Date in year · 1939 · The 1930s
On December 13, 1939, the Battle of the River Plate is fought off the coast of Uruguay; the first naval battle of World War II. The Kriegsmarine's Deutschland-class cruiser (pocket battleship) Admiral Graf Spee engages with three Royal Navy cruisers: HMS Ajax, HMNZS Achilles and HMS Exeter. Clay Shaw, Ali Khamenei, Karel Gott would arrive in the same year.
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1939
1930s
Featured · December 13, 1939
The Battle of the River Plate was fought in the South Atlantic on 13 December 1939 as the first British naval battle of the Second World War.
Around 1939
1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1939th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 939th year of the 2nd millennium, the 39th year of the 20th century, and the 10th and last year of the 1930s decade.
What happened
First naval battle of the Second World War
The Battle of the River Plate was fought in the South Atlantic on 13 December 1939 as the first British naval battle of the Second World War.
Elsewhere that year
The class of 1939
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