At dawn on 13 December 1939, smoke was seen on the horizon; HMS Exeter was told to close in and investigate. Two minutes later a dramatic signal was sent from the British cruiser – ‘I think it is a pocket battleship.’

It was. The Deutschland-class heavy cruiser Admiral Graf Spee, marauder of the South Atlantic shipping, had sailed into a trap. Three smaller British cruisers closed in on a German warship which, so Hitler had boasted, could out-sail any ship powerful enough to damage her, and out-gun any ship able to keep up with her – an invincible ship.

So began the Battle of the River Plate, story which has its duplicates in British naval history, but which nevertheless brought pride and inspiration into the hearts of a nation unwillingly at war once again.

A terrible battle was fought that day off the coast of South America, a naval encounter in the finest Nelson tradition – and true to that tradition, victory went to the men with the finest armament of all, courage.

This edition will be presented with an Appendix containing the official despatch detailing the Battle of the River Plate.

"an incredibly detailed accounting of the events surrounding the sinking of the Germany’s pocket battleship, Graf Spee. The author shows us more of what transpired other than just the naval battle. He takes us step by step through Graf Spee’s raiding campaign, the fateful decision to engage British forces in battle, the political fight leading up to the ships scuttling and finally the ending chapter in this saga where months after the battle, British forces track down and recuse their captive countrymen imprisoned on the German merchant ship, Altmark, as she made a final dash for her homeland. We are given a glimpse into what the merchantmen endured as the Graf Spee plummeted their ships as well their struggles as prisoners of war at sea. Landsborough opens a window for his readers to gain a little insight into what what Capt. Langdorff might have been thinking at the time and why he might have made the decisions he chose leading up to the final result of scuttling of the Graf Spee and eventually his suicide. ...a well-written and captivating read an is sure to please anyone with a fascination of naval history, and pertinently the events surrounding the first naval battle of WWII."