 the battle of the river plate is a 1956 british war film by director-writer team of michael powell and emeric pressburger, starring john gregson, anthony quayle and peter finch. in the united states the film was retitled pursuit of the graf spee. the film is about the battle of the river plate,"river plate" is an english translation of the spanish "rio de la plata" or silver river; see rÃ­o de la plata#etymology a real naval battle of 1939 between a royal navy force of three cruisers and the german pocket battleship admiral graf spee. ==plot== in the early months of the second world war, nazi germany's kriegsmarine sends out merchant raiders to attack allied shipping. the royal navy responds with hunting groups whose mission is to stop them. the group that finds the heavily armed pocket battleship admiral graf spee near south america is outgunned: graf spee is equipped with long-range 11-inch guns, while the british heavy cruiser  has much lighter 8-inch guns, and the light cruisers  and  have 6-inch guns. despite this, they go straight to the attack. the british are led by commodore harwood (anthony quayle), with captain woodhouse (ian hunter) commanding flagship ajax, captain bell (john gregson) exeter and captain parry (jack gwillim) achilles. the british use their superior numbers to "split her fire" by attacking from different directions, but graf spee, under captain hans langsdorff (peter finch), inflicts much damage on her foes; exeter is particularly hard hit. however, graf spee sustains damage herself, and takes refuge in the neutral port of montevideo, uruguay for repairs. according to international law, the ship may remain at neutral harbor only long enough to make repairs for seaworthiness, not to refit her for battle. with reinforcements too far away, the british spre
1950s_war_films 1956_films British_films British_war_films English-language_films Films_by_Powell_and_Pressburger Films_shot_in_Uruguay Pinewood_Studios_films Punta_del_Este Royal_Navy_in_World_War_II_films RAo_de_la_Plata Seafaring_films_based_on_actual_events World_War_II_films_based_on_actual_events