On top of that, the British MI6 had fed false informations about a larger naval force blockading the River Plate. The German ship had only one day's worth of usable fuel and, due to the swallow waters in the Mouth of the River Plate, no chance to reach another port.
Comments
Captain Hans Langsdorff had considered the life of his crew more important than a mission that would have been a suicide and had no effect in the course of the war.