Harwood divides Graf Spee's fire

Graf Spee opens the action with the advantage in gun size and range, but Langsdorff misidentifies Ajax and Achilles as destroyers and divides his fire. To keep the fast-moving action in view, he commands from an exposed position high in Graf Spee and is wounded several times. Harwood's ships accelerate to roughly 25 to 30 knots while using concentrated fire and preserving the arcs needed to bring their batteries to bear. Their separated bearings force the German ship to choose between threats instead of holding one concentrated group at long range. The wind keeps Graf Spee's gun smoke away from her sights, yet also makes smoke less useful if she needs to disengage. Harwood's advantages in numbers and speed are already becoming a practical tactical problem for the more heavily armed raider.