The Battle of the River plate: A Grand Delusion (Campaign Chronicles) Hardcover – April 1, 2008

This is a relatively short book, at only about 150 pages. The author makes no use of primary sources – only secondary. In addition, there are no footnotes hence the reader does not know what sources were used to come up with quotes, damage reports, etc. Thirdly, the book does not provide anything new to the literature, either in terms of analysis or historical facts. This is the book’s most serious shortcoming. It greatly diminishes any value this book may have for anyone who has read on the battle to any degree. The book also lacks a detailed technical discussion of the vessels involved (Graf Spee and the 3 British cruisers) as well as any in depth diagrams/illustrations of the vessels. All and all, very disappointing for a book published by an authoritative press such as the Naval Institute Press.

The subtitle of the book, “The Grand Delusion”, is clarified for the reader in the end of the book. According to the author, from the German perspective this was Langsdorff’s (the Captain of the Graff Spee) attempt to fight a “Gentleman’s War”. From the British it was the belief that the battle rubber stamped the wisdom of then current British naval strategy centering on surface ships and warfare. Not exactly, in this reviewer’s opinion, either a deep and profound observation or “grand delusions”.

On the positive side, the book is of value to the novice (as opposed to the knowledgeable or the specialist). It provides what is a very good introduction to that audience. Hence, in short, this is a book that would be a four star for a novice but only a 2 or so for the knowledgeable.

There have been a number of books and articles published about the Battle of the River Plate on 13 December 1939, the first major naval action of the Second World War. Certainly a daylight surface action between a single `pocket battleship' (the Admiral Graf Spee) versus three British cruisers (Exeter, Achilles, Ajax) seems to pose interesting tactical questions. Richard Woodman's The Battle of the River Plate: A Grand Delusion, isn't the first book I've read about the battle but it is probably the best, so far. On the plus side, the author does present some interesting viewpoints and a few new tidbits of information and his narrative is coherent and well organized. On the down side, this book presents a somewhat parochial British viewpoint, with no German sources utilized. Certainly the greatest weakness is that the book does not have any maps or diagrams of the main action fought on the morning of 13 December. The battle itself comprises about 30 pages out of a total of 155. Overall, this book describes the cruise and destruction of the Graf Spee in sufficient detail for the general reader, but considering that it was put out by the Naval Institute Press, it lacks the kind of detail that professional naval readers would expect.

The first half of the book covers the construction and mission of the Deutschland-class panzerschiffe built in the 1930s, the German doctrine of commerce raiding and the British approach to commerce protection. Pretty standard stuff. The campaign narrative per se begins with the sailing of the Admiral Graf Spee on 21 August 1939, just before war broke out in Europe. However, for a variety of political reasons, Hitler was unwilling to begin commerce raiding immediately and the Graf Spee spent over a month steaming around the South Atlantic merely waiting for orders, which put strain on both the ship and crew for no gain. Finally, Hitler authorized the ship to begin active operations and Graf Spee went to work, eventually capturing and sinking 9 merchant ships of 50,000 tons. The book has two maps that depict the Graf Spee's cruising area and where prizes where taken. I was a bit surprised in this section how clumsy the German board-and-capture tactics were, since the British merchant crews invariably got off a raider warning and dumped their secret documents. The Graf Spee never even bothered to try and use radio jamming to prevent its victims from sending a warning (although the book does point out several attempts at radio deception). It seems like prior to the war, since commerce raiding was an accepted doctrine, that the Kriegsmarine could have put some effort into working these problems out.

Of course, the French and British rushed major reinforcements to the South Atlantic to track down the Graf Spee, but British commerce protection doctrine was faulty in that it concentrated its warships near `focal points,' such as the River Plate off Uruguay. As long as the Graf Spee stayed away from these focal points, the chance that it would be found were slim. After two months of relatively meager pickings in the South Atlantic and with his ship beginning to experience mechanical defects, the captain of the Graf Spee decided to head back to Germany. However, he wanted to end the cruise with a major success and decided to make one go at a focal point by attacking Allied shipping in the River Plate, reasoning that the risk of combat with Allied warships was warranted if he could find a convoy. Instead, the Graf Spee found no convoy but it did run across Commodore Harwood's three cruisers off the River Plate. Incredibly, the Graf Spee decided to engage and Harwood split his cruiser force into two groups to divide the gunfire of his superior opponent. This part of the book is adequate, but key details - number of rounds fired and at what range, speed of ships, visibility, etc - aren't given sufficient space. For example, the author mentions that Graf Spee was only firing high explosive rounds but would have sunk HMS Exeter if it had used armor-piercing rounds, but he doesn't explain why this didn't occur. Nor does he explain much about British gunnery tactics.

Eventually, the Graf Spee inflicted serious damage on 2 of 3 enemy cruisers but suffered enough damage itself that it broke and ran for safe haven in the neutral port of Montevideo. The final chapter covers the diplomatic negotiations there and the final scuttling of the ship. I was interested to see the inclusion of the viewpoint of British prisoners held on the Graf Spee (a dramatic moment occurred when a British shell hit the compartment they were in, ripping open the upper deck to skylight) as well as commentary on what happened to the major participants afterwards. For example, several of the Graf Spee's officers escaped internment and returned to Germany, where one went down with the Bismarck in 1941 and another one became a successful U-Boat skipper and later captured by the U.S. Navy. However, the attempt to analyze either the battle itself or the Graf Spee's cruise is rather superficial and the subtitle "A Grand Delusion," although never really explained, seems to point to the German delusion that a handful of pocket battleships (which cost $38 million apiece) could inflict significant damage on the British merchant marine. It is also odd that a book written in 2008 that purports to have "new information" misses the fact that a commercial company began raising large parts of the Graf Spee wreck four years ago and could have provided photos of some of what has been salvaged to date.

an excellent narrative on just one of Hitler's grand and expensive follies. A huge, costly and defective ship which inflicted minor damage and eventually had to be scuttled to save face.

the political wrangling at the end of the ship's life is extremely well described and develops beyond other authors.

I have been fascinated by the Admiral Graf Spee since childhood. Many of the mysteries will never be solved because those who would know the truth are long gone. But this book is well written and well researched. It brings forth the facts in a very readable manner. The illustrations are superb.

Best account of the cruise of the Graf Spee I've read, including Pope's. Thoughtful commentary, good selection of photos and maps.

I would choose ZERO rating If I could because that is what I got from this book. By Chapter 2 I could not take it any more. I skipped to a further chapter to see if the writing or style improved any and read one page. No change. Paid $39 and going to give this book away for free without fully reading.

I found the author skipping around to so many side angles it was difficult to keep up with the story as a whole AND I know what happened. There was nothing to keep me captivated because I was having to re-read paragraphs to make sure I understood what tangent the author was on from page to page.

I am sure the author has done all his research and could more or less be called a expert on the events he wrote about but that certainly dose not make him a good book writer on this subject . This is my first review ever on a book. I've read books that start out slow or that I did not particular like the writing style but I finished them. This book I will not be finishing.

I would not recommend this book to anyone.

Clinton

Not enough new information, just a re-hash of other peoples opinions. I ended up feeling I was the deluded one.