Rodney Sturdee was a midshipman in the heavy cruiser Exeter during the Battle of the River Plate in December 1939, which resulted in the destruction of the German warship Admiral Graf Spee, a timely tonic early in the Second World War during a depressing period of mixed disaster and inactivity.
Commander Richard Jennings, won the DSC as Gunnery Officer of the cruiser Exeter at the Battle of the River Plate; he later won a bar to his DSC and the DSO.
In the early months of the Second World War, the German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee was conducting commerce-raiding in the South Atlantic. One of the Royal Navy's hunting groups formed to track down the German ship was Force "G" under Commodore Harwood, comprising Exeter and the smaller cruisers Ajax and Achilles.
Graf Spee and Force "G" sighted each other early in the morning of December 13 1939. Armed with six 11 in guns, the pocket battleship opened fire first, but was soon answered by Exeter's three twin 8 in turrets, while the smaller 6 in gun cruisers formed a separate group to divide the enemy's fire.
Exeter was soon hit, "B" turret being put out of action and Captain Bell, the Commanding Officer, being one of only three survivors on the bridge. Jennings managed to straddle the Graf Spee with his third salvo and by now the German Captain Langsdorff had switched attention to the smaller ships, believing them to pose a torpedo threat.
When Exeter tried to torpedo the larger enemy, Langsdorff turned again to engage her. This time "A" turret was destroyed, fires started and damage to the hull caused Exeter to start taking in water. Jennings made his way aft and, despite having had one eardrum burst by the shock of a nearby gun firing, and blood pouring out of the other ear, directed the fire of the sole remaining turret by shouting orders through an open hatch.
Though badly damaged, the ship continued to engage the enemy until flooding disabled the after turret as well. With 61 dead and 23 wounded and no main armament, Exeter could do no more.
The Graf Spee had by this time suffered considerable damage herself from all three British ships and retired to Montevideo. Four days later, believing that a powerful British squadron now awaited him, Langsdorff scuttled his ship. It was the Royal Navy's first notable victory of the war, and Jennings was one of two recipients of the DSC on board Exeter.