By contrast, Captain Langsdorff of the German pocket battleship Graf Spee is to this day considered less than -- well, how should we say it? -- "manly" for refusing to at least attempt fighting his way out of Montevideo harbor.
Langsdorff conducted the Battle of the River Plate quite badly. While he did concentrate fire on the one British heavy cruiser, damaging it, he allowed the Brits to close the range too closely. He then turned tail and fled to Montevideo, and finally backed down from a fight against heavy odds. He knew he hadn’t fought as he ought, and committed suicide shortly after the battle. All of what he did was contrary to the Royal Navy’s Nelson tradition.