World War Two was never as close to land in South America as on 13 December 1939, when three Royal Navy cruisers challenged Germany's Admiral Graf Spee off the coast of Uruguay.
A battle still goes on 75 years later.
This time, however, the matter in dispute is not the control of the South Atlantic but rather a controversial four-tonne bronze eagle that could fetch millions of dollars at auction.
The spread eagle with a swastika under its talons was recovered off the coast of Uruguay in 2006 by private investors.
It was part of the stern of the Graf Spee, which was once one of the most modern battleships in the world.
The cruiser was scuttled by its captain in Montevideo Bay soon after the Battle of the River Plate. The captain had feared that if captured, the British would steal information about its state-of-the-art technology.
The bronze eagle, which was one of the most remarkable symbols of the German Third Reich, now rests at a warehouse guarded by the Uruguayan navy.
After a long battle in court, the Supreme Court ruled that the Uruguayan state was the piece's rightful owner, but it also decided that the private salvage company should get 50% of the profits if the eagle was sold.
The Graf Spee sinking (photo provided by Friedrich Adolphe, a survivor) Captain Hans Langsdorff killed himself in Buenos Aires three days after scuttling his ship
Businessman Alfredo Etchegaray, one of the men who led the operation to recover the eagle, told the BBC that the eagle could be worth up to $15m (£9.5m; €12m).
He wants the government to make a replica and then sell the original.
"This way we would be compensated for our work and Uruguay would be able to spend its part on education, technology or better equipment for the navy. But having the eagle in a box doesn't benefit anybody."
"We have been in touch with auction houses that say this kind of controversial piece usually sells well," he added.
But so far, the Uruguayan government has not decided what to do with it.
Although the piece was briefly exhibited in the lobby of a hotel in Montevideo soon after it was recovered, it has been under the custody of the Uruguayan army for the past nine years.
Gaston Jaunsolo, an army spokesman, told the BBC that the eagle was cared for with "strict security measures, with proper temperature and humidity controls".
Local media reported earlier this year that the eagle had been kept stored in a wooden box at an old navy building with fewer than a dozen workers to take care of the whole complex.
Read more:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-30471063
The Nazis always confused me with this thing - build a fast, heavily armed and highly effective battleship, then hang a useless 4 ton decoration on it. They had their branding, sure, but it sometimes got excessive.
