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The loss of the Graf Spee was a blow to the prestige of Hitler's small but expensive navy.

The loss of the Graf Spee was a blow to the prestige of Hitler's small but expensive navy.

BY JOHN SCHAFFNER

Battleship Suicide: A Nazi Captain Was Tricked Into Killing His Warship The loss of the Graf Spee was a blow to the prestige of Hitler's small but expensive navy. Here's What You Need to Remember: Just before he put the gun to his head and pulled the trigger, the German officer penned a final note. "For a captain with a sense of honor, it goes without saying that his personal fate cannot be separated from that of his ship," wrote Hans Langsdorff on December 19, 1939, in a hotel room in Buenos Aires. Langsdorff finished his letter to the Nazi ambassador to Argentina, lay down on a German battl...

And now came subterfuges worthy of a spy novel. Here's What You Need to Remember: In the Battle of the River Plate, psychology counted as much—and perhaps more—than firepower. The British cruisers had taken a beating, but the Royal Navy's proud tradition of aggressiveness in the face of daunting odds had paid off yet again. Regardless of who had the bigger guns, in the end, the Germans thought themselves beaten—and the British did not. Just before he put the gun to his head and pulled the trigger, the German officer penned a final note. "For a captain with a sense of honor, it goes wit...