MARKAS BESAR ANGKATAN LAUT NO PASIS : 135

SEKOLAH STAF DAN KOMANDO KELOMPOK : IX

RESENSI BUKU
PERANG EROPA JILID I

OLEH

ALFRED R.K FOX

LIEUTENANT COMMANDER 29811 (FIJI)

PASIS DIKREG SESKOAL ANGKATAN KE – 56

TP 2018
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IDENTITAS BUKU

Judul Buku : Perang Eropa Jilid I

Penulis : P.K. Ojong

Petrus Kanisius Ojong who was also known as Auwjong Peng Koen
was born in Bukittinggi in the province of West Sumatra, Indonesia
on 27July, 1920. He studied at a teacher’s college in Jakarta and
worked as a teacher from 1940 until 1942 when the Japanese
invaded Indonesia He graduated in 1952 from the Faculty of Law
University of Indonesia whilst working as a journalist. In 1965, he
founded the Kompas newspaper with Jakob Oetama. P.K. Ojong
wrote the European War series which consists of 3 volumes and also
wrote the book, the Pacific War. The author passed away in Jakarta
on 31 May, 1980 at the age of 59 years.

Penerbit : Penerbit Buku Kompas

Cetakan : Keenam, April 2006

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PENDAHULUAN

1. Umum

The German pocket battleship, Admiral Graf Spee under the command of Captain
Hans Langsdorff was ordered by the commander of the German Navy to sail into the
South Atlantic Ocean before the Germans invaded Poland in 1939 to conduct attacks
against British merchant ships. The British hunted the German pocket battleship until it
was located off the coast off South America where a battle now known as the “Battle of the
River Plate” was conducted between the Admiral Graf Spee against the British ships of
HMS Exeter, HMS Ajax and the New Zealand ship, HMS Achilles on 13 December 1939.
The battle saw the Admiral Graf Spee inflict heavy damage on the Exeter and drive off the
Ajax and Achilles. The Admiral Graf Spee suffered some damage and sailed into the
neutral port of Montevideo in Uruguay for repairs and replenishment. British diplomacy
influenced the Uruguayan authorities to either order the German pocket battleship to leave
or for the ship to be interned. With the assumption that a strong British naval force was
waiting outside the harbour, the Admiral Graf Spee moved out of the harbour on 17
December 1939 where Captain Langsdorff scuttled the ship with explosives after he and
his men had moved onto small boats. The captain committed suicide two days later in
Bueno Aires, Argentina where he and his men were interned.
The Admiral Graf Spee was commisioned in 1936 and was a pocket battleship that
was produced by Germany to get around the Treaty of Versailles which forbid the
Germans from making battleships. The pocket batttle ship had eight diesel engines which
gave a top speed of 26 knots; was faster than other battleships. The Admiral Graf Spee
had six 11 inch main gun battery and eight six inch support guns with a broadside range of
30,000 yards which was superior to any weaponry carried by a British heavy cruiser. Her
armour, at 5.5 inches, was sufficient to resist shells up to 8 inches. In spite of the
characteristics of the pocket battleship, the Germans with a small fleet was an inferior
force that could not show blatant force against the Allied warships. Hitler therefore was
forced to limit his strategy at sea to “commerce raiding to disrupt the maritime trade on
which the British economy depended. The Admiral Graf Spee’s primary operational area
was the South Atlantic, but it was also authorised to operate in the central Atlantic and
southern Indian Ocean with the primary aim to sink Allied merchant ships. The pocket
battleship was also ordered to depart secretly before the war started because the
Germans knew that the British would blockade German shipping as soon as war broke
out.
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The British had received information from spies in Germany that the Admiral Graf
Spee had sailed to sea. The Admiralty in London gave instructions to the captains of
British merchant ships to immediately send news through the radio once the identity of an
enemy warship was known. The British started hunting for the Admiral Graf Spee in the
Atlantic Ocean after reports of the attacks on merchant ships by the German pocket
battleship. Great Britain’s naval force in the South Atlantic under the command of
Commodore Henry Harwood was made up of four cruisers i.e. HMS Exeter, HMS Ajax,
HMS Cumberland and HMNZS Achilles. Harwood knew that the Admiral Graf Spee was in
the South Atlantic somewhere but not of the exact position. Based on the reports of two
merchant ships sunk by the German pocket battleship off the African Coast in the
beginning of the month of December 1939, Harwood estimated that the Admiral Graf
Spee could be off the east coast of South American by 12 December. He had only
available the three ships, Ajax Exeter and Achilles, as Cumberland was undertaking
routine self maintenance at the Falkland Islands and decided to concentrate his force in
the River Plate area where the Admiral Graf Spee was located on 13 December 1939.

2. Ringkasan Buku

The Admiral Graf Speeto departed the base of Wilhelmshaven in North Germany on
23 August 1939 and sailed into the Atlantic Ocean. Although expecting orders earlier, the
ship received orders on 26 September in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean to conduct
"Commerce Raiding" after it became clear that Britain would not accept a peace treaty
following Germany’s conquest of Poland. The Admiral Graf Spee met its first prey; the
cargo ship Clement, (5050 tons) off the coast of Brazil which sent a "RRR" signal ("I am
under attack by a raider") before the pocket battleship ordered her to stop. The Clement
was sunk after her men were transferred to lifeboats except for the captain and the chief
engineer who were taken onboard Admiral Graf Spee as prisoners. Captain Langsdorff
ordered a distress signal sent to the US naval station in Pernambuco, Brazil to ensure the
rescue of the ship's crew using the name “Admiral Sheer” to confuse the British about the
name of the raider The Admiral Graf Spee sank nine British merchant ships without loss of
life between the months of September and December 2018 and used tactics such as
rapidly moving away from positions of attack along with altering her silhouette significantly
in a bid to confuse allied shipping as to her true identity.
After the attack on the Clement, the British had issued a warning to merchant
shipping that a German surface raider was in the area and the British naval ships based in
the South Atlantic began searching for the Admiral Graf Spee. The British cruisers Exeter,
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Ajax, and Achilles, commanded by Commodore Harwood, located the Admiral Graf Spee
on the morning of 13 December 1939 off the River Plate in South America. The Ajax
observed smoke on the horizon and the Exeter was ordered to investigate who then
reported that the contact was a pocket battleship. Graf Spee was steering directly towards
the three ships and opened fire on Exeter, causing damage to the ship’s gunnery and
steering communications as well as killing a number of men. Exeter opened fire and a hit
was landed on Admiral Graf Spee but the German pocket battle ship continued firing
which caused damage on the bridge and causing more casualities. In accordance with the
Harwood’s plan, while Exeter exchanged fire with the pocket battleship, Ajax and Achilles
crossed to the opposite sides of Admiral Graf Spee and opened fire closing the range
between the ships. As the range between the ships reduced the Admral Graf Spee shifted
target to Ajax which after taking several hits altered course slightly away to throw off the
fire. Captain Langsdorff also altered course and the range between Admiral Graf Spee
and the Ajax and Achilles opened so the pocket battleship again concentrated on Exeter.
who returned fire and inflicted a few hits on the Admiral Graf Spee. Exeter soon had all
guns out of action and the German ship shifted target to the Achilles and Ajax. Achilles
suffered a hit which killed and wounded several men. The Admiral Graf Spee then shifted
fire again to Exeter but did not make any further hits because of problems with its forward
guns. Ajax and Achilles then closed again on the German ships and opened fire which
started hitting the Admiral Graf Speer and caused some damage. When Ajax reported a
shortage of ammunition and Exeter out of action, Commodore Harwood decided to break
off the action and take up a shadowing position. The Admiral Graf Spee ship had received
numerous hits and while none of them threatened the ship directly, the damage on the
freshwater plant and steam plant for the fuel separators affected its ability to undertake a
long sea journey. Captain Langsdorff decided the vessel was no longer seaworthy and
sailed into the neutral port of Montevideo, Uruguay on 14 December for repairs and
replenishment.
According to international law, a warship could only remain in a neutral port for 24
hours and although this rule was not ussually adhered to, Uruguay with behind the scenes
influence of British diplomacy gave Captain Langsdorff only 72 hours to stay in port. The
British used propaganda through disinformation which amongst others were reports of
sightings of strong force of British navy ships outside the port and also British ships were
refueling in the port of Buenos Aires in Argentina which lay opposite of Montevideo. In fact,
only the Ajax and the Achilles had been reenforced by the cruiser, Cumberland ouside the
port. The German pocket battleship could not be repaired sufficiently in three days for
either battle or a long voyage and Captain Langsdorff was faced with three options i.e. he
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could try to break out through the British line, he could let Admiral Graf Spee be interned
or he could scuttle the ship. Berlin was advised of these options and responded with the
order that he was not to allow the ship to be interned in a neutral port and to submerge the
ship if he could not go to Buenos Aires.
On 17 December, the Admiral Graf Spee moved out of the port where Captain
Landsorff and his men were transferred to other small boats before the ship was scuttled
by explosives. Captain Landsorff commited suicide on 19 December in Argentina where
he and his men were interned after writing letters explaining his actions and ending with
the words: "No captain with any sense of duty and honour can separate his fate from that
of his ship."

PENILAIAN BUKU

3. Kelebihan dan Kekurangan

Chapter 8 of the book, Perang Eropa Jilid I, has clearly presented the story of the
Admiral Graf Spee and the events surrounding her deployment into the South Atlantic
Ocean to conduct “commerce raiding” until she is scuttled outside the port of Montevideo
after batte with three British naval ships off the River Plate on the estern coast on South
America. The Germans used the strategy of disrupting the British economy by using the
tactic of raiding British merchant shipping. The strategy shows that if a country’s abilty to
trade is cut off, then it would be easier to conduct a more successful military campaign but
the British were desperate for the Germans not to succeed with the strategy and used a
large number of ships to hunt down the German raiders. The Germans also they
understood their naval inferiority to show blatant force against a powerful British Navy
which is based on Sun Tzu’s maxim of “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you
need not fear the result of a hundred battles”. Even though the Admiral Graf Spee was
better armed and faster than any other battle ship; the Germans knew she would be
defeated if she engaged with a group of British cruisers so the German battle ship was
sent to conduct commerce raiding with orders to avoid combat. Unfortunately the Admiral
Graf Spee was located by three British cruiser who conducted group attack tactics to
defeat her. This also gives the lesson that a powerful enemy can be defeated with smart
tactics.
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4. Manfaat yang Dapat Diambil

The story on the Admiral Graf Spee is very useful as a reference in understanding
the battle conditions of naval ships in World War II. Even though technology has advanced
in this modern age; the strategies and tactics used is still relevant now and into the future.
For naval officers, the story in the book is very useful in order to increase knowledge,
develop insight and understand what strategies and tactics navies will use to defeat their
enemy.

PENUTUP

5. Kesimpulan

Bab 8 of Eropa Perang Jilid I has presented the strategies and tactics used by the
British and Germany in World War II; and which will be still relevant in the future. The
advent of technology by the Germans in their production of the pocket battleship was
defeated with smart tactics by the determined British who knew that their future lay in the
merchant trade that was supporting the British economy and war effort. The book presents
strategies that island nation heavily reliant on maritime trade should prioritise in order to
protect her citizens in future times of conflict.

Jakarta, 28 Juni 2018

Penulis

Alfred R.K Fox

LCDR 29811 (Fiji)