# Movie question regarding the Battle of the River Plate **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 18, 2019, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-question-regarding-the-battle-of-the-river-plate/845014 "2019-12-18T00:40:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Declan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2019, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-question-regarding-the-battle-of-the-river-plate/845014/1 "2019-12-18T00:40:36Z")
A movie that came out in 1956 regarding the take down of the pocket Battleship Graf Spee. Was a Brooklyn Class Heavy Cruiser standing in for the GS ? Its explained some what in the movie that Capt Langsdorf had made an extra turret out of plywood and a smoke stack out of paper, and put a big white number on the bow to cause a bit of confusion to the enemy. Was this the best they could do shortly after world war 2 concidering that the English ships were on point. While no suriving copies of the Class would have survived, I think I would have perfered that they used models instead a stand in. ---
**Author:** ![steepone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/977dab/32.png) [@steepone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steepone)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2019, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-question-regarding-the-battle-of-the-river-plate/845014/2 "2019-12-18T03:09:05Z")
According to IMDB it was the USS Salem, a Des Moines class heavy cruiser, I don’t have a problem with the substitution of the ship but there are a couple of scenes on the ship showing gun crews wearing American style helmets which I find a bit jarring whenever I watch the movie The other ships used were H.M.S. Sheffield as H.M.S. Ajax I.N.S. Delhi (formerly H.M.N.Z. Achilles) as itself H.M.S Cumberland as itself H.M.S Jamaica as H.M.S Exeter ---
**Author:** ![Wargamer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/df705f/32.png) [@Wargamer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wargamer)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2019, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-question-regarding-the-battle-of-the-river-plate/845014/3 "2019-12-18T15:02:06Z")
Apropos of nothing related to the OP, but I read a quote recently about _H.M.S. Exeter_ that I found amusing. Not sure who said it, so I can’t properly attribute it, but here goes anyway. “The _Exeter_ looked like it was designed to sell to a country the United Kingdom was getting ready to declare war upon.” ---
**Author:** ![Wargamer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/df705f/32.png) [@Wargamer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wargamer)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2019, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-question-regarding-the-battle-of-the-river-plate/845014/4 "2019-12-18T15:03:34Z")
Apropos of nothing related to the OP, but I read a quote recently about _H.M.S. Exeter_ that I found amusing. Not sure who said it, so I can’t properly attribute it, but here goes anyway. “The _Exeter_ looked like it was designed to sell to a country the United Kingdom was getting ready to declare war upon.” ---
**Author:** ![gdave](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gdave/32/3683_2.png) [@gdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gdave)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2019, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-question-regarding-the-battle-of-the-river-plate/845014/5 "2019-12-18T15:51:25Z")
> [@steepone](#): > > According to IMDB it was the USS Salem, a Des Moines class heavy cruiser, I don’t have a problem with the substitution of the ship but there are a couple of scenes on the ship showing gun crews wearing American style helmets which I find a bit jarring whenever I watch the movie. Per the Wikipedia article on the movie, the USS Salem was an active duty U.S. Navy ship, which the Navy “lent” to the production, and the Navy refused to allow the crew to wear a foreign military helmet while on the ship. Per that article, the U.S. Navy also refused to allow German/Nazi emblems to be displayed on the ship, so footage showing the German flag was actually shot on a different, British, ship. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2019, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-question-regarding-the-battle-of-the-river-plate/845014/6 "2019-12-18T21:23:09Z")
> [@Wargamer](#): > > Apropos of nothing related to the OP, but I read a quote recently about _H.M.S. Exeter_ that I found amusing. Not sure who said it, so I can’t properly attribute it, but here goes anyway. > > “The _Exeter_ looked like it was designed to sell to a country the United Kingdom was getting ready to declare war upon.” Did Churchill say that? ---
**Author:** ![Declan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecae2f/32.png) [@Declan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Declan)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2019, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-question-regarding-the-battle-of-the-river-plate/845014/7 "2019-12-18T22:51:54Z")
> [@Wargamer](#): > > Apropos of nothing related to the OP, but I read a quote recently about _H.M.S. Exeter_ that I found amusing. Not sure who said it, so I can’t properly attribute it, but here goes anyway. > > “The _Exeter_ looked like it was designed to sell to a country the United Kingdom was getting ready to declare war upon.” Thats priceless lol