Warships of Germany: Kriegsmarine Light Cruisers Emden, Karlsruhe, Köln, Königsberg, Leipzig and Nürnberg, and unfinished warships

Kriegsmarine Light cruisers Emden, Karlsruhe, Köln, Königsberg, Leipzig and Nürnberg

The Treaty of Versailles allowed Germany to replace its old First World War cruisers, and the first such new vessel, Emden, was built in the early 1920s to a design based on the last wartime classes. A new approach was taken in the five members of the succeeding KönigsbergandLeipzigclasseswith triple gun turrets and hybrid diesel/turbine propulsion systems. A further six ships of the M classwere planned in the late 1930s, but the outbreak of war forced their cancellation. The six cruisers of the Emden, Königsberg, and Leipzig classes all served in the Second World War, and only one, Nürnberg, survived the war intact. Two were sunk during the invasion of Norway and the remaining three vessels were destroyed by Allied bombers in the final months of the war.Nürnberg, the last cruiser completed by Germany, was seized by the Soviet Union and commissioned asAdmiral Makarov, serving until the late 1950s. (Wikipedia)

Emden-class (6,000 tons, 8 × 150 mm guns)

(USN Photo)

German cruiser Emden steaming down the Whangpoo River, leaving Shanghai, China in 1931.

Emden was the first new cruiser designed bythe re-formed Reichsmarine in the early 1920s. According to the terms of theTreaty of Versailles, new designs could only be 6,000 long tons (6,100 t). Thedesign borrowed heavily from the late-First World War cruisers. Though theGermans wanted to use twin gun turrets for the ship's main battery of 15 cmguns, the Naval Inter-Allied Commission of Control rejected the design andforced the designers to adopt single turrets in order to weaken the design. Thedesign nevertheless included several innovations, including the large-scale useof welding rather than rivets to save weight.

During the Second World War, she was used to lay mines in the North Sea, toprovide gunfire support to ground troops, and as a convoy escort and trainingship for cadets. She participated in Operation Weserübung, the invasion ofNorway in April 1940. Her wartime career ended in Kiel in April 1945, whenBritish bombers badly damaged the ship while she was in dock for repairs. Hercrew ran her aground to prevent her from sinking, and ultimately blew her upwith demolition charges to prevent the Allies from capturing her in May. Thewreck was eventually scrapped in the late 1940s. (Wikipedia)

(Fotocollectie Van de Poll Reportage Photo)

German cruiser Emden in Lisbon, Portugal, 1935.

(USN Photo)

German cruiser Emden docked at Baltimore, Maryland, 22 April 1936.

(Library of Congress Photo)

German cruiser Emden, starboard view, 1937.

(Library of Congress Photo)

German cruiser Emden, starboard view, 1937.

(Kriegsmarine Photo)

German cruiser Emden in Oslo Fiord, Norway, in the late summer of 1941. Note camouflage scheme of black and white stripes breaking up the overall grey.

(Kurt Heimann Photo)

German soldiers in front of the cruiser Emden in Eastern Europe, probably December 1944 to January 1945.

Königsberg-class (7,200 tons, 9 × 150 mm guns)

The third class of cruisers named after thecapital of East Prussia marked a radical divergence from earlier cruiser designs. A new triple gun turret was adopted for the main battery, with oneforward and two aft in a superfiring pair, offset from the centerline. And new, longer C/25 model guns were used. Major use of welding was also a feature of this class of cruisers, and diesel engines were used in combination with theturbines to increase their cruising radius, though only one set of engines could be run at one time.

The three ships all participated in the non-intervention patrols during theSpanish Civil War in 1936–1939. After the outbreak of war, they were used tolay defensive minefields along with Emden, and in April 1940, participated inthe invasion of Norway. Two of the three cruisers, Karlsruhe and Königsberg, were sunk during the invasion; Karlsruhe was torpedoed by a British submarineoff Kristiansand and Königsberg was sunk by British dive-bombers in Bergen.Köln was used in a variety of roles after the conclusion of the campaign,including as a testbed for operating the Flettner Fl 282 helicopter at sea. Shewas bombed and sunk by American heavy bombers in Wilhelmshaven in March 1945,though she sank in shallow water on an even keel, which allowed her guns toprovide gunfire support to German troops until the end of the war. (Wikipedia)

(U.S. Naval Historical Center Photo)

Königsberg, Commissioned 1927. Sunk in 1940.

Königsberg was a German light cruiser that was operated between 1929 and April 1940, including service in World War II. She was the lead vessel of her class and was operated by two German navies, the Reichsmarine and the Kriegsmarine. She had two sister ships, Karlsruhe and Köln. Königsberg was built by the Kriegsmarinewerft in Wilhelmshaven; she was laid down in April 1926, launched in March 1927, and commissioned into the Reichsmarine in April 1929. She was armed with a main battery of nine 15 cm SK C/25 guns in three triple turrets and had a top speed of 32 knots (59 km/h; 37 mph).

Königsberg served as a training ship for naval cadets throughout the 1930s, and joined the non-intervention patrols during the Spanish Civil War in the late 1930s. After the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939, she laid defensive minefields in the North Sea and then participated in Operation Weserübung, the invasion of Norway in April 1940. While attacking Bergen, she was badly damaged by Norwegian coastal artillery, and sunk by Fleet Air Arm Blackburn Skua fighter-bombers the following day in the harbour. The wreck was eventually raised in 1942 and broken up for scrap in 1947. (Wikipedia)

(USN Photo)

German Light Cruiser Königsberg firing salute on her visit to Britain in 1934; she is flying the British Royal Navy's White Ensign at her forepeak.

(U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph)

German Light Cruiser Königsberg c1936.

(U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph)

German Light Cruiser Königsberg (ship´s after superstructure deck with two 8.8cm anti-aircraft guns and a 15cm triple gun turret)

(Cornelius Kutschke Photo)

German Light Cruiser Königsberg in Königsberg, Germany, 1930.

Operation Weserübung
The invasion of Norway took place in early April 1940. Königsberg was assignedto Gruppe 3, and was tasked with transporting 600 troops from the Wehrmacht's69th Infantry Division from Wilhelmshaven to Bergen, Norway. Gruppe 3 alsoincluded her sister ship Köln, the artillery training ship Bremse, and thetorpedo boats Wolf and Leopard. The Germans left Wilhelmshaven on 8 April, andhad reached their target the following day, where Königsberg transferred partof the landing party to several smaller vessels. She then made a high-speed runinto the port in an attempt to land the remainder of the infantry in the towndirectly. A 21 cm (8.3 in) coastal battery at the Kvarven Fort took the shipunder fire, and scored three hits, all forward. The hits caused severe floodingand fires in her boiler rooms that cut the ship's power. Adrift, and unable tomaneuver, Königsberg had to drop anchor, while she and Köln, Luftwaffe bombers,and the infantry neutralized the Norwegian guns.

Königsberg required major repairs before she would be able to return toGermany, so she was temporarily moored in the harbor with her broadside facingthe harbor entrance. This would allow her to bring all of her main battery gunsto bear against any British naval attack. The rest of Gruppe 3 returned toGermany. On the evening of 9 April, she was attacked by British bombers, but tono effect. The following morning, the British launched another air raid on theship. The raid consisted of sixteen Blackburn Skua dive bombers of the BritishFleet Air Arm (seven of 800 Naval Air Squadron and nine of 803 Naval AirSquadron), launched from RNAS Hatston, Orkney. Königsberg's thin deck armorrendered her quite vulnerable to dive bomber attack. The Skuas attacked inthree groups: the nine of 803 NAS, six of 800 NAS, and one aircraft of 800 NASwhich lost contact during the outward flight but found Königsbergindependently. The dive bombers attacked at 7:20, catching the ship's crew offguard. Half of the dive bombers had completed their dives before the crewrealized they were under attack. Only one large anti-aircraft gun was reportedas being manned with shells being fired once every five seconds from the aft ofthe ship with lighter anti-air weapons firing from the shore and adjacent shipsfiring even later in the attack.

Königsberg was hit by at least five 500-pound (230 kg) bombs, which causedserious damage to the ship. One penetrated her thin deck armor, went throughthe ship, and exploded in the water, causing significant structural damage.Another hit destroyed the auxiliary boiler room. Two more bombs exploded in thewater next to the ship; the concussion from the blasts tore large holes in thehull. She took on a heavy list almost immediately, and the captain ordered the crewto abandon the ship. It took slightly less than three hours from the start ofthe attack for the ship to completely capsize and sink, which gave the crewenough time to evacuate many of the dead and wounded. They also had time toremove a significant amount of ammunition and equipment from the strickencruiser. Eighteen men were killed in the attack.

The wreck was raised on 17 July 1942 and towed to Heggernes (Nyhavn). It waslater towed to Laksevåg (on the south side of Bergen harbor) and righted.However, the hulk could only be kept afloat by constant pumping, and wastherefore put into the floating dock at Laksevåg. The wreck fell over when thedock was raised, causing considerable damage to the dock, and leaving it with a11-13 degree list. The hull was, however, sealed, and refloated, and remainedat Laksevåg until February 1945, when it was towed to Herdlafjorden, andallowed to settle, with a heavy list, at Berlandsundet, to the east of Askøy.The ship was salved once again on 14/15 September 1945 and to Stavanger,leaking throughout. Scrapping was completed there by 1947. (Wikipedia)

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(U.S. Naval Historical Center Photo)

German Light Cruiser, Königsberg (1929-1940) visiting Gdynia, Poland, c1935. Note the offset arrangement of her aft 15cm triple gun turrets.

(City of Vancouver Archives Photo)

German Light Cruiser Karlsruhe, visiting Vancouver, British Columbia, 1935.

Karlsruhe was a light cruiser, the secondmember of the Königsberg class, and served from November 1929 to May 1938, andagain from November 1939 to April 1940, seeing action in the Second World War. She wasoperated by two German navies, the Reichsmarine and the Kriegsmarine. She hadtwo sister ships, Königsberg and Köln. Karlsruhe was laid down in July 1926 atthe Deutsche Werke shipyard in Kiel, launched in August 1927, and commissionedinto the Reichsmarine in November 1929. She was armed with a main battery ofnine 15 cm SK C/25 guns in three triple turrets and had a top speed of 32 knots(59 km/h; 37 mph).

Like her sisters, Karlsruhe served as a training cruiser for naval cadetsthroughout the 1930s. During the Spanish Civil War, she joined thenon-intervention patrols off the Spanish coast. She was in the process of beingmodernized at the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939, and wastherefore not ready for action until November 1939. In April 1940 Karlsruheparticipated in Operation Weserübung, the invasion of Norway. She landed troopsat Kristiansand, but while returning to Germany on 9 April, she was struck by atorpedo from the Royal Navy submarine HMS Truant and severely damaged.Unable to return to port, Karlsruhe was scuttled by an escorting German torpedoboat. Her wreck was discovered in June 2020. (Wikipedia)

(City of Vancouver Archives Photo)

German Light Cruiser Karlsruhe, visiting Vancouver, British Columbia, 1935.

(Kriegsmarine Photo)

Overhead photo of Karlsruhe showing the offset arrangement of the rear main guns.

(Bundesarchiv, Bild 102-12746)

Karlsruhe, Commissioned 1927. Sunk in 1940.

(USN Photo)

German Light Cruiser Karlsruhe off San Diego, California, 28 March 1934.

(Kriegsmarine Photo)

German Light Cruiser Karlsruhe, 1936.

(USN Photo)

Karlsruhe visiting San Diego, California, 1934.

Karlsruhe was withdrawn from service in May 1938 for a major modernization. The funnels were modified with raked caps and searchlight platforms on their sides. The ship's 8.8 cm anti-aircraft guns were replaced with more powerful 10.5 cm guns. Work lasted until November 1939, shortly after the outbreak of the Second World War. She spent the next several months on trials and training maneuvers. On 4 January, Karlsruhe and the minelayer Schiff 23 were sent to intercept the Swedish steamer Konung Oscar,which was transporting Polish refugees from Riga to Sweden. Karlsruhe caught the Swedish vessel, declared it a prize, and sent it and the 41 Poles aboard to Memel. She was not ready for combat operations by the start of Operation Weserübung, so she was used as a troop transport for the attack on Kristiansand. The attack force also included an E-boat tender, four large torpedo boats, and several E-boats.

The invasion force departed Bremerhaven early on 8 April 1940 with Kapitän zur See Friedrich Rieve aboard Karlsruhe commanding. When it arrived at Kristiansand, heavy fog covered the area, making the passage of the fjord outside the harbor very hazardous. As a result, the German ships had to wait until the morning of 9 April to begin the attack. As Karlsruhe entered the fjord, she came under heavy fire from the Norwegian coastal guns at Odderøya Fortress. The cruiser turned in the fjord to bring her full broadside into action; the artillery duel lasted for about two hours before heavy fog again covered the port, forcing both sides to cease fire. The Norwegians surrendered an hour later, and the German ships landed their embarked troops.

Karlsruhe then left Kristiansand on the evening of 9 April with three of the torpedo boats as escorts. The British submarine HMS Truant was positioned outside the fjord, and when her crew spotted the German ships, she fired a spread of torpedoes. Karlsruhe took evasive action, but one torpedo struck her on the starboard side amidships, blasting a large hole in the hull and allowing thousands of tons of water to flood in. The flooding disabled her engines and partially her electrical generators, which cut off power to some of the pumps that were trying to keep pace with the incoming water. With those pumps compromised, Rieve decided there was no hope of saving Karlsruhe and issued the order to abandon ship two hours after the attack. The torpedo boat Greif took off her crew and fired two more torpedoes into Karlsruhe to scuttle her.

Rieve and his executive officer were severely criticized in an investigation into the sinking for failing to take all possible steps to save Karlsruhe. The report concluded that since the ship was still afloat after two hours, and two additional torpedoes were required to sink her, it might have been possible to take her under tow back to Kristiansand or another port. In addition, the forward pumps still had power, and so the flooding could have been slowed enough to permit a return to a safe harbour. (Wikipedia)

(U.S. Naval Historical Center Photo)

Karlsruhe c1930.

(Library of Congress Photo)

German Light Cruiser Köln, Laid down 1926, Commissioned 1928, Completed 1930, Sunk by Bombing in 1945.

Köln was a light cruiser, the third memberof the Königsberg class that was operated between 1929 and March 1945,including service in the Second World War. She was operated by two German navies, the Reichsmarine and the Kriegsmarine. She had two sister ships, Königsberg and Karlsruhe. Köln was built by the Reichsmarinewerft in Wilhelmshaven; she was laid down in August 1926, launched in May 1928, and commissioned into the Reichsmarine on 15 January 1930. She was armed with a main battery of nine 15 cm SK C/25 (5.9-inch) guns in three triple turrets and had a top speed of 32 knots (59 km/h; 37 mph).

Like her sister ships, Köln served as a training ship for naval cadets in the1930s, and joined the non-intervention patrols during the Spanish Civil War during the latter part of the decade. After the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939, she conducted several operations in the North Sea, but did not encounter any British warships. She participated in the attack on Bergen during Operation Weserübung in April 1940, and she was the only member of her class to survive the operation. In 1942, she was modified to carry a Flettner Fl 282 helicopter experimentally. Later in 1942, she returned to Norway, but did not see significant action. She remained there until early 1943, when she returned to Germany in order to be decommissioned as decreed by Hitler after the failure of the Kriegsmarine in Operation Regenbogen; Köln returned to service in 1944, escorting Germans ships to Norway and laying mines. In March 1945, she was sunk by American bombers in Wilhelmshaven. She remained on an even keel, with her gun turrets above water; this allowed her to provide gunfire support to defenders of the city until the end of the war in May 1945. (Wikipedia)

(S Naval Historical Centre Photo)

German Light Cruiser Köln. Note the offset arrangement of her after two triple 150mm gun turrets, and experimental two twin-barrel 88 mm C/25 AA-guns behind an upper stern turret.

(USN Photo)

German light cruiser Köln underway during the later 1930s.

On 9 July 1942, Köln and the destroyer Z16Friedrich Eckoldt departed Kiel to join the growing naval presence in Norway.On their way to Kristiansand the ships laid a defensive minefield in theSkagerrak. Between 14 and 15 July Köln and the destroyers Friedrich Eckoldt,Z14 Friedrich Ihn and Z24 repeated the minelaying operation. On 17 July Kölnand Friedrich Eckoldt arrived in Trondheim.

On 13 September, she and the heavy cruisers Admiral Scheer and Admiral Hipperand two destroyers moved from Narvik to Altenfjord in preparation of OperationDoppelschlag, an attack on the Arctic Convoy PQ 18. While en route, theflotilla was attacked by the British submarine HMS Tigris, but the torpedoespassed behind the German ships. PQ-18 had an escort including an escortcarrier, and ever since the near-torpedoing by aircraft of the British carrierHMS Victorious of the flagship of the German fleet, the battleship Tirpitz,Hitler was reluctant to risk his capital ships in an attack on a convoy andinsisted the aircraft carrier be first disabled by the Luftwaffe before theships could mount an action. As a consequence permission was not given for theflotilla to proceed with the operation, instead PQ-18 was attacked by U-boatsand bombers, which sank thirteen freighters.

The next Arctic convoy JW 51B did not sail until end of December. As in theArctic winter and darkness carrier escort was impossible, the Kriegsmarine wasdetermined to attack the convoy in Operation Regenbogen, resulting in theBattle of the Barents Sea.[25] The two available light cruisers Köln andNürnberg did not participate in the battle as they were not considered fullbattle worthy.[26] The German Navy failed to destroy JW-51B and was repulsed bythe inferior British convoy escort. In the aftermath of that failed operation,a furious Hitler proclaimed that the Kriegsmarine's capital ships would be paidoff and dismantled, and their guns used to reinforce the fortifications of theAtlantic Wall. Admiral Karl Dönitz persuaded Hitler to retain a battle groupconsisting of the battleships Tirpitz and Scharnhorst, and the heavy cruiserLützow. But the light cruisers Köln and Leipzig and the damaged Admiral Hipperwere to be decommissioned and the other cruisers were relocated to the trainingsquadron.

Köln left Altenfjord on 23 January 1943 in company with Admiral Hipper and thedestroyer Z4 Richard Beitzen to return to Germany. The three ships stopped inNarvik on 25 January, and in Trondheim from 30 January to 2 February.[28] Afterresuming the voyage south, the ships searched for Norwegian blockade runners inthe Skagerrak on 6 February before putting into port at Kiel on 8 February.[29]Köln was decommissioned in Kiel on 17 February. She was sent to drydock inearly 1944 for an overhaul to prepare her to return to combat duty; this wascompleted by 1 July. The cruiser served briefly as a training ship beforeescorting German merchant vessels in Norway.

On the night of 13–14 December, Köln was attacked by British bombers inOslofjord; several near misses caused damage to her propulsion system thatrequired repair in Germany.[18] She then proceeded to Wilhelmshaven, where shewas again attacked by Allied bombers repeatedly. On 30 March, B-24 Liberatorsfrom the Eighth Air Force attacked the harbor; Köln was hit and sank on an evenkeel. Since her guns remained above water, the ship was used as an artillerybattery to defend the city from advancing Allied forces. She served in thiscapacity until the end of the war in May. She was partially dismantled in situafter the end of the war, and finally raised in 1956 for scrapping. (Wikipedia)

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3192101)

Köln, sunk in Kiel harbour, 7 May 1945.

Leipzig-class (8,000 tons, 9 × 150 mm guns)

Leipzig and Nürnberg were the follow-on class to the three Königsberg-class ships. They were built to a modified design, which included returning the aft turrets to the centerline. Another major change was a new gear system that allowed the diesel and turbine engines to run at the same time, which permitted a lighter propulsion system to reach the same speed of the earlier ships. They were also fitted with bulbous bows to improve their hydrodynamic efficiency. The two cruisers were not identical: Leipzig had a superstructure similar to the Königsbergs, while Nürnberg was built with a much larger structure. Nürnberg was also completed with a much stronger anti-aircraft battery.

Both Leipzig and Nürnberg were deployed to the non-intervention patrols in Spanish waters in the late 1930s. The British submarine HMS Salmon managed to torpedo both cruisers on 13 December 1939, though both ships made it back to port for repairs.  The two cruisers were withdrawn from front-line service thereafter and used as training ships. In October 1944, Leipzig was rammed and badly damaged by the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen; repairs were deemed to be uneconomical, and the crippled ship was used to provide gunfire support to retreating German forces around Gotenhafen (Gdynia) in March 1945. She was used as a barracks ship after the war and scuttled in July 1946. Nürnberg, meanwhile, was seized by the Soviet Union as a war prize and commissioned into the Soviet Navy as Admiral Makarov; she served in the Baltic Fleet until the late 1950s, and was broken up for scrap sometime around 1960. (Wikipedia)

(Library of Congress Photo)

Leipzig, laid down 1928, Commissioned 1929, Completed 1931, Scuttled 1946.

Leipzig was the lead ship of her class oflight cruisers built by the German navy. She had one sister ship, Nürnberg.Leipzig was laid down in April 1928, was launched in October 1929, and wascommissioned into the Reichsmarine in October 1931. Armed with a main batteryof nine 15 cm (5.9 in) guns in three triple turrets, Leipzig had a top speed of32 knots (59 km/h; 37 mph).

Leipzig participated in non-intervention patrols during the Spanish Civil War.In the first year of World War II, she performed escort duties for warships inthe Baltic and North seas. While on one of these operations in December 1939,the ship was torpedoed by a British submarine and badly damaged. Repairs werecompleted by late 1940, when she returned to service as a training ship. Sheprovided gunfire support to the advancing Wehrmacht troops as they invaded theSoviet Union in 1941.

In October 1944, Leipzig was accidentally rammed by the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen; the damage was so severe that the navy decided complete repairs were unfeasible. The ship was patched up to keep her afloat, and she helped to defend Gotenhafen from the advancing Red Army in March 1945. She then carried a group of fleeing German civilians, reaching Denmark by late April. After the end of the war, Leipzig was used as a barracks ship for minesweeping forces and was scuttled in July 1946. (Wikipedia)

(National Museum of the USN Photo)

German light cruiser Leipzig, starboard view, 1937.

Nürnberg, Laid down 1934, Commissioned 1935, Given to Soviet Navy 1945 and renamed Admiral Makarov. Sold for Scrap 1960.

(Kunstfoto A. Klein Photo)

Cruiser Leipzig in early 1939 (with new crane, but still old He 60 seaplane, replaced in late 1939).

(U.S. National Archives Collection of Foreign Records Seized, 1675-1958 Photo)

The German light cruiser Leipzig photographed from a German torpedo boat during a naval parade, circa August 1934.

(Bundesarchiv, DVM 10 Bild-23-63-69)

German Light Cruiser Nürnberg.

Nürnberg was a German light cruiser of the Leipzig class built for the Kriegsmarine. She was named after the city ofNuremberg and had one sister ship, Leipzig. Nürnberg was laid down in 1934,launched in December of that year, and completed in November 1935. She wasarmed with a main battery of nine 15 cm (5.9 in) guns in three triple turretsand could steam at a speed of 32 knots (59 km/h; 37 mph). Nürnberg was thelongest-serving major warship of the Kriegsmarine, and the only one to seeactive service after the end of World War II, though not in a German navy.

In the late 1930s, Nürnberg took part in the non-intervention patrols duringthe Spanish Civil War without major incident. After the outbreak of World WarII in September 1939, she was used to lay defensive minefields off the Germancoast. She was thereafter used to escort offensive mine-layers in the North Seauntil she was torpedoed by a British submarine in December 1939. She was thereafter used as a training ship in the Baltic Sea for most of the rest of the war, apart from a short deployment to Norway from November 1942 to April1943. In January 1945, she was assigned to mine-laying duties in the Skagerrak,but severe shortages of fuel permitted only one such operation.

After the end of the war, Nürnberg was seized by the Royal Navy and ultimatelyawarded to the Soviet Union as war reparations. In December 1945, a Soviet crewtook over the ship, and the following month took her to Tallinn, where she wasrenamed Admiral Makarov. She served in the Soviet Navy, first in the 8th Fleet,then as a training cruiser based in Kronstadt. By 1960, she had been broken upfor scrap. (Wikipedia)

(National Museum of the USN Photo)

German Light Cruiser Nürnberg, port bow, c1938.

(Bundesarchiv, Bild 101II-MN-1405-07)

Nürnberg's forward gun turret in September 1940.

At the outbreak of the Second World War on1 September 1939, Nürnberg was assigned to the blockade force that was intendedto prevent the Polish Navy from escaping from the Baltic. Despite the Germans'efforts, several Polish destroyers and submarines escaped to Britain, wherethey continued the war. On 3 September, Nürnberg and the rest of the cruiserswere withdrawn to the North Sea to lay a series of defensive minefields toprotect the German coastline. She returned to the Baltic for training exercisesin October. The following month, she was transferred back to the North Sea,where she was tasked with escorting destroyers laying minefields off theBritish coast.[9] On 4–6 December, the ship conducted a mining operation offKristiansand, Norway.

On 13 December, while escorting a group of destroyers returning from amine-laying operation off the British coast, the Royal Navy submarine HMSSalmon launched a spread of torpedoes at the German flotilla. Two torpedotracks were spotted heading toward Nürnberg, and the ship turned hard to portin an attempt to evade them. One passed harmlessly ahead of the ship, but thesecond struck her in the bow. Nürnberg reduced speed to 12 knots (22 km/h; 14mph) to allow her crew to inspect the damage, when three more torpedo trackswere spotted to port. The ship immediately accelerated to full speed and turnedto starboard; the torpedoes exploded in the cruiser's wake. The hit caused someminor flooding and minimal damage, but her watertight bulkheads held. TheGermans spotted Salmon and briefly engaged her with Nürnberg's rearmost mainbattery turret, but to no effect. Nürnberg thereafter got underway at a speedof 18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph) and made for port.

While en route back to Germany on 14 December, Nürnberg and Leipzig, which hadalso been torpedoed by Salmon, came under further British attacks. The RoyalAir Force (RAF) launched an attack against Nürnberg and Leipzig. [14]Approximately 20 Vickers Wellington bombers from No. 99 Squadron wereintercepted by fighters from II. Gruppe (2nd group) of Jagdgeschwader 77 (JG77—77th Fighter Wing) under the leadership of Oberstleutnant Carl-Alfred Schumacher in the vicinity of Spiekeroog and Wangerooge. The RAF bombers failedto further damage the cruisers as JG 77 pilots claimed seven and one probablebomber shot down, including one claimed by Unteroffizier Herbert Kutscha. RAFrecords indicate that six bombers were lost in the attack.[15][16] Thesubmarine HMS Ursula also unsuccessfully attacked the damaged cruiser that day,[11]just before she entered the Kiel Canal at Brunsbüttel. After arriving in Kiel,Nürnberg went into drydock at Deutsche Werke for repairs, which lasted untilApril 1940.

In early June 1940, Nürnberg's commander, Kapitän zur See (KzS) Otto Klüber,was informed that the ship would not participate in Operation Juno, a sortie bythe battleships Gneisenau and Scharnhorst. Instead, she was transferred toNorway, departing Kiel on 10 June under the escort of the torpedo boats Falkeand Jaguar. On 12 June, the torpedo boats were sent to Stavanger for fuel, andin the meantime, Nürnberg steamed a zig-zag course at 27 knots (50 km/h; 31mph) to evade any submarines that might be in the area. The following day, the2nd Minesweeper Flotilla took over her escort duty off Trondheim. On 17 June,Nürnberg reached Narvik, which was to be her base for the next month. Duringthis period, one of her Arado Ar 196 floatplanes unsuccessfully attacked aBritish submarine. This was the only action the ship saw while in Norway.[18]On 25 July, Nürnberg and several destroyers and torpedo boats escorted thedamaged battleship Gneisenau, which had been torpedoed by a British submarine,from Trondheim, Norway, to Kiel.[19] The flotilla arrived in Kiel on 28 July.On 8 August, KzS Leo Kreisch replaced Klüber as the ship's commander. Nürnbergspent the rest of the year in the Baltic. The Italian Admiral Mavagini visitedthe ship while she was in Gotenhafen in September. A short refit was conductedat Deutsche Werke in October and November.

On 15 February 1941, she was reclassified as a training cruiser and assigned tothe Fleet Training Squadron, along with the other surviving light cruisers.These ships were tasked with training the crews for the U-boat arm, which wasexpanding rapidly to wage the Battle of the Atlantic. At the start of thisperiod, many of her crewmen were themselves transferred to the U-boat fleet.After the outbreak of war with the Soviet Union in June 1941, Nürnberg wasreassigned to the Baltic Fleet, which was centered on the new battleshipTirpitz. After it became clear that the Soviet Baltic Fleet did not intend tosortie, the German ships were dispersed. Nürnberg returned to her trainingduties for the remainder of the year. Another refit was conducted in January1942; during this period, her aircraft equipment was removed, and her lightanti-aircraft armament was increased. Allied air raids caused some damage,which delayed her return to service until 23 August.[20]

She thereafter conducted sea trials until October, after which she was deployedto Norway. On 11 November, Nürnberg left Gotenhafen, bound for Trondheim. Shearrived there on 18 November, and remained there until she was transferred toBogen Bay outside Narvik on 2 December. There, she joined the fleet in being,which was, again, centered on Tirpitz. Nürnberg saw no action during thisperiod. On 27 April 1943, Nürnberg left Narvik for German waters via Trondheim.After arriving in Kiel on 3 May, she had her machinery overhauled. After thework was completed in late May, she was assigned to the Training Squadron inthe Baltic. Frequent crew changes kept the ship at a very low state ofreadiness. She remained in this duty through 1944, and she saw no action. Shewas not assigned to the shore bombardment units that supported the retreatingGerman Army on the Eastern Front, unlike most of the other ships of theTraining Squadron.

At the start of 1945, she was assigned to mine-laying duty in the Skagerrak,and was based in Oslo, Norway. She completed only one mine-laying operation,Operation Titus, on 13 January. The forces assigned to the operation includedtwo destroyers, two torpedo boats, and a mine-layer; Nürnberg herself carried130 mines. Severe fuel shortages prevented any further operations. On 24 January,she steamed to Copenhagen, where she remained until the end of the war, as shehad only 270 long tons (270 t) of synthetic fuel oil aboard. On 5 May 1945, shereceived the ceasefire order, and on 22 May, the British cruisers HMSDevonshire and HMS Dido arrived to take over Nürnberg. (Wikipedia)

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(RAF Photo)

German light cruiser Nürnberg sailing from Copenhagen to Wilhelmshaven under the terms of surrender, escorted by two Consolidated Liberators of No. 547 Squadron RAF Coastal Command, May 1945.

(IWM Photo, BU 12121)

The former German light cruiser Nürnberg at Kiel after being ceded to the Soviet Union under the terms of the Potsdam Conference. The light cruiser Nürnberg, launched in 1934, was renamed Admiral Makarov when in USSR service.

On 24 May, Nürnberg and the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen sailed from Copenhagen under escort by Devonshire, Dido, and several other warships. The flotilla arrived in Wilhelmshaven on 28 May, and the German vessels remained there while their fates were determined at the Potsdam Conference. The Allies eventually decided to award Nürnberg to the Soviet Union. To prevent the Germans from scuttling their ships as they had done in 1919, the Allies formally seized the vessels on 19 December, while Nürnberg was in drydock. That day, the ship's Soviet crew came aboard. On 2 January, the Soviets took their seized warships, which also included the target ship Hessen, Hessen's radio-control vessel Blitz, the destroyer Z15 Erich Steinbrinck, and the torpedo boats T33 and T107, to Libau in present-day Latvia.

The Soviet Navy examined the ship in great detail after she arrived in Libau. The cruiser was then renamed Admiral Makarov and assigned to the 8th Fleet, based in Tallinn. In late 1948, she became the flagship of the 8th Fleet, under the command of Vice Admiral F. V. Zozulya. In the early 1950s, three new Chapayev-class cruisers entered service, which prompted the Soviet Navy to withdraw Admiral Makarov from front line duties. She returned to her old job as a training cruiser, this time based in Kronstadt in mid-1954. During this period, most of her light anti-aircraft armament was removed, and new radars were installed. Her ultimate fate is unclear; she appears to have been placed out of service by May 1959, and was scrapped some time thereafter, reportedly by mid-1960. Nevertheless, she was the longest-surviving major warship of the Kriegsmarine, and the only one to see active service after the end of the war. (Wikipedia)

(No. 5 Army Film & Photographic Unit Stiggins (Sergeant) Photo)

The former German light cruiser Nürnberg at Kiel after being ceded to the Soviet Union under the terms of the Potsdam Conference. The light cruiser Nürnberg, launched in 1934, was renamed Admiral Makarov when in USSR service.

Unfinished Ships

Heavy cruisers

Seydlitz, (uncompleted, intended for conversion into light aircraft carrier).

(RAF Photo)

Royal Air Force reconnaissance photograph of the Westhaven basin at Bremen, Germany, taken 8 May 1942. Ships present include the nearly complete heavy cruiser Seydlitz (launched in 1939 but never finished) and three destroyers. The destroyer alongside Seydlitz is probably Z 34, which had been launched on 5 May, three days before the photograph was taken. Her machinery spaces are still open and no guns appear to be on board. The other two destroyers, moored side-by-side at the head of the basin, are probably Z 32 (1942–1944), inboard with smokestacks in place, and Z 33 (1943–1946, later Soviet Provornyy), outboard with smokestacks not yet installed.

Seydlitz was a heavy cruiser of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine, fourth in the Admiral Hipper class, but was never completed. The ship was laid down in December 1936 and launched in January 1939, but the outbreak of World War II slowed her construction and fitting-out work was finally stopped in the summer of 1940 when she was approximately 95 percent complete. The unfinished ship remained pier-side in the shipyard until March 1942, when the Kriegsmarine decided to pursue aircraft carriers over surface combatants. Seydlitz was among the vessels chosen for conversion into auxiliary aircraft carriers.

Renamed Weser, the ship was to have had a complement of ten Bf 109 fighters and ten Ju 87 divebombers. Work lasted from 1942 to 1943, but was not completed, and the incomplete vessel was towed to Königsberg in early 1944. She was eventually scuttled there in 1945 as the Soviet Red Army approached the city. The wreck was seized by the Soviets and was briefly considered for cannibalization for spare parts to complete her sistership Lützow for the Soviet Navy. This plan was also abandoned, and the ship was broken up for scrap. (Wikipedia)

(Kriegsmarine Photo)

German Heavy Cruiser Lutzow, (sold uncompleted to Soviet Union in 1940)

Lützow was a heavy cruiser of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine, the fifth and final member of the Admiral Hipper class, but was never completed. The ship was laid down in August 1937 and launched in July 1939, after which the Soviet Union requested to purchase the ship. The Kriegsmarine agreed to the sale in February 1940, and the transfer was completed on 15 April. The vessel was still incomplete when sold to the Soviet Union, with only half of her main battery of eight 20.3 cm (8 in) guns installed and much of the superstructure missing.

(USN Photo)

The Soviet cruiser Tallinn at Leningrad, Soviet Union, in the late 1940s.

Renamed Petropavlovsk in September 1940, work on the ship was delayed by poor German-Soviet co-operation in crew training and provision of technical literature to enable completion of the ship, which was being carried out in the Leningrad shipyards. Still unfinished when Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, the ship briefly took part in the defense of Leningrad by providing artillery support to the Soviet defenders. She was heavily damaged by German artillery in September 1941, sunk in April 1942, and raised in September 1942. After repairs were effected, the ship was renamed Tallinn and used in the Soviet counter-offensive that relieved Leningrad in 1944. After the end of the war, the ship was renamed Dniepr and was used as a stationary training platform and as a floating barracks before being broken up for scrap sometime between 1953 and 1961. (Wikipedia)

Aircraft Carriers

Graf Zeppelin-class

Graf Zeppelin, Laid down 1936, commissioned 1938 (85% complete at the beginning of the war, never completed)

Flugzeugträger B, Laid Down 1938, never launched, broken up 1940.

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