Patrick G.G. (Paddy) Dove (1896–1957) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

merchant navy officer who served as commanding officer of the '' MV Africa Shell'' when she was intercepted and sunk by the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

pocket battleship The ''Deutschland'' class was a series of three ''Panzerschiffe'' (armored ships), a form of heavily armed cruiser, built by the ''Reichsmarine'' officially in accordance with restrictions imposed by the Treaty of Versailles. The ships of the cl ...

'' Admiral Graf Spee'' in the

Mozambique Channel The Mozambique Channel (french: Canal du Mozambique, mg, Lakandranon'i Mozambika, pt, Canal de Moçambique) is an arm of the Indian Ocean located between the Southeast African countries of Madagascar and Mozambique. The channel is about long ...

, off the coast of

Portuguese East Africa Portuguese Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique) or Portuguese East Africa (''África Oriental Portuguesa'') were the common terms by which Mozambique was designated during the period in which it was a Portuguese colony. Portuguese Mozambique originally ...

, becoming the sixth victim of ''Graf Spee's''

commerce raiding Commerce raiding (french: guerre de course, "war of the chase"; german: Handelskrieg, "trade war") is a form of naval warfare used to destroy or disrupt logistics of the enemy on the open sea by attacking its merchant shipping, rather than enga ...

sortie A sortie (from the French word meaning ''exit'' or from Latin root ''surgere'' meaning to "rise up") is a deployment or dispatch of one military unit, be it an aircraft, ship, or troops, from a strongpoint. The term originated in siege warfare. ...

. Following the seizure and sinking of his ship, Captain Dove became friendly with

Kapitän zur See Captain is the name most often given in English-speaking navies to the rank corresponding to command of the largest ships. The rank is equal to the army rank of colonel and air force rank of group captain. Equivalent ranks worldwide include ...

(''KzS'')

Hans Langsdorff Hans Wilhelm Langsdorff (20 March 1894 – 20 December 1939) was a German naval officer, most famous for his command of the German pocket battleship ''Admiral Graf Spee'' during the Battle of the River Plate off the coast of Uruguay in 1939. ...

during his period of imprisonment aboard the ''Graf Spee'', and would later recall this in his book: ''I Was Graf Spee's Prisoner.''

Biography

Patrick Dove was born in London in 1896. He became a ship's officer and worked for the Shell Company of East Africa Ltd, gaining command of their new coastal tanker the MV ''Africa Shell'' following her entry into service in 1939. By November 1939 ''Africa Shell'' was employed in the coastal waters around southeastern Africa, under the command of

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Dove and with a crew complement of 28.

Interception by ''Graf Spee''

On 15 November ''Africa Shell'' was plying through the

en-passage from

Quelimane Quelimane () is a seaport in Mozambique. It is the administrative capital of the Zambezia Province and the province's largest city, and stands from the mouth of the Rio dos Bons Sinais (or "River of the Good Signs"). The river was named when V ...

Lourenco Marques Maputo (), formerly named Lourenço Marques until 1976, is the Capital city, capital, and largest city of Mozambique. Located near the southern end of the country, it is within of the borders with Eswatini and South Africa. The city has a popul ...

sailing in ballast. During the course of the morning, at a point south-southwest from the lighthouse at Cape Zavora, she was spotted by the ''Graf Spee'' who ordered her to stop by the firing of a shot across her bow. Having stopped the ''Africa Shell,'' a cutter with a boarding party was despatched from the '' Graf Spee'' and subsequently boarded the tanker, the officer in charge addressing Captain Dove in perfect English with the sentence: ''"Good morning, captain. Sorry; fortunes of war."'' In time the boarding party ordered the ship's company, save Captain Dove, into their

lifeboats Lifeboat may refer to: Rescue vessels * Lifeboat (shipboard), a small craft aboard a ship to allow for emergency escape * Lifeboat (rescue), a boat designed for sea rescues * Airborne lifeboat, an air-dropped boat used to save downed airmen A ...

before stripping the ''Africa Shell'' of all

foodstuff Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is inge ...

s including a small amount of

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...

. The crew were ordered to row for shore, however Captain Dove was taken prisoner on board the ''Graf Spee'' where he was to be held captive. Capt. Dove was incensed by the interception of his ship, and complained personally to KzS. Langsdorff, citing that the ''Africa Shell'' was within

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Territorial Waters and that the action was in clear violation of

international law International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...

Sinking

With the crew of the ''Africa Shell'' making their way to the shore, and with Capt. Dove transferred to the ''Graf Spee,'' the boarding party proceeded to set about the operation of sinking the tanker. Scuttling charges were placed within the ship, and their timers set, following which the party re-embarked in the

motor launch A Motor Launch (ML) is a small military vessel in Royal Navy service. It was designed for harbour defence and submarine chasing or for armed high-speed air-sea rescue. Some vessels for water police service are also known as motor launches. ...

and made their way back to the ''Graf Spee.'' With all personnel safely aboard the ''Graf Spee'', Langsdorff and his crew observed the detonation of the charges which blew two holes in the ''Africa Shell's''

stern The stern is the back or aft-most part of a ship or boat, technically defined as the area built up over the sternpost, extending upwards from the counter rail to the taffrail. The stern lies opposite the bow, the foremost part of a ship. Ori ...

. Following this ''Graf Spee'' opened fire using some of her secondary armament of SK C/28 guns, sinking the ''Africa Shell''. Photographic evidence records the sinking.

Aftermath

The crew of the ''Africa Shell'' arrived safely later that day at

. They reported the seizure of their ship immediately to local authorities, however their report mistakenly stated that they had been intercepted by the

Panzerschiff The ''Deutschland'' class was a series of three ''Panzerschiffe'' (armored ships), a form of heavily armed cruiser, built by the ''Reichsmarine'' officially in accordance with restrictions imposed by the Treaty of Versailles. The ships of the cl ...

'' Admiral Scheer,'' as opposed to the ''Graf Spee,'' something which only aided the confusion which the commerce raider's sortie had intended to sow. Having sunk the ''Africa Shell'' Langsdorff left the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...

, rounded the

Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( af, Kaap die Goeie Hoop ) ;''Kaap'' in isolation: pt, Cabo da Boa Esperança is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is t ...

and made passage into the

South Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

. His time in the Indian Ocean yielded a poor return for Langsdorff, the only success being the sinking of the ''Africa Shell''. ''Graf Spee'' subsequently retained Captain Dove onboard along with other Allied prisoners when she took part in the

Battle of the River Plate The Battle of the River Plate was fought in the South Atlantic on 13 December 1939 as the first naval battle of the Second World War. The Kriegsmarine heavy cruiser , commanded by Captain Hans Langsdorff, engaged a Royal Navy squadron, commande ...

on 13 December. Following the battle, the damaged ''Graf Spee'' made passage to

Montevideo Montevideo () is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 1,319,108 (about one-third of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

and upon arrival all prisoners on board were released. Following his release from the ''Graf Spee'', Capt. Dove returned to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and recorded his memories of his time in captivity on the ''Graf Spee'', including a candid account of the character of Kapitän Langsdorff in his book ''I Was Graf Spee's Prisoner'', published in 1940. The book formed part of the compilation for the 1940 film '' For Freedom'' in which Capt. Dove makes an appearance. Dove's book also provided the basis for the Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger 1956 British

war film War film is a film genre concerned with warfare, typically about naval, air, or land battles, with combat scenes central to the drama. It has been strongly associated with the 20th century. The fateful nature of battle scenes means that war fi ...

The Battle of the River Plate The Battle of the River Plate was fought in the South Atlantic on 13 December 1939 as the first naval battle of the Second World War. The Kriegsmarine heavy cruiser , commanded by Captain Hans Langsdorff, engaged a Royal Navy squadron, command ...

,'' (released in the

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under the title ''Pursuit of the Graf Spee''), in which Capt. Dove is credited as a technical adviser. In the film, Dove was played by

Bernard Lee John Bernard Lee (10 January 190816 January 1981) was an English actor, best known for his role as M in the first eleven Eon-produced James Bond films. Lee's film career spanned the years 1934 to 1979, though he had appeared on stage from t ...

; Dove himself makes a

cameo appearance A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly eit ...

as one of the other officers held onboard ''Graf Spee''.

Death

Captain Patrick Dove died on 25 May 1957 aboard his ship, the tanker ''Alva Cape'' which was in

Indonesian Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to: * Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia ** Native Indonesians, diverse groups of local inhabitants of the archipelago ** Indonesian ...

waters.

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dove, Patrick English sailors Steamship captains 1896 births 1957 deaths British Merchant Navy officers 19th-century English people 20th-century English people People from London