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German naval officer (1894–1939) best known as captain of the pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee. After the ship was damaged and trapped following the 1939 Battle of the River Plate, Langsdorff ordered her scuttled off Montevideo; three days later, he died by suicide in Buenos Aires. Extremely rare partly-printed DS, in German, signed “Langsdorff,” one page, 13 x 9.75, dated 1939. Printed commendation certificate ("Anerkennung") for Senior Machinist's Mate Christiansen of the crew of the Panzerschiff Admiral Graf Spee, featuring an etching of the ship, boldly signed in fountain pen by Captain Hans Langsdorff, commander of the Graf Spee, and stamped with the ship's Kommando seal. In fine condition.
The Admiral Graf Spee was one of Nazi Germany’s most celebrated surface raiders at the opening of World War II, preying on Allied merchant shipping in the South Atlantic under Captain Hans Langsdorff. In December 1939, the ship was engaged by three British cruisers in the Battle of the River Plate and forced into neutral Montevideo for repairs. Convinced that a superior British force awaited him outside the harbor, Langsdorff chose to scuttle the Graf Spee on December 17 rather than risk the lives of his crew in a hopeless engagement. He died by suicide in Buenos Aires three days later, making documents signed by him during his brief wartime command exceptionally scarce.
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