German Heavy Cruiser Admiral Hipper Specs and History

German Heavy Cruiser Admiral Hipper

The Admiral Hipper was the first of the class of new Heavy Cruisers launched by the Kriegsmarine in the late 1930s. Originally there were to be 5 ships to include the Hipper, Blucher, Prinz Eugen, Seydlitz and Lutzow. However, the Seydlitz was later destined to be converted to an aircraft carrier which was never completed and the uncompleted Lutzow was sold to the Russians in February 1940. This Hipper class carried a main armament of eight 8 inch guns with a secondary armament of twelve 4.1 inch guns. She carried a crew of approximately 1600 officers and men. Although these ships appeared to be well armed and fast, mechanical problems from the high pressure steam systems limited their success. The Admiral Hipper sunk the British Destroyer Glowworm but was rammed in the process. However, her raid on a convoy with the Pocket Battleship Lutzow and destroyers was such a disaster in December 1942 that Hitler demanded all the capital ships scrapped and their guns used for shore batteries. This decision resulted in the resignation of Grand Admiral Raeder who was replaced Grand Admiral Donitz. Although Donitz was able to reverse Hitler's order for the scrapping the Hipper was never used for much more than training purposes. She was scuttled in May 1945 after being badly damaged by Russian bombs in Heinkendorferbucht.