Graf Spee had sailed into the South Atlantic in August 1939, before the war began, and had begun commerce raiding after receiving the appropriate authorisation on 26 September 1939. Harwood's squadron was one of several search groups sent in pursuit by the British Admiralty and sighted Graf Spee off the estuary of the River Plate ( the ) near the coasts of Argentina and Uruguay.
Graf Spee had sailed into the South Atlantic in August 1939, before the war began, and had begun commerce raiding after receiving the appropriate authorisation on 26 September 1939 Harwood's squadron was one of several search groups sent in pursuit by the British Admiralty and sighted Graf Spee off the estuary of the River Plate ( the ) near the coasts of Argentina and Uruguay.