Quote:
Originally Posted by TiredOldSoldier
U-126 did not save Atlantis so it's far from certain that U-44 and U-46 could save Graf Spee assuming they got there in the first place.
Still a squadron engaged in close blockade far from it's bases and close to a neutral shore is horribly vulnerable to subs, the main defence of warships against subs is steaming out of range before the sub can get a good firing solution and ships that have to stay within a few miles of a port can't do that.
IMO Prepositiong subs in case a raider needed support would have been a waste of resources, getting some there after the battle was within the KM's capability but to be any use would have rerquired the political negotiations to go very differently from how they did historically.
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The only problem with your speculation about the British squadron being vulnerable to subs, is that the subs actually have to
be in the same ocean as the British cruisers.
In any case, German subs wouldn't be able to operate in the River Plate estuary where the British cruisers were. The estuary was 139 miles wide, but full of shifting sandbars, and only 30 to 60 feet deep. The British cruisers would be virtually immune to subs until the chase began and then the subs would have only a fleeting chance, if they were exceedingly lucky, to fire at the cruisers. A hit under those circumstances is about as lkely as that fortuitous rain squall.