Answer the following question: Build a movie plot around this: Who was the captain of the Graf Spee? Hans Langsdorff
Answer:
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 Exeter has much lighter 8-inch guns, and the light cruisers Ajax and Achilles 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 and is forced to retire.However, Graf Spee sustains damage herself, and takes refuge in the neutral port of Montevideo, Uruguay to make repairs. According to international law, the ship may remain at neutral harbour only long enough to make repairs for seaworthiness, not to refit her for battle. With reinforcements too far away, the British spread disinformation that an overwhelming force is lying in wait, hoping to buy time: while they are initially demanding that the Uruguayan authorities send the Graf Spee out to sea within 24 hours, as the law dictates, they suddenly seem to lose interest and appear to tolerate her staying at anchor in Montevideo for as long as required. This is a bluff intended to make the Germans believe that more British warships are on the way, when none are. Taken in by this ruse, Langsdorff takes his ship out with a skeleton crew aboard, and as she heads down the River Plate for the open sea, he orders her scuttled.