Pocket Battleship Lutzow Specs and History

German Pocket Battleship Lutzow

The Deutschland Class Battleships (or Panzerschiffs - which means armored ship) were Germany's attempt to build a new type of ship within the harsh restrictions of the WW1 Treaty of Versailles. Limited by the treaty to 10,000 tons, Germany opted for a new type of ship which the British later termed the "Pocket Battleship". These ships had a main armament of six 11 inch guns in two triple turrets and a secondary armament of eight 5.9 inch guns. These should have been excellent commerce raiding ships as they could conceivably outgun any enemy cruiser and outrun any enemy battleship, however, their war effectiveness was hampered by numerous obstacles to include mechanical problems, the small size of the Kriegsmarine and Hitler's inability to understand naval warfare. The three ships in this class which were all commissioned by the mid 1930s were the Deutschland, Admiral Scheer and Admiral Graf Spee. However, soon after the outbreak of the war, Hitler was afraid a ship with the name Deutschland might be sunk and provide the enemy with propaganda so he required the name changed to Lutzow. These ships were officially reclassified by the Kriegsmarine as Heavy Cruisers during WW2. The Lutzow had minor war time successes and was eventually settled on the bottom after an RAF attack in Swinemunde on April 16, 1945. She served for a few more weeks as a stationary battery but was finally put out of action by her crew on May 4, 1945.