Newspaper supplement commemorating the Battle of the River Plate.  The first major naval battle of WWII took place on the River Plate estuary, off the coast of Argentina. The German battleship ADMIRAL GRAF SPEE had been raiding commercial shipping lanes for 9 months before it was tracked down and attacked by three smaller Allied cruisers HMS AJAX, EXETER and ACHILLES 13 December 1939. The Allied ships had inferior arms and range but had superior speed and split in an effort to divide the SPEE’s firepower. Heavy gunfire was exchanged and the German ship, badly damaged, fled, taking refuge at Montevideo, Uruguay. Port authorities only allowed the ship to stay in port for a few days.  Early in the morning of 17th December 1939, the German captain scuttled the GRAF SPEE using their own torpedoes.  

ENA 0231 (080/4/7)