Four days previously the Graf Spee had been seriously damaged during the Battle of the River Plate by a British fleet under Admiral Henry Harwood comprised of HMS Exeter, HMS Ajax and HMNZS ...

The Graf Spee sunk several Allied merchant ships in the South Atlantic before two British cruisers and one from New Zealand intercepted and damaged her during the “Battle of the River Plate ...

With British and French forces waiting beyond the horizon, Langsdorff had only two options: rally his exhausted crew for a final battle or scuttle the Graf Spee to keep her from enemy hands.