Divers have recovered a 2m-high bronze eagle statue from the stern of the pocket battleship Graf Spee, scuttled off Montevideo, Uruguay in 1939.

The team of four Uruguayan divers and a British marine archaeologist, working with the Uruguayan Navy, were able to excavate, unbolt and raise the 400kg bronze after its discovery on a routine survey dive.

The wreck lies in just 12m of water, its stern buried in mud up to deck level. This hid the mounting position of the eagle, which was thought to have been removed years ago. But divers Hector Bado and Sergio Pronczuk made the discovery at the end of last year, after currents shifted some mud and revealed the upper edge of one of the eagle's wings.

"The dive was down a shotline to the very tip of the stern, which we had not done for a very long time," British archaeological team member Mensun Bound told Divernet. "General conditions on the wreck are difficult, with strong currents and practically pitch-black water due to the mud."

Following discovery of the bronze, Bound and the Uruguayans - wreck licensee Alfredo Etchegaray, Alberto Braeda, Bado and Pronczuk - first excavated mud from around the bronze by air suction. They then removed 145 large attachment bolts before the eagle could be hauled up by a barge-mounted crane.

"The bolts were also of bronze, and came out easily enough," said Bound. "When examining them later we could still smell the original lubrication grease used when they were fitted!"

The eagle design, complete with swastika emblem, was designed personally by Adolf Hitler in 1930. The 2.5m-wide wingspans of the bronze casts curved around the sterns of capital ships including the Graf Spee's sisters Deutschland and Admiral Scheer, as well as the Gneisenau and Scharnhhorst. But the Graf Spee's is thought to be the only one of the casts to have survived. Its financial value could run to many millions of pounds.

Ownership rights are, said Bound, split 50-50 between the Uruguayan Government and licensee Etchegaray. The bronze is being held in Uruguay pending probable transport to a major international auction house, probably in New York or London, for examination and accurate valuation on world markets.

The implication is that it will end up being auctioned while, according to Bound, the Uruguayan Government may be willing to pay a balance to secure sole rights to the bronze. It could then remain in the country for display, perhaps joining the Battle of the River Plate exhibition at the maritime museum in Montevideo.

Compared to previous generations of warships, the Graf Spee possessed an awesome combination of firepower, speed and range. Her role was as a long-distance surface raider attacking supply ships.

After the outbreak of war, the Graf Spee sank nine merchantmen in the South Atlantic before being located by a British task force in December 1939. She ran for neutral Uruguay after a spirited engagement with the British heavy cruiser HMS Exeter and light cruisers HMS Ajax and HMS Achilles, the latter crewed by New Zealanders.

Hemmed in at Montevideo by a growing British blockade, the decision was taken to scuttle the Graf Spee. Explosives used to sink the ship about four miles offshore broke the vessel. While the stern section lies well settled, the rest of the ship lies partially settled, listing to starboard.

Previous surveys and excavations led to the raising of a side gun in 1997, and the ship's rangefinder in 2002. Mensun Bound has been involved with the Graf Spee survey and excavation team throughout this period.

Extensive sonar survey has built up a good 3D picture of the remains that lie proud of the seabed. Following retrieval of the bronze eagle, the team is considering raising the remains of a main 11in gun.


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