The first naval battle during the war was fought on December 13, 1939, off the Atlantic coast of South America. The German "pocket battleship" (acting as a commerce raider) encountered one of the British naval units searching for her. Composed of three Royal Navy cruisers, , , and , the unit was patrolling off the River Plate estuary of Argentina and Uruguay. In a bloody engagement, "Admiral Graf Spee" successfully repulsed the British attacks. Captain Hans Langsdorff then brought his damaged ship to shelter in neutral Uruguay for repairs. However, British intelligence successfully deceived Langsdorff into believing that a much superior British force had now gathered to wait for him, and he scuttled his ship at Montevideo to save his crew's lives before committing suicide. German combat losses were 96 killed or wounded, against 72 British sailors killed and 28 wounded. Two Royal Navy cruisers had been severely damaged.