What Britain was prepared to do if Graf Spee stayed

British planning sought to remove Graf Spee regardless of whether she sailed, remained at Montevideo, or attempted to reach Argentina. The cruisers were ready to close the coast if she moved, while Ark Royal hurried south with dive- and torpedo-bomber squadrons. This is an inference from the deployment: the carrier's speed and design for striking fleets in harbor point toward an attack on Graf Spee had she defied Uruguay and stayed. Such an operation would have violated Pan-American neutrality, but Britain could have portrayed it as assistance to Uruguayan authorities against a German warship already refusing their orders.