The Price of Disobedience: The Battle of the River Plate Reconsidered"Naval scholar Eric Grove reassesses the first British naval encounter of World War II - the Battle of the River Plate. In late 1939, a force from the Royal Navy engaged the German battleship Graf Spee, which had been raiding commercial shipping in the southwest Atlantic. Though the Graf Spee was outnumbered, it inflicted serious damage to the British ships before taking refuge in the harbor at Montivideo, Uruguay. Four days later her commander, assuming a much superior force waited for him, scuttled his ship and then committed suicide. This controversial story of risk and naval strategy has been told before, but Grove has unearthed previously unpublished sources to provide a definitive account of the battle and throw new light on the motivation of the Graf Spee's captain. A thought-provoking book, it will attract naval historians and others with an interest in World War II."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved |
Contents
The Pocket Battleship | 1 |
The Raider | 15 |
Bending the Rules | 35 |
Copyright | |
14 other sections not shown
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The Price of Disobedience: The Battle of the River Plate Reconsidered Eric Grove No preview available - 2000 |
Common terms and phrases
Achilles action Admiral Ajax Allied allowed ammunition Argentine armament armed armoured arrived asked Atlantic attack battle boat British Buenos Aires Captain carried caused Chapter close command considered continued course cover crew cruisers Cumberland damage December decided decision deck director Drama effective enemy engage engines Exeter fighting fire fire control flag forces forward four French further German give Graf Spee Guani guns Harwood heavy internment knots Langsdorff later letter light limited London major merchant miles Millington-Drake Montevideo morning moved Naval Navy neutral officers operations ordered Panzerschiff Plate port position possible protection quoted radio raider range received remaining repairs reported returned rounds Royal sailed scuttling seems sent shells ship ship's side signal South Spee's speed starboard station taken thought took torpedo tower turned turret Uruguayan warships waters wreck