Neutrality law and the intended pressure on Graf Spee

Force K's planned concentration raises a problem under the Hague rules governing belligerent warships in neutral ports. In this interpretation, Renown and Ark Royal were too valuable and were driven south too urgently for their role to have been limited to watching Graf Spee. The Royal Navy had a record of acting first when strategic necessity seemed to demand it, as the Altmark incident and later attack at Mers-el-Kebir illustrate. British commanders could have claimed that Uruguay lacked the power to enforce internment or that Graf Spee was preparing to escape, making this a useful case study in the tension between neutrality law and wartime coercion.