Ajax commands by eye and loses half her main battery

Ajax carries both her captain and Commodore Harwood, so command depends on two senior officers sharing an exposed view from the superstructure. Graf Spee has radar and the British ships do not, but neither side can yet command this kind of battle from a radar display. Ajax begins with eight 6-inch guns in four twin turrets and ends with only the forward four guns working after X and Y turrets are knocked out. Harwood must combine damage reports with ammunition states across both surviving light cruisers. Together Ajax and Achilles retain about twelve working 6-inch guns in six turrets, but the flagship supplies only four of those guns. This reduced fighting strength helps explain why Harwood later holds off instead of treating Graf Spee's withdrawal as permission for an immediate final attack.