Comments by "" (@tomk3732) on "Battle of the River Plate 1939: Minute-by-Minute DOCUMENTARY" video.

Graf Spee fought very, very well against overwhelming odds. 3 vs 1. One has to not that through Graf Spee was a heavy cruiser herself she was 60% bigger then Exeter - so more then a match, but Exeter had 2 light cruisers with her which were quite new and large, almost as large as Exeter herself. Graf Spee may have suffered far less damage then it dealt but it was clear that should would not have made it home. Also in addition to two light cruisers there was another non damaged heavy cruiser - GS would not have been able to out maneuver or out fight that fleet. I am unsure what this would be a shame for German Navy - 1 heavy cruiser vs 3 enemy cruisers.
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@historigraph If you look at regular displacement of ships involved it was more then 2 to 1 in favor of the British. He could not have "maintained longer range" as that was not his choice. German cruiser was slower then all British ships by a healthy margin. In the video it is clear that the British moved in closer to have maximum effect from their guns. GS design was not really that great. It was a long list of compromises. Mostly related to Germany pretending the ship was under 10,000. Her low top speed meant she was too slow to outrun most cruisers and fast battleships / battle cruisers. Still she did have some great technological designs, if I remember correctly she was all welded construction, used novel propulsion, had radar etc. There is a reason that these cruisers were hunting for GS - once spotted GS was more or less done for - she could have tried to run but was too slow to outrun the enemy.
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