Chapter 4: British and French Convoys

Even the best submarines of the German Navy couldn't exceed a surface speed of 20 knots, a limitation that made it difficult for them to coordinate with fast surface vessels in combat. So, after easily seizing their first merchant ship of the voyage, the "Graf Spee" under Zhang Hainuo's command proceeded southwestward alone. Two U-boats would lurk nearby along this route, waiting for an opportunity to attack British merchant ships. The ocean liner "Antonio," carrying Curtis airplanes, would provide them with supplies and auxiliary reconnaissance.

"In Buenos Aires, Argentina, merchant ships gather. According to pre-war intelligence, no fewer than 10 British merchant ships enter and leave there every week, with occasional appearances by French merchant ships as well. They mainly transport agricultural products, minerals, and wine, which play a significant role in sustaining Britain's war effort! The disadvantage is that British cruisers may also appear in that area!"

Using his familiarity with the geography and politics of South America to his advantage, Zhang Hainuo briefed the main officers on board using a large navigation chart. He also roughly explained the purpose of this operation to South America's coastal waters: as an attack vessel, the "Graf Spee" could remain undetected for extended periods in remote areas, but once it attacked targets along maritime routes continuously, it was only a matter of time before the British discovered it. Therefore, rather than acting clandestinely, it was better to use this attack vessel to put psychological pressure on British and French sailors, disrupting their routes between Europe and South America. It would also serve as a reminder to those wavering South American countries that a powerful German attack vessel existed, urging them to maintain their neutrality. Otherwise, they would regret it when shells landed on their merchant ships!

"I agree with General von Finkenstein's opinion. In the waters of South America, no British cruiser is our match!" Lansdorf appeared confident in front of his subordinates. "Radar and 11-inch main guns are our most advantageous weapons!"

"Until the situation becomes clear, as long as we act cautiously, there's no need to worry about any South American country getting involved in this war and siding with our enemies! Additionally, we can resupply at sea 420 nautical miles southeast of Buenos Aires in four days! A Brazilian merchant ship carrying refrigerated meat and fresh vegetables will appear there!" Zhang Hainuo added, "A German ship with Brazilian identity and flying the Brazilian flag!"

Two days later, on the way to the Argentine coast, the "Graf Spee" seized another 2,200-ton British merchant ship, securing another victory for Zhang Hainuo. Similar to the "Single-Humped Camel" before, this merchant ship offered no resistance. Even before the boarding party reached the deck, they hadn't figured out what was happening—clearly, the British Navy hadn't warned their merchant ships about the presence of German pocket battleships in the Atlantic, let alone that this time Zhang Hainuo's crew once again used the customary tactics of the Norse pirates, hoisting a British naval flag before approaching the merchant ship. The only slight disappointment was that the ship carried only bales of cloth and leather; apart from a dozen boxes of wine, it did little to improve the ship's provisions.

On October 6, 1939, in the second week after the end of the Polish campaign, Zhang Hainuo's attack vessel successfully rendezvoused with the ocean liner "Americo Vespucci," under the flag of the Schneider Shipyard. This vessel brought 15 tons of frozen meat, 10 tons of fresh vegetables, and nearly 20 tons of other supplies for the German crew. It also brought excellent news for Zhang Hainuo: just a few days earlier, they encountered a convoy of British merchant ships bound for Buenos Aires. The convoy consisted of eight merchant ships, with one armed merchant ship and one old-style light cruiser providing escort. The captain of the "Americo Vespucci," Holt Lux, who had served in the German Navy, personally told Zhang Hainuo that the cruiser with three funnels only posed a minor threat, with its two 150mm guns having a range far less than the 280mm guns of the Deutschland-class armored ships.

"They won't stay in Argentina forever, so, bon appétit to you!" Holt offered his meaningful wishes before departing.

Zhang Hainuo responded, "Thank you for bringing the frozen meat and vegetables. Give my regards to Mr. Schneider!"

Argentina, Buenos Aires, British Embassy.

"Colonel, this..." Lieutenant Commander Nairn, dressed in a pristine naval uniform, looked very troubled as he glanced at the long list of ship names. Just a day earlier, he had commanded his ship, the "Greenwich," an old light cruiser from World War I, to escort eight merchant ships from Britain to Argentina with the help of an armed merchant ship. According to neutrality laws, a combat vessel of a belligerent party may not stay in a neutral port for more than 24 hours, and it is only allowed to make one stop every three months. Fortunately, under the mediation of British diplomats in Argentina, this time limit had been extended to three days due to the vessel's damage, allowing Nairn at least some time to have the repairs carried out on the steam engine of the old cruiser.

Seeing that the deadline of three days was approaching, the naval attaché in Argentina, the white-haired Navy colonel, handed Nairn a seemingly daunting task passed on from the Navy headquarters: to escort a convoy composed of three British merchant ships and four French merchant ships to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where another four British and French merchant ships would join the convoy. The escort force would also be reinforced by two armed merchant ships, departing from Brazil and crossing the vast Atlantic to Britain.

"Don't worry, my boy! The Royal Navy's destroyer fleet will rendezvous with you 800 miles from Ireland and escort you through the area where German submarines frequent!" Nairn argued, "But before that, I have to escort these unarmed merchant ships for over 2,000 miles! In the past month, no fewer than five merchant ships have been sunk in the central Atlantic!"

"I know that very well!" the white-haired old colonel, with a face full of life's experiences, responded with a calm demeanor. The wrinkles on his face resembled intertwining ravines, and his hand holding the pipe was as withered as old tree bark. He should have retired in a few months, but the German Chancellor wouldn't allow that delay in his war.

"German submarine commanders are accustomed to attacking isolated merchant ships. Based on our past experience, they generally won't risk attacking large convoys! Don't worry, Commander, isn't your ship equipped with new sonar and depth charge launchers? As long as the German submarines dare to come, you command the ship to charge forward and give them a fierce bombardment. Even if we can't sink the German submarines, we can make them retreat!" he continued.

"Yes, Colonel, those weapons were just installed before we left Britain, but my sailors aren't very familiar with them yet. If..." Nairn muttered.

"Young man, summon your courage. The Royal Navy doesn't fear a little difficulty!" The old colonel raised his voice, "During the last war, I once commanded three old-style destroyers to escort a larger merchant ship convoy. Twice we encountered German submarines, and my sailors and I calmly dealt with them, driving them away one by one!"

"That's three warships, sir!" Lieutenant Nairn muttered under his breath. At this point, he didn't have a better plan and just hoped that no German submarines would target them along the way. He picked up a pen and quickly signed his name at the bottom of the list.

The old colonel, with his snowy white hair, clearly heard the lieutenant's complaint, but he didn't show any reaction. It had been over a month since the outbreak of the war, and the fact that the Royal Navy lacked escort ships hadn't changed. It was frustrating. The rearmament of the German Navy and the significant construction of submarines after 1935 weren't secrets, yet those generals in the Royal Navy didn't seem concerned. Perhaps they believed that the German Zeppelins and submarines had become obsolete in the face of Britain's new equipment during the last year of the previous war, or perhaps they were too reliant on their own judgment—the Germans' target was the Soviet Union in the east. Anyway, the Royal Navy hadn't made any significant response to the increasing German submarine force month by month.

Especially in the years leading up to the war, the British had built the H-class, G-class, I-class destroyers, and Tribal-class fleet destroyers primarily for surface combat and mine-laying, with poor performance in long-range escort duties being a recognized fact. To counter the threat of the German submarine force, most of these ships reassigned to escort convoys were deployed on routes from North America to Britain, South Africa to Britain, and the Mediterranean, leaving very few for the South America to Europe route. But there was no choice; after all, the number of British and French ships sailing on this route was much smaller compared to the other busy routes.

Before heading out, Lieutenant Nairn stopped in his tracks and then turned around to ask, "Colonel, I heard that the Germans' pocket battleships have slipped into the Atlantic Ocean. Have you heard anything about it?"

The old naval colonel shook his head. "Just rumors, no reliable evidence! Perhaps it's just German spies trying to create some chaos for us!"

"Well, Colonel, goodbye then!" After saluting, Lieutenant Nairn opened the door and swiftly left.

After the door was closed, the old colonel looked melancholic. This damned war, how many young lives would it claim? Perhaps the person talking to you today would be gone forever tomorrow.

After leaving the embassy, sitting in the open-topped car, Nairn was still pondering over the things that made him unhappy. His best friend from the academy had gone down with the ill-fated HMS Ark Royal, and his girlfriend's brother, a sub-lieutenant in the Navy, had unfortunately perished with an H-class destroyer, both victims of German submarines. Since the war began, there hadn't been much action from the German surface vessels, but those black underwater ghosts had been striking frequently. Although Nairn was only in his teens during the last war, he had heard time and again from the elders about the horrors of these German submarines.

"Well, let them see what we're made of!" Nairn suddenly clenched his fist, his driver, a 19-year-old private, looking at him with a puzzled expression.

"Sir, who are we going to teach a lesson?"

"The Germans, those damned German submarines! Are you afraid?"

The skeptical gaze of the private made Nairn falter for a moment. "No, sir! Not afraid! I've heard from the old sailors that if we spot a German submarine, all we need to do is charge at it and drop a few depth charges. Boom, boom, boom, and when you see oil coming up, that German submarine is done for!"

"That's right. We're going to hit them hard just like we did in the last war!" Nairn's confidence soared significantly because of the words of this inexperienced private. Upon returning to the ship, he had the sailors double-check the sonar and depth charge systems to ensure they would be ready for immediate use once they set sail.

That night, the British Royal Navy light cruiser HMS Greenwich led, as seven British and French merchant ships slowly departed from Buenos Aires. The German spies who witnessed this scene quickly relayed the information back to the Americas Intelligence Headquarters in Brazil, and then it was transmitted via transoceanic radio waves to the German naval intelligence center in Kiel, Germany. Just a few hours later, the Graf Spee received this critical intelligence!

"Well done!" Admiral Hans von Spee didn't hesitate to praise the naval intelligence department, especially the spies who transmitted the information from Buenos Aires. In his memory, the historical Graf Spee had only attacked isolated merchant ships, never gaining any advantage over British merchant convoys. Its sister ship, the Admiral Scheer, had attacked a convoy codenamed HX84 in November 1940, sinking an armed cruiser and then sinking or heavily damaging five merchant ships, giving the German Navy surface raiders a face-saving victory. The German naval intelligence department was also indispensable in that battle, accurately providing the departure time and route of the convoy.

As the navigation officer plotted possible positions of the convoy and interception routes on the chart, Langsdorf said, "A 3,000-ton light cruiser, three British merchant ships, four French merchant ships, two big and five small, wow! General, guess their tonnage?"

Von Spee stroked his chin, which he had just shaved in the morning. "The tonnage of the ships traveling on the European and South American routes won't be too large, but they won't be too small either! The big ones might be around 5,000 tons, and the small ones might be just over 1,000 tons. That's about 15,000 tons in total!"

Langsdorf thought seriously for a moment. "I guess 20,000 tons! An average of 2,800 tons per ship!"

"Alright, gentlemen, let's get to work!"

The experienced navigation officer had already drawn several possible scenarios on the chart. He explained, "If they head directly towards the Azores, all we need to do is adjust our heading northward by 4 degrees and maintain the current speed to meet them at dawn. If they head north, we need to adjust our heading northward by 15 degrees and accelerate to over 20 knots to catch up with them before noon tomorrow. If they head south..."

"No, heading south is not a consideration. They're either heading directly to the Azores before turning towards Britain and France or heading to Brazil or even the United States and Canada to meet up with ships there!" Von Spee pointed at the chart with a pencil. "They're either going east or north!"

"Let's assume the convoy is heading eastward. If we don't spot them after daybreak, we'll accelerate northward to pursue them!" Langsdorf suggested.

"That suits me fine!" Von Spee tossed down his pencil. "Turn right by 5 degrees, maintain a speed of 18 knots, full steam ahead!"

"That suits me fine!" Von Spee tossed down his pencil. "Turn right by 5 degrees, maintain a speed of 18 knots, full steam ahead!"

Under the cover of night, the warship, painted in shades of blue-gray and white squares, sailed through the waves at a speed far surpassing that of ordinary cargo ships. The sea conditions were favorable, and if von Spee were commanding one of the ships from the Schanhorst class, he thought, pursuing the enemy merchant fleet would surely be a thoroughly enjoyable task.

Over three hours later, the radar aboard the Graf Spee detected an unidentified vessel. After weighing his options, von Spee decided to prioritize intercepting the British and French convoy, thus commanding the warship to bypass the solitary vessel heading westward. Following this decision, he personally recalculated the situation using the nautical chart, estimating that if the convoy continued eastward, the attacking ships would encounter them between 6 and 7 a.m. the next day.

On the other side, Royal Navy Lieutenant Nairn was growing increasingly frustrated with a French merchant vessel in the fleet that had dropped anchor. In a waterfront pub, the French sailors exuded their romance, but seemed less adept with mechanics. Just over five hours since leaving Buenos Aires, the refrigerated cargo ship Jean Rabel, weighing 6,550 tons, experienced a malfunction in its propulsion system. What further infuriated the British was that three other French merchant ships had stopped without orders to wait for their companion. If it weren't for his sense of duty, Lieutenant Nairn would have gladly left these four troublesome French ships behind—each one weighing over 5,000 tons.

Yet, these French vessels were carrying 7,000 tons of frozen beef, 20 million eggs, and a large quantity of grain—essential supplies for the British and French forces facing off against the Germans on the Western Front.

Lieutenant Nairn waited for three hours, during which time he decided to ignore the French's polite refusals and dispatch naval repairmen to board the French cargo ship. Finally, to the relief of the British, the troublesome French vessel was repaired. The entire fleet proceeded in two columns—one of British ships and the other of French ships—at a leisurely speed of 8 knots towards the Brazilian waters.