How British tactics misled Graf Spee

Did the British cruisers' approach at the River Plate deceive Graf Spee about what she was facing?

Yes; Langsdorff initially read Exeter and the two Leander-class cruisers as a light cruiser and two destroyers.

A viewer asks whether the British cruiser attack at the Battle of the River Plate itself created a deception. The way the ships handled themselves convinced Captain Hans Langsdorff that Graf Spee faced a light cruiser and two destroyers. The actual force was the heavy cruiser HMS Exeter with the Leander-class light cruisers Ajax and Achilles, a materially different threat. Misidentification shaped the German commander's opening expectations even though the British ships did not disguise their hulls.