 German success in sinking "Courageous" was surpassed a month later when Günther Prien in penetrated the British base at Scapa Flow and sank the old battleship at anchor, immediately becoming a hero in Germany.In the South Atlantic, British forces were stretched by the cruise of "Admiral Graf Spee", which sank nine merchant ships of in the South Atlantic and Indian Ocean during the first three months of war.The British and French formed a series of hunting groups including three battlecruisers, three aircraft carriers, and 15 cruisers to seek the raider and her sister "Deutschland", which was operating in the North Atlantic.