Battle of the River Plate and Sonic R: Difference between pages

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Revision as of 01:45, 31 October 2005

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{{Infobox CVG| title = Sonic R

{| border=1 width=300 cellpadding=2 cellspacing=0 align=right style="margin-left:1em;margin-bottom:1em"

|image = [[Image:SonicR.jpg|200px|box cover]]

|+ Battle after: [[First Battle of Narvik]]

|developer = [[Traveller's Tales]]

|-

|publisher = [[Sega]]

|colspan=2|[[Image:Admiral Graf Spee Scuttled.jpg|300px|Scuttling of the Admiral Graf Spee]]<br><center><small>''Admiral Graf Spee'' burning and sinking, as seen from Montevideo harbour</small></center>

|designer =

|-

|engine =

!colspan=2 style="color:#2222cc" bgcolor=#ccffcc|Battle of the River Plate

|released = [[1997]], [[1999]]

|-

|genre = [[Racing game|Racing]]

|Conflict||[[World War II]]

|modes = [[Single player]], [[multiplayer]]

|-

|ratings = [[Entertainment Software Rating Board|ESRB]]:Kids to Adults(K-A)

|Date||[[December 13]], [[1939]]

|platforms = [[Personal computer|PC]], [[Sega Saturn|Saturn]]

|-

|media =

|Place||Off the [[River Plate]] estuary, [[South Atlantic]].

|requirements =

|-

|input =

|Result||Marginal United Kingdom victory

}}[[Image:Super_Sonic_Racing.jpg|200px|thumb|right|A screenshot of the [[Personal computer|PC]] version of ''Sonic R''.]]

|-

|colspan=2|

{| border=1 width=300 cellpadding=2 cellspacing=0

|-

!colspan=2 style="color:#2222cc" bgcolor=#ccffcc|Combatants

|-

| width=50%|[[Nazi Germany]]

| width=50%|[[United Kingdom]] & [[New Zealand]]

|-

!colspan=2|Commanders

|-

|Captain [[Hans Langsdorff]]

|Commodore/Rear Admiral [[Henry Harwood]]

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!colspan=2|Strength

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|Armoured cruiser ''Admiral Graf Spee''

|1 heavy cruiser, 2 light cruisers

|-

!colspan=2|Casualties

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|''Admiral Graf Spee'' scuttled after battle

|Heavy cruiser [[HMS Exeter|HMS ''Exeter'']] heavily damaged

|}

|}

'''''Sonic R''''' (the R stands for racing) is a [[racing game]] developed by [[Traveller's Tales]] and [[Sonic Team]] for the [[Sega Saturn]] and [[Personal computer|PC]], the latter version being ported to the [[Nintendo GameCube|GameCube]] and [[PlayStation 2]] in ''[[Sonic Gems Collection]]''. It features characters from the ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog]]'' series. The game is characterized by the same sense of environmental openness in the Sonic [[platform game|platformers]]. It contains colorful [[3D computer graphics|3D]] [[computer graphics|graphics]] combined with a strong soundtrack by [[Richard Jacques]] (including songs performed by [[Great Britain|British]] [[singer]] [[T. J. Davis]]). The Saturn version has a severe case of graphical pop-up while the PC version is generally much cleaner (although it sometimes has issues installing/running on [[Windows XP]] and later).

The '''Battle of the River Plate''' ({{battle|1939|12|13|region=NZ}}) was the first major naval battle of [[World War II]]. The [[Nazi Germany|German]] [[pocket battleship]] ([[heavy cruiser]]) ''[[Admiral Graf Spee]]'' which had been [[commerce raiding]] since the start of the war in [[September]] was engaged by two [[Royal Navy]] [[cruiser]]s, HMS ''Exeter'' and ''Ajax'', plus New Zealand's HMS ''Achilles'' off the [[River Plate]] estuary. In the ensuing battle, ''Exeter'' was severly damaged and forced to retire, while all other ships received moderate damage. ''Ajax'' and ''Achilles'' then shadowed the ''Graf Spee'' which entered neutral [[Montevideo]]. After a tense period, the captain of the ''Graf Spee'', [[Hans Langsdorff]] scuttled his ship rather than face battle again.

== Background Gameplay==

There are several collectable rings across each of the five racetracks. Each ring regenerates after a short period of time. These rings can serve one of three purposes.

[[image:HMSO Graf Spee cruise.jpg|thumb|left|The route of ''Admiral Graf Spee's'' cruise &mdash; from the British HMSO report]]

* Stepping on a speed boost will consume all of a player's rings, to a maximum of 50, and boost the player ahead along a preset path. The boost is at a speed approximately three times the normal maximum speed of a character and lasts for a duration [[Proportionality (mathematics)|proportional to]] the number of rings deducted.

''Admiral Graf Spee'' had been at sea at the start of the [[Second World War]] in [[September]] [[1939]] and had sunk several merchantmen.

* Special doors on the tracks can open if a player reaches them with twenty or fifty rings (depending on the door). Twenty-ring doors frequently hide tokens, shortcuts, or both. Fifty-ring doors frequently hide Chaos Emeralds, shortcuts, or both. After being opened, the doors remain open for all players for the duration of the game.

* Some characters can perform an attack for 10 rings (see below).

There are also inexhaustible emblem bonuses. Touching an emblem gives the racer one of multiple possible rewards, including a random number of rings and the bubble and lightning shields that appeared in ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog 3]]''. The bubble shield allows the racer to walk on water once, after which it disappears. The lightning shield attracts rings to itself, but is eliminated upon touching water (or after having it for a long enough time).

The Royal Navy assembled forces to search for the surface raider. Force G, the South American Cruiser Squadron comprised the [[County class cruiser|County class]] [[heavy cruiser]] [[HMS Exeter (68)|HMS ''Exeter'']] (8,400 tonnes, six 8-[[inch]] (203 [[millimetre|mm]]) guns) and two [[Leander class cruiser (1931)|Leander class]] [[light cruiser]]s (both 7,000 [[tons]], eight 6-inch (152 mm) guns) &mdash; [[HMS Ajax (22)|HMS ''Ajax'']] and [[HMNZS Achilles (70)|HMS ''Achilles'']] ^{[[#Footnote|1]]}. The force was commanded by Commodore [[Henry Harwood]] from ''Ajax'', which was captained by [[Charles Woodhouse]]. ''Achilles'' was of the [[New Zealand]] Division (precursor to the [[Royal New Zealand Navy]]) and captained by [[Edward Parry]]. ''Exeter'' was captained by F.S. Bell. A second County class cruiser, [[HMS Cumberland (C57)|HMS ''Cumberland'']] (10,000 tons, eight 8-inch (203 mm) guns) was self-refitting in the [[Falkland Islands]] at the time, though available at short notice.

There are five racers in each race. The four racers selected depend on what character the player chooses. If the player chooses a secret character, he'll face the other secret characters that have been unlocked. If the player chooses a starting character, he races against the other starting characters. For the purposes of selecting the racers, Dr. Robotnik is treated as a starting character.

Unable to divide his force, Harwood suspected that the raider would try to strike next at the merchant shipping off the [[River Plate]] estuary between [[Uruguay]] and [[Argentina]]. The three cruisers were convened off the estuary on [[12 December]] and conducted manoeuvres.

Racers can run on water for a limited period of time, and can "swim" in it indefinetely, at greatly reduced speed. In addition, each of the ten playable characters has a different speed and a unique set of abilities. Unlike most racing games, these abilities are designed such that certain characters, even among characters that are initially playable, have a clear edge over others.

== The battle ==

[[image:HMSO Graf Spee battle map.jpg|thumb|left|HMSO chart of the engagement]]

At about 06:14 local time (GMT -2) on [[13 December]] the ships sighted each other and closed. ''Admiral Graf Spee'', despite having correctly identified ''Exeter'' initially suspected that the two light cruisers were smaller [[destroyer]]s and that the British ships were protecting a merchant convoy, the destruction of which would be a major prize.

===Main characters===

The British executed their battle plan; ''Exeter'' turned to the north-west whilst ''Ajax'' and ''Achilles'', operating together, turned to the north-east. The ''Graf Spee'' opened fire with her six 11-inch (279 mm) guns at 06:18, eventually splitting her turrets between the two targets, as the British had hoped. ''Exeter'' opened fire at 06:20, ''Achilles'' at 06:21, ''Exeter's'' aft guns at 06:22 and ''Ajax'' at 06:23.

The following are the characters that are initially playable:

* [[Sonic]] is the fastest of the characters that are initially playable. He can double jump.

At 06:23 an 11-inch (279 mm) [[shell (projectile)|shell]] burst just short of ''Exeter'', abreast the middle of the ship. Splinters from this shell killed the torpedo tubes' crews, damaged the ship's communications, and riddled the [[funnel (ship)|funnels]] and [[searchlights]]. One minute later ''Exeter'' suffered a direct hit. This shell struck her B-turret, putting it and its two guns out of action. Shrapnel swept the bridge, killing or wounding all bridge personnel except the captain and two others. Wheelhouse communications were wrecked. Communications from the [[aft]] conning position were also destroyed, and the ship had to be steered via a chain of messengers for the rest of the battle.

* [[Tails]] can fly at a fixed level for an unlimited period of time.

* [[Knuckles]] can glide for an unlimited period of time, gradually losing height. However, he cannot latch onto or climb walls as in all other games in which he has appeared.

* [[Amy Rose]] drives a car and can hover over water. She also has the ability to use a speed boost, although she can't turn very well while doing so. She is extremely slow.

===Secret characters===

Meanwhile ''Ajax'' and ''Achilles'' had closed and started making in front of the ''Graf Spee'', causing ''Admiral Graf Spee'' to split her main armament at 06:30, and otherwise using her 5.9-inch (150 mm) guns against them.

The secret characters, with the exception of [[Super Sonic]], can be unlocked by collecting all five coins on a racetrack and finish first, second, or third. Upon doing so, the player will be challenged by one of the following characters, depending on the racetrack:

* [[Dr. Robotnik]] ([[Doctor Eggman|Dr. Eggman]] in the [[Japan]]ese version), who races in his personal [[hi-tech]] [[aircraft]], can do a short-range [[heat-seeking]] attack at a cost of 10 rings. The attack will eliminate the target's shield if it has one and slow it down if it does not. He is particularly slow.

At 06:32 ''Exeter'' fired two [[torpedo]]es from her [[starboard]] tubes but both missed. At 06:37 ''Ajax'' [[Aircraft catapult|catapulted]] her spotter [[aircraft]]. At 06:38 ''Exeter'' turned so that she could fire her [[Port (nautical)|port]] torpedoes, and received two more direct hits from 11-inch (279 mm) shells. One hit A-turret and put it out of action, the other entered the hull and started fires. At this point ''Exeter'' was severely damaged, having only Y-turret in action, a seven degree list, was being flooded and being steered with the use of her small boat's [[compass]].

* [[Metal Sonic]] is an improved version of its counterpart. It has a very high single jump and doesn't fall into water if it constantly jumps.

* [[Tails Doll]] can hover on water. Additionally, it can hover indefinetely a certain distance above the ground or water. Some say he can come out of the TV and "get" people, but that is not true

* [[Metal Knuckles]] is an improved version of its counterpart. It has a much better glide than Knuckles. It is notably fast. Also, it is one of the more difficult secret characters to obtain.

* [[Eggrobo]] is a [[humanoid]] [[robot]] whose head and body are shaped like an egg. Its abilities are similar to those of Robotnik, but it is slow compared to the other secret characters.

===Super Sonic===

At 06:40 an 11-inch (279 mm) shell burst just short of ''Achilles'', in line with the bridge, damaging her and causing a few casualties, However, gunnery continued from the secondary control position. At about this time ''Admiral Graf Spee'' turned to the west under the cover of a [[smokescreen]]. The light cruisers were now doing about 31 [[Knot (speed)|knots]], having worked up to speed from 14 knots initially.

[[Super Sonic]] is the fastest racer, and also the hardest to unlock. He can double jump and can run on the surface of water, provided that he does not slow down. To unlock him, the player must collect all seven [[Chaos Emerald]]s scoured throughout the five racetracks. When a player collects one, he must finish in first place to keep it.

When playing as Super Sonic in the Radiant Emerald stage, the music is different; it plays the Sonic R theme song (''Super Sonic Racing'') instead of ''Diamond in the Sky''.

At 06:56, ''Ajax'' and ''Achilles'' turned to starboard to bring all their guns to bear, causing at 07:10 ''Admiral Graf Spee'' to turn away and lay a smokescreen. At 07:10 the two light cruisers turned to reduce the range from 8 [[mile]]s (13 [[kilometre|km]]), even though this meant only their forward guns could fire.

===Other modes===

At 07:16 ''Admiral Graf Spee'' turned to port and headed straight for the heavily damaged ''Exeter'', but fire from ''Ajax'' and ''Achilles'' forced the Graf Spee at 07:20 to turn and fire her 11-inch (279 mm) guns at them, who turned to starboard to bring all their guns to bear.

Aside from the main game, there are three special gameplay modes accessible from Time Attack mode: reverse, in which racing occurs facing the opposite direction, break five balloons, and tag four players.

==Versions==

Ajax turned to starboard at 07:24 and fired her torpedoes at a range of 4.5 miles (7 km), causing ''Admiral Graf Spee'' to turn away under a smokescreen.

For the PC version the graphics were somewhat modified. For example races occur in random weather conditions, either normal, rainy, or snowy, unless the default settings are altered. Snowy weather freezes the water so that racers can run across it without sinking.

The version of the game in ''Sonic Gems Collection'' is similar to the PC version. Minor differences include that there is no Network option on the main menu and that the Options menu is slightly different.

At 07:25 ''Ajax'' was hit by an 11-inch (279 mm) shell that put X-turret out of action and jammed Y-turret, causing some casualties.

At 07:30 ''Exeter's'' remaining turret was put out of action by loss of electrical power caused by flooding. Severely damaged, unable to fire and keep up with the action, ''Exeter'' broke off at about 07:40 and steamed slowly towards the Falklands.

{{SonicGames}}

By 07:40, ''Ajax'' and ''Achilles'' were running low on ammunition and the British decided to change tactics, moving to the east under a smokescreen. Harwood decided to [[Surveillance|shadow]] ''Admiral Graf Spee'' and try to attack at night when he could attack with torpedoes and better utilise his advantage of speed and manoeuvrability while minimising his deficiencies in armour. ''Ajax'' was again hit by an 11-inch (279 mm) shell that destroyed her mast and caused some casualties. ''Admiral Graf Spee'' continued on a westward course.

[[Category:PC games]]

[[Category:Sega Saturn games]]

== The pursuit ==

[[Category:Sonic the Hedgehog games]]

The battle now turned into a pursuit. The British and New Zealand cruisers split up keeping about 15 miles (24 km) from ''Admiral Graf Spee'', ''Ajax'' keeping to the German's port and ''Achilles'' to the starboard.

[[Category:Racing computer games]]

[[Category: 1997 computer and video games]]

At 09:15 ''Ajax'' recovered her aircraft. At 09:46 Harwood signalled to ''Cumberland'' for reinforcements and the Admiralty also ordered ships within 3,000 miles (5,000 km) to proceed to the River Plate.

[[Category: 1998 computer and video games]]

[[fr:Sonic R]]

At 10:05 ''Achilles'' had overestimated the ''Graf Spee's'' speed and came into range of German guns. ''Admiral Graf Spee'' turned and fired two three-gun salvoes with her foreguns. ''Achilles'' turned away under a smokescreen.

The shadowing continued for the rest of the day until 19:15, when ''Admiral Graf Spee'' turned and opened fire on ''Ajax'', who turned away under a smokescreen.

It was now clear that ''Admiral Graf Spee'' was entering the River Plate. As the estuary had [[sandbank]]s, Harwood ordered ''Achilles'' to shadow ''Admiral Graf Spee'' while ''Ajax'' would cover any attempt to double back through a different channel.

The sun set at 20:48, ''Admiral Graf Spee'' [[silhouette]]d against the sun. ''Achilles'' again had closed the range and ''Admiral Graf Spee'' opened fire, ''Achilles'' turning away.

The ''Graf Spee'' entered Montevideo in [[Neutral country|neutral]] [[Uruguay]] and dropped [[anchor]] at about 00:10 on the [[14 December]]. This was a political error, as Uruguay, while neutral, favoured the Allies. Buenos Aires, Argentina was on the other side of the wide estuary, and Argentina, while neutral, favoured Germany.

The damaged Ajax was withdrawn, leaving the 'Achilles' as the only Commonwealth warship available if the 'Admiral Graf Spee' should reappear.

== In Montevideo ==

[[image:HMSO Graf Spee map of River Plate.jpg|thumb|right|Map of the [[River Plate]] showing possible exit channels]]

Initially, the British diplomats in Uruguay tried to have ''Admiral Graf Spee'' forced to leave the neutral port immediately. After consultation with London, who were of course aware that there were no significant British naval forces in the area, they continued to demand openly that the Graf Spee leave, but secretly arranged that British merchant ships would sail from Montevideo at intervals of 24 hours, whether ready to sail or not. This prevented the Graf Spee from leaving, under the terms of a rule which prevented a belligerent warship from leaving a neutral port less than 24 hours after a merchant ship of the other side, and thus allowed more time for British forces to reach the area.

British efforts were made to feed false [[Military espionage|intelligence]] to the Germans that an overwhelming British force was being assembled, including the [[aircraft carrier]] [[HMS Ark Royal (91)|HMS ''Ark Royal'']] and the [[battlecruiser]] [[HMS Renown (1916)|HMS ''Renown'']], when in fact only the heavy cruiser [[HMS Cumberland (C57)|HMS ''Cumberland'']] was nearby. ''Cumberland'' arrived at 22:00 on [[14 December]] after steaming at full speed for 36 hours from the Falkland Islands. Though several warships were steaming to the ___location at full speed, none would have arrived for days; ''Cumberland'', with 8-inch (203mm) guns, was little more powerful than ''Exeter'', and no match alone for ''Admiral Graf Spee'', whose 11-inch (279mm) guns had longer range and fired much heavier shells.

Intense [[negotiations]] were undertaken. While the ship was prevented from leaving the harbour, Captain Langsdorff consulted with his command in Germany. He received orders that permitted various options, but not [[internment]] in Uruguay. Ultimately he chose to scuttle his ship in the [[River Plate]] estuary ([[December 17]]) to avoid risk to his crew, a decision that is said to have infuriated [[Adolf Hitler|Hitler]]. The crew of ''Admiral Graf Spee'' was taken to [[Buenos Aires]], where Captain Langsdorff subsequently committed suicide on [[19 December]]. Some crew members were reported to have moved to [[Montevideo]] with the help of local people of German origin.

== Aftermath ==

The German [[propaganda]] machine had reported that ''Admiral Graf Spee'' had sunk a heavy cruiser and heavily damaged two light cruisers while only being lightly damaged herself &mdash; her scuttling was therefore difficult to explain. The Battle of the River Plate was a contributory factor to Adolf Hitler's low opinion of the German surface fleet. The battle was a major propaganda victory for the British during the [[Phoney War]], and the reputation of the [[First Lord of the Admiralty]] [[Winston Churchill]] was enhanced.

''Exeter'', badly damaged, was taken to the Falkland Islands and later to [[Devonport, Devon|Devonport]] and repaired. It has been said that she was damaged beyond economic repair, but that Churchill chose to carry out repairs so that she could not be reported as having been destroyed.

Prisoners taken from merchant ships by ''Admiral Graf Spee'' who had been transferred to her supply ship ''Altmark'' were freed by a boarding party from the British destroyer [[HMS Cossack (F03)|HMS ''Cossack'']], called the [[Altmark Incident]] ([[February 16]], [[1940]]) &mdash; whilst in [[Jøssingfjord]], in then neutral [[Norway|Norwegian]] waters. Prisoners who had not been transferred to ''Altmark'' had remained aboard ''Graf Spee'' during the battle, and were released on arrival in Montevideo.

On [[22 December]] 1939 over 1000 sailors from the ''Admiral Graf Spee'' were taken to Buenos Aires, Argentina, and interned. There are many stories, but little reliable information, about their later wartime activities, including escapes, illegally returning to the German armed forces, [[espionage]], and clandestine German submarine landings in Argentina. After the war many German sailors settled permanently in various parts of [[Argentina]] and [[Uruguay]], some returning after being repatriated to [[Germany]].

Plans to raise the wreck are discussed in the article on ''[[Admiral Graf Spee]]''.

== The Film ==

In [[1956]] a [[film]] was made of the battle and ''Admiral Graf Spee's'' end entitled ''[[The Battle of the River Plate (movie)|The Battle of the River Plate]]'' (US Title: ''Pursuit of the Graf Spee''). It is regularly shown on television.

The battle is re-enacted with large-scale model boats throughout the summer season in the UK seaside resort of [[Scarborough]].

== Footnote ==

# In 1939 at the time of the battle, ''Achilles'' was part of the New Zealand Division of the Royal Navy, and had the [[ship prefix]] HMS. The [[Royal New Zealand Navy]] was not formed until 1941, after which ''Achilles'' acquired the prefix HMNZS.

==External links==

* [http://www.grafspee.com/ Grafspee.com]

* [http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/battle_of_the_river_plate.htm History learning site articles with much detail on The Battle of the River Plate and The Graf Spee in Montevideo]

* The Battle of the River Plate, Capt(Retd) AA Jilani; [http://www.defencejournal.com/dec99/river.htm Defence Journal, December 1999;]

* Photos of ''Admiral Graf Spee'' at http://web.ukonline.co.uk/ron.greenwood/graf/graf1.html

* [http://www.rnzncomms.net.nz/jackharker/achillesHMSO.html Official HMSO report]

* [http://juanjoseflores.blogspot.com/2004/12/los-tripulantes-del-graf-spee.html The crew of the ''Graf Spee'' (in Spanish)]

#

[[Category:Naval battles of World War II|River Plate]]

[[Category:History of Uruguay]]

[[es:Batalla del Río de la Plata]]

[[fr:Bataille de Rio de la Plata]]

[[it:Battaglia del Rio de la Plata]]

[[hu:La Plata-i csata]]

[[ja:ラプラタ沖海戦]]

[[pl:Bitwa u ujścia La Platy]]