The Admiralty broadcast a series of signals, on frequencies known to be intercepted by German intelligence. Between 18 April and 17 May 1939, she conducted another cruise into the Atlantic, stopping in the ports of Ceuta and Lisbon. The ship's wounded men were also evacuated in Gibraltar for treatment. Langsdorff decided not to flee from the British ships, and ordered his ship to battle stations and to close at maximum speed. The ship accidentally started sliding down the slipway while Brüning was giving his christening speech. [23], The damage Lützow sustained prompted the Kriegsmarine to order her to return to Germany for repairs. [5][38] Historians Hildebrand, Röhr and Steinmetz, in their book Die Deutschen Kriegsschiffe, state that she instead sank off Kolberg, claiming that the Lützow broken up in the late 1940s was instead the Admiral Hipper-class cruiser Lützow that had been sold to the Soviet Union in 1940. Her keel was laid on 1 October 1932,[7] under construction number 125. [31] At around 07:00, Exeter returned to the engagement, firing from her stern turret. A third struck her superstructure behind the port-side aircraft crane. [25] Despite the setback, KzS August Thiele, Lützow's commander, was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross for his actions during the Battle of Drøbak Sound, during which he took command of the task force after the loss of Blücher. A second shell struck the ship's deck and penetrated the upper and main armored decks; starting a fire in the cruiser's hospital and operating theater, killing two soldiers and severely wounding six others. [34] Under Article 17 of the Hague Convention of 1907, neutrality restrictions limited Admiral Graf Spee to a period of 72 hours for repairs in Montevideo, before she would be interned for the duration of the war. Work began under construction number 219. [28] Based on that information, Langsdorff decided to head for the seas off Montevideo. By the end of the war, her anti-aircraft battery had again been reorganized, consisting of six 4 cm (1.6 in) guns, ten 3.7 cm guns, and twenty-eight 2 cm guns. Her anti-aircraft battery originally consisted of three 8.8 cm (3.5 in) L/45 guns, though in 1935 these were replaced with six 8.8 cm (3.5 in) L/78 guns. "G" denoted that the equipment was manufactured by GEMA, "g" indicated that it operated between 335 and 440, "Convention (XIII) concerning the Rights and Duties of Neutral Powers in Naval War", "What should Uruguay do with its Nazi eagle? The Admiralty complained about the large sum paid for the salvage rights. The purpose of that foray was to divert Allied warships away from the South Atlantic, and to confuse the Allies about his intentions. Following fleet maneuvers and a brief visit to Sweden, the ship conducted a fifth and final patrol in February 1938. Langsdorff was ordered to avoid combat, even with inferior opponents, and to frequently change position. PRE-WAR. By 10 May 1942, the ship was finally pronounced ready for action. [11], On 5 October, she found and sank the British transport ship Stonegate, though not before the freighter was able to send a distress signal informing vessels in the area of Deutschland's presence. [39] The historian Hans Georg Prager examined the former Soviet archives in the early 2000s, and discovered that Lützow actually had been sunk in weapons tests in July 1947.[40]. The force left Germany on 8 April and passed through the Kattegat. Fuel shortages restricted operations, although Lützow and Admiral Scheer were able to conduct limited battle training exercises. The vessel was named after Admiral Maximilian von Spee, commander of the East Asia Squadron who fought the battles of Coronel and the Falkland Islands, where he was killed in action, in World War I. By this time, Admiral Graf Spee had cruised for almost 30,000 nautical miles (56,000 km; 35,000 mi) and needed an engine overhaul. In March 1935, she sailed as far as the Caribbean and South American waters. [22][23] Lützow was hit three times by 15 cm shells from Oscarsborg's Kopås battery, causing significant damage.[24]. The main battery turrets had 140 mm (5.5 in) thick faces and 80 mm thick sides. There are a total of [ 3 ] WW2 German Pocket Battleships (1939-1945) entries in the Military Factory. [37] In the aftermath of the scuttling, the ship's crew were taken to Argentina, where they were interned for the remainder of the war. [29], On 30 December, Lützow, the heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper, and six destroyers left Narvik for Operation Regenbogen, an attack on convoy JW 51B, which was reported by German intelligence to be lightly escorted. Admiral Graf Spee was deployed to the South Atlantic in the weeks before the outbreak of World War II, to be positioned in merchant sea lanes once war was declared. [29] Kummetz's plan was to divide his force in half; he would take Admiral Hipper and three destroyers north of the convoy to attack it and draw away the escorts. Admiral Scheer [ˌatmiˈʁaːl ʃeːɐ̯] was a Deutschland-class heavy cruiser (often termed a pocket battleship) which served with the Kriegsmarine of Nazi Germany during World War II.The vessel was named after Admiral Reinhard Scheer, German commander in the Battle of Jutland.She was laid down at the Reichsmarinewerft shipyard in Wilhelmshaven in June 1931 and completed by … Lützow's forward gun turret was hit by one of the 15 cm rounds, which disabled the center gun and damaged the right barrel. The ship was seized by Norway when she anchored in Haugesund, however, and control of the ship was returned to the original crew. Kampfgruppe 2 was assigned to Operation Rösselsprung, a planned attack on the Allied convoy PQ 17, which was headed to the Soviet Union. 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