German pocket battleship Deutschland

"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 2000 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. [cite web|url=http://www.ibiza-hotels.com/history/|title=The Bombing of "Deutscheland", Ibiza. May 29, 1937] 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. [Deutschland-class.dk: [http://www.deutschland-class.dk/deutschland_luetzow/deutschland_luetzow_operation_hist.html Operational History] ]

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.Fact|date=February 2008

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 German cruiser "Blücher" 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 Convert|15|cm|in|adj=on guns of the Kopaas battery scoring three hits and knocking out "Lützow's" aft "Bruno" Convert|28|cm|in|adj=on gun turret. [Fjeld 1999: 36] 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 would 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

Further reading

* Siegfried Breyer, Gerhard Koop, (translated Edward Force), "The German Navy At War 1939-1945: Volume 1 - The Battleships" (Schiffer, West Chester, 1989)
* no icon
* Bernard Ireland, Tony Gibbons, "Jane's Battleships of the 20th Century" (HarperCollins, New York, 1996) pp. 42-43

See also

* The Deutschland incident of 1937
* List of World War II ships
* List of Kriegsmarine ships
* List of naval ships of Germany
* List of ship launches in 1931
* List of ship commissionings in 1933
* List of shipwrecks in 1945 and list of shipwrecks in 1949
* Other ships of the "Deutschland" class
** German pocket battleship Admiral Scheer
** German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee

External links

* [http://www.maritimequest.com/warship_directory/germany/pages/cruisers/deutschland_lutzow.htm Maritimequest Deutschland / Lützow photo gallery]
* [http://www.german-navy.de/kriegsmarine/ships/panzerschiffe/deutschland/index.html German Naval History - pocket battleship "Deutschland"]