Memel to become an important German naval base according to the Dutch newspaper Het nieuws van den dag voor Nederlandsch-Indië dated 24 March 1939

Admiral Graf Spee

Leipzig

An item dated Memel [nowaday Klaipeda, Lithuania] 23 March reported that this was to became a German fortified naval base with her commanding officer all ready arriving. There was a large squadron lying there consisting of the heavy cruisers Deutschland, Admiral Von Scheer and Graf Von Spee, the cruisers Köln, Nürnberg and Leipzig, 8 destroyers, 9 torpedo boats, 5 escorteurs and several minesweepers and minelayers.