If you have read my previous articles, then you already know the history of the raiders of the Bismarck and Scharnhorst series, which became the “descendants” of “pocket battleships”.
The appearance of these original ships was due to the fact that the Treaty of Versailles, pursuing the goal of reducing Germany to the level of a regional power, left it with virtually no naval “armor.” However, certain factors allowed the Germans to neutralize many of the negative consequences of this agreement, ten years later they laid down the first heavy warship. This is exactly what my article will be about today.
Heavy cruiser Deutschland. 1936
How it all began
As you probably know, Germany received six battleships from the Versailles “bounty,” which could later be replaced by ships no larger than 10,000 tons: since the “Limes” in their bad zeal left only the oldest “coffins” to the Germans, the latter were able to immediately begin designing new crew.
Options for a coastal defense battleship and a heavy cruiser were considered - the first was rejected outright, as it had a very limited range of capabilities, the second was not much different from those in the fleets of potential adversaries, and the small Kriegsmarine should have been able to present unpleasant surprises to the enemy. Therefore, it was decided to begin developing raiders capable of breaking away from dreadnoughts and effectively countering lighter ships.
Construction of the Deutschland began in 1928, and five years later it was fully commissioned. I want to emphasize that the displacement of the lead ship has already gone off scale somewhat beyond the Versailles limit, but the British, seeing the Germans as allies in the confrontation with the USSR, preferred to turn a blind eye to this.
The raider, called a battleship in official papers for the sake of political grandeur, had armor capable of “withstanding the blow” of light cruisers of potential enemies and two main battery turrets, which each carried 3 11-inch guns, capable of suppressing any heavy cruiser. Eight diesel engines with a total power of over 56,000 hp. With. accelerated it to 28 knots.
Launching the Deutschland into the water.
In general, I can assure you that the Germans achieved what they wanted - a non-standard project, which eventually received the historical nickname “pocket battleship”, forced the French, who were very dissatisfied with the combination of its characteristics, to hastily “cut down” the Dunkirk-class battlecruisers, which were supposed to resist to him and his sisterships.
I should note that these ships were more than twice as large as the Deutschland, which itself was recognized as an expensive project in size and price.
The day before
I think you can guess that the newest German ship attracted the attention of not only the world's naval circles. Therefore, until 1936. The raider, being a floating showcase of National Socialism, was mainly engaged in “holding the flag” by “stalking around” in foreign ports.
However, do not think that his service before the start of WWII was a continuous chain of parades with the “distribution of elephants”. During the civil war in Spain, he observed the observance of neutrality, de facto supporting the rebels, this was the reason for the attack on him by the Republican Air Force: an SB-2 bomber driven by Soviet pilots covered it with a series of FAB-100s, as a result of two hits about a hundred crew members were killed and wounded.
"SB-2" Twin-engine all-metal mid-wing, armed with four 7.62-caliber machine guns and 500 kg bombs
"Pocket battleships": the loser and the lucky one of Hitler's fleet
During the Second World War, German “pocket battleships” of the Deutschland class proved themselves to be universal ships, suitable for both raider operations and combat with enemy cruisers. However, their fates were different. While the battle path of one of the “losers” of the German fleet, the cruiser Deutschland (Lützow), ran from repair to repair, the cruiser Admiral Scheer showed high combat effectiveness and became famous for its successful raids.
In pre-war Germany, heavy cruisers were clearly divided into two subtypes. “Pocket battleships” were built exclusively for raiding operations, and “classic” heavy cruisers were built for squadron operations, but taking into account possible raiding. As a result, both were engaged almost exclusively in anti-trade operations and, at the end of World War II, in artillery support for ground forces.
Let's start the review with “pocket battleships” - amazing ships that, in fact, were “mini-dreadnoughts”. Under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, the Weimar Republic could not build ships with a standard displacement of more than 10,000 tons to replace the old battleships of the pre-dreadnought era. Therefore, the German designers of the 1920s were given a non-trivial task - to fit into this framework a ship that would be more powerful than any cruiser of that time and, at the same time, could elude a battleship. At the same time, it was supposed to be used as a raider to combat enemy trade (which means it should have had a greater range).
All three qualities were combined thanks to the use of a diesel power plant, as well as the fact that the Allies did not limit the main caliber to the Germans. Therefore, the new ships received six 280-mm guns in three-gun turrets, which obviously exceeded the armament of the most powerful “Washington” cruisers of that time (six or eight 203-mm guns). True, the speed of the new ships was noticeably inferior to the cruisers, but even 28 knots made it safe to meet with most of the dreadnoughts of that time.
Heavy cruiser "Deutschland" after entry into service, 1934 Source - A. V. Platonov, Yu. V. Apalkov. German warships, 1939–1945. St. Petersburg, 1995
The initial design of the ships, officially called “battleships” but nicknamed “pocket battleships” by journalists, was created in 1926. The budget for their construction had been discussed in the Reichstag since the end of 1927, and construction of the lead Deutschland began in 1929. The Deutschland entered service in the spring of 1933, the Admiral Scheer in 1934, and the Admiral Graf Spee in 1936.
Later, the “pocket battleship” project began to be criticized as an attempt to create universal combat units to perform all tasks at once. However, in the early 30s, new ships caused a real stir among Germany's neighbors. In 1931, the French “responded” to the Germans by ordering 23,000-ton Dunkirk-class battlecruisers, after which the Italians became concerned and began upgrading their old dreadnoughts to the standard of fast battleships. Having developed a new project, the Germans launched a “battleship race” in continental Europe.
As a result of construction, the standard displacement of “pocket battleships” went beyond the limit of 10,000 tons and amounted to about 10,770 tons for the Deutschland (which was still being built subject to the restrictions) and 12,540 tons for the Admiral Graf Spee. Note that exceeding the limit by 5–10% was typical for all Washington cruisers, except the very first.
The armor of the new German ships turned out to be very strong. The Deutschland was protected by a full inclined (12°) outer belt along the citadel (80 mm thick in the upper half and up to 50 mm thick at the lower edge). At the ends of the citadel, near the cellars, the thickness of the upper part of the belt decreased slightly (to 60 mm), but lighter armor continued behind 60 mm traverses (18 mm in the bow to the stem and 50–30 mm in the stern to the steering gear). The vertical armor was complemented by a 45 mm internal inclined belt, running parallel to the outer one, so that the total thickness of the two belts was up to 125 mm - more than any other cruiser of the interwar period.
Reservation of German “pocket battleships” (“Admiral Count Spee”) Source – V. Kofman, M. Knyazev. Hitler's armored pirates. Heavy cruisers of the Deutschland and Admiral Hipper classes. M.: Yauza, Eksmo, 2012
The horizontal armor consisted of two decks: the upper one (along the entire citadel, but above the edge of the belt and not structurally connected with it in any way) and the lower one, which lay on top of the inner belt, but just below its upper edge. The thickness of the lower deck was 30–45 mm, and there was no gap at all between the armor belts. Thus, the thickness of the horizontal armor was 48–63 mm. The main caliber turrets had frontal armor 140 mm thick, walls 80 mm thick and a roof ranging from 85 to 105 mm thick.
The quality of this armor is usually rated low, since it was made using technology from the beginning of the First World War. But on subsequent ships of the series, the armor was somewhat strengthened: the outer belt reached 100 mm over the entire height by reducing the thickness of the inner belt to 40 mm. The lower armor deck also underwent changes - it continued to the outer belt, but at the same time its thickness decreased to 20–40 mm in different areas. Finally, the thickness of the so-called upper longitudinal armored bulkheads, located deep in the hull between the armored decks, increased from 10 to 40 mm. The armor protection was supplemented by side bulges, which were not found on most cruisers of that time.
In general, the protection of the German “pocket battleships” makes a strange impression - it looks too patchwork, uneven and “smeared” along the entire length of the ship. At the same time, in other countries they preferred to follow the “all or nothing” principle, armoring only vital elements as much as possible, and leaving the rest completely unprotected. The horizontal armor of the "pocket battleship" looks too weak, especially for a raider with large caliber guns intended for long-range combat. On the other hand, the booking turned out to be spaced, that is, more effective; in addition, the projectile, before penetrating deep into the ship, had to overcome several layers of armor located at different angles, which increased the likelihood of a ricochet or triggering a fuse on the armor. How did this protection perform in combat conditions?
"Deutschland" ("Lutzow")
This ship became one of the most unlucky German cruisers. For the first time, it came under enemy attack on the evening of May 29, 1937, when, on the roadstead of the Spanish island of Ibiza, two Soviet SB aircraft bombed it from an altitude of 1000 m, delivering a diversionary strike on the island as part of an operation to escort the Magellanes transport (Y-33) to Cartagena ) with a load of weapons. The crew of Senior Lieutenant N.A. Ostryakov achieved success - two bombs hit the ship, and another exploded at its side. According to German data, we are talking about 50 kg bombs, and according to Soviet sources, bombs weighing 100 kg were used.
"Deutschland" in 1937. It had this color when it was off the coast of Spain Source – V. Kofman, M. Knyazev. Hitler's armored pirates. Heavy cruisers of the Deutschland and Admiral Hipper classes. M.: Yauza, Eksmo, 2012
The damage inflicted on the “pocket battleship” turned out to be quite impressive. The first bomb destroyed the 150-mm artillery mount No. 3 on the starboard side and set fire to the refueled aircraft standing on the catapult. The second bomb hit the armored deck in the area of the bow superstructure on the port side and pierced it (at the same time, 150-mm shells exploded in the fenders of the first shots). A fire started between the armored decks, threatening the forward 150-mm magazine, which had to be flooded. Personnel losses were 24 killed, 7 died from wounds and 76 wounded.
"Deutschland" after it was hit by air bombs near Ibiza, March 29, 1937 Source - V. Kofman, M. Knyazev. Hitler's armored pirates. Heavy cruisers of the Deutschland and Admiral Hipper classes. M.: Yauza, Eksmo, 2012
The ship, already renamed Lützow, received further damage early in the morning of April 9, 1940 in the Oslo Fjord, when, together with the heavy cruiser Blücher, it came under dagger fire from Norwegian coastal batteries. "Lutzow" received three 150-mm shells from the Kopos battery (located on the eastern shore of the Oslofjord), fired almost point-blank, from a distance of no more than ten cables. Apparently, all three shells were high-explosive or semi-armor-piercing.
The first hit the middle gun of the bow turret and disabled it. Apparently, the hit was directly in the embrasure, as 4 people were wounded, and the electrical wiring, optics and hydraulics of the right gun were damaged. The second shell passed over the belt in the area of the 135th frame and exploded behind the barbette of the bow tower, destroying the furnishings of several living quarters (2 paratroopers from the 138th Mountain Jaeger Regiment were killed and 6 wounded). The third shell hit the port side cargo boom and exploded above the deck, destroying the reserve seaplane, breaking the searchlight cables and causing a local fire of ammunition; 3 sailors from the 150 mm guns were killed and 8 wounded. In general, the Norwegian shells landed quite “successfully”: the hits somewhat weakened the firepower of the German ship, but did not cause any damage to its survivability. In total, 6 people were killed and another 22 were injured.
This was followed by two torpedo hits. The first of these occurred on April 10, the night after the German landing in Oslo, when the Lutzow was returning to base. Of the six 533-mm torpedoes fired by the British submarine Spearfish from a distance of 30 kb, one reached the target, hitting the steering compartment. The stern was broken throughout the last three compartments and did not come off only thanks to the heavy-duty armored deck. Three aft compartments filled with water, 15 people who were there were killed, and the rudder was jammed at 20° to starboard. The ship took on about 1,300 tons of water and sank noticeably with its stern. However, the shafts survived, the power plant received no damage, and the bulkhead between the 3rd and 4th compartments was hastily strengthened. By the evening of April 14, tugboats managed to drag the ship to the Deutsche Werke shipyard in Kiel. Repairs combined with modernization took more than a year, and the cruiser entered service only by June 1941.
"Lutzow" after torpedo damage on April 10, 1940. The broken stern is clearly visible Source - V. Kofman, M. Knyazev. Hitler's armored pirates. Heavy cruisers of the Deutschland and Admiral Hipper classes. M.: Yauza, Eksmo, 2012
The next time, "Lutzow" was damaged literally immediately after launching a new operation - "Sommerreise", carried out with the goal of breaking through the Danish Straits. Early in the morning of June 12, 1941, it was attacked by British Beaufort torpedo bombers from the 42nd Squadron of Coastal Command and received one 450 mm air torpedo from six hundred meters. It hit almost the center of the hull - in the area of the 7th compartment on frame 82. Anti-torpedo protection did not save us from damage; two engine compartments and a compartment with connecting couplings were flooded, the ship took on 1000 tons of water, received a list of 20° and lost speed. Only by the next morning did the German sailors manage to make 12 knots on one shaft. The cruiser reached Kiel, where she again underwent repairs - this time it took six months.
In the “New Year's Battle” on December 31, 1942, “Lutzov” first came into fire contact with enemy ships. But he fired relatively little, which was caused, first of all, by unsuccessful maneuvering, poor coordination and indecision in the actions of the German formation. In total, Lützow fired 86 main-caliber shells and 76 anti-mine caliber shells (first from a distance of 75 kb at destroyers, then from 80 kb at light cruisers). The shooting of “Luttsov” was ineffective, although he himself was not hit.
"Lutzow" parked in Norway. The ship is surrounded by an anti-torpedo network Source – V. Kofman, M. Knyazev. Hitler's armored pirates. Heavy cruisers of the Deutschland and Admiral Hipper classes. M.: Yauza, Eksmo, 2012
Then, due to the poor condition of the diesel engines, the “pocket battleship” was sent to the Baltic, where it served as a classic coastal defense battleship. In October 1944, it was actively used for shelling the coast in the Baltic states - as a rule, without adjustments from coastal posts. The ship no longer took part in naval battles; On October 14, it was attacked by the submarine Shch-407, but both torpedoes missed the target. On February 8, 1945, the Lützow was used to fire at coastal targets near Elbing, and on March 25, near Danzig.
Finally, on April 4, near the Hela Spit, the ship was hit by a shell fired by a coastal battery (apparently of 122 mm caliber). The shell hit the aft superstructure, destroying the admiral's quarters. And on April 15, while parked near Swinemünde, the “pocket battleship” came under attack from British Lancaster heavy bombers from the 617th squadron. The Lützow was hit by two 500-kg armor-piercing aerial bombs - one destroyed the main-caliber bow command and rangefinder post along with the top of the mast and the radar antenna, and the second pierced all the armored decks and landed directly in the bow magazine of 280-mm shells. Interestingly, none of these bombs exploded! But the close explosion of a heavy 5.4-ton bomb that fell into the water made a huge hole in the ship’s hull with an area of 30 m2. "Luttsov" tilted and sat down on the ground. By the end of the day, the team managed to pump out water from part of the premises, commission the bow 280-mm turret and four 150-mm starboard guns. On May 4, when Soviet troops approached, the ship was blown up by the crew.
“Lutzow” landing on the ground in Swinemünde, 1945 Source – V. Kofman, M. Knyazev. Hitler's armored pirates. Heavy cruisers of the Deutschland and Admiral Hipper classes. M.: Yauza, Eksmo, 2012
"Admiral Scheer"
This ship, on the contrary, became famous for its raider actions. True, unlike the Deutschland, he was lucky - during the entire war he never encountered strong enemy ships. But the Admiral Scheer came under British bombs on September 3, 1939. Of the eight high-speed Blenheim bombers that attacked Wilhelmshaven from low level flight, four were shot down, but the last one still scored hits. Moreover, all three 227-kg bombs that hit the German ship did not have time to arm the fuses due to their low altitude.
Heavy cruiser "Admiral Scheer" after entering service, 1939 Source - V. Kofman, M. Knyazev. Hitler's armored pirates. Heavy cruisers of the Deutschland and Admiral Hipper classes. M.: Yauza, Eksmo, 2012
The next military clash occurred more than a year later. On the evening of November 5, 1940, while in the North Atlantic, the Admiral Scheer came across convoy HX-84 - 37 transports guarded by the only auxiliary cruiser Jervis Bay. Having opened fire on it with its main caliber, the Scheer achieved hits only from the fourth salvo, but the British 152-mm guns did not hit the German ship even once. At the same time, the Scheer fired with medium caliber and achieved several hits on transport ships, so we can say that the statement about the complete uselessness of 150-mm artillery on “pocket battleships” is a bit of an exaggeration.
The death of the auxiliary cruiser "Jervis Bay" Source - V. Kofman, M. Knyazev. Hitler's armored pirates. Heavy cruisers of the Deutschland and Admiral Hipper classes. M.: Yauza, Eksmo, 2012
It took twenty minutes to sink Jervis Bay with 283 mm shells, but this was enough for it to begin to get dark and the convoy had time to disperse. The Germans managed to sink only five transports, and several more were damaged, but not finished off in the ensuing darkness. It is worth noting that against large unarmored ships, 283 mm shells turned out to be much more effective than 203 mm shells, while 150 mm shells did not prove to be very effective (one or two hits were not enough to disable the transport). The next time the Scheer used its main gun was in the same raid - on February 22, 1941, it sank the Dutch transport Rantau Pajang, which was trying to escape in a rain squall. In general, the almost six-month raid of the “pocket battleship” turned out to be extremely successful - the Scheer sank or captured 17 enemy ships, mainly using 105-mm anti-aircraft artillery. Even traditional problems with diesel engines did not prove insurmountable, although immediately after the raid the ship had to undergo a 2.5-month repair of the power plant.
The next combat raid of the Admiral Scheer took place only in August 1942 - it was the famous Operation Wunderland against Soviet shipping in the Arctic Ocean. Despite lengthy training and the use of aerial reconnaissance aircraft, the results of the operation were modest. The “Pocket Battleship” managed to intercept and sink only one ship – the icebreaking steamer “Alexander Sibiryakov” (1384 GRT), which was supplying the island of Severnaya Zemlya. The Germans intercepted him around noon on August 25 and shot him slowly - in 45 minutes, 27 shells were fired in six salvoes from distances from 50 to 22 kb (according to German data, four hit the target). The two 76-mm Lander cannons on the Sibiryakov did not hit the German ship, and could not have hit, but they fired desperately throughout the battle.
The sinking "Sibiryakov", view from the board of the "Admiral Scheer" Source - V. Kofman, M. Knyazev. Hitler's armored pirates. Heavy cruisers of the Deutschland and Admiral Hipper classes. M.: Yauza, Eksmo, 2012
However, the Sibiryakov crew did the most important thing - they managed to report about the battle and the German “auxiliary cruiser”
on the radio, thereby disrupting the secrecy of the entire operation. Therefore, the commander of the Scheer, Captain Zur See Wilhelm Meendsen-Bolken, decided to stop it, and as a conclusion, destroy the port of Dikson by landing troops there.
The moment for the attack was chosen exceptionally well: both coastal batteries defending Dikson (130 mm No. 226 and 152 mm No. 569) were removed from their positions and loaded onto ships for transportation to Novaya Zemlya. However, after a radiogram from the Sibiryakov, the command of the White Sea Flotilla gave the order to urgently deploy the batteries and prepare for the appearance of the enemy. In just over a day, two 152-mm howitzer guns of the 1910/30 model were installed directly on the wooden deck of the pier.
Scheme of the battle at Dikson on August 27, 1942 Source - Yu. Perechnev, Yu. Vinogradov. Guarding sea horizons. M.: Voenizdat, 1967
On August 27, at 1 a.m., “Scheer” approached Dixon’s internal roadstead from the south and at 1:37 a.m., from a distance of 35 kb, opened fire on the port and the ships stationed in it. From the third salvo, several 283-mm shells hit the auxiliary patrol boat "Dezhnev" (SKR-19), but by mistake the Germans used armor-piercing or semi-armor-piercing shells, which pierced the ship's hull without exploding. "Dezhnev" received at least four hits, two 45-mm anti-aircraft guns were disabled, 27 people were killed and wounded.
However, before landing on the ground, the steamer managed to cover the port with a smoke screen, and most importantly, the Kara transport loaded with explosives. “Scheer” transferred the fire to the “Revolutionary” transport, setting it on fire, but also failed to sink it. At this time, coastal battery No. 569 finally opened fire. Despite the complete lack of instruments and the lack of control personnel, her fire was rated by the Germans as “quite accurate”
. The battery personnel reported two hits, but in reality they failed to achieve any hits, but the Sheer commander, not knowing the situation, chose to disengage from the battle and cover the ship behind Cape Anvil.
152-mm guns of coastal battery No. 569 Source - M. Morozov. Operation “Wunderland” // Flotmaster, 2002, No. 1
By half past three, the Admiral Scheer circled the peninsula and began shelling Dikson from the south, in 40 minutes having fired a significant part of the ammunition - 77 main-caliber shells, 121 auxiliary-caliber shells and two and a half hundred 105-mm anti-aircraft shells. When the German ship appeared in the Previn Strait, battery No. 569 opened fire again, firing 43 shells during the entire battle. The Germans mistook the smoke screen over the port for fires, and at 3:10 the raider commander gave the order to withdraw, ending Operation Wunderland. In fact, not a single person died in Dixon, and both damaged ships were put into service within a week.
The next time the Admiral Scheer’s artillery came into action more than two years later, already in the Baltic. On November 22, 1944, he replaced the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen, which had consumed all its ammunition, and opened fire from a long distance on Soviet troops storming the last German positions on the Sõrve peninsula (Saaremaa island). In two days, the ship burned through almost all of its main caliber ammunition. The effectiveness of his fire is difficult to determine, but it should be stated that these almost continuous attacks were able to ensure a relatively calm evacuation of German troops from the peninsula to Courland. Moreover, during a raid by Soviet aviation on the afternoon of November 23 (three Bostons and several groups of Il-2s), the Scheer was hit on the decks by one light bomb (or missile), as well as damaged from explosions near the side. These attacks did not cause serious damage, but forced the German ship to move away from the shore and cease fire until nightfall.
Soviet aviation attack on the Admiral Scheer near the Syrve Peninsula on October 23, 1944 Source - M. Morozov. Boar hunting // Flotomaster, 1998, No. 2
In February 1945, Admiral Scheer was used to shell the coast in the area of the Samland Peninsula and Königsberg, this time firing without adjustment. In March, he fired along the shore in the Swinemünde area, and then went to Kiel to replace worn out main caliber barrels. Here on the evening of April 9, the ship came under a massive British air raid. Within an hour, she received five direct hits, a large hole in the starboard side from close explosions of heavy bombs, and capsized upward with her keel at shallow depths.
"Admiral Scheer", sunk in Kiel Source - V. Kofman, M. Knyazev. Hitler's armored pirates. Heavy cruisers of the Deutschland and Admiral Hipper classes. M.: Yauza, Eksmo, 2012
During the Second World War, “pocket battleships” proved to be universal ships, suitable for both raiding operations and combat with enemy cruisers. Their armor, despite the insufficiently high quality of steel, reliably protected against 152 mm shells at all distances and heading angles and most often withstood hits from 203 mm shells. At the same time, even one hit from a 280-mm gun could cause serious damage to any “Washington” cruiser - this was clearly shown by the battle at La Plata on December 13, 1939, during which the “Admiral Graf Spee” (sistership “ Deutschland" and "Admiral Scheer"). The main problem of the “pocket battleships” turned out to be not weapons, not protection, but control in battle, that is, the notorious “human factor”...
Bibliography:
- A. V. Platonov, Yu. V. Apalkov. German warships, 1939–1945. St. Petersburg, 1995
- V. Kofman, M. Knyazev. Hitler's armored pirates. Heavy cruisers of the Deutschland and Admiral Hipper classes. M.: Yauza, Eksmo, 2012
- Yu. Perechnev, Yu. Vinogradov. Guarding sea horizons. M.: Voenizdat, 1967
- S. Abrosov. Air war in Spain. Chronicle of air battles 1936–1939. M.: Yauza, Eksmo, 2012
- denkmalprojekt.org
What is bad luck and how to deal with it...?
On the eve of the Polish campaign, the Kriegsmarine command sent him to the Atlantic, realizing that he could be useful there if it came to war with Great Britain. However, cruising did not bring serious results - only two ships were sunk by it. At the end of autumn, due to many problems, the raider was forced to return to Vaterland, where it was repaired and renamed “Lutzow”.
However, I can state that this “did not cancel” the ship’s bad luck. In April of the following year, he took part in Operation Wesenberg, which also did not bring him luck - on April 9, the raider was seriously crippled by coastal batteries, and two days later he “caught” a torpedo fired by a British submarine in the stern.
The repair took more than a year, like the next one, after the torpedo bomber attack on June 13, 1941, during an attempt to break through to Great Britain's Atlantic communications. Since in 1942 the attention of the Kriegsmarine command was already focused on the Arctic region, this became the reason for the ship's transfer to Norwegian ports.
As you probably already guessed, he was stubbornly unlucky here, in the “historical homeland” of the “Aryans”: the mission to intercept convoy PQ-17 ended in a collision with a reef and new repairs.
Then “Luttsov” took part in the famous “New Year’s battle”, where he also did not achieve any results, but this time at least he was not injured. The last attempt to use the ship in the north, in a raid on Spitsbergen, failed due to diesel failure, after which in September 1943, it was transferred to Liepaja, where it underwent further repairs and modernization.
In defense of the Reich
I think that the Kriegsmarine admirals simply decided to get rid of the floating misfortune by reclassifying it as a training ship, but already in the spring of 1944 it took part in an action intended to “encourage” Finland, which was about to leave the war. In the autumn of the same year, units of the Red Army broke through to the Gulf of Riga and Lüttsov became involved in operations to support Army Group North.
So for forty days he, together with his sister ship Admiral Scheer, helped hold the Svorbe Peninsula with main gun fire, blocking the western exit from this closed water area. In January 1945, both ships were deployed to provide artillery support for the Wehrmacht in East Prussia.
"Deutschland" GC
Deutschland-class battleships
Deutschland-class battleships
According to the restrictions of the Versailles Treaty, Germany was allowed to have in its navy only eight completely outdated pre-drain battleships, several cruisers and a small number of small-class ships. At the same time, restrictions provided for the possibility of replacing old battleships with new ships in a one-to-one ratio, but only after the old battleships reached 20 years of age, and the displacement of the “replacement” ships was limited to 10,000 tons. There were other restrictions on new battleships. Even in theory, the Germans could not build a ship capable of competing in naval combat with British or French battleships. The same main caliber - for German ships it was limited to 11 inches (280 mm).
It took the Germans a lot of time to develop tactical and technical requirements for the new ships. Despite all the restrictions, these ships should have had at least a chance for a successful outcome in the battle with the heavy ships of the British or French. The theory rejected the very possibility of combining the requirements for armament, security and speed in a ship with a measly 10,000 tons displacement. The designers clearly understood that if attention was paid to all three key parameters, the result would be a ship completely poor in its integral combat qualities, unable to fulfill none of the tasks assigned to him. In terms of armament, it will be inferior to heavy cruisers and larger ships; in terms of speed, it will not be able to break away from the battleship, and its armor will not even save it from main-caliber shells of light cruisers, or even destroyers. Some of the most important characteristics needed to be sacrificed.
Deutschland in sight of Bilbao, Spain, August 5, 1936. Three-color stripes for rapid identification from the air are applied to the main battery turrets. An aircraft catapult was installed in front of the ship's chimney in 1935. The hulls of the Kriegsmarine battleships were painted in Schiffstarnfarbe 312 Dunkelgrau, the superstructures in Schiffstarnfarbe 311 Hellgrau, the steel deck surfaces were Deckfarbe 51 Dunkelgrau, and the wooden decking was not painted. Waterline – Wasserlinienfarbe 123a Grau, hull below the waterline – SchiJJbodenfarbe 122a Rot.
A lot of design options were studied, from a slow coastal defense ship, actually a monitor, to a full-fledged heavy cruiser. At that time the whole world was fascinated by heavy cruisers. In 1922, the famous Washington Agreement was concluded aimed at limiting naval armaments. According to this agreement, the maximum displacement of a heavy cruiser was limited to 10,000 tons. Cruisers of this displacement at that time were available only in Her Majesty’s Navy, but after the conclusion of the “restrictive” treaty, monstrous “Washington” cruisers began to be built in a hurry in the USA and Japan. Britain also began building another series of heavy cruisers. At the helm of the Kriegsmarine were naval commanders of the Kaiser's training, who well remembered the times of the High Sea Fleet and saw their new fleet only in the High Seas. War in the World Ocean without heavy cruisers seemed completely impossible.
It took almost eight years to develop the concept of future heavy ships of the Reichsmarine. Construction of the first ship, which received the “non-trivial” name “Deutschland,” began even two years later than allowed by the Treaty of Versailles. Six 280 mm caliber guns were chosen as the main armament; the full speed was determined to be 28 knots, more than any battleship planned for construction anywhere in the world. Reservations were chosen on a residual basis, priority was given to weapons and speed. The thickness of the side armor belt of a Deutschland-class ship ranged from 60 to 80 mm. As a result, the fruit of the technical thought of German designers could escape from well-armed battleships, and destroy slower ships with the fire of their powerful guns, while the armor provided the ship with an acceptable level of protection from medium and not very large caliber artillery shells. In general, the German ship fit well into the then fashionable concept of a battle cruiser. In practice, battlecruisers have shown themselves to be very unsuccessful in terms of the combination of basic parameters of ships. The Deutschland concept was tested in battle immediately after the outbreak of World War II.
Passengers on a German ocean liner greet the Deutschland with a Nazi salute, 1938. Repairs following the bombing of the ship off Ibiza included the addition of a large seaplane crane boom and an upgrade to the foremast. The upper part of the chimney is painted black - the soot settling here is not so noticeable. "Spanish Patrol" stripes are painted on both main gun turrets.
"Deutschland" on the roadstead of the port of Naples, Italy, 1938. Naples became the main base for German ships patrolling Spain. In the foreground are four Type 1923 or Type 1924 destroyers. German destroyers looked very much like destroyers, but were smaller in size, and their main weapons were torpedoes, not artillery. The ships have identification stripes on the stern 105 mm turrets.
"Deutschland" on a voyage off the coast of Germany, North Sea, autumn 1939. Censors retouched the heraldry in the bow part of the side in front of the anchor fairlead. The Deutschland had a yellow heraldic shield with a black imperial eagle. A Nazi eagle with a swastika in its talons is painted in black paint on the side of the main caliber bow turret.
Ice froze on the deck of the Lützow (as the Deutschland began to be called on November 15, 1939); a severe winter occurred in 1939 - 1940. After the renaming, the old heraldry disappeared from the bow of the ship, and the new one never appeared.
"Lützow" took part in the occupation of Norway by German troops. Operations began on April 9, 1940. On April 11, the British submarine Spearfish attacked the pocket battleship as it returned to Kiel. One torpedo hit the Lützow's stern hull, causing serious damage to the ship. The deck behind the main caliber aft turret cracked and almost completely went under water. The ship took on about 1,300 tons of water. The weakness of the stern ends was the Achilles heel of all German battleships. The Lützow was towed to Kiel, where the pocket battleship was put into repairs, which lasted until January 1941.
The decision to build five Deutschland-class ships was made in 1926, but the lead Deutschland was laid down only in 1928. All five new battleships or battlecruisers were intended to replace the old Braunschweig-class battleships. The Deutschland became part of the Reichsmarine on April 1, 1933. The construction of the second ship (Admiral Scheer) and the third (Admiral Graf Spee) was delayed due to the economic crisis that struck the capitalist world in the mid-30s. "Scheer" entered the fleet on November 12, 1934, "Spee" - on January 6, 1936. The construction of the fourth and fifth ships of the Deutschland class was authorized in 1934, but then this decision was canceled, as a completely new project appeared ship - a battleship of the Scharnhorst type.
The Deutschland class ships made a splash in the shipbuilding world because of their unusual power plant: for the first time, diesel engines were installed on such large ships. Almost all large ships at that time were traditionally equipped with steam turbines. The Deutschland, Scheer and Spee each had four two-stroke diesel engines from MAN, driving two propellers through Vulcan gearboxes. Power plant with a total power of 54,000 hp. allowed the ship to develop a full speed of 26 knots, and during testing all three ships reached a speed of 28 knots.
Torpedoed by the British submarine Lützow in Kiel, April 12, 1941. The stern of the ship was lightened in order to put the battleship into dry dock. In the foreground you can see the ring from the stand of the dismantled four-pipe torpedo tube. The hull was cracked at the end of the main armor belt.
"Lützow" was laid up again after participating in Operation Rösselsprung - planned for July 3, 1942 - the defeat of convoy PQ-17. During repairs, the ship was in Gotenhafen. The ship is completely painted in “Baltic dark grey” color. Behind the bow turret of the main caliber of the pocket battleship, the silhouette of the battleship Schleswig-Holstein can be seen.
At the beginning of the summer of 1942, the Lützow was in Narvik; at that time the ship had a camouflage coloring of dark gray stripes on a light gray background. At greater distances, the camouflage colors faded into a single color of medium gray, causing the ship to be lost against the leaden skies of the north. At short distances, the “destructive” camouflage made it difficult for the enemy to accurately determine the distance to the ship. The Lützow has a pointed nose of the “clipper” type.
The unusual choice of power plants was explained by the smaller dimensions and weight of diesel engines compared to steam turbines. In this regard, the Germans missed the mark - when performing an analytical synthesis of the parameters of the hypothetical power plant of a promising ship, they proceeded from the parameters of steam turbines from the First World War. However, technology developed rapidly and in the 20s compact, lightweight and powerful high-pressure steam turbines appeared. The new turbines turned out to be smaller and lighter than the Diesel engines installed on the Deutschland with the same power. During operation, diesel engines created less noise than a steam turbine, but imparted tremendous vibration to the ship. The disadvantages of diesel engines, especially vibration, led to the fact that they wanted to install turbines on the third ship of the series, Admiral Graf Spee, but still kept diesel engines.
At the same time, diesel engines had two fundamental advantages over turbines. First: it took only a few minutes to bring a diesel engine to full power, while for some turbines such a transition took hours. Second and most important: high efficiency. So the Deutschland could travel 20,000 nautical miles (37,062 km) on one refueling - two to three times more than a ship of similar displacement with steam turbines. The high acceleration and unique efficiency of diesel engines turned the Deutschland class ships into ideal raiders.
The ships turned out to be about 10% larger than the upper limits of the restrictions established at Versailles. The standard displacement of the Deutschland was approximately 11,000 - 12,000 tons. Violations of the restrictions of the Treaty of Versailles committed during the construction of the Deutschland did not become a secret to most experts, but the Allies once again turned a blind eye to Germany’s violation of the terms of the Treaty of Versailles. Only the British made a noise - but who will listen to these British! The total displacement of the Deutschland during the war was approximately 16,000 tons. The dimensions of the ship during launch were as follows: waterline length 181.7 m, total length - 186 m, width - 20.6 m, draft at standard displacement - 5.8 m, at full displacement - 7.2 m. "Admiral Scheer" turned out to be more "full" - the width at launch was 21.3 m, the draft at full displacement was 7.3 m. "Spee" turned out to be even thicker - width 21.6 m, full draft – 7.4 m. “Deutschland” was renamed “Lutzow” on November 15, 1939. A pointed “clipper” bow was later installed on the Lützow and Spee, as a result of which the length of the ships increased to 187.9 m.
"Admiral Scheer" in Gibraltar, early 1937. The pocket battleship took part in patrolling the waters off the coast of Spain. The main caliber turrets are marked with three-color identification stripes of the “Spanish patrol”. A black and white flag is raised at the top of the bow superstructure, indicating the presence of the admiral on board the ship.
The stern of the Admiral Scheer, the photo was taken in the dock of Wilhelmshaven in the winter of 1939 - 1940. The barrels of the main caliber guns are closed with plugs.
At the outbreak of World War II, in September 1939, the Admiral Scheer was being repaired in Wilhelmshaven. An optical rangefinder of the auxiliary artillery fire control system is installed in front of the pyramidal superstructure. Spotlights are installed on platforms fixed to the walls of the superstructure.
The thickness of the main armor belt on the Deutschland and Scheer was 60 mm - in fact, the armor of the frontal part of the StuG III assault gun was increased to 80 mm and was considered insufficient; thus, none of the German “pocket battleships” had absolutely no chance of surviving a duel battle with Soviet heavy IS tanks! And if we take into account the unsatisfactory maneuverability of German ships on soft ground, then the absolute superiority of Soviet tanks over German pocket battleships becomes clear!!! Who would argue... It is no coincidence that not a single serious researcher even tries to compare pocket battleships with IS tanks or even T-34. On the Spee, the thickness of the armor belt was increased to 80 mm. All three ships had an internal armored partition with a thickness of 45 mm for the Deutschland and 40 mm for the Sisterships. The thickness of the armor deck on the Deutschland was 45 mm, on the Scheer and Spee - 40 mm. The thickness of the armored transverse partitions between the armored deck and the main deck was 20 m.
The platform with searchlights was mounted on the Admiral Scheer chimney before the repair in 1939. During the repair, a small visor appeared on the pipe, designed to prevent soot from settling.
At the end of February 1942, Admiral Scheer moved from Brunsbüttel, Germany, to Trondheim, Norway. The ship was transiting the campaign of the heavy cruiser Prince Eugene and three destroyers. The photo was taken from the cruiser Prince Eugene. The “clipper” bow was attached to the “Scheer” in 1940. The new bow tip somewhat reduced the flooding of the bow of the ship with water at full speed or in strong seas. The cruiser Prince Eugene was torpedoed by the British submarine Trident in Trondheim on February 23, 1942; the Admiral Scheer was not damaged.
The number of ships' crews varied from 619 people in peacetime to 1,340 in wartime (including prize crews for ships captured in raids).
The main caliber of the pocket battleship Deutschland consisted of six 280-mm SK C/28 guns, three guns in two turrets, one turret in front, the second in the rear. The development of these guns began in 1928; their characteristics were significantly superior to similar naval guns during the First World War. The barrel length of the SK C/28 gun was 54.5 calibers (1526 cm). The guns sent a projectile weighing 315 kg with an initial speed of 890 m/s to a range of 23.35 nautical miles (43.3 km). The rate of fire was 2.5 rounds per minute. The maximum firing range was achieved at a barrel elevation angle of 45 degrees. The ship's auxiliary armament consisted of eight 150mm SK C/28 guns; the guns were mounted on single mounts covered with shields.
"Admiral Graf Spee" in the English Channel, August 21, 1939. The pocket battleship left Wilhelmshaven and is heading to the raiding area located in the South Atlantic. War has not yet been declared, but the fleet has de facto already begun it. In three days, the Deutschland will leave Wilhelmshaven in the direction of Greenland. According to the order of the Kriegsmarine command, the Admiral Graf Spee began raiding on September 26, 1939.
The transport sinks after meeting with the Admiral Scheer in the vastness of the South Atlantic. In the lower corner of the picture, sailors from the Sheer crew and two barrels of 105-mm anti-aircraft guns are visible. During its ocean voyage, which lasted from October 1940 to April 1941, “Scheer” clearly demonstrated how difficult it can be to detect a lone raider in the ocean. During the raid, the pocket battleship sank 17 ships with a total tonnage of more than 100,000 tons. “Scheer” reached all the way to the Seychelles Islands in the Indian Ocean.
Like many other Kriegsmarine ships, the Scheer fired at the advancing Red Army units at the end of the war. The photo was taken in the Pillau area in the spring of 1945 - a salvo from the main caliber nasal turret.
The Deutschland had an anti-aircraft battery of three single 88-mm SK C/31 cannons. Over time, the air defense systems of all three ships of the series were strengthened, the maximum air defense was achieved on the Lützow: six 105-mm SK C/33 cannons in twin installations, six 40-mm Bofors Flak-28 cannons in single installations, four 37-mm Flak M43 cannons in twin installations, 26 single, twin and quadruple Flak-38 installations of 20 mm caliber. All three ships were armed with eight 533 mm torpedo tubes each. The torpedo tubes fired G7 steam-gas torpedoes 7 m long and weighing 1528 kg. The torpedo speed is 40 knots, the range is 7.7 nautical miles (14.3 km), but at an economical speed of 30 knots. The mass of the torpedo warhead is 320 kg.
To control the fire of the main caliber guns, optical rangefinders with a base of 10.5 m were used. The battleships had four such rangefinders. One rangefinder was mounted on the front and rear superstructures, and one more in the main caliber turrets. The quality of German-made optical instruments does not need advertising. Perhaps the excellent optics did the Germans a disservice - Germany missed the advent of radar. The lack of radar on German ships often put them at a disadvantage in naval battles with the Allied fleets, whose ships had radars, albeit crappy ones, but superior in target detection range to optical rangefinders. In addition, the operation of the radar did not depend much on weather conditions and did not depend at all on the time of day. During the war, the Germans were never able to create a good naval artillery fire control radar. The reason for the German failures in the field of radar technology was that they mistakenly believed that the radar could not operate at waves shorter than 50 cm, while the British and Americans relied on the development of shorter wave technology and were right. Over time, the Germans realized the mistake, but there was no time left to correct it.
Tugs bring the battle-damaged Admiral Graf Spee into the port of Montevideo, Uruguay, December 13, 1939. During its raiding in the South Atlantic and Indian Ocean, the Spee sank nine ships with a total tonnage of more than 50,000 tons. To intercept the raider, the British Admiralty sent to the Falkland Islands area, Force G consisting of the heavy cruiser Exeter and two light cruisers Ajax and Achilles.
Force G intercepted the Spee on December 13 near the mouth of La Plata. In a battle with cruisers, the German battleship received serious damage. British ships were also hit by shells from the pocket battleship. On December 13, the Spee took refuge in the neutral port of Montevideo. False breakers are painted on the side of the ship with white paint, making it difficult to determine the true speed of the ship. The superstructure is camouflaged with stripes of medium and dark gray.
In 1936, the Admiral Graf Spee became the first German ship equipped with a search radar - then an experimental version of the FuMO-22 radar was mounted on its foremast. This radar was used on the ship until 1939, when it was replaced by a standard FuMO-22 station with a widow antenna of increased area. The FuMO-22 radar was most often installed on Kriegsmarine ships. The radar operated at a wavelength of 81.5 cm, and the target detection range was 13 nautical miles (24.1 km). On the Luttsov in January 1942, in addition to the FuMO-22 radar, a FuMB-4 warning system was installed, but in March 1944, the antenna of this system (it stood next to the optical rangefinder of the forward superstructure) was dismantled.
The forward pyramidal superstructure of the Scheer was rebuilt in 1940, with FuMO-27 radar antennas installed instead of one FuMO-22 radar antenna, which was delivered in 1939. The FuMO-27 radar operated on the same frequency as the FuMO-27 22, but due to a different antenna system it had a sharper radiation pattern, which improved target selection. In 1942, the Scheer was equipped with a Timor antenna (on the side behind the front optical rangefinder) and four small Sumatra antennas for the electromagnetic radiation warning system (on the roof of the front superstructure).
During the three-month raid, the crew of the Spee camouflaged the ship's superstructure. Stripes and spots of dark and medium gray color are applied on a light gray background. In the foreground is one entire 150-mm gun mount and the barrel of another 150-mm cannon. A platform with a spotlight is installed in the front part of the superstructure.
The camouflage pattern on the right side of the Spee's bow superstructure was strikingly different from the coloring of the same superstructure on the left side. A FuMO-22 radar antenna is mounted in the upper part of the superstructure above the optical rangefinder; the radar was installed in 1938, two years after an experimental version of this radar appeared on the ship. The photo was taken in Montevideo.
The appearance of Deutschland caused alarm in the camp of Germany's potential opponents in the coming war - in London and Paris. There were no analogues to Deutschland in the world. The response to the appearance of the Deutschland was the laying in France of two battleships of the Dunkirk type, specifically designed to combat the Deutschland. The Dunkirks had greater speed than the Deutschland and were better armored. The British did not build anything special - in London they rightly believed that the existing battleships King George V would be sufficient for the Deutschland. These ships were superior in speed and armament to the German novelty, but inferior to most of the truly modern battleships at that time.
So the Deutschland appeared, but no one in the world, including the Germans themselves, knew what class the ship belonged to. Initially, the ship was classified as a Panzerschiff - battleship. From February 1940, the battleships were reclassified as Schwere Kreuzer, heavy cruisers. The British, without any fuss, began to refer to the Deutschland as Pocket Battleship - a pocket battleship. Since then, no one has called “Deutschlands” anything other than pocket battleships.
The Germans did not know how to classify ships, but they perfectly understood how to use them in war. From the first days of the war, “Deutschland” and “Spee” had long-distance raids in the vastness of the World Ocean. Enthusiasts of raider warfare at sea were not cooled even by the death of the Spee in the Montevideo roadstead on December 13, 1939. That significant naval battle exposed all the shortcomings inherent in pocket battleships. "Spee" had to engage in battle with three heavy cruisers, two British and one New Zealand. The pocket battleship was stronger than each heavy cruiser taken individually, but did not have a speed advantage over them, which is why it could not escape three cruisers at once. Having received heavy damage, the Spee took refuge in a neutral port, and then the commander of the pocket battleship decided to scuttle the ship. The Allies successfully fed the Germans misinformation about a strong squadron that was allegedly lying in wait for a pocket battleship near the mouth of La Plata. “Graf Spee” did not become a “Varyag”. Until the Allies organized regular patrol aircraft flights over the oceans, the raiding of German ships brought some success. "Deutschland/Lützow" sank ships with a total displacement of 6962 tons, "Spee" - 50,089 tons, "Scheer" - 137,223 tons.
Considering the human and material resources consumed by pocket battleships, their success seems highly questionable. It is not for nothing that the main weapon of the Kriegsmarine in the Battle of the Atlantic was not surface ships, but U-bots.
Two sailors repair a hole in the side of the Spee after the battle of La Plata with British cruisers. The photo was taken on December 14, 1939 in Montevideo. A representative of the British Navy captioned the photo "The 'Mustache'" to draw attention to the fake breaker painted on board the ship.
The Rekhskriegsflagge (German War Flag), Montevideo flies on the aft optical rangefinder of the Admiral Spee's main caliber. In front of the rangefinder on the catapult stands the burnt wreck of an Ar-196 seaplane. Behind the rangefinder, closer to the stern, a twin 105-mm anti-aircraft gun is installed.
The Uruguayan government sympathized with the Nazis and, in principle, was not against extending the three-day stay of a ship of a belligerent power in a neutral port established by international agreements, but Uruguay was put under extreme pressure by the allied powers. At the same time, the Allies fed the commander of the Spee misinformation about the approach of a strong squadron to the mouth of La Plata. On December 17, the commander of the Spee, Captain zur See Hans Langsdorff, ordered the ship to be blown up, having previously taken it into the La Plata estuary. Lagsdorf himself shot himself.
The Admiral Spee sank in shallow water, leaving the deck of the ship above the water. The Allies got a great chance to get acquainted with the secrets of German shipbuilders. In the foreground is one of three two-gun 105 mm anti-aircraft guns. Captain Lagsdorf shot himself in Buenos Aires, Argentina, December 20, 1939.
An inglorious end
The finale for “Lützow” came on April 16, 1945, when it was covered in Swinemünde by the British strategic “Lancasters”, who rained down on it super-heavy “Tolboy” bombs, which destroyed the “Tirpitz” six months earlier.
I should surprise you with the fact that then, for the first and last time in his military career, he was lucky - the Limes did not achieve any hits, but close explosions caused many holes, due to which the ship, filled with water, settled on the ground, without ceasing fire by Soviet troops. When the Wehrmacht abandoned the city on May 4, it was blown up.
I note that the “poor bearer” still had a chance... The following year, the ACC of the USSR raised the raider, the issue of restoring it was considered - the Soviet Navy, bloodless by the war, was in dire need of warships. However, fortunately for the Soviet sailors, the damage was considered too severe, and on June 22, 1947, she took part in exercises for the last time - as a floating target for the Air Force.
Assessing the project of “pocket battleships” as a whole, I can state that at the time of their appearance they could confidently destroy any cruisers except battle cruisers. The combination of high firepower, speed and range made them very dangerous opponents for any non-dreadnought. Thus, they were almost perfect raiders, and only fantastic bad luck, suggestive of sabotage, did not allow the Lutzow to fully realize its potential.
05/19/31 – launching of the first German cruiser of the “Deutschland” type
Trying to circumvent the ban imposed by the Treaty of Versailles on the construction of battleships, Germany in 1928 approved a project for the construction of a series of Deutschland-class battleships with a displacement of up to 10 thousand tons. The ships were smaller than battleships, but also larger than cruisers, had the armament of battleships and the speed of cruisers, so the British press came up with an ironic classification for them - “Pocket Battleship”. Over time, in 1940, the Kriegsmarine returned its true name to the class of ships - heavy cruiser. A total of three ships were built: Deutschland, Admiral Scheer and Admiral Graf Spee. The cruiser Deutschland was laid down first (February 9, 1928), which left the stocks on May 19, 1931, and entered service on April 1, 1933. On January 25, 1940, the ship was renamed Lützow.
The launch of the heavy cruiser Deutschland into the water.
The cruiser "Deutschland" at sea.
The cruiser "Deutschland" in the port. 1934
Drawing of the Cruiser "Lützow".
The cruiser "Lützow" through the eyes of artist Robert Schmidt.
The cruiser "Deutschland" had a total displacement of 14.3 thousand tons, a length of 182 m and a width of 21 m. The ship's hull was welded using duplicating riveting in the most important joints. However, the ship's anti-torpedo protection was weak. The ship's armor was significantly weaker than that of the battleship and amounted to: belt - 50-80 mm, stern - 30-40 mm, deck - 30-45 mm, traverses - 60 mm, towers - 85-140 mm, barbettes - 125 mm, wheelhouse - 50 -150 mm.
The cruiser's power plant consisted of 8 MAN diesel engines with a power of 56.8 thousand hp, which, using two propellers, developed a speed of 28 knots (51.9 km/h). The second most important advantage of diesel engines was the ability to develop full speed in a matter of minutes. The ship's cruising range was 16.3 thousand miles at 18 knots. The ship's crew consisted of 1070 people.
Main caliber guns of the cruiser Deutschland.
The cruiser's artillery consisted of two turrets with three 283 mm main caliber guns and 8 shield mounts with 150 mm auxiliary caliber guns. The firing range of the main caliber guns reached 36 km. Ammunition ranged from 105 to 120 shells per gun. The practical rate of fire did not exceed two rounds per minute. The main caliber fire control system was quite advanced by the standards of the 1930s. It included three control posts with two 10.5-meter and one 6-meter rangefinders. In addition, each tower had its own 10.5-meter rangefinder and could fire independently. Target designation was provided by two pairs of main and one reserve director. All data from these devices was sent to two command centers located under the armored deck and equipped with fire control systems.
The anti-aircraft artillery was rather weak and consisted of three twin mounts of 88 mm guns, four twin mounts of 37 mm guns and ten 20 mm caliber anti-aircraft guns. The number of heavy anti-aircraft guns was insufficient. The 20 mm machine guns lacked the destructive power, and the 37 mm machine guns lacked the rate of fire. The main flaw of the light anti-aircraft battery was the primitive fire control system, when the choice of priority air targets was left to the gun crews. Heavy anti-aircraft guns were equipped with 4-meter rangefinders, and fire control was provided by two stabilized directors.
The mine-torpedo armament consisted of two four-tube 533-mm torpedo tubes. The aviation group included 1 catapult and 2 seaplanes.
The radar was first installed on the Deutschland in 1937 and was an experimental model of the FuMG-39. By the beginning of the war, it was replaced by the much more advanced FuMo-22 radar. It is worth noting that the characteristics of early German radars were quite modest. The range did not exceed 7-8 miles, the error in elevation reached 5°. In fact, FuMo-22 could only detect large ships. At the same time, at the beginning of World War II, German radars were not inferior to British ones.
Despite all the efforts of the designers, the seaworthiness of the cruisers was sufficient, but not outstanding. At full speed against the wave, the bow end was flooded with water. However, of all the moderately sized Kriegsmarine ships, the Deutschlands had the best seamanship.
In the first half of the 1930s, the Deutschland, as the most modern and powerful ship of the German fleet, was widely used to display the flag on foreign visits. There were also German distinguished guests - in April 1934, Adolf Hitler visited the cruiser.
Adolf Hitler on the cruiser Deutschland. April 1934
In 1936-37, Deutschland operated in Spanish waters, formally observing the observance of neutrality, but in fact supporting the Francoists. On May 29, 1937, it was attacked by Republican aircraft. The cruiser was hit twice by 100-kg bombs from an SB plane with Soviet pilots, a fire broke out on board, 23 sailors were killed, and 73 more were injured.
The Deutschland sailed into the Atlantic on August 23, 1939, even before the outbreak of World War II. Soon after the opening of hostilities, a fight against British shipping began. Cruising turned out to be unsuccessful - after the sinking of two ships with a total tonnage of about 7,000 gross tons, on November 15, 1939, the ship was forced to return to Germany due to problems with the power plant and a malfunction of the onboard seaplane. In April 1940, Lützow took part in the capture of Norway, operating against Oslo, and on April 9 received 3 hits from 150-mm shells during a duel with coastal batteries. While returning home on April 11, 1940, he was attacked by the British submarine Spearfish and received a torpedo hit in the stern.
The cruiser "Lutzow" with its stern torn off in the harbor of Kiel. 04/13/1940
After repairs, on June 13, 1941, she tried to break into the Atlantic, but was damaged by a torpedo from a British aircraft. After lengthy repairs, Lützow went to sea to attack convoy PQ-17, but suffered a navigational accident. At the end of September 1943 he left Norway for Kiel. After another repair, she was listed as a training ship, and then was included in the 2nd battle group, which provided fire support to Wehrmacht units in the Baltic states. On April 16, 1945, while in Swinemünde, he was attacked by the British Air Force and was seriously damaged. The ship landed on the ground, but continued to fire with its main caliber. When Soviet troops approached, it was blown up by the crew on May 4, 1945.
Soviet rescuers raised the Lützow and on September 26, 1946, it was even included in the lists of the USSR Navy, but the restoration of the thoroughly destroyed ship was considered inappropriate. On June 22, 1947, the Lützow hull was sunk during a Baltic Fleet exercise.
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