http://www.onwar.com/chrono/1939/dec39/f17dec39.htm
Graf Spee scuttled in Plate Esturary
Sunday, December 17, 1939 www.onwar.com
In Argentina... Since December 13th, the British Admiralty has been sending ships speeding to Montevideo. Only the heavy cruiser, Cumberland, has arrived so far to support the HMS Ajax and HMS Achilles, already on station at the mouth of the river. Local British diplomats try to have the Graf Spee held for a few more days until stronger forces arrive and at the same time continue to give the impression that heavy units, including the battle cruiser, Renown, are already in position. Langsdorff decides to scuttle his ship outside the port with an audience of thousands lining the waterfront.
In the Winter War... The main Soviet attacks begin against the Mannerheim Line around Summa. The same pattern is repeated for the first three days. The advancing tanks penetrate into the Finnish positions during each day. The infantry are held off and the tanks mostly destroyed during the nights by the Finnish troops who then emerge from their defenses. The Finns claim that two Soviet divisions have been smashed, with 36,000 prisoners taken and a further 20,000 surrounded.
In Britain... The first Canadian troops arrive in Liverpool. A heavily protected convoy has brought over 7,500 men of the 1st Canadian Division. The force, under the command of Canadian Major-General McNaughton, arrived in 5 liners. Officers slept in suites and men in first class cabins.
On the Western Front... An increase in German reconnaissance flights is reported.
Even though Renown and Ark Royal were a thousand miles away, it’s doubtful under any circumstances that Graf Spee could have escaped to see home waters again. The long battle of the River Platte must have seriously depleted her shell rooms, so it’s doubtful she had the ammunition to engage in another long stand-up fight. Even though she’d knocked HMS Exeter out of action, Exeter had been replaced by HMS Cumberland, another 8” gun cruiser. Thus, the British would be about where they were when the engagement started.
The real liability Langsdorff had was a lack of speed. As Graf Spee could only make 26 knots, she could never outrun the British cruisers. HMS Ajax & Achilles (Leander class light cruisers) were capable of 32 knots. HMS Cumberland (Kent class heavy cruiser) was capable of 31.5 knots. So Harwood could have elected to simply shadow Graf Spee until Ark Royal and Renown arrived. Renown, a 32,000 ton battlecruiser with six 15” guns and top speed of 31 knots, would have made very short work of Graf Spee. In fact, the destruction of armed commerce raiders such as Graf Spee was exactly what Renown was designed and built to do.
The interesting “what if” here is whether Renown would have gotten to fire on Graf Spee at all. It is possible that Ark Royal’s swordfish torpedo planes would have sunk Graf Spee in an air strike. If so, Graf Spee would have been the first “capital ship” sunk by aircraft during wartime. Much earlier than the Italian battleships at Taranto (also by Ark Royal), much earlier than American battleships at Pearl Harbor. Most important for naval history enthusiasts, she would have been the first capital ship sunk while underway, instead of HMS Prince of Wales and HMS Repulse on December 8, 1941. It is important to note that until the loss of HMS Prince of Wales, it was generally accepted that while under way and with AA defense, a capital ship would not be sunk by an air attack.
It would be interesting to see how differently naval strategy would have evolved between 1939 and 1941 had Ark Royal planes sunk Graf Spee.