they just bypassed them entirely.

[@Lee-70ish]

The Spee was classed as a heavy cruiser by the Germans but she was referred to as a pocket battleship by the British as the 11 inch guns out ranged any ordinary heavy cruisers of any other navy

[@blaiseboudreau1819]

What a crazy awesome account of events. I can only think this story would make an amazing movie, or mini series.

[@agwhitaker]

Wot ! Wot ! Tank guy doing a good, tight, & factual prequel /main content /sequel on the Battle of the River Plate !? More please !

[@TheWopper78]

Lol Nick is the best. I liked it. And I love naval history as it were.

[@brendaproffitt1011]

Totally awesome job great video too thank you so much for your videos...

[@farmerned6]

WASN'T Graf Spee's fuel conversion equipment hit by Exeter? , (reported recently) Limiting GF to 24 hours of usable fuel?

[@MythicPi]

A lot of bloody snowballs 😂😂😂

[@billthecat2410]

It is weird to say after all the Germans did that I am sad that Langsdorf Killed himself. He was a good person who treated all fairly. I am again impressed by the brave British who charged into a fight that was a very hard one to win but they did it anyway. It sure makes for a interesting story and almost hard to imagine it was real. Another great history for the British Navy who fought bravely for their country and the future of Europe.

[@worldwar2freak12]

Anyone else think of making a rogue-like game,based on taking ownership of a German surface raider ship and heading out into the high seas to raid merchant ships at the beginning of the war, trying to either outrun or outgun Allied surface patrols, which get stronger and more numerous as the war goes on?

[@Jonnythehatguy11]

I actually live in Ajax Ontario, never knew what those ships were! Very cool

[@MencBern]

kms Graff spee must have been quiet feared at that time since the British sent so manny warships to get her and yes i do salute captain Langdorf not becouse he was german but the Gentleman behaviour to the British sailors he captured before sinking any of the merchant ships he sank and not like other German warship comanders did during ww2.from me Cap.Langdorf has my deepest respect,he was a gentleman warrior so to say

[@Hardcase_Kara]

Shame Graf ended up being scuttled she was such a beautiful ship.

[@neilwilson5785]

Really good video. I recommend this for the details.

[@williammagoffin9324]

Ditch the background music next time, that ratchet noise every two minutes was annoying. Other than that one fantastic video.

[@BenNewman1776]

I liked it, did you want something more instrumental?

[@williammagoffin9324]

Just turning down the music would be fine its way to close to the level of Nicholas's voice. As it stands you can hear every little thing in the music and its fighting for your attention. I went back and watched the Chieftain's Irish Tanks video and the levels were much better in that one even though it used the same music.

[@tuckcuttertuck6802]

Yup the music was jarring to the commentary, maybe less music volume would do the trick. As it was it fought with the narrative the whole way through. The lecture was outstanding however and I look forward to more of these always.

[@commander31able60]

I agree I'd prefer the soundtrack to Battleship by Steve Jablonsky.

[@schwarzerrogen930]

That is a guiro, not a rachet. It's a musical instrument.

[@neurofiedyamato8763]

Didn't know chieftain talks about ships too.

[@TwistedSisterHaratiofales]

LOL, The Deutschland's were not as heavily armor plated as they could have been. They could have also been equipped with high speed turbine engines that would have made them faster, and be able to use fuel oil instead of diesel that had to be refined from fuel oil on board. This however would have cut their operational range by about a third. It makes sense as to why they were made the way they were. I have argued that Graf Spee in the game is nerfed to be at tier 6. The real ship could best the Hipper class one on one, and perhaps one on 2 not considering Torpedoes. Just gun on gun. Her disadvantage only being that she can basically fire on one target at a time with her main guns accurately, unless the situation where one ship is aft of her and the other is directly in front. I think Graf Spee should be a Tier 8 or 9 in the game, and or they should have an Armored ship/Battlecruiser branch for ships like Graff Spee, Alaska, Hood, so on and so on.

[@gus2747]

You're a good storyteller.

[@MrAxlzero]

good work nick i think you should do the next one with paul "jingles" since he was in the royal navy one of his best mingles with jingles was talking about the russian navy in the japanies russo war

[@bassettraceengines]

Great Job !!

[@kimberleylinert2890]

"Keeping it simple for the American audience." Why thank you. I am sure all the Americans thank you too , south , central and north . I did find your telling of the story quite funny.

[@DamoBloggs]

A great narration... pity it was spoiled by that irritating looping jingle in the background

[@spacecadet35]

You forgot to mention that because the Altmark had been invaded in Norway's waters, Germany then invaded Norway.

[@JimFortune]

Excellent video, although the music seemed a bit odd in context.

[@5sider]

Excellent account, thank you.

[@CapeCodCNC]

Great history lesson!

[@ExUSSailor]

Listening to a ground pounder explaining a naval battle? Oh, this should be good!

[@jwilliams703]

Graf Spee was really cool design and had a very realistic approach to ship building. She could outrun anything that would outgun her and she outgunned anything that could not outrun her. Makes total sense, but alas you cant run forever and thus she was beaten. Imagine if they had 3 or 4 of them and had the 2 Bismark class ships ready when the spee was. OMG they would have ruined a lot of shit.

[@sirderam1]

The basic design criterion for all cruisers is the same. Outfight anything they can't outrun and outrun anything they can't outfight.

[@robincole1140]

Assuming you ignore the existence of Hood, Renown and Repulse I guess?

[@jwilliams703]

@@robincole1140 well yaaa. She was a raider not realy built for an engagement like that. But it was a great battle.

[@davidhall1707]

I have feeling that at the time, the Graf Spee was referred to as a "Pocket Battleship".

[@sirboomsalot4902]

David Hall That's exactly what they called it LOL

[@PalleRasmussen]

That is what the Brits called it, not the Germans.

[@georgedog9865]

I didn't. mind the music. excellent account of the battle,we'll done...

[@SundraTanakoh]

Well done!! I enjoyed this very much...a pity about the golf clubs.

[@5chr4pn3ll]

The happy elevator music makes this. I would suggest to lower the camera somewhat for next time though and get this guy a desk :)

[@MrGodisded]

Very good video. We need more.

[@EricDKaufman]

This is good history

[@lokenontherange]

Ah yes, the Washington Naval Treaty a.k.a. the sink as much of the British fleet as is possible treaty

[@deepbludreams]

Maybe if British ship design during the second world war went past the first world war, that would not have been a problem, design wise, British ships lack horribly behind US, Japanese and German ones.

[@zebradun7407]

Yet England came again for American boys to die in some dumb European war. That will never happen again.

[@blackbird8632]

Zebra Dun WORLD war 2 was a european war? Never knew Japan was part of Europe.

[@RicTic66]

@@zebradun7407 No but English boys are expected to die in some dumb American Middle Eastern war. America starts wars when it sees the chance to make a $. England/Great Britain helped you in your Korean war but was sensible enough to stay out of your Vietnam war which you lost, only us Aussies and NZ troops were foolish enough to get involved in your lost cause. If America has no intention of getting involved in another European war why has it got airbases, garrisons and armoured divisions in Britain and Germany and regularly flew sorties from England to bomb and launch cruise missiles against Serbia and Iraq . America is part of NATO and is obliged to help it's allies. I'm guessing you're a kid because you don't know much.

[@barbaradyson6951]

@@RicTic66 what you may not know, is the British did help the Americans in the Vietnam war. The Brits had advisors helping the yanks with jungle warfare which were helping them get the upper hand until the yanks changed their generals who in their wisdom thought they new better, bearing in mind Britain had just defeated the communists in borneo. Hence the yanks lost.

[@edocsil123]

Do a bismarck one if this hasn't been done already!

[@MencBern]

if you search on youtube you can find the full Movie "battle of the river plate" i have watched that movie and its a dam good movie and you will in a way understand cap Landorf and the british ship captains

[@mrrolandlawrence]

my god not his golf clubs! oh the humanity.

[@gings4ever]

I kinda pity Exeter in a way: got whacked by Graf Spee, was limping back to a friendly base AND got ganked by the Myokos on the way

[@jonathanrichards593]

Not quite... EXETER was patched up in Port Stanley, and then made her way back to Devonport for repairs and a refit. In fact the picture that The Chieftain showed us was *after* that refit. She met her end at the 2nd Battle of the Java Sea, in 1942.

[@PalleRasmussen]

@@jonathanrichards593 Drachinifel has just put up one of his "5 Minute Guides to ..." About Exeter. I believe it is 11 minutes.

[@Zaron_Gaming]

This battle is a blast in the game Atlantic fleet. I have a video of it on my channel where i take command of graf spee and engage these 3. It's a fun battle if anyone wants to check it out.

[@petebrian2841]

I guess Chieftain is doing this because the Graf Spee was a "Panzerschiff".

[@lyndonredpath7214]

Spee, in WW1, was not "Lured" to the Falklands. he planned to raid the Falklands for coal and supplies to complete his run for home, and he mad theplans after the battle of Coronel. .

[@nuclearjasper9523]

So, if you mind me asking; do you specialise in Warships or Tanks? Or Just WW2 in general, or only WW2 vehicles? Kinda curious how far your wisdom extends ;)

[@floridacapo]

He is a former tanker with experience in Iraq and Afghanistan. I think he is foremost an expert on that type of armor and its history.

[@TheChieftainsHatch]

I assure you, I read more than just "some article". Took quite a few, actually. But, yes, I used a Teleprompter. It's far more time-efficient than filming repeated takes going by memory and notes.

[@Gorgotrove]

And there you have it, the Chieftain. Watch his appearances at Tank Fest or some of his other videos, like his coverage of the history of American TDs, and you'll find he has considerable knowledge thanks to more than just some article or worse yet, Wikipedia. The highlights tend to be the ruthless debunking of myths perpetuated by such, actually. The fact that you can put the videos on loop and fall asleep to his voice is a bonus..... I could almost reup for that chance to serve under him.

[@nuclearjasper9523]

TheChieftainWoT Thanks for replying!

[@Cheezsoup]

@ Nick T I would hesitate to use the word former, yes he is no longer a tanker with the 'Irish army' but he is a current one in the American army (National guard?).

[@mike393000]

I never knew about all these prisoner transfers. I thought the Germans just sent all ships and men to the bottom without mercy. Good history.

[@jonathanrichards593]

It was a point of pride with Captain Langsdorff; he was reluctant even to allow gunfire to silence radio operators. And of course his decision to scuttle the Graf Spee spared hundreds of probable casualties from his own crew. All in all an honourable man.

[@PalleRasmussen]

@@jonathanrichards593 by all accounts, Langsdorf was an old school German naval officer, steeped in honour and tradition. The story of how the Prussian/German officer class became "Nazified" and to what extent, and why some did not, is very interesting.

[@padzilla8048]

Exeter fought as is fitting for her name sake.

[@MauriceBiermans]

My kingdom for a good microphone and a sound technician.

[@MrLemonbaby]

You covered the story very well and in only forty minutes. Very well done. Please find the below link. It is a picture of Langsdorff giving a military salute while everyone else is throwing up a Nazi forearm. There is another picture during the same ceremony apparently where the Nazi ambassador appears to be giving Langsdorff a sharp look for his choice of salute, perhaps questioning his Nazi sympathies. commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hans_Langsdorff.jpg I have a book "The Drama of Graf Spee and the battle of the Plate" a documentary anthology: 1914-1964: compiled by Sir Eugen Millington-Drake KCMG. It is signed by Sir Eugen, Woodhouse (Ajax), Steel (Exeter) and Parry (Achilles)--sorry it's difficult to make out their first initials. Do you have any idea what it might be worth to a collector?

[@kevin5073]

Excellent.