German cruiser Admiral Hipper

German cruiser Admiral Hipper was the lead ship of the her class of heavy cruisers built for the Kriegsmarine in the mid-1930s. Named for Franz von Hipper, commander of the German High Seas Fleet during the Battle of Jutland, she served throughout World War II. The cruiser participated in several major naval operations, including the Norwegian Campaign and the Battle of the Atlantic, before being scuttled at the end of the war in Europe.

Design and description

*Admiral Hipper* was designed as a conventional heavy cruiser under the constraints of the Anglo-German Naval Agreement, which ostensibly limited Germany to building ships within the terms of the Washington Naval Treaty. Her design featured a main armament of eight 20.3 cm SK C/34 naval guns mounted in four twin Drh L. C/34 turrets, a configuration typical for the Treaty cruisers of the era. Propulsion was provided by three sets of Blohm & Voss geared steam turbines, fed by twelve high-pressure La Mont boilers, enabling a top speed of 32 knots. Her protection scheme included an 80 mm thick armored belt and a 50 mm thick armored deck, intended to defend against cruiser-caliber gunfire. The ship's aviation facilities consisted of a single catapult amidships for operating up to three Arado Ar 196 reconnaissance floatplanes.

Construction and career

The ship's keel was laid down at the Blohm & Voss shipyard in Hamburg on 6 July 1935, under construction number 501. She was launched on 6 February 1937, with the christening performed by Gerda-Luise von Hipper, the daughter of the namesake admiral. After fitting out, *Admiral Hipper* was commissioned into the Kriegsmarine on 29 April 1939 under the command of Kapitän zur See Hellmuth Heye. Initial sea trials in the Baltic Sea revealed significant problems with her high-pressure steam propulsion plant, leading to chronic machinery breakdowns that plagued her entire operational career. These defects required extensive modifications and repairs at the naval yard in Wilhelmshaven before she was considered ready for front-line service.

Service history

*Admiral Hipper*'s first major operation was during the Norwegian Campaign in April 1940, where she served as the flagship for Konteradmiral Oskar Kummetz during Operation Weserübung. She engaged the British destroyer HMS *Glowworm* on 8 April, ramming and sinking the destroyer after a fierce close-quarters battle. In December 1940, she sortied into the Atlantic Ocean on a commerce raiding mission, sinking several merchant ships before returning to Brest. She participated in the Channel Dash in February 1942, transiting from Brest to German ports via the English Channel. Subsequently deployed to northern waters, she took part in the Battle of the Barents Sea on 31 December 1942, an unsuccessful attack on Arctic Convoy JW 51B that led to the anger of Adolf Hitler and a strategic shift away from surface raiders. After being damaged by a Royal Air Force bombing raid on Kiel in 1943, she was relegated to a training ship in the Baltic for the remainder of the war.

Fate

By early 1945, *Admiral Hipper* was in Kiel undergoing repairs and was unable to put to sea. As Allied forces advanced in the final days of the war, she was moved to the Deutsche Werke shipyard. On 3 May 1945, with British troops from the Second Army approaching the city, her crew scuttled the cruiser in the harbor to prevent her capture. Her wreck was partially broken up in situ after the war, and the remains were finally raised and scrapped by Blohm & Voss between 1948 and 1952, bringing an end to the career of one of the Kriegsmarine's most prominent surface combatants.

Category:Admiral Hipper-class cruisers Category:World War II cruisers of Germany Category:Ships built in Hamburg Category:1939 ships