1940: Propaganda Broadcast - Sinking of the Graf Spee
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In this Nazi propaganda broadcast, Lord Haw-Haw reports that British cruiser HMS Exeter has "run aground" off the Falklands after an encounter with German battleship Graf Spee in the coastal waters of South America. This propaganda was broadcast by Haw-Haw on Nazi radio. It was received, recorded and transcribed by Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Monitoring.
The Graf Spee had been attacking British sea routes, so Commodore Henry Harwood sailed the Exeter alongside two other cruisers - the Ajax and the Achilles. The Graf Spee inflicted heavy damage on the Exeter, but the two cruisers returned fire. The Exeter was sent for repairs in the Falklands and the Graf Spee sought refuge at Montevideo in neutral Uruguay. The British tried to engineer that she should stay there until Allied reinforcements arrived. Once expelled back out to sea, facing British warships and tough Atlantic conditions, German captain Hans Langsdorff decided to evacuate and sink his own ship. He later took his own life.
Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Archive: Originally broadcast 20 January 1940.