This 1939 sound newsreel vividly shows the sinking of the German heavy cruiser Admiral Graf Spee.

Admiral Graf Spee was a Deutschland-class heavy cruiser (originally termed Panzerschiff or armoured ship, sometimes referred to as “pocket battleship”) which served with the Kriegsmarine of Nazi Germany during World War II. The vessel was named after Admiral Maximilian von Spee, commander of the East Asia Squadron that fought the battles of Coronel and Falkland Islands in World War I. She was laid down at the Reichsmarinewerft shipyard in Wilhelmshaven in October 1932 and completed by January 1936. The ship was nominally under the 10,000 long tons (10,000 t) limitation on warship size imposed by the Treaty of Versailles, though with a full load displacement of 16,020 long tons (16,280 t), she significantly exceeded it. Armed with six 28 cm (11 in) guns in two triple gun turrets, Admiral Graf Spee and her sisters were designed to outgun any cruiser fast enough to catch them. Their top speed of 28 kn (52 km/h; 32 mph) left only a handful of ships in the Anglo-French navies able to catch them and powerful enough to sink them.

The ship conducted five non-intervention patrols during the Spanish Civil War in 1936–1938, and participated in the Coronation Review for King George VI in May 1937. Admiral Graf Spee was deployed to the South Atlantic in the weeks before the outbreak of World War II, to be positioned in merchant sea lanes once war was declared. Between September and December 1939, the ship sank nine ships totaling 50,089 gross register tons (GRT), before being confronted by three British cruisers at the Battle of the River Plate on 13 December. Admiral Graf Spee inflicted heavy damage on the British ships, but she too was damaged, and was forced to put into port at Montevideo. Convinced by false reports of superior British naval forces approaching his ship, Hans Langsdorff, the commander of the ship, ordered the vessel to be scuttled. The ship was partially broken up in situ, though part of the ship remains visible above the surface of the water.

• 00:00: Great Britain, the world’s mightiest sea power, aims to keep sea lanes open for merchantmen and cargo liners while striving for a complete blockade against enemy-bound ships.

• 0:45-0:56: Mastery of the seas brought ultimate victory in the last world war. Great Britain and France look to their joint naval strength to destroy Germany’s fleet.

• 1:05-1:12: Convoyed fleets are seldom attacked, but lone ships are always in danger from German commands.

• 1:26-1:35: Germany’s three pocket battleships, including the Admiral Graf Spee, patrol the seas, harassing and destroying allied and neutral shipping.

• 2:09-2:12: The Graf Spee sinks ten ships, totaling fifty thousand tons.

• 2:50-2:57: In mid-December 1939, British defenses catch up with the Graf Spee, and three cruisers engage it in battle off the coast of South America.

• 3:08-3:21: The British cruiser Exeter surprises the Graf Spee, and two more English cruisers, the Ajax and the Achilles, join the battle.

• 3:45-3:53: The badly damaged Graf Spee seeks sanctuary in Montevideo harbor.

• 4:00-4:12: The Graf Spee’s sides are peppered by British guns, and its control tower is blown out of commission.

• 4:25-4:27: The Graf Spee’s catapult planes are rendered useless.

• 4:38-4:45: Crowds watch as Uruguayan authorities demand the German officers and crew come ashore for registration and questioning.

• 5:10-5:23: Captain Langsdorff of the Graf Spee pleads for more time for repairs to avoid internment.

• 5:36-5:42: Captain Langsdorff and his officers pose for a historic picture.

• 5:48-6:03: Tension mounts as Captain Langsdorff returns to his ship with a grim decision already made.

• 6:12-6:36: The German tanker Tacoma transfers crew members from the Graf Spee, leaving a skeleton crew behind.

• 6:40-6:47: The Graf Spee heads for the open sea, with British cruisers waiting to prevent its escape.

• 7:15-7:29: The Graf Spee is scuttled by its own captain to avoid capture by the Allies.

• 7:47-8:06: The Graf Spee settles in shallow waters, with flames and smoke pouring from the ship.

• 8:28-8:48: The warship lies helpless, transformed into a burning inferno and a shattered skeleton of its former self.

This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com