General Information – Rio De Plata – 13 Dec, 1939 6:10 am
This is the historical scenario, early at dawn of the 13th of December 1939, the DKM Graf Spee attack a British Cruiser squadron consisting of HMS Exeter (heavy cruiser) and HMS Ajax and HMS Achilles (light cruisers). The area is just north of the mouth of the Rio de Plata (Ln 35°W Lt 50°S) and it is summer time in the Southern Hemisphere. The breeze is light, 10 kn from SW, the sea is calm (state 1 on the scale of Beaufort) and the sky is empty of any cloud. The visibility start at 15 nm to increase to 25nm thru the day.
German Brief
On your way back to Germany you have decided to raid the merchant traffic off the southern coast of Brazil toward the mouth of the Rio de Plata.
Your orders are to avoid engagement with enemy warship and focus on disrupting merchant traffic, however as you are finishing your Southern Atlantic Campaign you are taking the risk to attack the British merchant convoy protected by a cruiser and 2 destroyers appearing on your SSE horizon. You order battle station ready and set speed to 25knots!
The axis order of battle:
| Type | Name | Displacement | Speed | Main Armement |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CA | DKM Graf Spee | Tons 16 000 | kn 28 / 25 (1) | 6 x 280mm |
(1) Practical battle speed due to diesel engines vibrations.
British Brief
You guessed that the German raider will attack the traffic coming from Argentina. Your intuition was right, the elusive German Pocket Battleship is now on the horizon! Your force of one heavy cruiser and 2 light cruisers will have a hard task but the Royal Navy will perform her duty!
The allied order of battle:
| Type | Name | Displacement | Speed | Main Armement |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CA | HMS Exeter | Tons 10 000 | kn 32 | 6 x 205mm (8') |
| CL | HMS Ajax | Tons 8 000 | kn 32 | 8 x 150mm (6') |
| CL | HMS Achilles | Tons 8 000 | kn 32 | 8 x 150mm (6') |