RAIDER ADMIRAL GRAF SPEE * 8 SHIPS SUNK - BATTLE OF THE RIVER PLATE
12)STREONSHALH
Photo. http://searlecanada.org/sunderland/images10/streonshalh4.jpg
Built 1928
Tonnage 3,895 / 6,350 Tons
Cargo: 5,600 tons of wheat
Route: Montevideo - UK
Sunk 07/12/39 by Adm Graf Spee on pos. 25º 01”S 27º 50” W.
0 Dead
32 Survivors taken as POW
On 6/Dec/1939, Adm Graf Spee rendezvoused for the last time with Altmark when once again the raider took some fuel from the latter. Fortunes had been on the side of German Graf Spee until then, but the British grip was tightening and her capture was a matter of time, when Graf Spee once again transferred his human cargo to the Supply ship Altmark and fuel was taken on. Cap. Langsdorf in a bold move decided to prowl the waters a little closer to Brazilian coast where that hunting ground was quite promising. And he was rewarded when on 7/Dec/39 some 1200 miles of Santa Catarina state she stopped the British Streonshalh.
That merchant had departed an Argentinean port heading for England loaded with wheat. As of the previous occasions the crew was ordered to abandon ship, and the steamer was sent to the bottom of the south Atlantic on position 25º01"S 27º50"W. Still confident in his luck Cap. Langsdorf decided to move to the waters adjacent to Rio da Plata where fatally he would catch another victim. This time fortunes turned the side and the hunter became hunted.
Merchant Streonshalh seen from the stern of the Adm Graf Spee. Notice on both sides the quadruples torpedo launchers. The crew of the merchant watches their ship. Picture by Michael Pocock www.maritimequest.com
Streonshalh in her agony is hit hard with the shells from Graf Spee. Picture by Michael Pocock www.maritimequest.com
Streonshalh waits for the coup de grace. In minutes she will plummet beneath the waves. Picture by Michael Pocock www.maritimequest.com
