The Battle of the River Plate: A Grand Delusion

by Richard Woodman, Christopher Summerville (Editor)

The Battle of the River Plate was the first major naval confrontation of the Second World War, and it is one of the most famous. The dramatic sea fight between German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee and the British cruisers Exeter, Ajax and Achilles off the coast of South America caught the imagination in December 1939. Over the last 60 years the episode has come to be seen as one of the classics of naval warfare. Yet the accepted interpretation of events has perhaps been taken for granted and is ripe for reassessment, and that is one of the aims of Richard Woodman's enthralling new study.

Genres: Military History

226 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 20, 2008

About the author

Captain Richard Martin Woodman was an English novelist and naval historian who retired in 1997 from a 37-year nautical career, mainly working for Trinity House, to write full-time.

Reviews

[Pete daPixie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the first Pen & Sword publication I've read. All in this series of military books are brief but very concise and informative accounts. Just around one hundred and fifty pages, yet the full history of the 'Graf Spee' is given, as well as her voyage of commerce raiding, leaving Wilhelmshaven on the 21st August 1939 to her end in Montevideo on the 17th December 1939.
Her voyage is fully detailed with Lat and Long coordinates of all encounters of the merchant ships she sank, until her final encounter with HMS's Ajax, Achilles and Exeter.
For such a short book there is a very surprising amount of detail. The full career biographies of all the ships captains, brief accounts from crew participants of both navies and merchant seamen from the sunken vessels. Even some of the interned German crew members, with accounts of their escapes from South America and who returned to Germany.
These books certainly provide value for money.

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent summary of the ill fated German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Von Spee's history. I particularly liked the details of the Von Spee's construction. It had no boilers, to remain under the weight limit set by the Versailles Treaty. Woodman gives a detailed account of the ship's commerce raiding and the fateful decision of her Captains, Hans Langsdorff to break his instruction to avoid battle and engage Commodore Harwood's squadron.

The fatal battle is portrayed by Woodman as a tossup, not a glorious British victory. Langsdorff decision to scuttle his ship approved by his superiors led to his suicide.

[David J. Fernandes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Worth the money and time to read

I found this to be a well written account of this naval action from the early days of the war. I liked that it out the action in context of the naval war as a whole. Most general naval histories of the Second World war mention this battle,but don't provide any real details. A good read at a fair price!

[Alan Carlson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A solid history of the Graf Spee and its one war cruise in 1939.

[Sonny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Took a long time to finish this book (but I think I read 3 other books while reading this one) because it was the least little bit dull. Richard Woodman’s novels are great though.

[Jan Schmid · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tedious

[Simon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting but the actual battle is a fairly small part of the book.

[Mike Glaser · Rating 4 out of 5]

An outstanding book for any young naval officer or midshipman to read.