On December 13, 1939, three Royal Navy cruisers, HMS Exeter, Ajax and Achilles, which was largely manned by New Zealanders, intercepted the German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee off the River Plate estuary in Argentina.
Graf Spee had been cruising the South Atlantic and Indian oceans and had sunk nine British merchant ships since the war began on September 3, 1939.
The cruisers forced Graf Spee to retire and seek refuge in the neutral port of Montevideo, in Uruguay, despite her superior fire power.
Once in the harbour Graf Spee's commanding officer, believing the British were assembling an overwhelming force to prevent any escape, scuttled the damaged ship.
The day after, he wrote letters to explain his actions in scuttling the ship: "For a captain with a sense of honour, it goes without saying, that his personal fate cannot be separated from that of his ship."
He then unfolded the German naval ensign, laid down on it and shot himself.
Four New Zealanders were killed and nine injured during the battle.
Achilles and its crew were treated like heroes when they returned to New Zealand in February 1940, and parades in Auckland and Wellington attracted huge crowds.
The anniversary will be marked with services around the country.
Dunedin resident naval officer Lieutenant-commander Phil Bradshaw said the Naval Volunteer Reserves Association would combine the occasion with the annual memorial service marking the sinking of HMS Neptune during which 150 New Zealanders, including 30 men from Otago, lost their lives when she struck mines off the coast of Libya on December 18, 1941.
The service would be held at HMNZS Toroa in St Andrew St, Dunedin, at 11am.
