Sunken Nazi Battleship Stirs Controversy

[madkins]

BBC.-Uruguay

Graf Spee's eagle rises from deep

February 10, 2006

Divers have salvaged a 2m (6ft) bronze imperial eagle from the German World War II battleship Graf Spee that was scuttled in the River Plate.

Three divers had to loosen 145 bolts securing the 300kg (661lb) eagle to the stern of the craft in the muddy waters off Uruguay's capital, Montevideo.

"The eagle is really impressive... it's all virtually intact," said team leader Hector Bado.

The ship was scuttled in December 1939 to stop it falling into enemy hands.

Mr Bado told Associated Press news agency the eagle had a wingspan of 2.8m (9ft) and a special barge with a crane was needed to raise it from the river.

See more Graf Spee facts

The barge brought the eagle back to port on Friday with a yellow tarpaulin cover
ing the swastika at its base - out of c
onsideration for those who still hold strong feelings against the symbol of Nazi Germany, Mr Bado said.

The eagle was taken to a customs warehouse, but not before curious cruise ship guests had had a chance to disembark and get some snapshots.

The ship has lain in waters only 10m deep since its scuttling - until a project financed by private investors from the US and Europe with the backing of the Uruguayan government sought to salvage it.

The operation has now been going two years. Previous items raised included a 27-tonne section of the battleship's command tower and a range-finding device for gunners.

It is hoped the vessel will become a tourist attraction in Montevideo.

The Graf Spee was once a symbol of German naval might. In the early days of World War II it roamed the South Atlantic, sinking as many as nine Allied merchant ships.

But during the Battle of the River Plate it received several direct hits and took refuge in Montevideo harbour.


Uruguay, under diplomatic pressure from Britain, ordered the Graf Spee out to sea. And there she was scuttled by her captain, Hans Langsdorff.

Capt Langsdorff committed suicide in a Buenos Aires naval camp three days later.

Skara Brae,

madkins

 

[Rasp]

Mascot rises from the sea

Mascot rises from the sea

A SINISTER symbol of Nazi evil has risen from its watery grave after 66 years.

The huge bronze eagle and swastika, personally designed by Hitler, was salvaged by a British-led team from the stern of the pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee.

It had lain on the seabed off Uruguay since 1939, when the Graf Spee was cornered by the Royal Navy after wreaking havoc with allied merchant shipping.

Experts believe the World War Two relic, 6ft tall with a 9ft wingspan, may be the only surviving example of its kind. It is expected to fetch £10MILLION at auction.

Salvage
team boss Mensun Bound, 54, said: "When it came up and I saw the swastika, I knew I was looking at the absolute heart of darkness. All the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. It felt like the breath of Hitler himself.

"When artefacts come out of the water there's normally cheering. But when this Nazi symbol surfaced, there was just silence.”

Hitler ordered the Graf Spee to roam the South Atlantic, preying on vital trade routes.

Winston Churchill sent the cruisers Exeter, Ajax, Cumberland and Achilles ”” and although outgunned they attacked the bigger ship at the mouth of the River Plate on December 13, 1939.

Graf Spee's captain, Hans Langsdorff, scuttled the ship off Montevideo.

The half-ton eagle was found weeks ago after shifting sands exposed it. Divers had to unscrew 145 massive bolts to remove it.

A National Maritime Museum historian said: "It's magnificent. And chilling.”

nShe was sunk by Brit trick

THE Graf Spee's skipper sank his own ship after a stunning ruse hatched by British secret agents.

Hans Langsdorff took the battle-scarred boat into port at Montevideo, capital of neutral Uruguay, after the shoot-out with the Royal Navy.

Langsdorff ... killed himself

The trick was aimed at convincing the Germans that an overwhelming task force of British ships would be waiting for the Spee as soon as she left the safe haven.

Extra fuel was ordered for the bogus fleet to reinforce the ploy.

Langsdorff fell for it and decided his only option was to blow up the Graf Spee.

Two days later he lay on his ship's ensign and shot himself in the head.

You can tell I didn't edit this slanderous (evil) Nazi story. Sinister indeed! :Swastika2:

 

[Dragasès]

Salvage team boss Mensun Bound, 54, said: ”When it came up and I saw the swastika, I knew I was looking at the absolute heart of darkness. All the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. It felt like the breath of Hitler himself.

”When artefacts come out of the water there's normally cheering. But when this Nazi symbol surfaced, there was just silence.”

Okay.

So if it was so utterly evil, why did you go to so much trouble to bring it back to the light of day??

$$$$$$$$$$$ rth:

 

[veritas1616]

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/25/world/americas/25ship.html?hp&ex=1156564800&en=f9b3234a39a8f82d&e

MONTEVIDEO, Uruguay, Aug. 24 — For more than 60 years, the scuttled wreck of the Graf Spee rested undisturbed in 65 feet of murky water just outside the harbor here. But now that fragments of the vessel, once the pride of the Nazi fleet, are being recovered, a new battle has broken out over who owns those spoils and what should be done with them.

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2006/08/25/world/25ship190.2.jp
g Associated Press
The Graf Spee, off Montevideo on Dec. 17, 1939, was scuttled to keep it out of British hands.

The New York Times
The sunken Graf Spee has rested since 1939 near Montevideo.



The private syndicate that recovered them wants to put the pieces up for auction, with the money to be divided evenly with the government, as law requires. But Uruguayan officials, fearing that an auction might let neo-Nazi groups acquire the artifacts, threaten to suspend the syndicate’s permit and take control of the salvaging operation themselves.

“There are ethical limits on the promotion of Nazi symbols in museums, so who are the potential buyers of these icons if not neo-Nazis?” said Miguel Esmoris, director of the government’s National Heritage Commission. “We’re not against salvagers making a profit, but this is formally an
archaeological site, and we cannot allow illicit trafficking in cultural and historical items.”

The first items recovered, a cannon and a rangefinder, in 2004, caused little debate, except when the rangefinder was used was used in a fashion show. There are other pieces, too. But the recovery of the vessel’s imposing nine-foot-high tailpiece, an eagle sitting atop a swastika, in February of this year and the announcement of plans to sell it ignited the current dispute.

Alfredo Etchegaray, a public relations executive, wedding and party organizer and amateur historian who leads the syndicate salvaging the Graf Spee, said that thus far his group had sunk $100,000 into the effort, excluding donated equipment and services.
His lawyer, Daniel Ferrere, said most of the investors were Uruguayans but “risk capital put up by Europeans and foreigners resident in Uruguay” was also involved.

Commissioned in 1936, the Graf Spee was the most lethal of a class of pocket battleships devel
oped by Nazi Germany. When World War II broke out, the vessel preyed on Allied shipping in the South Atlantic until a British-led battle group tracked it down at the mouth of the Rio de la Plata in December 1939.

In the battle that ensued, 113 crew members were killed. The Graf Spee’s captain navigated to the safety of Montevideo harbor, a neutral port, but when told he had to leave, he scuttled his vessel rather than let its innovative technology fall into British hands. Shortly afterward, he committed suicide.

“This was the first important Allied victory of World War II, so the Graf Spee is also a valuable trophy for Germany’s enemies,” Mr. Etchegaray said.

***************************************************
full story at link.

 

[Dragasès]

All the "neo-nazis" on the planet could not afford it. What's more, most of these people are vapid cretins who know almost nothing of National Socialism or the era of Adolf Hitler, nor could they hold their own in an intellectual discussion of anything above beer preferences.