I tried to find the article in the New York Times archive. I wasn't willing to pay to search the archives. However, I did read some articles and watched a video from Victory at Sea. The Graf Spee sunk about 50 tons of allied shipping. The three British ships were indeed cruisers and they outmanuevered the Graf Spee. The Graf Spee was a pocket battleship, outfitted with the most modern armor of the time and had advanced firing power. As for speed, I am not sure about that, but it should have had the speed of a cruiser. Yes, the Exeter, Ajax, and Achilles were cruisers.
As for the errors that Sailor Steve point s out, they are minor in the context of the battle, and are not material to the point of the story wihch is about a battle considered a historic naval confrontation. I read the article in 1984. As for the implied embellishment regarding the "glint" in the setting sun, if that is an error, it should be ascribed to the reporter who wrote the story, and it may not have been an employee of the Times. I cannot speak for him.
Also, one of the articles talked about the Ajax scoring hits on the Graf Spee.
So there!
