German cruiser Deutschland

Deutschland in 1935
History
Germany
Name	Deutschland
Builder	Deutsche Werke, Kiel
Laid down	5 February 1929
Launched	19 May 1931
Commissioned	1 April 1933
Renamed	January 1940, Lützow
Fate	Sunk as target 22 July 1947
General characteristics
Class and type	Deutschland-class cruiser
Displacement	Design: 12,630 t (12,430 long tons; 13,920 short tons) Full load: 14,290 long tons (14,520 t)
Length	186 m (610 ft 3 in)
Beam	20.69 m (67 ft 11 in)
Draft	7.25 m (23 ft 9 in)
Installed power	54,000 PS (53,260 shp; 39,720 kW)
Propulsion	Eight MAN diesel engines Two propellers
Speed	28 knots (52 km/h; 32 mph)
Range	10,000 nautical miles (19,000 km; 12,000 mi) at 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Complement	As built: 33 officers 586 enlisted After 1935: 30 officers 921–1,040 enlisted
Sensors and processing systems	1940: FMG 39 G(gO) 1941: FMG 39 G(gO) FuMO 26
Armament	As built: 6 × 28 cm (11 in) in triple turrets 8 × 15 cm (5.9 in) in single turrets 3 x 8.8 cm (3.5 in) in single turrets 8 × 53.3 cm (21.0 in) torpedo tubes
Armor	main turrets: 140 mm (5.5 in) belt: 80 mm (3.1 in) deck: 45 mm (1.8 in)
Aircraft carried	1935 One Heinkel He 60 seaplane 1939 One Arado Ar 196 seaplane
Aviation facilities	One catapult

Deutschland was the lead ship of her class of heavy cruisers (often termed pocket battleships) which served with the Kriegsmarine of Nazi Germany during World War II. 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. 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.^[a] In 1940, she was renamed Lützow, after the unfinished Admiral Hipper-class heavy cruiser Lützow was sold to the Soviet Union the previous year.

The ship saw significant action with the Kriegsmarine, including several non-intervention patrols in the Spanish Civil War, during which she was attacked by Republican bombers. At the outbreak of World War II, she was cruising the North Atlantic, prepared to attack Allied merchant traffic. Bad weather hampered her efforts, and she sank or captured only a handful of vessels before returning to Germany. She then participated in Operation Weserübung, the invasion of Norway. Damaged at the Battle of Drøbak Sound, she was recalled to Germany for repairs. While en route, she was torpedoed and seriously damaged by a British submarine.

Repairs were completed by March 1941, and in June she left Germany for a commerce raiding operation in the Atlantic. But before reaching the Atlantic, she was again torpedoed by a British aircraft and had to return. After repairs, Lützow returned to Norway to join the forces arrayed against Allied shipping to the Soviet Union. She ran aground during a planned attack on convoy PQ 17, and returned to Germany for repairs. She next saw action at the Battle of the Barents Sea with the heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper, which ended with a failure to destroy convoy JW 51B. Engine problems forced a series of repairs culminating in a complete overhaul at the end of 1943, after which the ship remained in the Baltic as a training ship. In October 1944 Lützow re-entered frontline service with Task Force Thiele, participating in shore bombardments of Russian positions in support of the German army. Sunk in shallow waters in the Kaiserfahrt in April 1945 by Royal Air Force (RAF) bombers, Lützow was used as a stationary gun battery until 4 May 1945, when she was disabled by her crew. Raised by the Soviet Navy in 1947, she was subsequently sunk as a target in the Baltic.
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