The Battle of the River Plate was the earliest major naval battle of the Second World War. It saw the sinking of German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee and is often touted as an early success for the Royal Navy, though the actual facts of the battle somewhat muddle that case. The story of this famous battle actually starts a few months before the day it took place on December 13, 1939.

The Project 253 was a very successful minesweeper. It and its derivatives saw operational success, relatively low loss rates, and served for nearly 60 years in a military capacity across 8 different navies. While obscure, it nonetheless played its role, even if a small one, in the course of naval military history. Even today, these vessels continue to live on in civilian service.