Everything about German Pocket Battleship Deutschland totally explained
Deutschland (later re-named
Lützow), was the lead ship of
her class that served in the German
Kriegsmarine before and during
World War II. The ship was originally classified as a
Panzerschiff ("armoured ship") by Germany. The
British initially nicknamed the three ships of this class "
pocket battleships", but reclassified them as a
heavy cruisers in February 1940.
Description
Their size and characteristics were severely limited by the
Treaty of Versailles, which limited Germany to ships of no more than 10,000 tons
displacement. A number of technical innovations, including large scale use of
welding (rather than
rivets), and
diesel engines made the hull lighter, and allowed a formidable warship to be built within this restricted weight. Even so,
Deutschland was 600 tons overweight, although for political reasons her announced displacement was always given as the 10,000 tons of the treaty limit.
Two other very similar ships were built in her class,
Admiral Graf Spee
and
Admiral Scheer. Since
Deutschland was the lead ship, she was less advanced, and she lacked the distinctive high conning tower, bridge, and masts of
Admiral Scheer and
Admiral Graf Spee (which made the latter two ships superficially resemble contemporary
battleships).
History
Her
keel was laid down in February 1929, at the
Deutsche Werke shipyard in
Kiel, and launched in May 1931. She completed fitting out in late 1931 and took her maiden voyage in May
1932.
During the
Spanish Civil War,
Deutschland was deployed to the Spanish coast in support of
Franco's Nationalists in a total of seven operations between 1936 and 1939. During one of these deployments, on
May 29 1937,
Deutschland was attacked by two
Fuerza Aérea de la República Española (FARE) Republican bombers, and as a result 31 German sailors were killed and 101 were wounded. In retaliation,
Deutschland's sister ship
Admiral Scheer bombarded
Almería, killing 19 civilians and destroying 35 buildings. The dead German sailors were first taken to
Gibraltar and buried there, but the bodies were exhumed on Hitler's orders and accompanied
Deutschland back to Germany for a large
military funeral with Hitler attending.
After the start of
World War II, she was renamed
Lützow in November 1939, because
Adolf Hitler feared that the loss of a ship with the name
Deutschland would have a significant negative psychological and
propaganda effect on the German people.
In February 1940, she and her sister ships were re-classified as
heavy cruisers, and in April of that year she participated in the
invasion of
Norway, where she followed the ill-fated
Blücher into the
Oslofjord. In the ensuing
Battle of Drøbak Sound, the lead ship was sunk by the Norwegian coastal fortress of
Oscarsborg. While
Lützow made good her escape, the fortress managed to cause significant damage to her too, the guns of the Kopaas battery scoring three hits and knocking out
Lützow's aft
Bruno gun turret. After the German
squadron had retreated out of Oscarsborg's range
Lützow used her remaining
Anton turret to bombard the defenders from a range of 11 kilometers down the fjord. The fortress was also heavily bombed by the
Luftwaffe later on the same day, but without any Norwegian casualties, since the defenders had been ordered down into the underground tunnels of the fortress. Reports to the effect that the Norwegian King and his government had been safely evacuated from
Oslo had been received, and the fortress's commander, Colonel
Birger Eriksen, considered that to be his main goal.
Lützow was then to return to Germany for repairs and to refit for an extended raiding mission into the Atlantic Ocean, but she was torpedoed by the
RN submarine HMS Spearfish in the
Skagerrak north of
Denmark. The hit nearly tore off her entire stern, and repairs were not finished until the spring of 1941. Later on in June,
Lützow was again torpedoed - this time by an
RAF Bristol Beaufort torpedo bomber from the
No. 42 Squadron RAF. The ship returned to the port of
Kiel,
Germany, and she underwent repairs there. In December, she was present at the
Battle of the Barents Sea.
She participated in various minor encounters during the next year, but her only other significant service came beginning in September 1944 in the
Baltic Sea, where she fired upon land targets in support of the retreating German Wehrmacht, a service she'd continue to provide in the following months.
The ship was badly damaged by three six-ton
Tallboy bombs dropped by the
RAF in April 1945, while she laid off
Swinemünde,
Germany, and she came to rest on the bottom. After repairs, she then continued to provide artillery support of the army.
Lützow was finally
scuttled by her crew on 4 May 1945.
After the war, the
Soviet Navy raised her, and then used her as a target ship for land artillery practice. She finally sank for good in the
Baltic Sea in 1949.
Commanding Officers
Construction Indoctrination - KzS Hermann von Fischel - 15 March 1933 - 1 April 1933
KzS Hermann von Fischel - 1 April 1933 - 30 September 1935
KzS Paul Fanger - 30 September 1935 - 2 September 1937
KzS / KADM Paul Wenneker - 2 September 1937 - 16 November 1939
(Promoted to KADM on 1 October 1939.)
KzS August Thiele - 16 November 1939 - 18 April 1940
FK Fritz Krauss - 18 April 1940 - 23 June 1940 (acting)
KL Heller - 23 June 1940 - 8 August 1940 (acting)
DECOMMISSIONED - 8 August 1940 - 31 March 1941
KzS Leo Kreisch - 31 March 1941 - 3 July 1941
KzS Rudolf Stange - 3 July 1941 - 7 September 1941
KzS Leo Kreisch - 7 September 1941 - 17 January 1942
KzS / KADM Rudolf Stange - 17 January 1942 - 10 November 1943
(Promoted to KADM on 1 October 1943.)
FK Biesterfeld - 10 November 1943 - January 1944
KzS Bodo-Heinrich Knoke - January 1944 - 22 April 1945
FK / KzS Ernst Lange - 22 April 1945 - 4 May 1945
(Promoted to KzS during tenure of command; exact date unknown.)
Notes
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