On 1 September, 1939 the Deutschland and Admiral Graf Spee were at sea and awaited orders to attack British and French merchant shipping, while Admiral Scheer lay in dock, as her machinery needed maintenance. Furthermore, German supply ships were stationed in the Atlantic. One of them was the Altmark, who was detailed to support the Graf Spee. But the Germans also had other intentions for their supply ships. Warships aimed to capture their prey rather than sink them, so that they could take possession of the valuable cargoes merchant ships carried. German crews could then be transferred to the merchant ships, to sail them to Germany. Prisoners were then transferred from the German warships to the supply ships.
During the first days of the war, Hitler hesitated to permit cruiser warfare. He seems to have nurtured hopes that there would be no war with Great Britain and was unwilling to do anything that could push the British into a more hostile attitude towards Germany. His hopes were frustrated however, and towards the end of September 1939 the German warships on the Atlantic were instructed to initiate operations. The two pocket battleships accomplished little. The Graf Spee sank nine merchant ships and the Deutschland sank or captured only three. This was enough to make the allies deeply concerned about the threat from the raiders and they organized several task forces to chase the German ships out of their waters. It was not an easy task. The German ships were equipped with powerful radio transmitters that could jam the alarm signals from the merchant ships. With scant useful information, the Allies were hard-pressed to locate the German raiders. Often the loss of a merchant ship was not recognized until several days after the actual sinking. The British Admiralty was therefore forced to rely on information that was outdated. It was also unclear to the Allies how many German raiders were at sea.
One of the British task forces finally located the Admiral Graf Spee off the coast of South America. It was one of the weaker groups, consisting of one heavy cruiser and two light cruisers. All of them were faster than the German ship, which could hardly avoid battle. The British commander, Captain Henry Harwood, did not hesitate to attack. The British heavy cruiser Exeter was seriously damaged in the ensuing action and forced to withdraw from battle, but the light cruisers continued the action. The Admiral Graf Spee was damaged too and the commander of the ship, Captain Langsdorff, decided to set course for Montevideo in Uruguay and put in at the neutral port. The two British light cruisers followed closely.
Once he had reached the port of Montevideo, Captain Langsdorff faced difficult decisions. He did not know whether the two British cruisers outside the port were the only enemy ships nearby, or if more ships were on the way. Finally he decided to blow his ship up, and committed suicide. The loss of the Admiral Graf Spee was a set-back for German maritime strategy. She had only scored limited success before she was lost. The Deutschland took advantage of poor weather to return to Germany and reached port on November 15, also without achieving significant results. After this operation, the ship was renamed the Lützow.
It was not only the pocket battleships that were used for cruiser warfare early in the war. The Scharnhorst and Gneisenau finished their period of testing and training early in the autumn of 1939 and were sent on a foray against British merchant shipping. The two ships had recently been fitted with secret equipment called Dete or E.M. II, later known as radar.
On 22 November 1939, the two battleships left Wilhelmshaven, with the Gneisenau as flagship. The force was commanded by Admiral Marschall. After passing through the lanes created in the German mine fields outside the North Sea coast, the squadron increased speed to 27 knots, while the new radar searched for enemy ships. Nothing was seen on the screens. At noon on 22 November the two battleships passed between Scotland and Norway, without noting any British counter measures. The weather became rougher. The wind got stronger and the seas became higher and higher. Even the battleships began to roll and several sailors on board the ships suffered from sea sickness, while wave after wave hit the decks. Late in the evening the ships set course towards Iceland. Later in the night, the gale abated, to the relief of many on board the two battleships.4
At dawn on 23 November, the weather was clear and visibility excellent. Nothing was seen along the horizon until late in the afternoon, when a merchant ship could be discerned at a position half-way between Iceland and the Faeroe islands. It was the British auxiliary cruiser Rawalpindi, an armed merchant ship that was patrolling the area. She had been sent out to assist in the search for the pocket battleship Deutschland, which was expected to head towards her home bases.5
On board the Rawalpindi, the commander, Edward Kennedy, saw the winter sun set on the horizon. The sea was calm and in the north a bank of fog drew nearer. It drifted towards a few distant icebergs that had recently gleamed white in the approaching twilight.
‘Bridge!’ the lookout in the foremast shouted. ‘Ship starboard aft!’
Kennedy shifted his attention from north to south, where he discovered the silhouette of a major warship. It was the Scharnhorst, heading straight towards Rawalpindi. After briefly studying it through his binoculars, Kennedy incorrectly assumed that it must be the Deutschland. The captain ordered ‘Action Stations!’ followed swiftly by a command to alter course to port. His ship turned north, while smoke floats were lit. Thereafter a signal officer reported to Home Fleet that an enemy ship, probably the Deutschland, had been sighted. In situations like this, auxiliary cruisers were not expected to engage the enemy but were supposed to assist the heavy units of the Royal Navy to attack the enemy.
While the alarm bells rang in the ship and the Rawalpindi approached the bank of fog far too slowly, Kennedy saw how the German ship signalled to him with a signal light.
‘Heave to!’ one of the signalmen reported.
The German request was followed by the blast of a gun, and soon a column of water shot up in front of the auxiliary cruiser. Kennedy ignored the request. He continued towards the bank of fog, but he knew he would not make it in time. The gravity of the situation became even more apparent when he was informed that the smoke floats had died down. Kennedy quickly gave orders for a new course, this time towards an iceberg that could provide some cover.