More exclusive Graf Spee photos - Rangefinder and anchor

[Santi]

Hey guys. Here i am again. With more Graf Spee photos.
A friend of mine took these when he came to Uruguay, so the photos are courtesy of him. He joined this forum but hasn't posted anything yet but i hope he will become active soon. :biggrin:

This time, i'm sharing the photos he snapped when i took him to the Montevideo port to see the rangefinder and anchor. We got a special unique access to the port area, since you can only see this stuff 1 day a year. Considering this, you may say they are a bit exclusive too! :wink:


You can see the first part of the exclusive photos here:
http://worldwarmilitaria.com/forum/showthread.php?t=39

Graf spee's eagle.

[Santi]

Last pics.. + a photo of the uruguayan warships. :D

[Time Bandit]

Nice pics!:thumbup1:

That range finder is a hell of a size - 27 tons!!!:ohmy:

[Santi]

Nice pics!:thumbup1:

That range finder is a hell of a size - 27 tons!!!:ohmy:

Yeah i think so. I have one picture of my friend standing next to it for size comparation and you freak out of how big it is!! I didn't post it since he may not like that. :thumbup1:

[Niblet]

how does that rangefinder work? it looks like a big hunk of metal,,,if you ask me!

[Santi]

how does that rangefinder work? it looks like a big hunk of metal,,,if you ask me!
I have no clue!! :001_huh:

[Dietrich Maerz]

http://www.navweaps.com/index_tech/tech-078.htm

I was in Montevideo last March and I was impressed by the remains of the battle ship on display and how deep it is rooted in the town. Every book shop has books about it.

I also visited the grave of the brave Kapitän Langsdorf in Buenos Aires. Very impressive if one knows the whole story.

Dietrich

[Santi]

http://www.navweaps.com/index_tech/tech-078.htm

I was in Montevideo last March and I was impressed by the remains of the battle ship on display and how deep it is rooted in the town. Every book shop has books about it.

I also visited the grave of the brave Kapitän Langsdorf in Buenos Aires. Very impressive if one knows the whole story.

Dietrich

:thumbup: That's an interesting link.
Oh, so you were here! I didn't have a clue that you were coming over. Did you like Uruguay?
It is indeed, a huge story here. There are many books about the Graf Spee and conferences and more news coming from time to time. I have a piece of news to translate and which i will post soon.

Regarding Langsdorf, it is interesting to note that he travelled to Buenos Aires and stayed in a hotel where he commited suicide wrapped around the imperial flag and not the third reich one.

[Dietrich Maerz]

I only saw Montevideo and that only for one day (we came over with the boat from Buenos Aires). The people were very friendly and all was very clean. Definitely worth another visit.

However,. the most impressive part of the whole trip was Iguazu and the road trip over the Andes to Valparaiso.

Happy New Year!

Dietrich

[Santi]

Awesome!! Let me know if you come again! :)

[gregM]

Very interesting thread Santi, Thanks.

[militarynut]

hi santi
good morning i have been following this great information that you have provided us members many thanks for your hard work on this great german battle wagon named graf spee. i have read a few books on this great ship and its dedicated kapitan langsdorf and his crew this man was a true dedicated german of the old imperial school he did what was asked of him . for a kapitan he showed compasion in its highest reguards for outher seaman he came across in his travels . as dietrich mentions that kapitan langsdorf wraped himself in an imperial flag and commited suicide tells you what kind of german he was that was his message to the world no matter what outhers think. gott mitt uns to him and all our members happy safe new year andy militarynut

[Steve R]

This has turned in to an excellent thread, thank you for sharing, great information and pictures.

:thumbup1:

Steve R

[MRomanych]

An interesting news article about the Graf Spee.

Nazi naval relic pits salvage operator against Berlin
12 March 2010

The Admiral Graf Spee, the German "pocket battleship" scuttled here in 1939, is caught in the middle of a struggle between the businessman salvaging it and the German government, which wants to prevent its commercialization.

"We always proposed a serious historical and cultural destiny" for the remains of the Graf Spee while "contemplating fair compensation" for the work and investment made to recover its remains, Alfredo Etchegaray, the businessman, told AFP.

During a visit to Montevideo this week, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said his desire was "to prevent the remains of the symbols of the Nazi regime from becoming commercialized."

"What we want really is to reach a constructive deal," he said, adding that Germany was prepared to support the presentation of the remains "in a historical context, like a museum."

In 2006, divers hired by Etchegaray recovered an imposing Nazi bronze eagle measuring 2.8 meters (nine feet) wide by two meters high and weighing 350 kilograms (770 pounds) from the stern of the Graf Spee.

Two years earlier, they had come up with a 27-ton rangefinder used to direct the ship's cannons. And in 1998, a 155 millimeter (six-inch) gun from the ship's secondary armament was salvaged.

The underwater salvage group planned to bring up more cannons and other pieces of the Graf Spee, but were barred from doing so by an Uruguayan government decree.

After the recovery of the Nazi eagle, with its outspread wings and swastika, Germany sent a note to the Uruguayan foreign ministry claiming ownership of the Graf Spee and opposing continuation of the salvage work.

Etchegaray, who had received permission from the Uruguay government to undertake the salvage work, has spent 2.5 million dollars over the past 25 years scouring the Rio de la Plata estuary for sunken ships.

The Graf Spee was scuttled by its captain just outside Montevideo harbor where it had gone for repairs after the first major naval battle of World War II.

The Nazi warship was used to raid commercial shipping in the Atlantic until it was intercepted by two British cruisers and one from the New Zealand navy off Montevideo.

Etchegaray claims the wreck was sold in 1940 by the then German ambassador Otto Langmann to Uruguayan Julio Vega Helguera, who concluded the deal as an undercover agent for the British government for the sum of 14,000 pounds.

The sale is recorded in the diplomatic dispatches preserved in the Public Record Office in London, a copy of which was provided to AFP by Etchegaray.

"The British took only eight items from Graf Spee" to examine their technology and design, he said.

Etchegaray said that in 1973 Uruguay issued a decree claiming ownership of all shipwrecks in its waters.

"For the past four years I have been proposing a museum... or an auction with a prequalification of interested parties and a guarantee of a historic-cultural destination for the (eagle)," he said.

"We all want a deal that is constructive and sensitive for the remains of the Graf Spee," he said.

The Graf Spee, halfway between a battleship and a heavy cruiser, was designed to outrun larger ships that might have sunk it, and outgun smaller but faster vessels.

But after capturing and sinking nine British cargo ships without loss of life following the outbreak of war, Captain Hans Langsdorff allowed himself to be trapped by the British force on December 13, 1939.

In the ensuing Battle of the River Plate, Graf Spee's 11-inch guns crippled the British heavy cruiser Exeter but the German ship suffered irreparable damage from the other two cruisers, the Ajax and Achilles.

Taking refuge in Montevideo, the Graf Spee was ordered to leave within 24 hours by the Uruguayan authorities. Facing destruction by the British ships waiting off the mouth of the Plate, Langsdorff blew up his vessel in the middle of the estuary on December 17.

Langsdorff, praised as a considerate gentleman by the crews of the British ships he had captured, shot himself two days later in a hotel room in Buenos Aires, after laying the flag of the old imperial German navy on the floor.

Photos from article:
- The eagle from the stern of WW2 German battleship Admiral Graf Spee, scuttled on December 17, 1939 off the coast of Montevideo after a fierce battle with three British battlecruisers in what is known as "The battle of the River Plate", is recovered from the depths of the estuary in 2006.
- Facts on the World War II Nazi battleship Graf Spee. The Admiral Graf Spee, the German "pocket battleship" scuttled here in 1939, is caught in the middle of a struggle between the businessman salvaging it and the German government, which wants to prevent its commercialization.
- The Admiral Graf Spee's rangefinder is raised from seabed in 2004. During a visit to Montevideo this week, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said his desire was "to prevent the remains of the symbols of the Nazi regime from becoming commercialized."
- Tourists look at the remains of the rangefinder of the German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee, installed near the entrance gate to the port of Montevideo, Uruguay in 2004. During a visit to Montevideo this week, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said his desire was "to prevent the remains of the symbols of the Nazi regime from becoming commercialized."

[Santi]

Hi MR,
It's great to have an update on the whereabouts of the eagle! I knew they hadn't sell it yet, but i didn't know what was going to happen to it.
Apparently, everything will remain like it is now: diplomatic fights over the eagle and the businessman trying to sell it to make some $$.
Thanks for posting this.