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KMS Deutschland / Lutzow

1933 WORLD WAR 2

History of KMS Germany / Lutzow

KMS Deutschland (later KMS Lutzow) is the capital ship of this class, first ordered in 1928 and in service with the German Navy before and during World War II. Their initial planning team went in two directions - the class would be a heavily armed monitor for coastal defense, or a fast, long-range, lightly armored cruiser.

At the time, France was considered the most likely enemy, so the second version was chosen to inevitably plunder their merchant ships.

The size and characteristics of the armored ships were limited by the Treaty of Versailles signed after the First World War, which severely limited Germany's war-fighting capabilities. As a result, the German Navy was limited to 15,000 men, 6 battleships (each with a displacement limit of 10,000 tons), 6 cruisers, 6 destroyers, and no submarines.

The British initially called the new ships "pocket battleships" because they were essentially comparable to, but significantly superior to, the cruisers of the day.

Many technological innovations were used in the construction of these new German ships, including the use of welds instead of rivets. This construction technique proved advantageous because it reduced the weight of the type. The use of new diesel engines instead of heavy oil engines made the hull lighter.

From the outset, Germany was designed to be overweight, despite treaty restrictions. The German government has a habit of falsifying new build specifications, in this case claiming that the ship weighed only 10,000 tons - just within the limits allowed by the treaty.

In February 1940, the German Navy reclassified the new class as a heavy cruiser. The concept behind this approach envisioned a ship that was faster and more powerful than the potential enemy ships she might encounter (such as HMS Hood, HMS Renown, and HMS Repellent), and faster than the light and heavy cruisers of the time, such as light and heavy cruisers.

Ship class is more powerful. In a way, this was a good strategy in the 1930s.

Construction began in 1929 at the Deutsche Werke shipyard in Kiel and was officially launched in 1931 in the presence of Reich President von Hindenburg. On her maiden voyage in May 1932, Deutschland became the leading ship in her class, but lacked the high conning towers, bridges and masts that were characteristic of contemporary ships of the time. Between 1936 and 1939, during the Spanish Civil War, Germany was deployed to the Spanish coast to support Franco's nationalists.

In a May 1937 sortie, Germany was attacked by two Republican bombers, killing 31 German sailors and injuring 101. The dead German sailors were first brought to Gibraltar and buried on Spanish soil, but at Hitler's order the bodies were exhumed, loaded into Germany and brought back to Germany for a public military funeral.

After the start of World War II, Adolf Hitler was worried that the loss of a great "German" ship would have a significant negative impact on the morale of the German people, so he named the ship Lutzow after the Prussian This happened in 1939 November. In April of that year, Lutso participated in the invasion of Norway, where she followed the cruiser Blucher into the Oslo Fjord to capture the King of Norway and his government. During the Battle of the Drogbach Strait, German squadrons had to sail past the fort's aging battery (about forty years each), causing the Germans to ignore their defensive value.

However, the Germans did not know about the torpedo batteries buried in the fort. As Brucher passed the fort defense, the Norwegians fired torpedoes and sank a cruiser.

This action saved the Norwegian king and government from being arrested in the first hours of the invasion until they could plot an escape to England. As Lutzow escaped, Festung managed 3 hits against them, knocking down Bruno's rear 28cm turret.

After the German squadron pulled out of Oscarsburg's range, Lutso used her former Anton turret to bombard the defenders from a distance of 11 km (7 mi). On the same day, the fort was subsequently bombed by the Luftwaffe, although no Norwegian casualties were reported.

Lutzow then returned to Germany for repairs and modifications before embarking on a raid mission to the Atlantic. Before she could complete her scheduled trip, she was torpedoed by the British submarine HMS Spearfish at Skagerrak in northern Denmark. The torpedo hit the stern behind the torpedo airbag protector, tearing out almost all of her stern.

She was again forced to travel to Germany for repairs - which kept her on the move until the spring of 1941.

Lutzow was torpedoed again in June while patrolling the North Atlantic - this time by an RAF Bristol Beaufort torpedo bomber - causing extensive damage and forcing him to return to the German port of Kiel again make repairs. In December, she took part in the Battle of the Barents Sea. In combat, the Lutzow was built according to the "stronger than fast" ship concept. The German army had the heavy cruiser KMS Admiral Hipper and the pocket battleship Lutzow. The quarry, an Allied JW51B escort ship that was delivering supplies to the Soviet Union, is now protected by fewer than six British destroyers.

Hitler saw the Battle of the Surface Raiders in the Barents Sea as the perfect mission to succeed. The fighting took place in the polar night, and it was reported that both sides had difficulty identifying each other. Fearing the torpedo attack, both sides kept interrupting the attack until the Germans finally retreated. As they returned to port, British troops R tracked the German ships.

Following the news, Hitler was furious at the outcome of the battle and decided not to increase his surface fleet, but to strengthen his submarine fleet, making it the main threat to enemy shipping.

Lutzow competed in various smaller competitions over the following year. In September 1944, she opened fire on land targets in the Baltic in support of the retreating Wehrmacht, a service she would continue for several months. Near Sweimunde, Germany, Lutso was again attacked by the RAF in April 1945. RAF members dropped a series of six-tonne Tallboy bombs, three of which hit Lutzow while she was still moored. After several powerful explosions, she fell to the ground.

Despite her injuries, Lutso was lifted and repaired. Since then, it has provided artillery support to the Bundeswehr as a mobile offshore artillery platform. On May 4, 1945, KMS Lutzow was finally scuttled by her crew - a huge disappointment to the ego and morale of the German Navy.

After the war, the Soviet Navy picked her up and used it as a target ship. As a result of this action, she sank for the last time in the Baltic Sea in 1949.