Admiral Graf Spee was a Deutschland-class heavy cruiser (originally termed Panzerschiff or armoured ship) 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, the Admiral Graf Spee was designed to outgun any cruiser fast enough to catch them. Her 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 Admiral Graf Spee was one of Germany's "pocket battleships", designed to outrun targets if it could not destroy them. The vessel was ultimately commanded by Captain Hans Langsdorff and set sail from Wilhelmsaven for the North Atlantic in mid-August of 1939. British Royal Navy vessels eventually caught up with the Admiral Graf Spee in the South Atlantic and crippled her enough at the Battle of River Plate to make harbor in Montevideo, Uruguay.

However, when it was discovered that it's armoured side-belt measured just 80mm in thickness and the fact that it had skimpy decks, it was eventually scuttled and sunk in Uruguary in December 1939.

The Admiral Graf Spee, along with her captain, would never see Germany again in one of the early key victories for the struggling Allies.

With contributions from Denis Moynihan ('Exeter' Cork), William Heedon (Gunnery Officer, 'Achilles'), David Evans (Seaman 'Exeter) and John De Courcy (Irish Historian). This is a unique documentary recounting the great battle of the River plate and an examination of the parties involved.

Produced by Pat Mc Inerney

Presented by Donncha O' Dulaing

First broadcast December 13th 1980

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