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| Uruguay court orders sale of WWII Nazi eagle from sunken warship |
| 2019-06-24 |
| [DAWN] A court in Uruguay has ruled that a bronze Nazi eagle from a German destroyer that fought in one of the first naval skirmishes of World War II must be sold. Half the proceeds will go to the government and half to the salvage team that found the insignia in the River Plate off Montevideo in 2006 after a decade of searching, the ruling said. This 50-50 split is stipulated in an agreement the salvagers signed with the Uruguayan navy in 2004. The treasure hunters had filed suit arguing the government reneged on that deal. Since it was found, the sculpture ‐ seen as likely to fetch a handsome sum at auction ‐ from the ship called the Admiral Graf Spee has been kept in a navy warehouse. It features an eagle with its wings spread wide open and clutching a swastika in its talons. The sculpture adorned the stern of the Graf Spee, the pride of the German navy. A salvage team led by two Uruguayan brothers, Alfredo and Felipe Etchegaray, filed for permission to search for the eagle in 1997. The team welcomed the ruling, which said the sculpture must be sold in 90 days. "Justice is being done," Alfredo Etchegaray said. The Graf Spee’s captain, Hans Langsdorff, scuttled the battleship on December 17, 1939 following the Battle of the River Plate. The Nazi ship, one of the Third Reich’s largest battleships, briefly sought sanctuary in Montevideo’s harbour from two British ships and a New Zealand battleship that were seeking to sink the Graf Spee. After sailing out of the harbour, Langsdorff ordered the Graf Spee scuttled ‐ he apparently fell for a ruse designed to convince him a large British naval force was awaiting him in international waters. Several days after that humiliation, Langsdorff did away with himself. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #5 Yeah - I couldn't remember exactly what type of ship the Graf Spee was, but it sure as heck wasn't a destroyer. It was actually a heavy cruiser, aka a pocket battleship. |
| Posted by: Rambler in Virginia 2019-06-24 11:00 |
| #4 Ten minutes on Wikipedia could've educated the author ... |
| Posted by: Bobby 2019-06-24 10:08 |
| #3 Discouraging, but not too surprising: AFP story on Pak site, written by an Uruguayan with an Italian name who looks like a hippie. Military and maritime matters (and English) possibly not the collective strong points? |
| Posted by: Ebbang Sheter4523 2019-06-24 08:46 |
| #2 "a German destroyer" - "Graf Spee, the pride of the German navy" From another sterling graduate of Journalism School |
| Posted by: Mercutio 2019-06-24 07:41 |
| #1 The description of the ship and events is so sloppy. This is why I have no respect for journalists and their editors. They're all as dumb as a bag of balls. |
| Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839 2019-06-24 06:11 |