List of heavy cruisers of Germany
Encyclopedia
The German navies of the 1920s through 1945—the Reichsmarine
and later Kriegsmarine
—built or planned a series of heavy cruiser
s starting in the late 1920s, initially classified as panzerschiffe (armored ships). The terms of the Treaty of Versailles
, which ended World War I
, limited German warships to a displacement of 10000 MT (9,842 LT). The first class of ships designed under these restrictions was the , designed in the late 1920s, and commonly referred to as "pocket battleships". They incorporated a series of radical innovations to save weight, including extensive use of welded
construction and diesel engine
s. An improved version, the D class
, was planned for 1934, but escalating design requirements in response to the French s resulted in the replacement of the D class with the two s.
Plans for an improved panzershiff were renewed in 1937 with the P class. Initially intended to comprise twelve ships, the P class was a central component of Grand Admiral
Erich Raeder
's Plan Z
fleet, which was designed for a commerce war against Great Britain. Subsequent versions of Plan Z reduced the number of ships to eight and then removed them altogether, replacing them with the O-class battlecruisers by 1939. The five ships of the were authorized under the terms of the Anglo-German Naval Agreement
, signed in 1935, which permitted Germany 50000 long tons (50,802.5 MT) of heavy cruisers. Of these ships, only three were completed; the outbreak of World War II
in September 1939 caused work to be halted on the last two ships.
In total, Germany completed six heavy cruisers, all of which saw extensive service with the fleet. The three Deutschland class ships served on several non-intervention patrols during the Spanish Civil War
in 1936–1938. Most of the heavy cruisers were used as commerce raiders during the war, of which Admiral Scheer was the most successful; Admiral Graf Spee
was meanwhile scuttled after the Battle of the River Plate
. Blücher
was sunk by Norwegian coastal batteries during Operation Weserübung
, the German invasion of Denmark and Norway, just four days after the ship joined the fleet. Seydlitz
, one of the two incomplete Admiral Hipper class ships, was intended to be converted into an aircraft carrier
, though the work was never completed. Lützow
, the second unfinished ship, was sold to the Soviet Union, and subsequently shelled German soldiers advancing on Leningrad
until German bombers sank her. Deutschlannd—by now renamed Lützow—Admiral Scheer, and Admiral Hipper
were all destroyed by British bombers at the end of the war; only Prinz Eugen
survived the conflict. She was ceded to the US Navy as a war prize and used in nuclear testing in Bikini Atoll
.
and all-diesel
propulsion, which saved weight and allowed for the heavier main armament and armor. The three ships, Deutschland, Admiral Scheer, and Admiral Graf Spee, were built between 1929 and 1936. Design changes were made over the course of the construction program, resulting in slightly differing characteristics of each ship.
Commonly referred to as "pocket battleships" due to their heavy armament, all three ships saw service in the non-intervention patrols during the Spanish Civil War
in 1936–1938. They served as commerce raiders early in World War II; Admiral Graf Spee was scuttled outside Montevideo
in December 1939 following the Battle of the River Plate
. Deutschland conducted one cruise into the North Atlantic without significant success, before returning to Germany to be renamed Lützow. She and Admiral Scheer were also re-rated as heavy cruisers. She then participated in Operation Weserübung
, where she was badly damaged by Norwegian coastal batteries and a British torpedo. After repairs, she was deployed to occupied Norway to operate against convoys to the Soviet Union. There she was joined by Admiral Scheer, which had completed the most successful raiding cruise conducted by a major surface unit. Both ships ultimately returned to German waters by the end of 1943, where they were sunk by British bombers in the final weeks of the war. Lützow was re-floated by the Soviet Navy and expended as a target in July 1947.
, which had been canceled in 1934. The ships were part of the original version of Plan Z
submitted by the Navy, and were the primary component of Grand Admiral
Erich Raeder
's plans for a commerce war against Britain. A revised version reduced the number of ships to eight, and another revision removed them entirely before work began, replacing them with the three O class battlecruisers, which were also not built.
The Admiral Hipper class was the second and final group of heavy cruisers built by the German Navy. Their design was prepared in 1934–1936, while Germany was negotiating the Anglo-German Naval Agreement
. The Treaty, signed in 1935, permitted Germany to build 50000 long tons (50,802.5 MT) of heavy cruisers, enough for five 10000 long tons (10,160.5 MT) ships. Of the five ships, only Admiral Hipper, Blücher, and Prinz Eugen were completed; Seydlitz was 95% complete when the decision was made to convert her into an aircraft carrier. The conversion was not completed, however, and the vessel was ceded to the Soviet Union and broken up for scrap. Lützow was sold, incomplete, to the Soviet Union in 1940. The ship, renamed Petropavlovsk, assisted in the defense of Leningrad
during the German invasion of the Soviet Union
before being damaged by German dive-bombers. After being raised and repaired, the ship continued in limited service until the 1950s, when she was scrapped.
Admiral Hipper and Blücher both participated in the invasion of Norway; the latter was sunk by Norwegian coastal guns outside Oslo
. After the operation, Admiral Hipper conducted two sorties into the North Atlantic to raid merchant shipping. Prinz Eugen joined the battleship Bismarck
for a major operation in the Atlantic; she participated in the Battle of the Denmark Strait
, which saw the battlecruiser destroyed. Bismarck was subsequently sunk during the operation, but Prinz Eugen successfully returned to port. After the Channel Dash in 1942, she joined Admiral Hipper in Norway. After arriving, Prinz Eugen was torpedoed by a British submarine, necessitating repairs in Germany. Admiral Hipper meanwhile saw action at the Battle of the Barents Sea
at the end of 1942. Both ships returned to Germany and operated in the Baltic Sea
in 1945. Admiral Hipper was scuttled by her crew after having been heavily damaged by RAF bombers. Prinz Eugen survived the war and was ceded as a war prize to the US Navy, which scuttled the ship after she survived two atomic bomb tests in the Bikini Atoll
in 1946.
Reichsmarine
The Reichsmarine was the name of the German Navy during the Weimar Republic and first two years of Nazi Germany. It was the naval branch of the Reichswehr, existing from 1918 to 1935...
and later 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...
—built or planned a series 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 starting in the late 1920s, initially classified as panzerschiffe (armored ships). The terms of the Treaty of Versailles
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The other Central Powers on the German side of...
, which ended World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, limited German warships to a displacement of 10000 MT (9,842 LT). The first class of ships designed under these restrictions was the , designed in the late 1920s, and commonly referred to as "pocket battleships". They incorporated a series of radical innovations to save weight, including extensive use of welded
Welding
Welding is a fabrication or sculptural process that joins materials, usually metals or thermoplastics, by causing coalescence. This is often done by melting the workpieces and adding a filler material to form a pool of molten material that cools to become a strong joint, with pressure sometimes...
construction and diesel engine
Diesel engine
A diesel engine is an internal combustion engine that uses the heat of compression to initiate ignition to burn the fuel, which is injected into the combustion chamber...
s. An improved version, the D class
D class cruiser (Germany)
The D class cruisers were a pair of cruisers, classified as Panzerschiffe by the Kriegsmarine. The ships were improved versions of the preceding s, authorized by Adolf Hitler in 1933. They were intended to counter a new French naval construction program...
, was planned for 1934, but escalating design requirements in response to the French s resulted in the replacement of the D class with the two s.
Plans for an improved panzershiff were renewed in 1937 with the P class. Initially intended to comprise twelve ships, the P class was a central component of Grand Admiral
Grand Admiral
Grand admiral is a historic naval rank, generally being the highest such rank present in any particular country. Its most notable use was in Germany — the German word is Großadmiral.-France:...
Erich Raeder
Erich 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...
's Plan Z
Plan Z
Plan Z was the name given to the planned re-equipment and expansion of the Nazi German Navy ordered by Adolf Hitler on January 27, 1939...
fleet, which was designed for a commerce war against Great Britain. Subsequent versions of Plan Z reduced the number of ships to eight and then removed them altogether, replacing them with the O-class battlecruisers by 1939. The five ships of the were authorized under the terms of the Anglo-German Naval Agreement
Anglo-German Naval Agreement
The Anglo-German Naval Agreement of June 18, 1935 was a bilateral agreement between the United Kingdom and German Reich regulating the size of the Kriegsmarine in relation to the Royal Navy. The A.G.N.A fixed a ratio whereby the total tonnage of the Kriegsmarine was to be 35% of the total tonnage...
, signed in 1935, which permitted Germany 50000 long tons (50,802.5 MT) of heavy cruisers. Of these ships, only three were completed; 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 caused work to be halted on the last two ships.
In total, Germany completed six heavy cruisers, all of which saw extensive service with the fleet. The three Deutschland class ships served on several non-intervention patrols during the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
in 1936–1938. Most of the heavy cruisers were used as commerce raiders during the war, of which Admiral Scheer was the most successful; Admiral Graf Spee
German cruiser Admiral Graf Spee
Admiral Graf Spee was a Deutschland-class heavy cruiser which served with the Kriegsmarine of Nazi Germany during World War II. The vessel was named after Admiral Maximilian von Spee, commander of the East Asia Squadron that fought the battles of Coronel and Falkland Islands in World War I...
was meanwhile scuttled after the Battle of the River Plate
Battle of the River Plate
The Battle of the River Plate was the first naval battle in the Second World War. The German pocket battleship had been commerce raiding since the start of the war in September 1939...
. Blücher
German cruiser Blücher
Blücher was the second of five heavy cruisers of the German Kriegsmarine, built after the rise of the Nazi Party and the repudiation of the Treaty of Versailles. Named for Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, the victor of the Battle of Waterloo, the ship was laid down in August 1936 and launched in...
was sunk by Norwegian coastal batteries 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...
, the German invasion of Denmark and Norway, just four days after the ship joined the fleet. Seydlitz
German cruiser Seydlitz
Seydlitz was a heavy cruiser of the German Kriegsmarine, fourth in the , but was never completed. The ship was laid down in December 1936 and launched in January 1939, but the outbreak of World War II interrupted her completion at approximately 95 percent...
, one of the two incomplete Admiral Hipper class ships, was intended to be converted into an 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...
, though the work was never completed. Lützow
German cruiser Lützow
Several ships can be described as the German cruiser Lützow:, battlecruiser which was scuttled after the battle of Jutland*German cruiser Lützow launched in 1939 as Lützow but sold to the Soviet Union and renamed in that year....
, the second unfinished ship, was sold to the Soviet Union, and subsequently shelled German soldiers advancing on Leningrad
Leningrad
Leningrad is the former name of Saint Petersburg, Russia.Leningrad may also refer to:- Places :* Leningrad Oblast, a federal subject of Russia, around Saint Petersburg* Leningrad, Tajikistan, capital of Muminobod district in Khatlon Province...
until German bombers sank her. Deutschlannd—by now renamed Lützow—Admiral Scheer, and Admiral Hipper
German cruiser Admiral Hipper
Admiral Hipper, the first of five ships of her class, was the lead ship of the Admiral Hipper–class of heavy cruisers 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...
were all destroyed by British bombers at the end of the war; only 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...
survived the conflict. She was ceded to the US Navy as a war prize and used in nuclear testing in Bikini Atoll
Bikini Atoll
Bikini Atoll is an atoll, listed as a World Heritage Site, in the Micronesian Islands of the Pacific Ocean, part of Republic of the Marshall Islands....
.
Key
| Armament | The number and type of the primary armament |
| Armor | The maximum thickness of the armored belt |
| Displacement | Ship displacement Displacement (ship) A ship's displacement is its weight at any given time, generally expressed in metric tons or long tons. The term is often used to mean the ship's weight when it is loaded to its maximum capacity. A number of synonymous terms exist for this maximum weight, such as loaded displacement, full load... at full combat load |
| Propulsion | Number of shafts, type of propulsion system, and top speed/horsepower generated |
| Cost | Cost of the ship's construction |
| Service | The dates work began and finished on the ship and its ultimate fate |
| Laid down | The date the keel Keel In boats and ships, keel can refer to either of two parts: a structural element, or a hydrodynamic element. These parts overlap. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in construction of a ship, in British and American shipbuilding traditions the construction is dated from this event... began to be assembled |
| Commissioned | The date the ship was commissioned Ship commissioning Ship commissioning is the act or ceremony of placing a ship in active service, and may be regarded as a particular application of the general concepts and practices of project commissioning. The term is most commonly applied to the placing of a warship in active duty with its country's military... |
Deutschland class
Initially ordered as panzerschiffe, the three Deutschland class ships were designed to meet the limitations imposed on the German Navy by the Treaty of Versailles. The treaty limited large German warships to a displacement of 10,000 tons, but did not restrict the caliber of main battery guns. Several innovations were incorporated into the design, including extensive use of weldingWelding
Welding is a fabrication or sculptural process that joins materials, usually metals or thermoplastics, by causing coalescence. This is often done by melting the workpieces and adding a filler material to form a pool of molten material that cools to become a strong joint, with pressure sometimes...
and all-diesel
Diesel engine
A diesel engine is an internal combustion engine that uses the heat of compression to initiate ignition to burn the fuel, which is injected into the combustion chamber...
propulsion, which saved weight and allowed for the heavier main armament and armor. The three ships, Deutschland, Admiral Scheer, and Admiral Graf Spee, were built between 1929 and 1936. Design changes were made over the course of the construction program, resulting in slightly differing characteristics of each ship.
Commonly referred to as "pocket battleships" due to their heavy armament, all three ships saw service in the non-intervention patrols during the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
in 1936–1938. They served as commerce raiders early in World War II; Admiral Graf Spee was scuttled outside Montevideo
Montevideo
Montevideo is the largest city, the capital, and the chief port of Uruguay. The settlement was established in 1726 by Bruno Mauricio de Zabala, as a strategic move amidst a Spanish-Portuguese dispute over the platine region, and as a counter to the Portuguese colony at Colonia del Sacramento...
in December 1939 following the Battle of the River Plate
Battle of the River Plate
The Battle of the River Plate was the first naval battle in the Second World War. The German pocket battleship had been commerce raiding since the start of the war in September 1939...
. Deutschland conducted one cruise into the North Atlantic without significant success, before returning to Germany to be renamed Lützow. She and Admiral Scheer were also re-rated as heavy cruisers. She then participated in 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...
, where she was badly damaged by Norwegian coastal batteries and a British torpedo. After repairs, she was deployed to occupied Norway to operate against convoys to the Soviet Union. There she was joined by Admiral Scheer, which had completed the most successful raiding cruise conducted by a major surface unit. Both ships ultimately returned to German waters by the end of 1943, where they were sunk by British bombers in the final weeks of the war. Lützow was re-floated by the Soviet Navy and expended as a target in July 1947.
| Ship | Armament | Armor | Displacement | Propulsion | Cost | Service | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laid down | Commissioned | Fate | ||||||
| Deutschland/Lützow | 6 × 28 cm SK C/28 28 cm SK C/28 naval gun The German 28 cm C/28 naval gun was a 283 mm 52-caliber built-up gun designed in 1928 used on the Deutschland class "pocket battleships".-History:-Characteristics:... guns |
80 mm (3.1 in) | 14290 LT (14,519.4 MT) | 2 shafts, 8 diesel engines, 28 kn (15.2 m/s) | 80,000,000 reichsmark | 5 February 1929 | 19 May 1931 | Sunk in Soviet weapons test, July 1947 |
| Admiral Scheer | 15180 LT (15,423.6 MT) | 90,000,000 reichsmark | 25 June 1931 | 1 April 1933 | Sunk on 9 April 1945, broken up for scrap | |||
| Admiral Graf Spee German cruiser Admiral Graf Spee Admiral Graf Spee was a Deutschland-class heavy cruiser which served with the Kriegsmarine of Nazi Germany during World War II. The vessel was named after Admiral Maximilian von Spee, commander of the East Asia Squadron that fought the battles of Coronel and Falkland Islands in World War I... |
16020 LT (16,277.1 MT) | 82,000,000 reichsmark | 1 October 1932 | 30 June 1934 | Scuttled on 17 December 1939 | |||
D class
In 1933, Hitler authorized the Kriegsmarine to order designs for an improved version of the preceding s. The ships were intended to counter a new French naval construction program. Displacement increased to 20000 LT, but Hitler allowed only increases to armor, prohibiting additions to the ships' main battery. Only one of the two ships was laid down, but it was canceled less than five months after the keel was laid. It was determined that the designs should be enlarged to counter the new French ships, which necessitated a third triple turret. The construction contracts for both ships were superseded by the two s.| Ship | Armament | Armor | Displacement | Propulsion | Cost | Service | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laid down | Commissioned | Fate | ||||||
| D | 6 × 28 cm guns | 220 mm (8.7 in) | 20,000 long tons (20,000 t) | Turbine propulsion, 29 kn (15.8 m/s) | — | 14 February 1934 | — | Work halted on 5 July 1934, broken up |
| E | — | — | — | Work not begun | ||||
P class
The P class, which was to have comprised twelve ships, was authorized in 1937. Design work began that year and continued until 1939; at least nine designs were considered. The final design was armed with six 28 cm (11 in) quick-firing guns in two triple turrets, as in the preceding Deutschland class. The ships were designated as Panzerschiff, and given the preliminary names P1–P12. They were an improved design over the preceding planned D class cruisersD class cruiser (Germany)
The D class cruisers were a pair of cruisers, classified as Panzerschiffe by the Kriegsmarine. The ships were improved versions of the preceding s, authorized by Adolf Hitler in 1933. They were intended to counter a new French naval construction program...
, which had been canceled in 1934. The ships were part of the original version of Plan Z
Plan Z
Plan Z was the name given to the planned re-equipment and expansion of the Nazi German Navy ordered by Adolf Hitler on January 27, 1939...
submitted by the Navy, and were the primary component of Grand Admiral
Grand Admiral
Grand admiral is a historic naval rank, generally being the highest such rank present in any particular country. Its most notable use was in Germany — the German word is Großadmiral.-France:...
Erich Raeder
Erich 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...
's plans for a commerce war against Britain. A revised version reduced the number of ships to eight, and another revision removed them entirely before work began, replacing them with the three O class battlecruisers, which were also not built.
| Ship | Armament | Armor | Displacement | Propulsion | Cost | Service | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laid down | Commissioned | Fate | ||||||
| P1–P12 | 6 × 28 cm guns | 120 mm (4.7 in) | 25,689 long tons (25,689 t) | 12 diesel engines, 33 kn (18 m/s) | — | — | — | Cancelled on 27 July 1939 |
Admiral Hipper class
Anglo-German Naval Agreement
The Anglo-German Naval Agreement of June 18, 1935 was a bilateral agreement between the United Kingdom and German Reich regulating the size of the Kriegsmarine in relation to the Royal Navy. The A.G.N.A fixed a ratio whereby the total tonnage of the Kriegsmarine was to be 35% of the total tonnage...
. The Treaty, signed in 1935, permitted Germany to build 50000 long tons (50,802.5 MT) of heavy cruisers, enough for five 10000 long tons (10,160.5 MT) ships. Of the five ships, only Admiral Hipper, Blücher, and Prinz Eugen were completed; Seydlitz was 95% complete when the decision was made to convert her into an aircraft carrier. The conversion was not completed, however, and the vessel was ceded to the Soviet Union and broken up for scrap. Lützow was sold, incomplete, to the Soviet Union in 1940. The ship, renamed Petropavlovsk, assisted in the defense of Leningrad
Leningrad
Leningrad is the former name of Saint Petersburg, Russia.Leningrad may also refer to:- Places :* Leningrad Oblast, a federal subject of Russia, around Saint Petersburg* Leningrad, Tajikistan, capital of Muminobod district in Khatlon Province...
during the German invasion of the Soviet Union
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...
before being damaged by German dive-bombers. After being raised and repaired, the ship continued in limited service until the 1950s, when she was scrapped.
Admiral Hipper and Blücher both participated in the invasion of Norway; the latter was sunk by Norwegian coastal guns outside Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
. After the operation, Admiral Hipper conducted two sorties into the North Atlantic to raid merchant shipping. Prinz Eugen joined the battleship Bismarck
German battleship Bismarck
Bismarck was the first of two s built for the German Kriegsmarine during World War II. Named after Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, the primary force behind the German unification in 1871, the ship was laid down at the Blohm & Voss shipyard in Hamburg in July 1936 and launched nearly three years later...
for a major operation in the Atlantic; she participated in the Battle of the Denmark Strait
Battle of the Denmark Strait
The Battle of the Denmark Strait was a Second World War naval battle between ships of the Royal Navy and the German Kriegsmarine, fought on 24 May 1941...
, which saw the battlecruiser destroyed. Bismarck was subsequently sunk during the operation, but Prinz Eugen successfully returned to port. After the Channel Dash in 1942, she joined Admiral Hipper in Norway. After arriving, Prinz Eugen was torpedoed by a British submarine, necessitating repairs in Germany. Admiral Hipper meanwhile saw action at 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...
at the end of 1942. Both ships returned to Germany and operated in the Baltic Sea
Baltic 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...
in 1945. Admiral Hipper was scuttled by her crew after having been heavily damaged by RAF bombers. Prinz Eugen survived the war and was ceded as a war prize to the US Navy, which scuttled the ship after she survived two atomic bomb tests in the Bikini Atoll
Bikini Atoll
Bikini Atoll is an atoll, listed as a World Heritage Site, in the Micronesian Islands of the Pacific Ocean, part of Republic of the Marshall Islands....
in 1946.
| Ship | Armament | Armor | Displacement | Propulsion | Cost | Service | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laid down | Commissioned | Fate | ||||||
| Admiral Hipper German cruiser Admiral Hipper Admiral Hipper, the first of five ships of her class, was the lead ship of the Admiral Hipper–class of heavy cruisers 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... |
8 × 20.3 cm SK C/34 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 |
80 mm (3.1 in) | 18200 LT (18,492.1 MT) | 3 shafts, 3 turbine engines, 28 kn (15.2 m/s) | 87,855,000 reichsmark | 6 July 1935 | 29 April 1939 | Scuttled 3 May 1945, broken up in 1948 |
| Blücher German cruiser Blücher Blücher was the second of five heavy cruisers of the German Kriegsmarine, built after the rise of the Nazi Party and the repudiation of the Treaty of Versailles. Named for Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, the victor of the Battle of Waterloo, the ship was laid down in August 1936 and launched in... |
18200 LT (18,492.1 MT) | 85,860,000 reichsmark | 15 August 1936 | 20 September 1939 | Sunk on 9 April 1940 | |||
| 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... |
18750 LT (19,050.9 MT) | 104,490,000 reichsmark | 23 April 1936 | 1 August 1940 | Sunk after US atomic tests, 22 December 1946 | |||
| Seydlitz German cruiser Seydlitz Seydlitz was a heavy cruiser of the German Kriegsmarine, fourth in the , but was never completed. The ship was laid down in December 1936 and launched in January 1939, but the outbreak of World War II interrupted her completion at approximately 95 percent... |
19800 LT (20,117.8 MT) | 84,000,000 reichsmark | 29 December 1936 | — | Ceded to the Soviet Union, broken up after 1958 | |||
| Lützow German cruiser Lützow (1939) Lützow was a heavy cruiser of the German Kriegsmarine, the fifth and final member of the , but was never completed. The ship was laid down in August 1937 and launched in July 1939, after which the Soviet Union requested to purchase the ship. The Kriegsmarine agreed to the sale in February 1940, and... |
19800 LT (20,117.8 MT) | 83,590,000 reichsmark | 2 August 1937 | — | Sold to the Soviet Union, broken up in 1960 | |||