Germany (ship, 1931)
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The Panzerschiff Deutschland was a warship of the German Reich and Kriegsmarine . She was the lead ship of the Germany class originally called armored ships . The construction of the ship under the designation " Battleship A " was fiercely disputed in the election campaign for the 1928 Reichstag election . The approval of the SPD, contrary to its own election promises, made the construction possible. The ship was launched at Deutsche Werke in Kiel in 1931 and was put into service two years later. In November 1939 the name was changed to Lützow , and in February 1940 the Lützow and the second remaining ship of the class, the Admiral Scheer , were reclassified as heavy cruisers .
The name was changed because Hitler wanted to avoid the propaganda effect of a possible sinking of a ship named "Germany". The heavy cruiser Lützow , the last ship of the Admiral Hipper class , was sold unfinished to the Soviet Union in autumn 1939. The name that became vacant as a result was transferred to the previous armored ship Germany . Lützow was named after the Prussian General Adolf von Lützow , after whom the great cruiser Lützow of the Imperial Navy , sunk in the Battle of the Skagerrak , was named.
Stakes and history
Controversy about the "Battleship A" from 1927
After the First World War, Germany no longer had any large modern warships. The Versailles Treaty granted the Navy only six obsolete ships of the line of the Braunschweig and Germany classes ; in 1920 two more were approved as reserve units. In addition, the Allies stipulated that these heavy units could be replaced after 20 years by ships with a displacement of 10,000 tons, although it was not explained in more detail how the displacement should be calculated. After initial considerations had been made as early as 1920 about the replacement of the ships of the line by new buildings, concrete plans came from 1926. In 1927, plans for the construction of an "armored cruiser A" appeared in the defense budget of the Reichstag for the first time. The issue was fiercely disputed in the election campaign for the 1928 Reichstag elections , the SPD stood up with the slogan "For children - against the building of the armored cruiser!" And was able to record significant increases in votes. When the government was formed, however, its ministers Rudolf Hilferding , Carl Severing and Rudolf Wissell as well as the newly elected Chancellor Hermann Müller, under pressure from the DVP, approved the construction.
The beginning time
Even before it was put into service, the ship caused a curiosity: when it was launched, it became self-employed (because a drainage block was removed too early). It launched itself, which aroused general amusement among the baptized guests. The godfather of President Paul von Hindenburg commented on this with the words: “I think the boat is abstainer”. After the commissioning, the training of junior navies began on board the ironclad in the course of several trips abroad.
Spanish Civil War
When civil war broke out in Spain in 1936 , the Deutschland was ordered to sail into Spanish waters to control the sea. During the fourth mission to Spain, she was attacked by Republican aircraft on May 29, 1937 in the roadstead of Ibiza . Two bomb hits left 31 dead and 75 wounded. The dead were initially buried in Gibraltar, but then exhumed on Hitler's orders and taken to Germany by ironclad. A memorial was also inaugurated to commemorate those who died in the attack. The graves and the memorial are located in the Naval Memorial Cemetery in Wilhelmshaven City Park.
Sudeten crisis
In September 1938, during the Sudeten Crisis , the ship was ordered to a waiting position in the sea area between the Azores and the Canaries in order to wage a trade war from there in the event of an outbreak of hostilities. The supply ship Samland was ordered to provide the necessary supplies in this case . Both ships returned to Germany in October after the crisis had been resolved.
Reoccupation of the Memel area
On March 23, 1939, Reich Chancellor Adolf Hitler embarked on the Deutschland to call at the port of Memel . This was intended as a show of force against Lithuania , which annexed the Memel region in January 1923 on the occasion of the so-called Klaipėda revolt .
Second World War
Advance into the North Atlantic
Shortly before the Second World War, the Deutschland was sent from Wilhelmshaven to the North Atlantic on August 24, to wage a trade war after the outbreak of war . She was supported by the supply ship Westerwald , which supplied Germany eight times. On 25/26 On September 1st, the Naval War Command allowed the trade warfare to be conducted by radio. On October 6, the Deutschland sank the British steamer Stonegate (5,044 GRT), and on October 14, the Norwegian Lorentz W. Hansen (1,918 GRT), which had loaded wood for Great Britain. Although the United States had declared its neutrality, the commander had the old US freighter City of Flint (4,963 GRT), which was transporting lubricating oil, confiscated as a prize southwest of Newfoundland and sent it with a prize team to Germany. The ship arrived in Tromsø unhindered on October 22nd . The Norwegian authorities interned the prize team and sent the City of Flint back to the United States. On November 15, 1939, the Deutschland returned to Kiel, where it was given the new name Lützow by order of the Führer and was reclassified as a heavy cruiser . The renaming was done in order to prevent the Allies from achieving propaganda success in the possible sinking of a ship called "Germany". She reached Gotenhafen on November 17th . On 24./25. November she was the flagship of a trade warfare association operating from Wilhelmshaven in the Skagerrak . The company was unsuccessful. Then she went to the Danzig shipyard for a major overhaul, and instead of the previous vertical bow, she received an Atlantic or clipper bow . In March 1940 she was ready to leave again in Wilhelmshaven.
Weser exercise company
In April 1940, the now heavy cruiser Lützow took part in the occupation of Norway, where he was assigned to Group 5, which was to take Oslo . The Lützow ran on April 7th through the Kaiser Wilhelm Canal to Kiel. She joined Group 5 from Swinoujscie and stood in front of the Oslofjord on April 9th. After the flagship of the group, the heavy cruiser Blücher , had been sunk in the Drøbak -Enge and the Lützow had received three hits that cost six dead and 25 wounded, including the ship's hospital completely burned out, Captain zur See Thiele decided to Disembark mountaineers further south in Sonsbukten. Only when the mountain troops had finally switched off the land batteries with the support of the Air Force did the Lützow and the other ships of Group 5 call at Oslo on April 10th.
She then drove to Horten , but was ordered back home for immediate repairs. Driving without an escort, she received a torpedo hit by the British submarine Spearfish on April 11 at 1:29 am on her march back to Kiel near Cape Skagen . Here the entire stern buckled. There were 15 dead. The propeller shafts and the rudder were destroyed, so that the cruiser drifted without propulsion and unable to maneuver. The ship and crew were lucky, however: the torpedo was the outermost of a compartment that had just hit the stern. The submarine had shot its last four torpedoes on the Lützow and could not launch another attack. With the help of three cutters called up from the 19th minesweeping flotilla, the ship was able to be towed to Kiel after a temporary stall with 1300 t of water in the hull, which was reached on the evening of April 13th.
Company summer trip
During the long repair time in Dock VI of the Deutsche Werke in Kiel, it was hit by a dud in an air raid on July 9, 1940. In the course of the repair, the straight bow was brought into a slightly crescent shape. The Lützow was not operational again until March 31, 1941 . On June 10, she left Kiel, accompanied by five destroyers, to wage cruiser warfare in the Atlantic. At the southwest tip of Norway she received a torpedo hit on the port side in the midship by a Bristol Beaufort on June 12 . The hit resulted in the failure of the propulsion system, but it was finally possible to march back on its own. Kiel was reached on the afternoon of June 14th. The repairs in the dry dock lasted until January 17, 1942. The previous chimney cap was replaced by a much higher one. On the hood of foretop - based device was a modified radio measuring device .
Company Rösselsprung
From May 18 to 26, 1942, the Lützow was relocated under strong escort via Kristiansand and Trondheim to Narvik in Norway. On July 3 at 12:30 a.m., she left the Ofotfjord as the flagship of a fleet to attack the northern sea convoy PQ 17 . In Tjeldsund she hit the ground at 2:45 a.m. and tore open fuel oil bunker X so that she had to return to Narvik. The Lutzow returned to an emergency repair in Lofjord in August to Kiel back and was repaired from 28 August to 30 October at the German plants.
Company rainbow
After a training phase in the Baltic Sea, the cruiser moved from Gotenhafen back to Norway on December 8, 1942, accompanied by destroyers. On December 16, he reached the Altafjord, where he joined the combat group there. In the further course of this enterprise it came to the battle in the Barents Sea . The Lützow received no damage and remained in Norway.
Baltic Sea
In September 1943 the Lützow moved back to Kiel. From October 1943 to March 1944 the cruiser was in the shipyard in Libau . He then served as a training ship and carried out land bombardments in the Baltic Sea near Memel and Sworbe to support the retreating army in October 1944 . In December the ship was again in action at Memel, Elbing and Danzig against land targets. In 1945 the Lützow also intervened in the battles for East Prussia, alternating with the heavy cruisers Prinz Eugen and Admiral Scheer . In February, Soviet units were shot at near Frombork , Elbing and Tolkemit , and in March near Danzig and Gotenhafen. It was only withdrawn on April 8, due to a lack of ammunition, and entered Swinoujscie. There it was ammunitioned in order to be able to intervene again in the land fighting.
The end of the ship
The Lützow was still anchored in the Kaiserfahrt south of Swinoujscie when she was attacked on April 16, 1945 by British Lancaster bombers with Tallboy bombs (5.4 t, 2.4 t of which were highly explosive). A close hit Tallboy caused a crack about 20 m long at the level of the waterline. The Lützow sank with a list and tilted against the embankment, but narrowly escaped complete destruction: A 500 kg bomb struck the area of the ammunition chamber of the front gun turret , but the detonator failed. Another 500 kg bomb hit the forecastle. The cruiser's flak was able to shoot down one of the attacking Lancaster bombers and damage several.
After sealing the outer skin, pumping out the flooded areas and provisional repairs to one of the electrical works , the rear 28 cm tower and parts of the medium artillery and flak were still ready for use. The Soviet tank units, which attacked Szczecin the next day , were able to inflict such heavy losses with the heavy artillery that the Russian side believed that the V1 “retaliatory weapon” was being used. On May 4, 1945, the Lützow was finally abandoned and prepared for self-sinking. The two 28 cm treble towers had already been filled with propellant cartridges and destroyed during the day. The hull was peppered with the remaining artillery ammunition and (to destroy the outer skin) with defused British air mines .
The night before the demolition, the only still intact bilge pump failed. The oil floating on the rapidly rising water level from destroyed bunkers ignited (presumably on the overheated bilge pump) and quickly led to a major fire. Since at the same time the only functioning electrical works were destroyed (and the crew except for the explosive officer, Leutnant zur See Lipps, had fled into the nearby forest), it was impossible to fight the fire. Lieutenant Lipps slept in his cabin because the demolition was due to take place in the morning. He managed, slightly injured, to leave the ship just in time, before the detonators of the air mines kept in his cabin exploded in the heat. After that, almost all other explosive charges exploded, seriously damaging the ship, but not destroying it.
After the war ended, the wreck was awarded to the Soviet Union. In May 1947 it was decided to sink the ship in the Baltic Sea. The 77th division of the rescue service of the Baltic Red Banner Fleet examined the ship. Compartments V to VII were flooded to the waterline. In Division II the water was up to the upper platform, in the double floor of Divisions X to XI and in the area of the turret A up to the lower platform. The ship had a clear inclination to the bow and a slight heel to port. The underwater ship was examined by divers. Five leaks were found below the waterline. The largest leak had dimensions of about 7 m × 1 m, another 4 m × 1 m, the others were significantly smaller. The reason that the ship was still swimming was due to the fact that the bow was on the bottom of the Kaiserfahrt. Buoyancy was achieved by deploying leaky sails and closing all repaired bulkheads and hatches. Using motor pumps, the water was pumped from compartments V to VII. The ship floated up and was kept buoyant with the motor pumps. On July 20, 1947, the ship was towed to the outer roadstead of Swinoujscie and then by the armed icebreaker Voljunez into the planned dumping area , which was reached on July 22, 1947 at 8:25 a.m. The coastal defense boat SK-468 was already in the area for documentation.
The experimental program provided that
- a 500 kg bomb ( FAB-500 ) on the roof of the command post, a 100 kg bomb ( FAB-100 ) in front of Tower A and another 100 kg bomb on the superstructure directly behind the chimney can be detonated at the same time ,
- a 500 kg bomb ( FAB-500 ) is detonated on the superstructure of the catapult
- an FAB-500 is detonated in the armored deck behind the barbette of tower A.
- a 250 kg bomb ( FAB-250 ) is detonated on the upper deck, another FAB-250 on the armored deck above the second engine room and an FAB-100 on the armored deck between the spill and the barette of tower A.
The first explosion occurred at 10:25 a.m. The detonation of the FAB-500 penetrated the roof of the command post, the FAB-100 in front of Tower A did not ignite, the second FAB-100 only partially. The experimental setup was changed. An FAB-250 was hung under the 28 cm tubes of tower A. The FAB-100 of the first ignition were prepared again. The second explosion occurred at 12:45 p.m. The two FAB-100s did not detonate again. The detonation of the FAB-250 caused only slight damage in the area of the forecastle. The FAB-500 destroyed the foundations of the catapult, penetrated the deck and started a fire that quickly died out. The decision was made to remove the motor pumps and detonate the bombs of the third and fourth test series at the same time. Another FAB-500 was placed on the forecastle. The third explosion occurred at 3:45 p.m. Only external damage in the area of tower A could be seen. The cheek was ripped open to the armored belt. The ship slowly took in water and began to sink over the bow. At 1623 the stem submerged and a minute later the stern came out of the water. The ship sank with an inclination of about 30 ° and a slight heel to port.
The wreck is believed to be 110 m deep.
Commanders
| April 1, 1933 to September 29, 1935 | Sea captain Hermann von Fischel |
| September 30, 1935 to September 2, 1937 | Sea Captain Paul Fanger |
| September 3, 1937 to November 29, 1939 | Sea Captain Paul Wenneker |
| November 30, 1939 to April 18, 1940 | Sea captain August Thiele |
| April 19 to June 23, 1940 | Frigate Captain Fritz Krauss (entrusted with running the business) |
| June 1940 | Corvette Captain Weber |
| June to August 1940 | Lieutenant Heller |
| March 31 to July 1941 | Sea captain Leo Kreisch |
| July 1941 to November 1943 | Sea captain Rudolf Stange |
| September 1941 to January 1942 | Captain Leo Kreisch (deputy) |
| November to December 1943 | Frigate Captain Biesterfeld (deputy) |
| January 1944 to April 1945 | Sea captain Bodo-Heinrich Knoke |
| November 1944 | Sea captain Gerhardt Böhmig (deputy) |
| April to May 1945 | Frigate Captain Ernst Lange (entrusted with running the business) |
memory
At the Nordfriedhof Kiel a stele commemorates the fallen in the Oslofjord.
Known crew members
- Werner Ehrhardt (1898–1967), was from 1957 to 1960, as rear admiral , first commander of the command of naval training (KdoMarAusb)
- Paul Hartwig (1915-2014), was Vice Admiral from 1972 to 1975 in command of the fleet
- Gert Jeschonnek (1912–1999) was the third inspector of the Navy from 1967 to 1971
- Heinz Kühnle (1915–2001) was the fourth inspector of the Navy from 1971 to 1975
- Hans Georg Prager (1925–2018), German shipping consultant (advisor, legal advisor), writer and publicist
- Karl E. Smidt (1903–1984), from 1961 to 1963, as Rear Admiral, was NATO Commander-in-Chief of the German fleet with authority over the North and Baltic Seas
march
In 1937 Erich Schuhmann composed the naval march Panzerschiff Deutschland , which was also included in the army march collection as HM II, 156 .
literature
- Francois-Emmanuel Brezet: The German Navy. 1933-1945. Herbig, Munich 2003, ISBN 3-7766-2238-5 .
- Erich Gröner , Dieter Jung, Martin Maass: The German warships 1815-1945 . tape 1 : Armored ships, ships of the line, battleships, aircraft carriers, cruisers, gunboats . Bernard & Graefe Verlag, Munich 1982, ISBN 3-7637-4800-8 , p. 87-90 .
- Hans H. Hildebrand, Albert Röhr, Hans-Otto Steinmetz: The German warships, biographies - a mirror of naval history from 1815 to the present . tape 2 : Ship biographies from Baden to Eber. Mundus Verlag, Ratingen, S. 246-260 (licensed licensed edition Koehler, Herford 1985).
- Hans H. Hildebrand, Albert Röhr, Hans-Otto Steinmetz: The German warships. Biographies - a mirror of naval history from 1815 to the present . tape 6 : Ship biographies from Lützow to Prussia. Mundus Verlag, Ratingen, S. 21-25 (approved licensed edition Koehler, Herford 1993, ISBN 3-7822-0497-2 ).
- Gerhard Koop, Klaus-Peter Schmolke: The armored ships of the Germany class. Germany / Lützow - Admiral Scheer - Admiral Graf Spee. Bernard & Graefe Verlag, Bonn 1993, ISBN 3-7637-5919-0 .
- Hans G. Prager: Ironclad Germany, heavy cruiser Lützow. A ship's fate against the backdrop of its time. Koehlers Verlagsgesellschaft, Hamburg 2001, ISBN 3-7822-0798-X .
- Gert Sandhofer: The ironclad "A" and the preliminary drafts from 1920 to 1928 . In: Military history messages . Vol. 2, No. 3 , 1968, p. 35-62 .
Web links
Footnotes
- ^ Henry Picker (ed.): Hitler's table talks in the Führer Headquarters. Ullstein, Frankfurt / M. - Berlin 1989, p. 411.
- ↑ Hans Hildebrand, Albert Röhr, Hans-Otto Steinmetz: The German warships. Biographies - a mirror of naval history from 1815 to the present . tape 1 : Historical overview. Ship biographies from Adler to Augusta. Mundus Verlag, Ratingen, S. 133 .
- ↑ Hildebrand, Röhr, Steinmetz, Volume 2, pp. 247f.
- ↑ Wolfgang Plat: Panzerkreuzer A. Online on ZEIT.de, May 20, 1994 No. 21.
- ^ Hans-Georg Prager: Armored Ship Germany / Heavy Cruiser Lützow.
- ^ Captain 1st rank, candidate of the military sciences, Professor VP Kuzin: The history of the cruiser "Lützow" (ex. Ironclad "Deutschland") after 1945 from a Russian perspective. TAIFUN 04/1998, translation by Olaf Pestow.
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Germany (from 1939 Lützow ) | Admiral Scheer | Admiral Graf Spee