page_title: HMS Cumberland (57)
section_title: In the South Atlantic
hierarchical_section_title: HMS Cumberland (57) / Career / In the South Atlantic
caption_attribution_description: IWM caption&#160;: In the distance HMS OBDURATE (centre) leaving a Russian bay, with HMS CUMBERLAND (left) and HMS BELFAST (right) with HMS FAULKNOR alongside. Photograph taken at Vaenga after the arrival of convoy JW 53.
context_page_description: HMS Cumberland was a County-class heavy cruiser of the Royal Navy that saw action during the Second World War.
context_section_description: At the start of the Second World War in 1939, Cumberland was assigned to 2nd Cruiser Squadron Force G, the South American Division.  At the start of December she was forced to self-refit in the Falkland Islands, thus depriving the force of their strongest unit.  Without her, HMS Exeter, Ajax and Achilles engaged the German raider Admiral Graf Spee in the Battle of the River Plate on 13 December. Cumberland received a garbled indication that a contact was being made and moved north to reinforce, arriving at the River Plate at 22:00 14 December, after steaming 1000 miles in 34 hours - 29.5mph/25.5 knots. Admiral Graf Spee had put into neutral Montevideo and was trapped there, as Cumberland along with Ajax and Achilles (Exeter having been heavily damaged) patrolled the estuary, resulting in Admiral Graf Spee being scuttled by her crew on 17 December.
caption: In the distance HMS Obdurate (centre) leaving a Russian bay, with HMS Cumberland (left) and HMS Belfast (right) with HMS Faulknor alongside. Photograph taken at Vaenga after the arrival of convoy JW 53.
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