Aware that surprise had been lost, the Germans broke off the surface attack and turned the destruction of PQ 17 over to the U-boats and Luftwaffe. Damaged at the Battle of Drøbak Sound, she was recalled to Germany for repairs. ISBN 978-3-7822-0798-0. The first real test came on August 20, 1944, when the 2d Battalion, 317th Infantry, attacked high ground near Argentan during the Allied drive to seal huge German forces in the Falaise Pocket. [1] The ship was launched on 19 May 1931; at her launching, she was christened by German Chancellor Heinrich Brüning. [34] Lützow inadvertently came alongside Sheffield and Jamaica, and after identifying them as hostile, engaged them, though her fire remained inaccurate. Pope, Dudley (2005). [8] Stalin subsequently issued orders that further attacks on German and Italian warships were strictly prohibited. There was a triumphant report in the British press when she … RAF sinks last Nazi pocket battleship, Luetzow, in Baltic port. The ship accidentally started sliding down the slipway while Brüning was giving his christening speech. The ship had a design displacement of 12,630 t (12,430 long tons; 13,920 short tons) and a full load displacement of 14,290 long tons (14,520 t),[1] though the ship was officially stated to be within the 10,000-long-ton (10,160 t) limit of the Treaty of Versailles. Would you now like to return to my home page or the main drawings page. In 1940, the 8.8 cm guns were removed, and six 10.5 cm (4.1 in) L/65 guns, four 3.7 cm (1.5 in) guns, and ten 2 cm (0.79 in) guns were installed in their place. Pope, Dudley (2005). One of the aircraft on board was damaged, and four gunners were killed by the third shell. google_ad_height = 90; During the attack on Norway, the ship suffered nineteen dead, and another fifteen were killed by the torpedo strike. U. S. lst, 3d, 9th mark time waiting juncture with Red Army. The port was attacked by Republican aircraft, though anti-aircraft fire from the warships drove them off. HMS Spearfish fired her last four torpedoes at 0129 on 11th April when she spotted what was thought to be the Admiral Scheer. pocket battleships . She was made the flagship of the now Vizeadmiral Kummetz, the commander of Kampfgruppe 2. Main armament consisted of 6 11-inch guns in two triple turrets and 8 6-inch guns in individual turrets. [3][40] The historians Hildebrand, Röhr and Steinmetz, in their book Die Deutschen Kriegsschiffe, state that she instead sank off Kolberg, claiming that the Lützow broken up in the late 1940s was instead the Admiral Hipper-class Lützow that had been sold to the Soviet Union in 1940. Ordered by the Weimar government for the Reichsmarine, she was laid down at the Deutsche Werke shipyard in Kiel in February 1929 and completed by April 1933. Burnett's ships approached from Admiral Hipper's starboard side and achieved complete surprise. The Deutschland was the first ship of a new type known as Panzerschiff (armoured ship), referred to as "pocket battleship" by the British. The ship accidentally started sliding down the slipw… She was originally used as a seagoing training ship, to familiarize crews with her new technology. Each had a displacement of 11,700 tons and an average crew of 30 officers and 1040 men. In all, Germany built and operated three pocket battleships: the Deutschland (later renamed the Lützow), the Admiral Graf Spee, and the Admiral Scheer. Kummetz flew his flag in Blücher. google_ad_width = 728; Originally classified as an armored ship (Panzerschiff) by the Reichsmarine, in February 1940 the Germans reclassified the remaining two ships of this class as heavy cruisers. [9] Two bombs struck the ship; the first penetrated the upper deck near the bridge and exploded above the main armored deck while the second hit near the third starboard 15 cm gun, causing serious fires below decks. google_ad_slot = "8819653264"; She began a brief set of trials starting on 30 October. at the time was group captain J.E Fauquier. The ship was also ordered to avoid combat with even inferior naval forces, as commerce disruption was the primary objective. She then participated in Operation Weserübung, the invasion of Norway. The first battlecruisers came from the Royal Navy. By the afternoon of 9 April, most of the Norwegian fortresses had been captured and the commander of the remaining Norwegian forces opened negotiations for surrender. The harsh conditions made accurate fire difficult; she ceased shooting by 12:03 without any hits. In March, Lützow moved to Altafjord, where she experienced problems with her diesel engines. [13] By this time, Deutschland had moved south to hunt in the Bermuda-Azores sea lane. The ship was equipped with two Arado Ar 196 seaplanes and one catapult. The ship's top speed was 28 knots (52 km/h; 32 mph), at 54,000 PS (53,260 shp; 39,720 kW). The propulsion system proved to be so unreliable that repairs in Germany were necessary. At a cruising speed of 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph), the ship could steam for 10,000 nautical miles (19,000 km; 12,000 mi). [3] Her crew rigged scuttling charges to destroy the hull but a fire caused the explosives to detonate prematurely. [41] The historian Hans Georg Prager examined the Soviet archives in the early 2000s and discovered that Lützow had been sunk in weapons tests, in the Baltic Sea off Świnoujście in Poland (under German control and named Swinemünde during the war), on 22 July 1947. The torpedo boats Seeadler and Albatross escorted Deutschland to the island of Ibiza on 24 May. This handsome volume provides a complete pictorial history and timeline of the first member of the class, Deutschland. Originally named Deutschland, the Lützow was one of three armoured ships – the so-called “pocket battleships” – laid down between 1928 and 1931.Deutschland was the first of the class, being launched in May 1931 and completed in April 1933. Her sister Admiral Scheer was to join Lützow for the operation, and on 12 June she departed for Norway with an escort of destroyers. During the ensuing Battle of Drøbak Sound, Blücher was hit by many shells and two torpedoes. [28], Lützow was recommissioned for service on 31 March 1941, after which the Kriegsmarine initially planned to send the ship on the commerce raiding operation planned the previous year. [3], Deutschland spent the majority of 1933 and 1934 conducting training maneuvers;[7] early speed trials in May 1933 indicated that a top speed of 25 knots (46 km/h; 29 mph) was preferable, but the ship comfortably reached 28 knots (52 km/h; 32 mph) on speed trials in June. The German pocket battleships, or Panzerschiffe, struck fear into every navy in the world when they were developed and deployed in the 1930's. This ship served with the Kriegsmarine of Nazi Germany during World War II. Light cruiser Nürnberg ready. The same committee, instigated by Jackie Fisher, that produced the Dreadnought had been charged with the design of a new armoured cruiser. The German pocket battleship “Lutzow” was based in the Baltic ocean being used for shore bombardment and other duties included supply and evacuation. The British cruisers turned toward Lützow and came under fire from both German cruisers. [39] The fate of Lützow was long unclear, as with most of the ships seized by the Soviet Navy. hide. Pocket-battleship Lützow under repair until April 1941. Compared to the most recent of the RN's cruisers they were quite different. Pocket battleship ‘Deutschland’ will be renamed to ‘Lützow’ and classified as a Heavy Cruiser in February 1940. [7], The ship conducted a series of long-distance training voyages into the Atlantic in 1935. [10] The 4,963 gross register tons (GRT) freighter was found to be carrying contraband, and so was seized. In protest, Raeder resigned; Hitler replaced him with Admiral Karl Dönitz, who persuaded Hitler to rescind the order to dismantle the surface ships of the Kriegsmarine. My sister-in-law's father was one of its crew. On 3 July, the force left their anchorages, and in heavy fog Lützow and three destroyers ran aground and suffered significant damage. The German “pocket battleships” were the Deutschland (renamed Lützow), the Graf Spee, and the Scheer. [33], Lützow meanwhile steamed toward the convoy from the south, and at 11:42 she opened fire. [15] In early November, the Naval High Command recalled Deutschland; she passed through the Denmark Strait on 15 November and anchored in Gotenhafen on the 17th. The force left Germany on 8 April and passed through the Kattegat. The ship was launched on 19 May 1931; at her launching, she was christened by German Chancellor Heinrich Brüning. A team of Polish divers has begun the challenging task of disabling a 12,000-pound British Tallboy bomb dating back to 1945. Ithaca: McBooks Press. [653 x 594]German "pocket" battleship Lützow, in the Kaiserfahrt canal, April 25, 1945. This battleship / Admiral Graf Spee was a Deutschland-class “Panzerschiff”, nicknamed a “pocket battleship” by the British. These were Inflexible, Invinc… hide. She was originally used as a seagoing training ship, to familiarize crews with her new technology. 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