Ships in class Deutschland-class cruiser

1 ships in class

1.1 deutschland
1.2 admiral scheer
1.3 admiral graf spee

ships in class

deutschland

deutschland in 1936

deutschland saw significant action kriegsmarine, including several non-intervention patrols, during attacked republican bombers. @ outbreak of world war ii, cruising north atlantic, prepared attack allied merchant traffic. bad weather hampered efforts, , sank or captured 3 vessels before returning germany, after renamed lützow. participated in operation weserübung, invasion of norway. damaged @ battle of drøbak sound, recalled germany repairs. while en route, torpedoed british submarine , damaged.

repairs completed march 1941, , in june lützow steamed norway. while en route, torpedoed british bomber, necessitating significant repairs lasted until may 1942. returned norway join forces arrayed against allied shipping soviet union. ran aground during planned attack on convoy pq 17, necessitated return germany repairs. next saw action @ battle of barents sea heavy cruiser admiral hipper, ended failure destroy convoy jw 51b. engine problems forced series of repairs culminating in complete overhaul @ end of 1943, after ship remained in baltic. sunk in kaiserfahrt in april 1945 royal air force (raf) bombers, lützow used gun battery support german troops fighting soviet army until 4 may 1945, when disabled crew. raised soviet navy in 1947, reportedly broken scrap on next 2 years, according western works did not have access soviet documents @ time. historian hans georg prager examined former soviet archives in 2000s, , discovered lützow had been sunk in weapons tests in july 1947.

admiral scheer

admiral scheer in 1934

admiral scheer saw heavy service german navy, including several deployments spain during spanish civil war, participate in non-intervention patrols. while off spain, bombarded port of almería following republican attack on sister deutschland. @ outbreak of world war ii, remained in port periodic refit. first operation during world war ii commerce raiding operation southern atlantic ocean started in late october 1940. while on operation, made brief foray indian ocean. during raiding mission, sank 113,223 gross register tons (grt) of shipping, making successful capital ship surface raider of war.

following return germany, deployed northern norway interdict shipping soviet union. part of abortive attack on convoy pq-17 battleship tirpitz; operation broken off after surprise lost. conducted operation wunderland, sortie kara sea. after returning germany @ end of 1942, ship served training ship until end of 1944, when used support ground operations against soviet army. sunk british bombers on 9 april 1945 , partially scrapped; remainder of wreck lies buried beneath quay.

admiral graf spee

admiral graf spee in 1936

admiral graf spee conducted extensive training in baltic , atlantic before participating in 5 non-intervention patrols during spanish civil war in 1936–1938. represented germany during coronation review king george vi in may 1937. admiral graf spee deployed south atlantic in weeks before outbreak of world war ii, positioned in merchant sea lanes once war declared. between september , december 1939, ship sank 9 ships totaling 50,089 grt; in response, british , french navies formed several hunter-killer groups track down. these forces included 4 aircraft carriers, 2 battleships, , 1 battlecruiser.

admiral graf spee operated in concert supply ship altmark. admiral graf spee confronted 3 british cruisers off uruguay @ battle of river plate on 13 december 1939. inflicted heavy damage on british ships, suffered damage well, , forced put port @ montevideo. convinced false reports of superior british naval forces approaching ship , poor state of own engines, hans langsdorff, commander of ship, ordered vessel scuttled. langsdorff committed suicide 3 days after scuttling. ship partially broken in situ, though part of ship remains visible above surface of water.