[Loht773]

The Panzerschiff (Pocket Battelship Deustchland Class) Admiral Graf Spee was one of Germanys most powerfull ships at the begining of the war.

It was designed under the treaty of versailles, wich meant it had to weight 10.000 tons and had to be armed with 28 CM cannons. The allies expected a light Battelship wich was going to be inferior to theyre Deradnoughts. However this so called Pocket Battelship ended up being superior to all the allied ships, it was faster than any other ship, its guns had tremendous fire power, it was radar equiped, and counted with an Arado AR-196 sea scout airplane to hunt its prays.

It ended up being a mayor headache to the allies who expected a very very weak Kriegsmarine,


the Spee was a real sword of the sea. It was a revoloutionary ship, its deck was thin (like a sword) it was underweight making it very very fast and its structure was build in order to take heavy enemy rounds with little damage because the most important sectores of the ship were re inforced with special plates to reduce the hit of the bullet.

Not to mention it was Deisel powered, it reached a maximum speed of 28,5 knots.

It even counted with torpedoes, and anti aircraft guns...

And know youre asking, why this ship?


I will tell you, The Admiral Graf Spee is a legend in South America becuase of its tragical end during the Battle Of The River Plate. Wich happend in 1939 on the shores of Uruguay, the population of Montevideo cold see and hear the tremendous gun fire and see the flashes of the cannons on the horizon, it was the very last true sea battle beacuse it didnt counted with air sopport. The HMS Exeter, HMS Achilles and HMS Ajax gave end to the beast, the Spee was badly wounded and it made a run for the port of Montevideo, it seeked its wounds to be healed there. However Uruguay (like Argentina) had very good relationships with the British goverment and refused to help the Spee. So Captain Langsdorff had 3 options to make.
1) He go out there as wounded as he was and fight to the death with the 3 English Battel ships and the posibility of an English Aircraft carrier being there existed since one was on its way.
2) He would surrender the ship to the Uruguay wich would end up in the hands of the British anyway.
And 3) He would leave most of his men in Uruguay set sail with a couple of men and blow the ship out of the water with TNT infront of the eyes of the enemy wich included the posibility of him being called a Coward by his superiors.

His decided to go for option number 3 (the most honorable one I belive because a commanders number one priotrty its the wellfare of its men), most of the crew was left in Montevideo and he and small group of men got the Spee out of Montevideo. They placed charges on the Spee and were taken out of there by some german merchant ships.

The Spee blew up, and it remains there buried in the mud of the River Plate. Its one hell of a story and I belive it should take part on IL-2 1946.

What do you guys think?

Kindest Regards!


















http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pocket_battleship Deustchland Class

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_pock..._Graf_Spee Admiral Graf Spee

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PNIHegUd1C0 Video