German cruiser Admiral Hipper
Encyclopedia
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Admiral Hipper, the first of five ships of her class, was the lead ship
of the Admiral Hipper–class
of heavy cruiser
s which served with the German Kriegsmarine
during World War II
. The ship was laid down at the Blohm & Voss shipyard in Hamburg
in July 1935 and launched February 1937; Admiral Hipper entered service shortly before the outbreak of war, in April 1939. The ship was named after Admiral
Franz von Hipper
, commander of the German battlecruiser
squadron
during the Battle of Jutland
in 1916 and later commander-in-chief of the German High Seas Fleet
.
Admiral Hipper saw a significant amount of action during the war. She led the assault on Trondheim
during Operation Weserübung
; while en route to her objective, she sank the British destroyer . In December 1940, she broke out into the Atlantic Ocean to operate against Allied merchant shipping, though this operation ended without significant success. In February 1941, Admiral Hipper sortied again, sinking several merchant vessels before eventually returning to Germany via the Denmark Strait
. The ship was then transferred to northern Norway to participate in operations against convoys to the Soviet Union
, culminating in the Battle of the Barents Sea
on 31 December 1942, where she was damaged and forced to withdraw by the light cruisers and .
Enraged by the defeat at the battle, Adolf Hitler
ordered the majority of the surface warships scrapped
, though Admiral Karl Dönitz
was able to convince Hitler to retain the surface fleet. As a result, Admiral Hipper was returned to Germany and decommissioned for repairs. The ship was never restored to operational status, however, and on 3 May 1945, Royal Air Force
bombers severely damaged Admiral Hipper while she was in Kiel
. Her crew scuttled
the ship at her moorings, and in July 1945, she was raised and towed to Heikendorfer Bay. She was ultimately broken up for scrap in 1948–1952; her bell resides in the National Maritime Museum
in Greenwich
.
. Her keel was laid on 6 July 1935, under construction number 246. The ship was launched on 6 February 1937, and was completed on 29 April 1939, the day she was commissioned into the German fleet. As built, the ship had a straight stem
, though after her launch this was replaced with a clipper
bow. A raked funnel cap was also installed.
Admiral Hipper was 202.8 metres (665.4 ft) long overall and had a beam of 21.3 m (69.9 ft) and a maximum draft of 7.2 m (23.6 ft). The ship had a design displacement of 16170 MT (15,914.6 LT) and a full load displacement of 18200 LT. Admiral Hipper was powered by three sets of geared steam turbine
s, which were supplied with steam by twelve ultra-high pressure oil-fired boiler
s. The ship's top speed was 32 knots (17.4 m/s), at 132000 shp. As designed, her standard complement consisted of 42 officers and 1,340 enlisted men.
Admiral Hippers primary armament was eight 20.3 cm (8 in) SK L/60
guns mounted in four twin gun turret
s, placed in superfiring pairs
forward and aft."L/60" denotes the length of the gun in terms of calibers
. The length of 60 caliber gun is 60 times greater than it is wide in diameter Her anti-aircraft battery was to have consisted of twelve 10.5 cm (4.1 in) L/65 guns, twelve 3.7 cm (1.5 in) guns, and eight 2 cm (0.78740157480315 in) guns. The ship also would have carried a pair of triple 53.3 cm (21 in) torpedo launchers abreast of the rear superstructure. The ship was to have been equipped with three Arado Ar 196
seaplanes and one catapult. Admiral Hippers armored belt
was 70 millimetre thick; her upper deck was 12 millimetre thick while the main armored deck was 20 millimetre thick. The main battery turrets had 105 mm (4.1 in) thick faces and 70 mm thick sides.
to conduct training maneuvers. The ship also made port calls to various Baltic ports, including cities in Estonia
and Sweden
. In August, the ship conducted live fire drills in the Baltic. At the outbreak of World War II
in September 1939, the ship was still conducting gunnery trials. She was briefly used to patrol the Baltic, but she did not see combat, and was quickly returned to training exercises. In November 1939, the ship returned to the Blohm & Voss dockyard for modifications; these included the replacement of the straight stem with a clipper bow and the installation of the funnel cap.
Sea trials in the Baltic resumed in January 1940, but severe ice restrained the ship to port. On 17 February, the Kriegsmarine pronounced the ship fully operational, and on the following day, Admiral Hipper began her first major wartime patrol. She joined the battleship
s Scharnhorst
and Gneisenau
and the destroyer
s Karl Galster
and Wilhelm Heidkamp
in a sortie into the North Sea off Bergen
, Norway. A third destroyer, Wolfgang Zenker
, was forced to turn back after sustaining damage from ice. The ships operated under the command of Admiral Wilhelm Marschall
. The ships attempted to locate British merchant shipping, but failed and returned to port on 20 February.
of Group 2, along with the destroyers Paul Jakobi
, Theodor Riedel
, Friedrich Eckoldt
, and Bruno Heinemann
. KzS Heye was given command of Group 2 during the operation. The five ships carried a total of 1,700 Wehrmacht
mountain troops, whose objective was the port of Trondheim
; the ships loaded the troops in Cuxhaven. The ships steamed to the Schillig
roadstead
outside Wilhelmshaven
, where they joined Group 1, consisting of ten destroyers, and the battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, which were assigned to cover Groups 1 and 2. The ships steamed out of the roadstead at midnight on the night of 6–7 April.
While steaming off the Norwegian coast, Admiral Hipper was ordered to divert course to locate the destroyer Bernd von Arnim
, which had fallen behind Group 1. In the mist, the destroyer encountered the British destroyer ; the two destroyers engaged each other until Bernd von Arnims commander requested assistance from Admiral Hipper. Upon arriving on the scene, Admiral Hipper was initially misidentified by Glowworm to be a friendly vessel, which allowed the German ship to close the distance and fire first. Admiral Hipper rained fire on Glowworm, scoring several hits. Glowworm attempted to flee, but when it became apparent she could not break away from the pursuing cruiser, she turned toward Admiral Hipper and fired a spread of torpedoes, all of which missed. The British destroyer scored one hit on Admiral Hippers starboard bow before a rudder malfunction set the ship on a collision course with the German cruiser.
The collision with Glowworm tore off a 40 metres (131.2 ft) section of Admiral Hippers armored belt on the starboard side, as well as the ship's starboard torpedo launcher. Minor flooding caused a four degree list to starboard, though the ship was able to continue with the mission. Glowworms boilers exploded shortly after the collision, causing her to sink quickly. Forty survivors were picked up by the German ship. Admiral Hipper then resumed course toward Trondheim. The British destroyer had survived long enough to send a wireless message to the Royal Navy
headquarters, which allowed the battlecruiser time to move into position to engage Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, though the German battleships used their superior speed to break off contact.
After arriving off Trondheim, Admiral Hipper successfully passed herself off as a British warship long enough to steam past the Norwegian coastal artillery batteries. The ship entered the harbor and docked shortly before 05:30 to debark the mountain troops. After the ground troops seized control of the coastal batteries, the ship left Trondheim, bound for Germany. She was escorted by Friedrich Eckoldt; she reached Wilhelmshaven on 12 April, and went into drydock. The dockyard workers discovered the ship had been damaged more severely by the collision with Glowworm than had previously been thought. Nevertheless, repairs were completed in the span of two weeks.
Admiral Marschall organized a mission to seize Harstad
in early June 1940; Admiral Hipper, the battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, and four destroyers were tasked with the operation. The ships departed on 4 June, and while en route, Admiral Hipper encountered and sank the empty troopship Orama on 9 June. Before they reached Harstad, the Germans learned that the Allies had already abandoned the port. Marschall's squadron was then tasked with intercepting an Allied convoy that was reported to be in the area. The ships failed to find the convoy, and returned to Trondheim to refuel.
On 13 June, the ship's anti-aircraft gunners shot down an attacking British bomber. On 25 July, Admiral Hipper steamed out on a commerce raiding patrol in the area between Spitzbergen and Tromsø
; the cruise lasted until 9 August. While on the patrol, Admiral Hipper encountered the Finnish freighter Ester Thorden, which was found to be carrying 1.75 MT (1.7 LT) of gold. The ship was seized and sent to occupied Norway with a prize crew.
Admiral Hipper left the Norwegian theater in September 1940 for an overhaul in Wilhelmshaven. After the routine maintenance was completed toward the end of the month, the ship attempted to break out into the Atlantic Ocean to raid merchant traffic. The engine oil feed system caught fire and was severely damaged. The fire forced the crew to shut down the ship's propulsion system until the blaze could be brought under control; this rendered Admiral Hipper motionless for several hours on the open sea. British reconnaissance failed to locate the ship, and after the fire was extinguished, the ship returned to Hamburg's Blohm & Voss shipyard, where repairs lasted slightly over a week.
The ship made a second attempt to break out into the Atlantic on 30 November; she successfully navigated the Denmark Strait
undetected on 6 December. Admiral Hipper intercepted a convoy of 20 troopships on 24 December, some 700 nautical miles (1,296.4 km) west of Cape Finisterre
. Five of the twenty ships were allocated to Operation Excess
. The convoy was protected by a powerful escort composed of the aircraft carrier
s and , the cruisers , , and , and six destroyers. Admiral Hipper did not initially spot the escorting warships, and so began attacking the convoy. She badly damaged two ships, one of which was the 13994 LT transport Empire Trooper, with her main guns before spotting the heavy cruiser Berwick and destroyers steaming toward her. She quickly withdrew, using her main guns to keep the destroyers at bay.
Ten minutes later, Berwick reappeared off Admiral Hippers port bow; the German cruiser fired several salvos from her forward turrets and scored hits on the British cruiser's rear turrets, waterline, and forward superstructure
. Admiral Hipper then disengaged, to prevent the British destroyers from closing to launch a torpedo attack. By now, the ship was running low on fuel, and so she put into Brest
in occupied France on 27 December. While en route, Admiral Hipper encountered and sank an isolated 6078 LT cargo ship. Another round of routine maintenance work was effected while the ship was in Brest, readying her for another sortie into the Atlantic shipping lanes.
On 1 February 1941, Admiral Hipper embarked on her second Atlantic sortie. The Kriegsmarine had initially sought to send the battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau to operate in concert with Admiral Hipper, but after Gneisenau suffered storm damage in December that prevented the participation of the two ships. Repairs were effected quickly, however, and the two battleships broke out into the Atlantic in early February. Admiral Hipper rendezvoused with a tanker off the Azores
to top up her fuel tanks. On 11 February, the ship encountered and sank an isolated transport from convoy HG 53, which had been dispersed by U-boat
and Luftwaffe
attacks. That evening, she picked up the unescorted convoy SLS 64, which contained nineteen merchant ships. The following morning, Admiral Hipper closed in and sank several of the ships. The British reported only seven ships were lost, totaling 32806 LT, along with damage to two more. The Germans claimed Admiral Hipper had sunk thirteen of the nineteen freighters, while some survivors reported fourteen ships of the convoy were sunk.
Following the attack on convoy SLS 64, Admiral Hippers fuel stocks were running low. She therefore returned to Brest on 15 February. British bombers were regularly attacking the port, however, and the Kriegsmarine therefore decided Admiral Hipper should return to Germany, where it could be better protected. Before the ship could leave, damage caused to the ship's hull by wrecks in the harbor had to be repaired. On 15 March, the ship slipped out of Brest, unobserved, and passed through the Denmark Strait eight days later. While en route, Admiral Hipper stopped to refuel in Bergen
. By 28 March, the cruiser was docked in Kiel, having made the entire journey without being detected by the British. Upon arrival, the ship went into the Deutsche Werke
shipyard for an extensive overhaul, which lasted for seven months. After completion of the refit, Admiral Hipper conducted sea trials in the Baltic before putting in to Gotenhafen on 21 December for some minor refitting. In January 1942, the ship had her steam turbines overhauled at the Blohm & Voss shipyard; a degaussing
coil was fitted to the ship's hull during this overhaul. By March, the ship was again fully operational.
, Z26
, and Z30
and the torpedo boats T15, T16, and T17. Several British submarines were patrolling the area, but failed to intercept the German flotilla. Admiral Hipper and her escorts reached their destination on 21 March. There, they joined the heavy cruisers Lützow and Prinz Eugen
, though the latter soon returned to Germany for repairs. On 3 July, Admiral Hipper joined the cruisers Lützow and Admiral Scheer and the battleship Tirpitz
for Operation Rösselsprung, an attack on convoy PQ 17. Escorting the convoy were the battleships and and the carrier . Admiral Hipper, Tirpitz, and six destroyers sortied from Trondheim, while a second task force consisting of Lützow, Admiral Scheer, and six destroyers operated out of Narvik
. Lützow and three of the destroyers struck uncharted rocks while en route to the rendezvous and had to return to port. Swedish intelligence had meanwhile reported the German departures to the British Admiralty
, which ordered the convoy to disperse. Aware that they had been detected, the Germans aborted the operation and turned over the attack to U-boat
s and the Luftwaffe
. The scattered vessels could no longer be protected by the convoy escorts, and the Germans sank 21 of the 34 isolated transports.
The British submarine unsuccessfully attempted to torpedo Admiral Hipper on 10 September, while the ship was patrolling with Admiral Scheer and the light cruiser Köln
. The cruiser escorted the destroyers Z23
, Z28
, Z29
, and Z30 on 24–28 September to lay a minefield off the north-west coast of Novaya Zemlya
. The goal of the operation was to funnel merchant traffic further south, closer to the reach of German naval units in Norway. After her return to port, Admiral Hipper was transferred to Bogen Bay near Narvik for repairs to her propulsion system. On 28–29 October, Admiral Hipper and the destroyers Friedrich Eckoldt and Richard Beitzen were transferred further north from Narvik to the Altafjord
. Starting on 5 November, Admiral Hipper and the 5th Destroyer Flotilla, composed of Z27
, Z30, Richard Beitzen, and Friedrich Eckoldt, patrolled for Allied shipping in the Arctic. Vizeadmiral Oskar Kummetz
commanded the squadron from Admiral Hipper On 7 November, the cruiser's Arado Ar 196 floatplane located the 7925 LT Soviet tanker Donbass and its escort, the auxiliary warship BO-78. Kummetz dispatched the destroyer Z27 to sink the two Soviet ships.
, the commander in chief of the Kriegsmarine, ordered a plan, Operation Regenbogen
, to use the available surface units in Norway to launch an attack on the convoys. The first convoy of the month, JW 51A
, passed to the Soviet Union without incident. The second, however, convoy JW 51B
, were spotted by the submarine U-354 south of Bear Island. Raeder ordered the forces assigned to Operation Regenbogen into action. Admiral Hipper, again served as Kummetz's flagship; the squadron comprised Lützow and the destroyers Friederich Eckoldt, Richard Beitzen, Theodor Riedel, Z29, Z30, and Z31. The force left Altafjord at 18:00 on 30 December, under orders to avoid confrontation with even an equal opponent.
Kummetz's plan was to divide his force in half; he would take Admiral Hipper and three destroyers north of the convoy to attack it and draw away the escorts. Lützow and the remaining three destroyers would then attack the undefended convoy from the south. At 09:15 on the 31st, the British destroyer spotted the three destroyers screening for Admiral Hipper; the Germans opened fire first. Four of the other five destroyers escorting the convoy rushed to join the fight, while laid a smoke screen to cover the convoy. Admiral Hipper fired several salvos at Achates, raining shell splinters on the destroyer that severed steam lines and reduced her speed to 15 kn (8.2 m/s). Kummetz then turned back north to draw the destroyers away. Captain Robert Sherbrooke, the British escort commander, left two destroyers to cover the convoy while he took the remaining four to pursue Admiral Hipper.
Rear Admiral Robert Burnett
's Force R, centered on the cruisers and , standing by in distant support of the Allied convoy, raced to the scene. The cruisers engaged Admiral Hipper, which had been firing to port at the destroyer . Burnett's ships approached from Admiral Hippers starboard side and achieved complete surprise. In the initial series of salvos from the British cruisers, Admiral Hipper was hit three times. One of the hits damaged the ship's propulsion system; the No. 3 boiler filled with a mix of oil and water, which forced the crew to turn off the starboard turbine engine. This reduced her speed to 23 kn (12.5 m/s). The other two hits started a fire in her aircraft hangar. She fired a single salvo at the cruisers before turning toward them, her escorting destroyers screening her with smoke.
After emerging from the smoke screen, Hipper was again engaged by Burnett's cruisers. Owing to the uncertainty over the condition of his flagship and the ferocity of the British defense, Kummetz issued the following order at 10:37: "Break off action and retire to the west." Mistakenly identifying Sheffield as Admiral Hipper, the destroyer Friederich Eckoldt approached too closely and was sunk. Meanwhile, Lützow closed to within 3 nmi (5.6 km) of the convoy, but due to poor visibility, she held her fire. She then received Kummetz's order, and turned west to rendezvous with Admiral Hipper. Lützow inadvertently came alongside Sheffield and Jamaica, and after identifying them as hostile, engaged them. The British cruisers turned toward Lützow and came under fire from both German cruisers. Admiral Hippers firing was more accurate and quickly straddled Sheffield, though the British cruiser escaped unscathed. Burnett quickly decided to withdraw in the face of superior German firepower; his ships were armed with 6 in (15.2 cm) guns, while Admiral Hipper and Lützow carried 20.3 cm (8 in) and 28 cm (11 in) guns, respectively.
Based on the order issued at the outset of the operation to avoid action with a force equal in strength to his own, poor visibility, and the damage to his flagship, Kummetz decided to abort the attack. In the course of the battle, the British destroyer Achates was sunk by the damage inflicted by Admiral Hipper. The Germans also sank the minesweeper
and damaged the destroyers , Obedient, and Obdurate. In return, the British sank Friederich Eckoldt and damaged Admiral Hipper, and forced the Germans to abandon the attack on the convoy. In the aftermath of the failed operation, a furious Hitler proclaimed that the Kriegsmarine's surface forces would be paid off and dismantled, and their guns used to reinforce the fortifications of the Atlantic Wall
. Admiral Karl Dönitz
, Raeder's successor, convinced Hitler to retain the surface fleet, however. After returning to Altafjord, emergency repairs to Admiral Hipper were effected, which allowed her to return to Bogen Bay on 23 January 1943. That day, Admiral Hipper, Köln, and the destroyer Richard Beitzen left the Altafjord to return to Germany. The three ships stopped in Narvik on 25 January, and in Trondheim from 30 January to 2 February. After resuming the voyage south, the ships searched for Norwegian blockade runners in the Skagerrak on 6 February before putting into port at Kiel on 8 February. On 28 February, the ship was decommissioned in accordance with Hitler's decree.
also laid an extensive minefield around the port, which forced the ship to remain in the harbor.
By the end of 1944, the ship was due for another overhaul; work was to have lasted for three months. The Soviet Army had advanced so far, however, that it was necessary to move the ship back to Germany, despite the fact that she had only one working turbine engine. On 29 January 1945, the ship left Gotenhafen, arriving in Kiel on 2 February. She entered the Germaniawerft shipyard for refitting. On 3 May, RAF bombers attacked the harbor and severely damaged the ship. Her crew scuttled the wrecked ship at her moorings at 04:25 on 3 May. In July 1945, after the end of the war, Admiral Hipper was raised and towed to Heikendorfer Bay and subsequently broken up for scrap in 1948–1952. Her bell is currently on display at the National Maritime Museum
in Greenwich
.
Citations
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Admiral Hipper, the first of five ships of her class, was the lead ship
Lead ship
The lead ship or class leader is the first of a series or class of ships all constructed according to the same general design. The term is applicable military ships and larger civilian craft.-Overview:...
of the Admiral Hipper–class
Admiral Hipper class cruiser
The Admiral Hipper-class was a group of five heavy cruisers built by the German Kriegsmarine in the mid 1930s. The class comprised Admiral Hipper, the lead ship, Blücher, Prinz Eugen, Seydlitz, and Lützow. Only the first three ships of the class were completed to see action during World War II...
of heavy cruiser
Heavy cruiser
The heavy cruiser was a type of cruiser, a naval warship designed for long range, high speed and an armament of naval guns roughly 203mm calibre . The heavy cruiser can be seen as a lineage of ship design from 1915 until 1945, although the term 'heavy cruiser' only came into formal use in 1930...
s which served with the German Kriegsmarine
Kriegsmarine
The Kriegsmarine was the name of the German Navy during the Nazi regime . It superseded the Kaiserliche Marine of World War I and the post-war Reichsmarine. The Kriegsmarine was one of three official branches of the Wehrmacht, the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany.The Kriegsmarine grew rapidly...
during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. The ship was laid down at the Blohm & Voss shipyard in Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
in July 1935 and launched February 1937; Admiral Hipper entered service shortly before the outbreak of war, in April 1939. The ship was named after Admiral
Admiral
Admiral is the rank, or part of the name of the ranks, of the highest naval officers. It is usually considered a full admiral and above vice admiral and below admiral of the fleet . It is usually abbreviated to "Adm" or "ADM"...
Franz von Hipper
Franz von Hipper
Franz Ritter von Hipper was an admiral in the German Imperial Navy . Franz von Hipper joined the German Navy in 1881 as an officer cadet. He commanded several torpedo boat units and served as watch officer aboard several warships, as well as Kaiser Wilhelm II's yacht Hohenzollern...
, commander of the German battlecruiser
Battlecruiser
Battlecruisers were large capital ships built in the first half of the 20th century. They were developed in the first decade of the century as the successor to the armoured cruiser, but their evolution was more closely linked to that of the dreadnought battleship...
squadron
Squadron (naval)
A squadron, or naval squadron, is a unit of 3-4 major warships, transport ships, submarines, or sometimes small craft that may be part of a larger task force or a fleet...
during the Battle of Jutland
Battle of Jutland
The Battle of Jutland was a naval battle between the British Royal Navy's Grand Fleet and the Imperial German Navy's High Seas Fleet during the First World War. The battle was fought on 31 May and 1 June 1916 in the North Sea near Jutland, Denmark. It was the largest naval battle and the only...
in 1916 and later commander-in-chief of the German High Seas Fleet
High Seas Fleet
The High Seas Fleet was the battle fleet of the German Empire and saw action during World War I. The formation was created in February 1907, when the Home Fleet was renamed as the High Seas Fleet. Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz was the architect of the fleet; he envisioned a force powerful enough to...
.
Admiral Hipper saw a significant amount of action during the war. She led the assault on Trondheim
Trondheim
Trondheim , historically, Nidaros and Trondhjem, is a city and municipality in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. With a population of 173,486, it is the third most populous municipality and city in the country, although the fourth largest metropolitan area. It is the administrative centre of...
during Operation Weserübung
Operation Weserübung
Operation Weserübung was the code name for Germany's assault on Denmark and Norway during the Second World War and the opening operation of the Norwegian Campaign...
; while en route to her objective, she sank the British destroyer . In December 1940, she broke out into the Atlantic Ocean to operate against Allied merchant shipping, though this operation ended without significant success. In February 1941, Admiral Hipper sortied again, sinking several merchant vessels before eventually returning to Germany via the Denmark Strait
Denmark Strait
The Denmark Strait or Greenland Strait |Sound]]) is an oceanic strait between Greenland and Iceland...
. The ship was then transferred to northern Norway to participate in operations against convoys to the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, culminating in the Battle of the Barents Sea
Battle of the Barents Sea
The Battle of the Barents Sea took place on 31 December 1942 between German surface raiders and British ships escorting convoy JW 51B to Kola Inlet in the USSR. The action took place in the Barents Sea north of North Cape, Norway...
on 31 December 1942, where she was damaged and forced to withdraw by the light cruisers and .
Enraged by the defeat at the battle, Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party , commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was Chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945, and head of state from 1934 to 1945...
ordered the majority of the surface warships scrapped
Ship breaking
Ship breaking or ship demolition is a type of ship disposal involving the breaking up of ships for scrap recycling. Most ships have a lifespan of a few decades before there is so much wear that refitting and repair becomes uneconomical. Ship breaking allows materials from the ship, especially...
, though Admiral Karl Dönitz
Karl Dönitz
Karl Dönitz was a German naval commander during World War II. He started his career in the German Navy during World War I. In 1918, while he was in command of , the submarine was sunk by British forces and Dönitz was taken prisoner...
was able to convince Hitler to retain the surface fleet. As a result, Admiral Hipper was returned to Germany and decommissioned for repairs. The ship was never restored to operational status, however, and on 3 May 1945, Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
bombers severely damaged Admiral Hipper while she was in Kiel
Kiel
Kiel is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 238,049 .Kiel is approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the north of Germany, the southeast of the Jutland peninsula, and the southwestern shore of the...
. Her crew scuttled
Scuttling
Scuttling is the act of deliberately sinking a ship by allowing water to flow into the hull.This can be achieved in several ways—valves or hatches can be opened to the sea, or holes may be ripped into the hull with brute force or with explosives...
the ship at her moorings, and in July 1945, she was raised and towed to Heikendorfer Bay. She was ultimately broken up for scrap in 1948–1952; her bell resides in the National Maritime Museum
National Maritime Museum
The National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, England is the leading maritime museum of the United Kingdom and may be the largest museum of its kind in the world. The historic buildings forming part of the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site, it also incorporates the Royal Observatory, Greenwich,...
in Greenwich
Greenwich
Greenwich is a district of south London, England, located in the London Borough of Greenwich.Greenwich is best known for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich Meridian and Greenwich Mean Time...
.
Construction
Admiral Hipper was ordered by the Kriegsmarine from the Blohm & Voss shipyard in HamburgHamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
. Her keel was laid on 6 July 1935, under construction number 246. The ship was launched on 6 February 1937, and was completed on 29 April 1939, the day she was commissioned into the German fleet. As built, the ship had a straight stem
Stem (ship)
The stem is the very most forward part of a boat or ship's bow and is an extension of the keel itself and curves up to the wale of the boat. The stem is more often found on wooden boats or ships, but not exclusively...
, though after her launch this was replaced with a clipper
Clipper
A clipper was a very fast sailing ship of the 19th century that had three or more masts and a square rig. They were generally narrow for their length, could carry limited bulk freight, small by later 19th century standards, and had a large total sail area...
bow. A raked funnel cap was also installed.
Admiral Hipper was 202.8 metres (665.4 ft) long overall and had a beam of 21.3 m (69.9 ft) and a maximum draft of 7.2 m (23.6 ft). The ship had a design displacement of 16170 MT (15,914.6 LT) and a full load displacement of 18200 LT. Admiral Hipper was powered by three sets of geared steam turbine
Steam turbine
A steam turbine is a mechanical device that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam, and converts it into rotary motion. Its modern manifestation was invented by Sir Charles Parsons in 1884....
s, which were supplied with steam by twelve ultra-high pressure oil-fired boiler
Boiler
A boiler is a closed vessel in which water or other fluid is heated. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications.-Materials:...
s. The ship's top speed was 32 knots (17.4 m/s), at 132000 shp. As designed, her standard complement consisted of 42 officers and 1,340 enlisted men.
Admiral Hippers primary armament was eight 20.3 cm (8 in) SK L/60
20.3 cm SK C/34 naval gun
The 20.3 cm SK C/34 naval gun was the main battery gun used on all German World War II heavy cruisers.-Description:These built-up guns consisted of a rifled tube encased within an inner and outer jacket with a horizontal sliding breech block. The breech was sealed with an 18 kg brass case...
guns mounted in four twin gun turret
Gun turret
A gun turret is a weapon mount that protects the crew or mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon and at the same time lets the weapon be aimed and fired in many directions.The turret is also a rotating weapon platform...
s, placed in superfiring pairs
Superfire
The idea of superfire is to locate two turrets in a row, one behind the other, but with the second turret located above the one in front so that the second turret could fire over the first...
forward and aft."L/60" denotes the length of the gun in terms of calibers
Caliber (artillery)
In artillery, caliber or calibredifference in British English and American English spelling is the internal diameter of a gun barrel, or by extension a relative measure of the length....
. The length of 60 caliber gun is 60 times greater than it is wide in diameter Her anti-aircraft battery was to have consisted of twelve 10.5 cm (4.1 in) L/65 guns, twelve 3.7 cm (1.5 in) guns, and eight 2 cm (0.78740157480315 in) guns. The ship also would have carried a pair of triple 53.3 cm (21 in) torpedo launchers abreast of the rear superstructure. The ship was to have been equipped with three Arado Ar 196
Arado Ar 196
-See also:-Bibliography:* Dabrowski, Hans-Peter and Koos, Volker. Arado Ar 196, Germany's Multi-Purpose Seaplane. Atglen, PA: Schiffer Military History, 1993. ISBN 0-88740-481-2....
seaplanes and one catapult. Admiral Hippers armored belt
Belt armor
Belt armor is a layer of heavy metal armor plated on to or within outer hulls of warships, typically on battleships, battlecruisers and cruisers, and on aircraft carriers converted from those types of ships....
was 70 millimetre thick; her upper deck was 12 millimetre thick while the main armored deck was 20 millimetre thick. The main battery turrets had 105 mm (4.1 in) thick faces and 70 mm thick sides.
History
Kapitän zur See Hellmuth Heye was given command of the ship at her commissioning. After her commissioning in April 1939, Admiral Hipper steamed into the Baltic SeaBaltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
to conduct training maneuvers. The ship also made port calls to various Baltic ports, including cities in Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...
and Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
. In August, the ship conducted live fire drills in the Baltic. At the outbreak of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
in September 1939, the ship was still conducting gunnery trials. She was briefly used to patrol the Baltic, but she did not see combat, and was quickly returned to training exercises. In November 1939, the ship returned to the Blohm & Voss dockyard for modifications; these included the replacement of the straight stem with a clipper bow and the installation of the funnel cap.
Sea trials in the Baltic resumed in January 1940, but severe ice restrained the ship to port. On 17 February, the Kriegsmarine pronounced the ship fully operational, and on the following day, Admiral Hipper began her first major wartime patrol. She joined the battleship
Battleship
A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...
s Scharnhorst
German battleship Scharnhorst
Scharnhorst was a German capital ship, alternatively described as a battleship and battlecruiser, of the German Kriegsmarine. She was the lead ship of her class, which included one other ship, Gneisenau. The ship was built at the Kriegsmarinewerft dockyard in Wilhelmshaven; she was laid down on 15...
and Gneisenau
German battleship Gneisenau
Gneisenau was a German capital ship, alternatively described as a battleship and battlecruiser, of the German Kriegsmarine. She was the second vessel of her class, which included one other ship, Scharnhorst. The ship was built at the Deutsche Werke dockyard in Kiel; she was laid down on 6 May 1935...
and the destroyer
Destroyer
In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...
s Karl Galster
German destroyer Z20 Karl Galster
Z20 Karl Galster was a built for the Kriegsmarine in the late 1930s.-External links:*...
and Wilhelm Heidkamp
German destroyer Z21 Wilhelm Heidkamp
Z21 Wilhelm Heidkamp was a built for the Kriegsmarine in the late 1930s.-External links:*...
in a sortie into the North Sea off Bergen
Bergen
Bergen is the second largest city in Norway with a population of as of , . Bergen is the administrative centre of Hordaland county. Greater Bergen or Bergen Metropolitan Area as defined by Statistics Norway, has a population of as of , ....
, Norway. A third destroyer, Wolfgang Zenker
German destroyer Z9 Wolfgang Zenker
Z9 Wolfgang Zenker was a built for the German Navy in the mid-1930s. Several days after the start of World War II, she unsuccessfully attacked, together with another destroyer, Polish ships anchored at the naval base on the Hel Peninsula. In early 1940 the ship made two successful minelaying...
, was forced to turn back after sustaining damage from ice. The ships operated under the command of Admiral Wilhelm Marschall
Wilhelm Marschall
Wilhelm Marschall was a German admiral during World War II. He was also a recipient of the Pour le Mérite which he received as commander of the German U-boat during World War I...
. The ships attempted to locate British merchant shipping, but failed and returned to port on 20 February.
Operation Weserübung
Following her return from the North Sea sortie, Admiral Hipper was assigned to the forces tasked with the invasion of Norway, codenamed Operation Weserübung. The ship was assigned as the flagshipFlagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...
of Group 2, along with the destroyers Paul Jakobi
German destroyer Z5 Paul Jakobi
Z5 Paul Jakobi was a built for the German Navy in the mid-1930s.-Design and description:Paul Jacobi had an overall length of and was long at the waterline. The ship had a beam of , and a maximum draft of . She displaced at standard and at deep load. The Wagner geared steam turbines were...
, Theodor Riedel
German destroyer Z6 Theodor Riedel
Z6 Theodor Riedel was a built for the German Navy in the mid-1930s.-Design and description:Theodor Riedel had an overall length of and was long at the waterline. The ship had a beam of , and a maximum draft of . She displaced at standard and at deep load. The Wagner geared steam turbines were...
, Friedrich Eckoldt
German destroyer Z16 Friedrich Eckoldt
Z16 Friedrich Eckoldt was a built for the German Navy in the mid-1930s. At the beginning of World War II, the ship was initially deployed to blockade the Polish coast, but she was quickly transferred to the German Bight to lay minefields in German waters...
, and Bruno Heinemann
German destroyer Z8 Bruno Heinemann
Z8 Bruno Heinemann was a built for the German Navy in the mid-1930s. After the start of World War II in September 1939, she blockaded the Polish coast and searched neutral shipping for contraband. In late 1939 and early 1940 the ship made three successful minelaying sorties off the English coast...
. KzS Heye was given command of Group 2 during the operation. The five ships carried a total of 1,700 Wehrmacht
Wehrmacht
The Wehrmacht – from , to defend and , the might/power) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the Heer , the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe .-Origin and use of the term:...
mountain troops, whose objective was the port of Trondheim
Trondheim
Trondheim , historically, Nidaros and Trondhjem, is a city and municipality in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. With a population of 173,486, it is the third most populous municipality and city in the country, although the fourth largest metropolitan area. It is the administrative centre of...
; the ships loaded the troops in Cuxhaven. The ships steamed to the Schillig
Schillig
Schillig is a village in the Friesland district of Lower Saxony in Germany. It is situated on the west coast of Jade Bay and is north of the town of Wilhelmshaven.The approaches to the Bay and Willhelmshaven are known in English as the Schillig Roads....
roadstead
Roadstead
A roadstead is a place outside a harbor where a ship can lie at anchor. It is an enclosed area with an opening to the sea, narrower than a bay or gulf. It has a surface that cannot be confused with an estuary. It can be created artificially by jetties or dikes...
outside Wilhelmshaven
Wilhelmshaven
Wilhelmshaven is a coastal town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the western side of the Jade Bight, a bay of the North Sea.-History:...
, where they joined Group 1, consisting of ten destroyers, and the battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, which were assigned to cover Groups 1 and 2. The ships steamed out of the roadstead at midnight on the night of 6–7 April.
While steaming off the Norwegian coast, Admiral Hipper was ordered to divert course to locate the destroyer Bernd von Arnim
German destroyer Z11 Bernd von Arnim
Z11 Bernd von Arnim was a built for the German Navy in the late 1930s. At the beginning of World War II, the ship was initially deployed to blockade the Polish coast, but she was quickly transferred to the German Bight to lay minefields in German waters...
, which had fallen behind Group 1. In the mist, the destroyer encountered the British destroyer ; the two destroyers engaged each other until Bernd von Arnims commander requested assistance from Admiral Hipper. Upon arriving on the scene, Admiral Hipper was initially misidentified by Glowworm to be a friendly vessel, which allowed the German ship to close the distance and fire first. Admiral Hipper rained fire on Glowworm, scoring several hits. Glowworm attempted to flee, but when it became apparent she could not break away from the pursuing cruiser, she turned toward Admiral Hipper and fired a spread of torpedoes, all of which missed. The British destroyer scored one hit on Admiral Hippers starboard bow before a rudder malfunction set the ship on a collision course with the German cruiser.
The collision with Glowworm tore off a 40 metres (131.2 ft) section of Admiral Hippers armored belt on the starboard side, as well as the ship's starboard torpedo launcher. Minor flooding caused a four degree list to starboard, though the ship was able to continue with the mission. Glowworms boilers exploded shortly after the collision, causing her to sink quickly. Forty survivors were picked up by the German ship. Admiral Hipper then resumed course toward Trondheim. The British destroyer had survived long enough to send a wireless message to the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
headquarters, which allowed the battlecruiser time to move into position to engage Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, though the German battleships used their superior speed to break off contact.
After arriving off Trondheim, Admiral Hipper successfully passed herself off as a British warship long enough to steam past the Norwegian coastal artillery batteries. The ship entered the harbor and docked shortly before 05:30 to debark the mountain troops. After the ground troops seized control of the coastal batteries, the ship left Trondheim, bound for Germany. She was escorted by Friedrich Eckoldt; she reached Wilhelmshaven on 12 April, and went into drydock. The dockyard workers discovered the ship had been damaged more severely by the collision with Glowworm than had previously been thought. Nevertheless, repairs were completed in the span of two weeks.
Admiral Marschall organized a mission to seize Harstad
Harstad
is the second largest city and municipality by population, in Troms county, Norway – the city is also the third largest in North Norway. Thus Harstad is the natural centre for its district. Situated approximately north of the Arctic Circle, the city celebrated its 100th anniversary in...
in early June 1940; Admiral Hipper, the battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, and four destroyers were tasked with the operation. The ships departed on 4 June, and while en route, Admiral Hipper encountered and sank the empty troopship Orama on 9 June. Before they reached Harstad, the Germans learned that the Allies had already abandoned the port. Marschall's squadron was then tasked with intercepting an Allied convoy that was reported to be in the area. The ships failed to find the convoy, and returned to Trondheim to refuel.
On 13 June, the ship's anti-aircraft gunners shot down an attacking British bomber. On 25 July, Admiral Hipper steamed out on a commerce raiding patrol in the area between Spitzbergen and Tromsø
Tromsø
Tromsø is a city and municipality in Troms county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Tromsø.Tromsø city is the ninth largest urban area in Norway by population, and the seventh largest city in Norway by population...
; the cruise lasted until 9 August. While on the patrol, Admiral Hipper encountered the Finnish freighter Ester Thorden, which was found to be carrying 1.75 MT (1.7 LT) of gold. The ship was seized and sent to occupied Norway with a prize crew.
Atlantic operations
The ship made a second attempt to break out into the Atlantic on 30 November; she successfully navigated the Denmark Strait
Denmark Strait
The Denmark Strait or Greenland Strait |Sound]]) is an oceanic strait between Greenland and Iceland...
undetected on 6 December. Admiral Hipper intercepted a convoy of 20 troopships on 24 December, some 700 nautical miles (1,296.4 km) west of Cape Finisterre
Cape Finisterre
right|thumb|300px|Position of Cape Finisterre on the [[Iberian Peninsula]]Cape Finisterre is a rock-bound peninsula on the west coast of Galicia, Spain....
. Five of the twenty ships were allocated to Operation Excess
Operation Excess
Operation Excess was a series of supply convoys to Malta, Alexandria and Greece in January 1941.On 6 January, convoy Excess left Gibraltar for Malta and Greece, covered by the Gibraltar based Force H. Simultaneously, the Mediterranean Fleet from Alexandria covered more supply ships from...
. The convoy was protected by a powerful escort composed of the aircraft carrier
Aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...
s and , the cruisers , , and , and six destroyers. Admiral Hipper did not initially spot the escorting warships, and so began attacking the convoy. She badly damaged two ships, one of which was the 13994 LT transport Empire Trooper, with her main guns before spotting the heavy cruiser Berwick and destroyers steaming toward her. She quickly withdrew, using her main guns to keep the destroyers at bay.
Ten minutes later, Berwick reappeared off Admiral Hippers port bow; the German cruiser fired several salvos from her forward turrets and scored hits on the British cruiser's rear turrets, waterline, and forward superstructure
Superstructure
A superstructure is an upward extension of an existing structure above a baseline. This term is applied to various kinds of physical structures such as buildings, bridges, or ships...
. Admiral Hipper then disengaged, to prevent the British destroyers from closing to launch a torpedo attack. By now, the ship was running low on fuel, and so she put into Brest
Brest, France
Brest is a city in the Finistère department in Brittany in northwestern France. Located in a sheltered position not far from the western tip of the Breton peninsula, and the western extremity of metropolitan France, Brest is an important harbour and the second French military port after Toulon...
in occupied France on 27 December. While en route, Admiral Hipper encountered and sank an isolated 6078 LT cargo ship. Another round of routine maintenance work was effected while the ship was in Brest, readying her for another sortie into the Atlantic shipping lanes.
On 1 February 1941, Admiral Hipper embarked on her second Atlantic sortie. The Kriegsmarine had initially sought to send the battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau to operate in concert with Admiral Hipper, but after Gneisenau suffered storm damage in December that prevented the participation of the two ships. Repairs were effected quickly, however, and the two battleships broke out into the Atlantic in early February. Admiral Hipper rendezvoused with a tanker off the Azores
Azores
The Archipelago of the Azores is composed of nine volcanic islands situated in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, and is located about west from Lisbon and about east from the east coast of North America. The islands, and their economic exclusion zone, form the Autonomous Region of the...
to top up her fuel tanks. On 11 February, the ship encountered and sank an isolated transport from convoy HG 53, which had been dispersed by U-boat
U-boat
U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...
and Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
attacks. That evening, she picked up the unescorted convoy SLS 64, which contained nineteen merchant ships. The following morning, Admiral Hipper closed in and sank several of the ships. The British reported only seven ships were lost, totaling 32806 LT, along with damage to two more. The Germans claimed Admiral Hipper had sunk thirteen of the nineteen freighters, while some survivors reported fourteen ships of the convoy were sunk.
Following the attack on convoy SLS 64, Admiral Hippers fuel stocks were running low. She therefore returned to Brest on 15 February. British bombers were regularly attacking the port, however, and the Kriegsmarine therefore decided Admiral Hipper should return to Germany, where it could be better protected. Before the ship could leave, damage caused to the ship's hull by wrecks in the harbor had to be repaired. On 15 March, the ship slipped out of Brest, unobserved, and passed through the Denmark Strait eight days later. While en route, Admiral Hipper stopped to refuel in Bergen
Bergen
Bergen is the second largest city in Norway with a population of as of , . Bergen is the administrative centre of Hordaland county. Greater Bergen or Bergen Metropolitan Area as defined by Statistics Norway, has a population of as of , ....
. By 28 March, the cruiser was docked in Kiel, having made the entire journey without being detected by the British. Upon arrival, the ship went into the Deutsche Werke
Deutsche Werke
Deutsche Werke was a German shipbuilding company founded in 1925 when Kaiserliche Werft Kiel and other shipyards were merged. It came as a result of the Treaty of Versailles after World War I that forced the German defence industry to shrink...
shipyard for an extensive overhaul, which lasted for seven months. After completion of the refit, Admiral Hipper conducted sea trials in the Baltic before putting in to Gotenhafen on 21 December for some minor refitting. In January 1942, the ship had her steam turbines overhauled at the Blohm & Voss shipyard; a degaussing
Degaussing
Degaussing is the process of decreasing or eliminating an unwanted magnetic field. It is named after Carl Friedrich Gauss, an early researcher in the field of magnetism...
coil was fitted to the ship's hull during this overhaul. By March, the ship was again fully operational.
Deployment to Norway
On 19 March 1942, Admiral Hipper steamed to Trondheim, escorted by the destroyers Z24German destroyer Z24
Z24 was a built for the Kriegsmarine in the late 1930s.-External links:*...
, Z26
German destroyer Z26
Z26 was a built for the Kriegsmarine during World War II.-External links:*...
, and Z30
German destroyer Z30
Z30 was a built for the Kriegsmarine during World War II.-External links:*...
and the torpedo boats T15, T16, and T17. Several British submarines were patrolling the area, but failed to intercept the German flotilla. Admiral Hipper and her escorts reached their destination on 21 March. There, they joined the heavy cruisers Lützow and Prinz Eugen
German cruiser Prinz Eugen
Prinz Eugen was an Admiral Hipper-class heavy cruiser, the third member of the class of five vessels. She served with the German Kriegsmarine during World War II. The ship was laid down in April 1936 and launched August 1938; Prinz Eugen entered service after the outbreak of war, in August 1940...
, though the latter soon returned to Germany for repairs. On 3 July, Admiral Hipper joined the cruisers Lützow and Admiral Scheer and the battleship Tirpitz
German battleship Tirpitz
Tirpitz was the second of two s built for the German Kriegsmarine during World War II. Named after Grand Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz, the architect of the Imperial Navy, the ship was laid down at the Kriegsmarinewerft in Wilhelmshaven in November 1936 and launched two and a half years later in April...
for Operation Rösselsprung, an attack on convoy PQ 17. Escorting the convoy were the battleships and and the carrier . Admiral Hipper, Tirpitz, and six destroyers sortied from Trondheim, while a second task force consisting of Lützow, Admiral Scheer, and six destroyers operated out of Narvik
Narvik
is the third largest city and municipality in Nordland county, Norway by population. Narvik is located on the shores of the Narvik Fjord . The municipality is part of the Ofoten traditional region of North Norway, inside the arctic circle...
. Lützow and three of the destroyers struck uncharted rocks while en route to the rendezvous and had to return to port. Swedish intelligence had meanwhile reported the German departures to the British Admiralty
Admiralty
The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...
, which ordered the convoy to disperse. Aware that they had been detected, the Germans aborted the operation and turned over the attack to U-boat
U-boat
U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...
s and the Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
. The scattered vessels could no longer be protected by the convoy escorts, and the Germans sank 21 of the 34 isolated transports.
The British submarine unsuccessfully attempted to torpedo Admiral Hipper on 10 September, while the ship was patrolling with Admiral Scheer and the light cruiser Köln
German cruiser Köln
Köln was a German light cruiser prior to and during World War II, one of three K-Class cruisers named after cities starting with the letter K. This ship was named after the city of Köln . The others in her class were the Königsberg and the Karlsruhe...
. The cruiser escorted the destroyers Z23
German destroyer Z23
Z23 was a built for the Kriegsmarine in the late 1930s.-External links:*...
, Z28
German destroyer Z28
Z28 was a built for the Kriegsmarine during World War II.-External links:*...
, Z29
German destroyer Z29
Z29 was a built for the Kriegsmarine during World War II.-External links:*...
, and Z30 on 24–28 September to lay a minefield off the north-west coast of Novaya Zemlya
Novaya Zemlya
Novaya Zemlya , also known in Dutch as Nova Zembla and in Norwegian as , is an archipelago in the Arctic Ocean in the north of Russia and the extreme northeast of Europe, the easternmost point of Europe lying at Cape Flissingsky on the northern island...
. The goal of the operation was to funnel merchant traffic further south, closer to the reach of German naval units in Norway. After her return to port, Admiral Hipper was transferred to Bogen Bay near Narvik for repairs to her propulsion system. On 28–29 October, Admiral Hipper and the destroyers Friedrich Eckoldt and Richard Beitzen were transferred further north from Narvik to the Altafjord
Altafjord
Altafjord is a fjord in the municipality Alta in Finnmark county, Norway, and is about 38 kilometres long. In the inner southern part of the fjord, near the town of Alta, is the outlet of the 200 kilometre long river Altaelva...
. Starting on 5 November, Admiral Hipper and the 5th Destroyer Flotilla, composed of Z27
German destroyer Z27
Z27 was a built for the Kriegsmarine during World War II.-External links:*...
, Z30, Richard Beitzen, and Friedrich Eckoldt, patrolled for Allied shipping in the Arctic. Vizeadmiral Oskar Kummetz
Oskar Kummetz
Oskar Kummetz was a Generaladmiral with the Kriegsmarine during World War II. He also served in the Kaiserliche Marine during World War I. Kummetz was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for his actions in the Battle of Drøbak Sound, during which his command, the was sunk by Norwegian...
commanded the squadron from Admiral Hipper On 7 November, the cruiser's Arado Ar 196 floatplane located the 7925 LT Soviet tanker Donbass and its escort, the auxiliary warship BO-78. Kummetz dispatched the destroyer Z27 to sink the two Soviet ships.
Battle of the Barents Sea
In December 1942, convoy traffic to the Soviet Union resumed. Großadmiral Erich RaederErich Raeder
Erich Johann Albert Raeder was a naval leader in Germany before and during World War II. Raeder attained the highest possible naval rank—that of Großadmiral — in 1939, becoming the first person to hold that rank since Alfred von Tirpitz...
, the commander in chief of the Kriegsmarine, ordered a plan, Operation Regenbogen
Operation Regenbogen (Arctic)
Operation Regenbogen was the sortie in 1942 into the Arctic Ocean by warships of the German Navy during World War II...
, to use the available surface units in Norway to launch an attack on the convoys. The first convoy of the month, JW 51A
Convoy JW 51A
Convoy JW 51A was an Arctic convoy sent from Great Britain by the Western Allies to aid the Soviet Union during World War II. It sailed in December 1942, reaching the Soviet northern ports at the end of the month....
, passed to the Soviet Union without incident. The second, however, convoy JW 51B
Convoy JW 51B
Convoy JW 51B was an Arctic convoy sent from Great Britain by the Western Allies to aid the Soviet Union during World War II. It sailed in late December 1942, reaching the Soviet northern ports in early January 1943....
, were spotted by the submarine U-354 south of Bear Island. Raeder ordered the forces assigned to Operation Regenbogen into action. Admiral Hipper, again served as Kummetz's flagship; the squadron comprised Lützow and the destroyers Friederich Eckoldt, Richard Beitzen, Theodor Riedel, Z29, Z30, and Z31. The force left Altafjord at 18:00 on 30 December, under orders to avoid confrontation with even an equal opponent.
Kummetz's plan was to divide his force in half; he would take Admiral Hipper and three destroyers north of the convoy to attack it and draw away the escorts. Lützow and the remaining three destroyers would then attack the undefended convoy from the south. At 09:15 on the 31st, the British destroyer spotted the three destroyers screening for Admiral Hipper; the Germans opened fire first. Four of the other five destroyers escorting the convoy rushed to join the fight, while laid a smoke screen to cover the convoy. Admiral Hipper fired several salvos at Achates, raining shell splinters on the destroyer that severed steam lines and reduced her speed to 15 kn (8.2 m/s). Kummetz then turned back north to draw the destroyers away. Captain Robert Sherbrooke, the British escort commander, left two destroyers to cover the convoy while he took the remaining four to pursue Admiral Hipper.
Rear Admiral Robert Burnett
Robert Burnett
Admiral Sir Robert Lindsay Burnett, GBE, KCB, CStJ, DSO was an officer in the Royal Navy.-Naval career:Educated at Bedford School, Burnett joined the Royal Navy in 1902. He served on the China Station from 1904 and then with the Atlantic and Mediterranean Fleets from 1908...
's Force R, centered on the cruisers and , standing by in distant support of the Allied convoy, raced to the scene. The cruisers engaged Admiral Hipper, which had been firing to port at the destroyer . Burnett's ships approached from Admiral Hippers starboard side and achieved complete surprise. In the initial series of salvos from the British cruisers, Admiral Hipper was hit three times. One of the hits damaged the ship's propulsion system; the No. 3 boiler filled with a mix of oil and water, which forced the crew to turn off the starboard turbine engine. This reduced her speed to 23 kn (12.5 m/s). The other two hits started a fire in her aircraft hangar. She fired a single salvo at the cruisers before turning toward them, her escorting destroyers screening her with smoke.
After emerging from the smoke screen, Hipper was again engaged by Burnett's cruisers. Owing to the uncertainty over the condition of his flagship and the ferocity of the British defense, Kummetz issued the following order at 10:37: "Break off action and retire to the west." Mistakenly identifying Sheffield as Admiral Hipper, the destroyer Friederich Eckoldt approached too closely and was sunk. Meanwhile, Lützow closed to within 3 nmi (5.6 km) of the convoy, but due to poor visibility, she held her fire. She then received Kummetz's order, and turned west to rendezvous with Admiral Hipper. Lützow inadvertently came alongside Sheffield and Jamaica, and after identifying them as hostile, engaged them. The British cruisers turned toward Lützow and came under fire from both German cruisers. Admiral Hippers firing was more accurate and quickly straddled Sheffield, though the British cruiser escaped unscathed. Burnett quickly decided to withdraw in the face of superior German firepower; his ships were armed with 6 in (15.2 cm) guns, while Admiral Hipper and Lützow carried 20.3 cm (8 in) and 28 cm (11 in) guns, respectively.
Based on the order issued at the outset of the operation to avoid action with a force equal in strength to his own, poor visibility, and the damage to his flagship, Kummetz decided to abort the attack. In the course of the battle, the British destroyer Achates was sunk by the damage inflicted by Admiral Hipper. The Germans also sank the minesweeper
Minesweeper (ship)
A minesweeper is a small naval warship designed to counter the threat posed by naval mines. Minesweepers generally detect then neutralize mines in advance of other naval operations.-History:...
and damaged the destroyers , Obedient, and Obdurate. In return, the British sank Friederich Eckoldt and damaged Admiral Hipper, and forced the Germans to abandon the attack on the convoy. In the aftermath of the failed operation, a furious Hitler proclaimed that the Kriegsmarine's surface forces would be paid off and dismantled, and their guns used to reinforce the fortifications of the Atlantic Wall
Atlantic Wall
The Atlantic Wall was an extensive system of coastal fortifications built by Nazi Germany between 1942 and 1944 along the western coast of Europe as a defense against an anticipated Allied invasion of the mainland continent from Great Britain.-History:On March 23, 1942 Führer Directive Number 40...
. Admiral Karl Dönitz
Karl Dönitz
Karl Dönitz was a German naval commander during World War II. He started his career in the German Navy during World War I. In 1918, while he was in command of , the submarine was sunk by British forces and Dönitz was taken prisoner...
, Raeder's successor, convinced Hitler to retain the surface fleet, however. After returning to Altafjord, emergency repairs to Admiral Hipper were effected, which allowed her to return to Bogen Bay on 23 January 1943. That day, Admiral Hipper, Köln, and the destroyer Richard Beitzen left the Altafjord to return to Germany. The three ships stopped in Narvik on 25 January, and in Trondheim from 30 January to 2 February. After resuming the voyage south, the ships searched for Norwegian blockade runners in the Skagerrak on 6 February before putting into port at Kiel on 8 February. On 28 February, the ship was decommissioned in accordance with Hitler's decree.
Fate
Despite being decommissioned, repair work on the ship continued. The ship was moved in April to Pillau in the Baltic, to put Admiral Hipper out of the reach of Allied bombers. A year later, the ship was moved to Gotenhafen; the Kriegsmarine intended to re-commission the ship so she could be used in the Baltic. Over the next five months, Admiral Hipper ran a series of sea trials in the Baltic, but failed to reach operational status. As the Soviet army pushed the Germans back on the Eastern Front, her crew was drafted into construction work on the defenses of the city, further impairing Admiral Hippers ability to enter active service. The Royal Air ForceRoyal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
also laid an extensive minefield around the port, which forced the ship to remain in the harbor.
By the end of 1944, the ship was due for another overhaul; work was to have lasted for three months. The Soviet Army had advanced so far, however, that it was necessary to move the ship back to Germany, despite the fact that she had only one working turbine engine. On 29 January 1945, the ship left Gotenhafen, arriving in Kiel on 2 February. She entered the Germaniawerft shipyard for refitting. On 3 May, RAF bombers attacked the harbor and severely damaged the ship. Her crew scuttled the wrecked ship at her moorings at 04:25 on 3 May. In July 1945, after the end of the war, Admiral Hipper was raised and towed to Heikendorfer Bay and subsequently broken up for scrap in 1948–1952. Her bell is currently on display at the National Maritime Museum
National Maritime Museum
The National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, England is the leading maritime museum of the United Kingdom and may be the largest museum of its kind in the world. The historic buildings forming part of the Maritime Greenwich World Heritage Site, it also incorporates the Royal Observatory, Greenwich,...
in Greenwich
Greenwich
Greenwich is a district of south London, England, located in the London Borough of Greenwich.Greenwich is best known for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich Meridian and Greenwich Mean Time...
.
Footnotes
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