Admiral Hipper-class cruiser

-class cruiser Template:Infobox ship image Template:Infobox ship class overview Template:Infobox ship characteristics

The class was a group of five heavy cruisers built by Nazi Germany's beginning in the mid-1930s. The class comprised , the lead ship, , , , and . Only the first three ships of the class saw action with the German Navy during World War II. Work on stopped when she was approximately 95 percent complete; it was decided to convert her into an aircraft carrier, but this was not completed either. was sold incomplete to the Soviet Union in 1940.

and took part in Operation Weserübung, the invasion of Norway in April 1940. was sunk by Norwegian coastal defenses outside Oslo while led the attack on Trondheim. She then conducted sorties into the Atlantic to attack Allied merchant shipping. In 1942, she was deployed to northern Norway to attack shipping to the Soviet Union, culminating in the Battle of the Barents Sea in December 1942, where she was damaged by British cruisers. saw her first action during Operation Rheinübung with the battleship . She eventually returned to Germany during the Channel Dash in 1942, after which she too went to Norway. After being torpedoed by a British submarine, she returned to Germany for repairs. , while decommissioned after returning to Germany in early 1943, was partially repaired and recommissioned in the fall of 1944 for a refugee transport mission in 1945. Only continued to serve in full commission and stayed in the Baltic until the end of the war.

was scuttled in Kiel in May 1945, leaving as the only member of the class to survive the war. She was ceded to the United States Navy, which ultimately expended the ship in the Operation Crossroads nuclear tests in 1946. was towed to Königsberg and scuttled before the advancing Soviet Army could seize the ship. She was ultimately raised and broken up for scrap. , renamed , remained unfinished when the Germans invaded the Soviet Union. The ship provided artillery support against advancing German forces until she was sunk in September 1941. She was raised a year later and repaired enough to participate in the campaign to relieve the Siege of Leningrad in 1944. She served on in secondary roles until the 1950s, when she was broken up.

Design

Development

Article 181 of the Treaty of Versailles limited the post-war German navy—the —to six battleships of the "Template:SMS or Template:SMS types" and six old light cruisers.Template:Refn These obsolete ships could not be replaced until they were at least twenty years old, and their replacements could displace no more than Template:Convert and Template:Convert, respectively.Template:Refn In February 1922, the major naval powers signed the Washington Naval Treaty; Germany was not invited to attend, but she would be held to the same qualitative limitations as the signatories. By the early 1920s, the cruisers of the were old enough to permit replacement; , the three Template:Sclasss, and the two Template:Sclasss were built later in the decade to replace the older vessels.Template:Sfn

The 1930 London Naval Treaty formally divided cruiser types into two categories: heavy cruisers, armed with Template:Cvt guns, and light cruisers, armed with Template:Convert guns. The Treaty of Versailles still prohibited Germany from building heavy cruisers,Template:Sfn but the rise of Adolf Hitler's Nazi Party to power in 1933 led to the formal rejection of the Treaty of Versailles. After pulling out of the Geneva Conference in 1933, Hitler argued that if the other European powers did not disarm to parity with Germany, they should accept German rearmament.Template:Sfn The German navy, renamed the on 21 May 1935, was now free to pursue rearmament. Germany concluded the Anglo-German Naval Agreement with Great Britain, which set German naval strength at 35% of the size of the Royal Navy.Template:Sfn This permitted Germany to build Template:Convert of heavy cruisers, enough for five 10,000-ton ships.Template:Sfn

The design for the first three of the five -class ships was prepared in 1934–1935.Template:Sfn and were initially designed as light cruisers; their design was prepared in 1934–1936.Template:Sfn These last two ships were to be armed with four triple turrets housing Template:Convert guns, as opposed to the four twin 20.3 cm guns on the first three ships. The "light cruisers" were otherwise planned to follow the same particulars as their three "heavy" half-sisters.Template:Sfn On 14 November 1936, the Navy decided to complete the final two ships identically to the other members of the class.Template:Sfn

General characteristics

File:Admiral Hipper ONI.jpg

Recognition drawing of the class, showing armament and armor arrangement

The ships of the class varied slightly in size. was Template:Convert long at the waterline and Template:Convert overall. After the installation of a clipper bow during fitting out, her overall length increased to Template:Convert. The ship had a beam of Template:Convert. was Template:Convert long at the waterline and Template:Convert overall; with the clipper bow, her overall length was Template:Convert. Her beam was Template:Convert. Both ships had a designed draft of Template:Convert and a full load draft of Template:Convert. was Template:Convert at the waterline and Template:Convert long overall; with the clipper bow, her overall length was Template:Convert. Her beam was Template:Convert and a draft of Template:Convert standard and 7.2 m at full load. and were Template:Convert long overall, with beams of Template:Convert and drafts of Template:Convert standard and Template:Convert at full load.Template:Sfn

Although nominally within the 10,000-ton limit, the ships of the class significantly exceeded the figure.Template:Sfn and had a designed displacement of Template:Convert and a full load displacement of Template:Convert. Template:'s displacement increased slightly, to Template:Convert designed and Template:Convert full load. and grew heavier still, at Template:Convert designed and Template:Convert full load.Template:Sfn

The ships' hulls were constructed from longitudinal steel frames. The hulls were divided into fourteen watertight compartments and a double bottom that extended for 72 percent of the length of the keel. The vessels had a flush deck and a fairly substantial superstructure that included a large, armored conning tower forward, a tower foremast. Amidships, the cruisers had a hangar and catapult for their Arado Ar 196 reconnaissance floatplanes. Further aft, the ships had a pole mainmast and smaller, secondary conning tower.Template:Sfn The regarded the ships as good sea boats, with gentle motion. At low speed, however, they were affected unpredictably by wind and currents. The ships heeled up to fourteen degrees and lost up to 50% speed with the rudder hard over at high speed. The ships had a standard complement of 42 officers and 1,340 enlisted men. Wartime modifications increased the crew to 51 officers and 1,548 sailors. The ships carried several smaller vessels, including two picket boats, two barges, one launch, one pinnace, and two dinghies.Template:Sfn

Machinery

File:Prinz Eugen Schraube 1.jpg

One of Template:'s three-bladed screws on display at the Laboe Naval Memorial

The -class ships were powered by three sets of geared steam turbines.Template:Sfn Template:'s and Template:'s engines were built by Blohm & Voss,Template:Sfn while Template:'s turbines were built by Germaniawerft.Template:Sfn The turbines installed on Template:'s and Template:'s engines were manufactured by Deschimag. Steam was provided in the first three ships by twelve ultra-high-pressure boilers. and were equipped with nine double-ended high-pressure boilers. Template:'s and Template:'s boilers were manufactured by Wagner, while the boilers for the other three ships were built by La Mont. On all ships, the boilers were vented through a single large funnel located amidships.Template:Sfn

Each turbine drove a three-bladed screw that was Template:Convert in diameter. The ships' engines were rated at Template:Convert for a top speed of Template:Convert. They carried Template:Convert of fuel oil as designed, though the ships could carry up to Template:Convert. At a cruising speed of Template:Convert, the ships had a maximum range of Template:Convert.Template:Sfn

Steering was controlled by a single rudder. and were equipped with three electricity plants with four diesel generators and six turbo-generators each; the diesel generators supplied 150 kW apiece, four of the six turbo-generators provided 460 kW, and the final pair provided 230 kW. Total electrical output was 2900 kW. , , and were equipped with three 150 kW diesel generators, four 460 kW turbo-generators, one 230 kW turbo-generator, and one 150 kW AC generator, for a total of 2870 kW. All five ships' electrical plants operated at 220 volts.Template:Sfn

Armament

The three completed ships were armed with eight 20.3 cm SK C/34 guns in four twin turrets. The ships were supplied with between 960 and 1,280 rounds of ammunition, or 120 to 160 rounds per gun.Template:Sfn The guns were mounted in Drh LC/34 turrets, which enabled depression to −10° and elevation to 37°.Template:Sfn At maximum elevation, the gun could reach out to Template:Convert. It fired a Template:Convert projectile at a muzzle velocity of Template:Convert.Template:Sfn The projectiles included armor-piercing shells, base-fuzed and nose-fuzed high-explosive (HE) warheads. Each ship was also supplied with 40 illumination rounds that weighed Template:Convert and had a muzzle velocity of Template:Convert.Template:Sfn The four gun turrets built for were emplaced as coastal artillery pieces in the Atlantic Wall.Template:Sfn Only the two forward turrets had been installed on when she was delivered to the Soviet Union.Template:Sfn

File:10.5 cm mount on Prinz Eugen.jpg

One of Template:'s 10.5 cm twin AA gun mounts

The ships' heavy anti-aircraft battery consisted of twelve [[10.5 cm FlaK 38|Template:Convert SK C/33]] guns in twin mountings. These guns were supplied with a total of 4,800 rounds of ammunition.Template:Sfn The mounts were the Dopp LC/31 type, originally designed for earlier [[8.8 cm SK C/31 naval gun|Template:Convert SK C/31 guns]]. The LC/31 mounting was triaxially stabilized and capable of elevating to 80°. This enabled the guns to engage targets up to a ceiling of Template:Convert. Against surface targets, the guns had a maximum range of Template:Convert.Template:Sfn The guns fired fixed ammunition weighing Template:Convert; the guns could fire HE and HE incendiary rounds, as well as illumination shells.Template:Sfn All three ships had four stabilized anti-aircraft director posts for directing the fire of the heavy anti-aircraft battery. and were equipped with the SL-6 model, whilst had the more modern SL-8.Template:Sfn

Close-range anti-aircraft weaponry initially consisted of twelve [[3.7 cm SK C/30|Template:Convert SK C/30]] guns and eight [[2 cm FlaK 30/38/Flakvierling|Template:Convert Flak 38]] guns.Template:Sfn The 3.7 cm gun was a single-shot gun, with a rate of fire of around 30 rounds per minute. At its maximum elevation of 85°, the gun had a ceiling of Template:Convert.Template:Sfn The 2 cm gun was a magazine-fed automatic weapon, firing at up to 500 rounds per minute. Twenty and forty-round magazines were supplied for the guns;Template:Sfn The guns were supplied with 16,000 rounds of ammunition.Template:Sfn Later in the war, the light anti-aircraft batteries for and were modified.Template:Efn Four 3.7 cm guns were removed and the number of 2 cm guns had increased to twenty-eight. In 1944, Template:'s 3.7 cm guns were replaced by fifteen [[4 cm Flak 28|Template:Convert Flak 28]] guns. By 1945, the ship's light anti-aircraft battery comprised twenty 4 cm guns and eighteen 2 cm guns; mounted sixteen 4 cm guns and fourteen 2 cm guns.Template:Sfn

The ships' armament was rounded out by twelve torpedo tubes; they were mounted in four triple launchers on the ships' main deck.Template:Sfn The ships carried twenty-four G7a torpedoes, twelve loaded in the tubes and one reload for each.Template:Sfn The G7a torpedo carried a Template:Convert warhead. It had three-speed settings; in 1939, it could reach Template:Convert at Template:Convert, Template:Convert at Template:Convert, and Template:Convert at Template:Convert, its maximum speed setting. The Template:Convert radial engine was improved during the war, which improved performance. The ranges increased to Template:Convert, Template:Convert, and Template:Convert, respectively.Template:Sfn

For minelaying purposes the ships could be equipped with maximum Template:Convert of rails on which different type of mines could be loaded, transported and thrown over the stern. The maximum load of mines was 140 ton. When carrying a full load of mines, counterweights had to be added in the double bottom of the hull.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The standard mine was the EMC mine which was a contact mine and had a 300 kg explosive charge.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Armor

The five -class ships were protected by Krupp steel armor, of both and types.Template:SfnTemplate:Efn The ships had two armored decks to protect the ship from vertical attacks. The upper deck was Template:Convert thick amidships to protect the ships' vitals. At either end, the deck was reduced to Template:Convert thickness. The bow and stern was not protected by deck armor. The main armored deck was Template:Convert thick. Both decks were steel. The main armored belt was Template:Convert thick amidships and reduced to Template:Convert thick aft. An interior 20 mm thick torpedo bulkhead protected the ships' vitals from underwater attack.Template:Sfn

The ships' main battery turrets were protected with Template:Convert thick faces and 70 mm thick sides. Their roofs were also 70 mm thick.Template:Sfn The 10.5 cm guns were equipped with Template:Convert thick gun shields.Template:Sfn The forward conning tower had Template:Convert thick sides and a Template:Convert thick roof. The rear conning tower was significantly less well armored, with only splinter protection. Their sides were 30 mm thick with a 20 mm thick roof. The anti-aircraft fire directors were also given splinter protection, with Template:Convert thick shields.Template:Sfn

Construction

File:Bundesarchiv DVM 10 Bild-23-63-14, Kiel, Kreuzer "Prinz Eugen", Stapellauf.jpg

at her launch

ordered as "H", as a replacement for the light cruiser Template:SMS. She was laid down at the Blohm & Voss shipyard in Hamburg under construction number 501,Template:Sfn on 6 July 1935. She was launched on 6 February 1937 and fitting out work was completed two years later in April 1939; the ship was commissioned into the on 29 April 1939.Template:Sfn , ordered as "G" to replace Template:SMS, was built by the shipyard in Kiel, under construction number 246.Template:Sfn Her keel was laid on 15 August 1935 and launched 8 June 1937. Work on the ship was finished by 20 September 1939, the day she was commissioned into the .Template:Sfn , the last ship of the class to be completed, was ordered from the shipyard in Kiel as "J" under construction number 564.Template:Sfn She was laid down on 23 April 1936 and launched on 22 August 1938. She was commissioned into the on 1 August 1940.Template:Sfn

and were both built by the shipyard in Bremen; was ordered as "K", under construction number 940, and was ordered as "L" under construction number 941.Template:Sfn was laid down on 29 December 1936 and followed her on 2 August 1937. The ships were launched on 19 January 1939 and 1 July 1939, respectively.Template:Sfn Work ceased on when she was approximately 95 percent complete.Template:Sfn In October 1939, the Soviet Union approached Germany with a request to purchase the then unfinished , , and , along with plans for German capital ships, naval artillery, and other naval technology. The denied the request for and , but agreed to sell .Template:Sfn

Service history

Construction data

Ship	Builder	Namesake	Laid down	Launched	Commissioned	Fate
	Blohm & Voss, Hamburg	Franz von Hipper	6 July 1935	6 February 1937	29 April 1939	Scuttled following air attack, 3 May 1945 Raised for breaking up at Kiel
	Deutsche Werke, Kiel	Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher	15 August 1935	8 June 1937	20 September 1939	Sunk following surface action, 9 April 1940
	Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft, Kiel	Prince Eugene of Savoy	23 April 1936	22 August 1938	1 August 1940	Sunk following nuclear tests, 22 December 1946
	Deutsche Schiff- und Maschinenbau, Bremen	Friedrich Wilhelm von Seydlitz	29 December 1936	19 January 1939	—	Scuttled, 29 January 1945
		Ludwig Adolf Wilhelm von Lützow	2 August 1937	1 July 1939	—	Sold to Soviet Navy as , 11 February 1940

Admiral Hipper

led the assault on Trondheim during Operation Weserübung; while en route to her objective, she sank the British destroyer Template:HMS.Template:Sfn 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, sortied again, sinking several merchant vessels before eventually returning to Germany via the Denmark Strait.Template:Sfn 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 Template:HMS and Template:HMS.Template:Sfn

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, 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 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.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Blücher

File:Bundesarchiv DVM 10 Bild-23-63-09, Kreuzer "Blücher".jpg

on sea trials

Following her commissioning in November 1939, conducted a series of sea trials and training exercises in the Baltic, which lasted until March 1940.Template:Sfn She was pronounced ready for service with the fleet on 5 April 1940. Assigned to Group 5 during the invasion of Norway in April 1940, the ship served as Oskar Kummetz's flagship. The ship led the flotilla of warships into the Oslofjord on the night of 8 April, to seize Oslo, the capital of Norway. Two old Template:Convert coastal guns in the Oscarsborg Fortress engaged the ship at very close range, scoring two damaging hits.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Two torpedoes fired by land-based torpedo batteries struck the ship, causing serious damage. A major fire broke out aboard , which could not be contained. After a magazine explosion, the ship slowly capsized and sank, with major loss of life.Template:Sfn

The wreck remains on the bottom of the Oslofjord;Template:Sfn several salvage attempts were considered after 1963, but none were carried out. The ship's screws were removed in 1953 and divers removed over Template:Convert of fuel oil from the ship's bunkers in 1994, though oil from inaccessible fuel tanks is still leaking from the sunken ship. At the time the divers removed the oil, they also recovered one of her Ar 196 floatplanes, which is preserved in Stavanger.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Prinz Eugen

File:PE Panama Kanal 1946.png

passing through the Panama Canal en route to the Operation Crossroads nuclear tests in 1946

saw extensive action during Operation Rheinübung, an attempted breakout into the Atlantic Ocean with the battleship in May 1941. The two ships engaged the British battlecruiser Template:HMS and battleship Template:HMS in the Battle of Denmark Strait, during which Hood was destroyed and Prince of Wales was severely damaged. was detached from during the operation to raid Allied merchant shipping, but this was cut short due to engine troubles.Template:Sfn After putting into occupied France and undergoing repairs, the ship participated in Operation Cerberus, a daring daylight dash through the English Channel back to Germany.Template:Sfn In February 1942, was deployed to Norway, although her time stationed there was cut short when she was torpedoed by the British submarine Template:HMS days after arriving in Norwegian waters. The torpedo severely damaged the ship's stern, which necessitated repairs in Germany.Template:Sfn

Upon returning to active service, the ship spent several months training new officer cadets in the Baltic before serving as artillery support to the retreating German Army on the Eastern Front.Template:Sfn After the German collapse in May 1945, the ship was surrendered to the British Royal Navy before being transferred to the US Navy as a war prize. After examining the ship in the United States, the US Navy assigned the cruiser to the Operation Crossroads nuclear tests in the Bikini Atoll. After surviving both atomic blasts, was towed to Kwajalein Atoll where she ultimately capsized and sank in December 1946.Template:Sfn The wreck remains partially visible above the water;Template:Sfn one of her screws was salvaged and is on display at the Laboe Naval Memorial in Germany.Template:Sfn

Seydlitz

File:Aerial reconnaissance photo of German heavy cruiser Seydlitz at Bremen, 8 May 1942 (NH 91659).jpg

Reconnaissance photo of in March 1942, before conversion work began

At the time construction on was halted, she was approximately 95 percent complete. The unfinished ship remained inactive until March 1942, when the decided to pursue aircraft carriers over surface combatants. was among the vessels chosen for conversion into auxiliary aircraft carriers.Template:Sfn Renamed , conversion work began on the ship in May 1942.Template:Sfn The majority of the superstructure was cut away, with the exception of the funnel, to prepare for the installation of a flight deck and an aircraft hangar.Template:Sfn In total, approximately Template:Convert of material from the ship was removed.Template:Sfn

As a carrier, the ship was to have had a complement of ten Bf 109 fighters and ten Ju 87 dive-bombers. She would have been armed with an anti-aircraft battery of ten 10.5 cm SK C/33 guns in dual mounts, ten 3.7 cm SK C/30 guns in dual mounts, and twenty-four 2 cm Flak 38 guns in quadruple mounts. Conversion work was halted in June 1943, however, and the incomplete vessel was towed to Königsberg where she was eventually scuttled on 29 January 1945. The ship was seized by the advancing Soviet Army and was briefly considered for cannibalization for spare parts to complete her sister ship , which had been purchased by the Soviet Navy before the war. This plan was also abandoned, and the ship was broken up for scrap.Template:Sfn

Lützow

In October 1939, the Soviet Union requested the purchase of the incomplete .Template:Sfn After a series of negotiations, the agreed to the sale in February 1940,Template:Sfn at the price of 150 million Reichsmarks.Template:Sfn The transfer was completed on 15 April. The vessel was still incomplete when sold to the Soviet Union, with only half of her main battery of eight 20.3 cm guns installed and much of the superstructure missing.Template:Sfn Renamed in September 1940,Template:Sfn work on the ship was effected by a German-advised Soviet shipyard in Leningrad. Still unfinished when Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, the ship briefly took part in the defense of Leningrad by providing artillery support to the Soviet defenders.Template:Sfn She was sunk by German artillery in September 1941 and raised a year later in September 1942.Template:Sfn After repairs were effected, the ship was renamed and used in the Soviet counter-offensive that relieved Leningrad in 1944.Template:Sfn After the end of the war, the ship was used as a stationary training platform and as a floating barracks before being broken up for scrap sometime between 1953 and 1960.Template:SfnTemplate:SfnTemplate:Sfn