During the Second World War, the German "pocket battleships" of the "Deutschland" type proved to be universal ships, suitable both for raiding operations and for combat with enemy cruisers. However, their fate was different. If the combat path of one of the "losers" of the German fleet, the cruiser "Deutschland" ("Lutzow") ran from repair to repair, then the cruiser "Admiral Scheer" showed high combat effectiveness and became famous for successful raids.
In pre-war Germany, heavy cruisers were clearly divided into two subtypes. "Pocket battleships" were built exclusively for raider operations, and "classic" heavy cruisers were built for squadron operations, but taking into account possible raiding. As a result, both of them were engaged almost exclusively in operations against trade, and at the end of the Second World War - artillery support for ground forces.
Let's start the review with "pocket battleships" - amazing ships, in fact, which were "mini-dreadnoughts". Under the terms of the Treaty of Versailles, the Weimar Republic could not build ships with a standard displacement of more than 10,000 tons to replace the old ironclads of the pre-dreadnought era. Therefore, a non-trivial task was set before the German designers of the 1920s - to fit into this framework a ship that would be more powerful than any cruiser of that time and, at the same time, could elude the battleship. At the same time, it was supposed to be used as a raider to fight enemy trade (which means it had to have a long range).
All three qualities were combined thanks to the use of a diesel power plant, as well as the fact that the Allies did not limit the main caliber to the Germans. Therefore, the new ships received six 280-mm guns in three-gun turrets, which obviously exceeded the armament of the most powerful "Washington" cruisers of that time (six or eight 203-mm guns). True, the speed of the new ships was noticeably inferior to the cruisers, but even 28 knots made it safe to meet with most of the then dreadnoughts.
Heavy cruiser "Deutschland" after commissioning, 1934
Source - A. V. Platonov, Yu. V. Apalkov. Warships of Germany, 1939–1945. St. Petersburg, 1995
The initial draft of the ships, officially called "battleships", but nicknamed "pocket battleships" by journalists, was created in 1926. The budget for their construction was discussed in the Reichstag already at the end of 1927, and the construction of the lead Deutschland began in 1929. The Deutschland entered service in the spring of 1933, the Admiral Scheer in 1934, and the Admiral Graf Spee in 1936.
Later, the "pocket battleship" project was criticized as an attempt to create universal combat units to perform all tasks at once. However, in the early 30s, the new ships caused a real stir among Germany's neighbors. In 1931, the French "answered" the Germans with an order for 23,000-ton Dunkirk-class battlecruisers, after which the Italians began to upgrade their old dreadnoughts to the standard of fast battleships. Having developed a new project, the Germans launched a "battleship race" in continental Europe.
As a result of the construction, the standard displacement of the "pocket battleships" went beyond the limit of 10,000 tons and amounted to about 10,770 tons for the "Deutschland" (which was still under construction while observing the restrictions) and 12,540 tons for the "Admiral Count Spee". Note that exceeding the limit by 5-10% was typical for all "Washington" cruisers, except for the very first ones.
The armor of the new German ships turned out to be very strong. "Deutschland" was protected by a full inclined (12 °) outer belt along the citadel (80 mm thick in the upper half and up to 50 mm at the lower edge). At the ends of the citadel, near the cellars, the thickness of the upper part of the belt decreased slightly (up to 60 mm), but lighter armor continued behind 60 mm traverses (18 mm forward to the stem and 50-30 mm aft to the steering gear). The vertical armor was complemented by a 45 mm internal inclined belt running parallel to the outer one, so that the total thickness of the two belts was up to 125 mm - more than any other cruiser of the interwar period.
Booking German "pocket battleships" ("Admiral Graf Spee")
Horizontal armor consisted of two decks: the upper one (throughout the entire citadel, but above the edge of the belt and not structurally connected with it in any way) and the lower one, lying on top of the inner belt, but just below its upper edge. The thickness of the lower deck was 30–45 mm, and there was no gap between the armor belts at all. Thus, the thickness of the horizontal armor was 48–63 mm. The main battery turrets had 140 mm thick front armor, 80 mm thick walls and 85 to 105 mm thick roofs.
The quality of this armor is usually assessed as low, as it was made according to the technology of the beginning of the First World War. But on subsequent ships of the series, the armor was somewhat strengthened: the outer belt reached 100 mm over the entire height by reducing the thickness of the inner belt to 40 mm. The lower armored deck also underwent changes - it continued to the outer belt, but at the same time its thickness decreased to 20-40 mm in different areas. Finally, the thickness of the so-called upper longitudinal armored bulkheads, located in the depth of the hull between the armored decks, increased from 10 to 40 mm. Armor protection was supplemented by side boules, which were not on most cruisers of that time.
In general, the protection of the German "pocket battleships" makes a strange impression - it looks too patchy, uneven and "smeared" along the entire length of the ship. At the same time, in other countries, they preferred to follow the “all or nothing” principle, booking only vital elements as much as possible, and leaving the rest without protection at all. The horizontal armor of the "pocket battleship" looks too weak, especially for a raider with large-caliber guns designed for long-range combat. On the other hand, the booking turned out to be spaced, that is, more efficient; in addition, the projectile, before penetrating deep into the ship, had to overcome several layers of armor located at different angles, which increased the likelihood of a ricochet or a fuse on the armor. How did this protection show itself in combat conditions?
Deutschland (Lützow)
This ship became one of the most unfortunate German cruisers. For the first time, it came under enemy attack on the evening of May 29, 1937, when two Soviet SB aircraft bombed it from a height of 1000 m on the raid of the Spanish island of Ibiza, inflicting a diversionary strike on the island as part of an operation to escort the Magellanes transport (Y-33) to Cartagena ) with a load of weapons. The crew of Senior Lieutenant N. A. Ostryakov was successful - two bombs hit the ship, and another one exploded at its side. According to German data, we are talking about 50-kg bombs, and according to Soviet sources, bombs weighing 100 kg were used.
Deutschland in 1937. He had this color while off the coast of Spain
Source - V. Kofman, M. Knyazev. Hitler's Armored Pirates. Heavy cruisers of the Deutschland and Admiral Hipper classes. Moscow: Yauza, Eksmo, 2012
The damage inflicted on the “pocket battleship” turned out to be quite impressive. The first bomb destroyed the 150-mm artillery mount No. 3 on the starboard side and set fire to the refueled aircraft standing on the catapult. The second bomb hit the armored deck in the area of the forward superstructure on the port side and pierced it (in this case, 150-mm shells exploded in the fenders of the first shots). A fire broke out between the armored decks, threatening the bow 150-mm cellar, which had to be flooded. Losses in personnel amounted to 24 killed, 7 dead from wounds and 76 wounded.
"Deutschland" after being hit by air bombs near Ibiza, March 29, 1937
Source - V. Kofman, M. Knyazev. Hitler's Armored Pirates. Heavy cruisers of the Deutschland and Admiral Hipper classes. Moscow: Yauza, Eksmo, 2012
The next damage to the ship, already renamed Lutzow, was received early in the morning on April 9, 1940 in the Oslo Fjord, when, together with the heavy cruiser Blucher, it came under dagger fire from Norwegian coastal batteries. Lutzow received three 150-mm shells from the Kopos battery (located on the eastern shore of the Oslo Fjord), fired almost point-blank, from a distance of no more than a dozen cables. Apparently, all three shells were high-explosive or semi-armor-piercing.
The first hit the middle gun of the bow turret and disabled it. Apparently, the hit fell right into the embrasure, as 4 people were injured, the electrical wiring, optics and hydraulics of the right gun were damaged. The second shell passed over the belt in the area of the 135th frame and exploded behind the barbette of the bow tower, destroying the situation of several living quarters (2 were killed and 6 paratroopers from the 138th Mountain Jaeger Regiment were wounded). The third shell hit the port side cargo boom and exploded above the deck, destroying the spare seaplane, breaking the searchlight cables and causing a local ammunition fire; 3 were killed and 8 sailors were wounded from the servants of 150-mm guns. In general, the Norwegian shells landed quite “successfully”: the hits somewhat weakened the firepower of the German ship, but did not cause any damage to its survivability. In total, 6 people were killed and 22 more were injured.
This was followed by two defeats by torpedoes. The first of these occurred on April 10 - the night after the German landing in Oslo, when the Lutzow was returning to base. Of the six 533-mm torpedoes fired by the British submarine Spearfish from a distance of 30 kb, one reached the target, hitting the steering compartment. The stern over the last three compartments was broken and did not come off only thanks to the power armored deck. Three aft compartments filled with water, 15 people who were here were killed, and the rudder was jammed in the 20 ° position to starboard. The ship took about 1300 tons of water and noticeably settled astern. However, the shafts survived, the power plant was not damaged, and the bulkhead between the 3rd and 4th compartments was hastily reinforced. By the evening of April 14, tugboats managed to drag the ship to the Deutsche Werke shipyard in Kiel. The repair, combined with modernization, took more than a year, and the cruiser entered service only by June 1941.
"Lützow" after torpedo damage on April 10, 1940. Broken feed is clearly visible
Source - V. Kofman, M. Knyazev. Hitler's Armored Pirates. Heavy cruisers of the Deutschland and Admiral Hipper classes. Moscow: Yauza, Eksmo, 2012
The next time, the Lützow was damaged literally immediately after entering a new operation, the Sommerreise, which was carried out with the aim of breaking through the Danish Straits. Early in the morning of June 12, 1941, he was attacked by British Beaufort torpedo bombers from the 42nd Coast Command Squadron and received one 450-mm aircraft torpedo from six hundred meters. She hit almost in the center of the hull - in the area of \u200b\u200bthe 7th compartment on the 82nd frame. Anti-torpedo protection from damage did not save, two engine compartments and a compartment with couplings were flooded, the ship took 1000 tons of water, got a roll of 20 ° and lost speed. Only by the next morning did the German sailors manage to give 12 knots on one shaft. The cruiser reached Kiel, where it again stood up for repairs - this time it took six months.
In the "New Year's Battle" on December 31, 1942, the "Lützow" for the first time came into fire contact with enemy ships. But he fired relatively little, which was caused, first of all, by unsuccessful maneuvering, poor coordination and indecision in the actions of the German formation. In total, Lutzow fired 86 main caliber shells and 76 mine caliber shells (first from a distance of 75 kb on destroyers, then from 80 kb on light cruisers). Shooting "Luttsov" was inconclusive, however, he himself did not receive hits.
Lutzow parked in Norway. The ship is surrounded by anti-torpedo net
Source - V. Kofman, M. Knyazev. Hitler's Armored Pirates. Heavy cruisers of the Deutschland and Admiral Hipper classes. Moscow: Yauza, Eksmo, 2012
Further, the “pocket battleship”, due to the poor condition of the diesel engines, was sent to the Baltic, where it served as a classic coastal defense battleship. In October 1944, it was actively used to shell the coast in the Baltic - as a rule, without adjustment from coastal posts. The ship no longer participated in naval battles; On October 14, he was attacked by the Shch-407 submarine, but both torpedoes did not hit the target. On February 8, 1945, the Lützow was used to fire at coastal targets near Elbing, and on March 25, near Danzig.
Finally, on April 4, at the Hela Spit, the ship was hit by a shell fired by a coastal battery (probably 122 mm caliber). The shell hit the aft superstructure, destroying the admiral's quarters. And on April 15, in the parking lot near Swinemünde, the "pocket battleship" was hit by English Lancaster heavy bombers from the 617th squadron. The Lutzows were hit by two 500-kg armor-piercing bombs - one destroyed the bow command and rangefinder post of the main caliber, along with the top of the mast and the radar antenna, and the second pierced all the armored decks and landed directly in the bow cellar of 280-mm shells. Interestingly, none of these bombs went off! On the other hand, a close explosion of a heavy 5.4-ton bomb that fell into the water made a huge hole with an area of 30 m2 in the ship's hull. "Lützow" tilted and sat on the ground. By the end of the day, the team managed to pump out water from part of the premises, put into operation the bow 280-mm tower and four 150-mm starboard guns. On May 4, when the Soviet troops approached, the ship was blown up by the crew.
"Lützow" that landed on the ground in Swinemünde, 1945
Source - V. Kofman, M. Knyazev. Hitler's Armored Pirates. Heavy cruisers of the Deutschland and Admiral Hipper classes. Moscow: Yauza, Eksmo, 2012
"Admiral Scheer"
This ship, on the contrary, became famous for its raiding actions. True, he, unlike the Deutschland, was lucky - during the entire war he never encountered strong enemy ships. But under the British bombs, "Admiral Scheer" fell already on September 3, 1939. Of the eight Blenheim high-speed bombers that attacked Wilhelmshaven from a strafing flight, four were shot down, but the last one still scored hits. At the same time, all three 227-kg bombs that hit the German ship did not have time to cock their fuses due to their low altitude.
Heavy cruiser "Admiral Scheer" after commissioning, 1939
Source - V. Kofman, M. Knyazev. Hitler's Armored Pirates. Heavy cruisers of the Deutschland and Admiral Hipper classes. Moscow: Yauza, Eksmo, 2012
The next combat clash occurred more than a year later. On the evening of November 5, 1940, while in the North Atlantic, the Admiral Scheer came across convoy HX-84 - 37 transports guarded by the only auxiliary cruiser Jervis Bay. Having opened fire on it with the main caliber, the Scheer achieved hits only from the fourth salvo, but the British 152-mm guns never hit the German ship. At the same time, the Sheer fired with medium caliber and achieved several hits on transport ships, so we can say that the statement about the complete uselessness of 150-mm artillery on "pocket battleships" is some exaggeration.
The sinking of the auxiliary cruiser Jervis Bay
Source - V. Kofman, M. Knyazev. Hitler's Armored Pirates. Heavy cruisers of the Deutschland and Admiral Hipper classes. Moscow: Yauza, Eksmo, 2012
It took twenty minutes to sink the Jervis Bay with 283-mm shells, but even that was enough to start getting dark and the convoy had time to disperse. The Germans managed to sink only five transports, and several more were damaged, but not finished off in the ensuing darkness. It is worth noting that against large unarmored ships, 283-mm shells turned out to be much more effective than 203-mm shells, while 150-mm shells proved to be not very effective (one or two hits were not enough for them to disable the transport). The next time, the Scheer used the main caliber in the same raid - on February 22, 1941, he sank the Dutch Rantau Pajang transport, which was trying to escape in a rain squall. In general, the almost six-month raiding of the “pocket battleship” turned out to be extremely successful - the Sheer sank or captured 17 enemy ships, mainly using 105-mm anti-aircraft artillery. Even the traditional problems with diesels were not insurmountable, although immediately after the raid the ship had to stand up for a 2.5-month power plant repair.
The next combat raid of the Admiral Scheer took place only in August 1942 - it was the famous Operation Wunderland against Soviet shipping in the Arctic Ocean. Despite lengthy training and the use of aerial reconnaissance, the results of the operation were modest. The "Pocket Battleship" managed to intercept and sink only one ship - the icebreaker "Alexander Sibiryakov" (1384 brt), which supplied the island of Severnaya Zemlya. The Germans intercepted him around noon on August 25 and shot him slowly - in 45 minutes, 27 shells were fired in six salvos from distances from 50 to 22 kb (according to German data, four hit the target). The two 76-mm Lender guns on the Sibiryakov did not hit the German ship, and could not hit, but fired desperately throughout the battle.
Sinking "Sibiryakov", view from the board of the "Admiral Scheer"
Source - V. Kofman, M. Knyazev. Hitler's Armored Pirates. Heavy cruisers of the Deutschland and Admiral Hipper classes. Moscow: Yauza, Eksmo, 2012
However, the crew of "Sibiryakov" did the main thing - managed to report the battle and the German "auxiliary cruiser" over the radio, which broke the secrecy of the entire operation. Therefore, the commander of the Scheer, Captain zur See Wilhelm Meendsen-Bolken, decided to stop it, and as a completion - to defeat the port of Dixon, landing troops there.
The moment for the attack was chosen exceptionally well: both coastal batteries protecting Dixon (130 mm No. 226 and 152 mm No. 569) were removed from their positions and loaded onto ships for transportation to Novaya Zemlya. However, after a radiogram from the Sibiryakov, the command of the White Sea Flotilla gave the order to urgently deploy batteries and prepare for the appearance of the enemy. In less than a day, two 152-mm howitzer guns of the 1910/30 model were installed directly on the wooden decking of the pier.
Scheme of the battle at Dixon on August 27, 1942
Source - Yu. Perechnev, Yu. Vinogradov. On guard of the sea horizons. M.: Military Publishing, 1967
On August 27, at one in the morning, the Sheer approached the inner roadstead of Dikson from the south and at 1:37 from a distance of 35 kb opened fire on the port and the ships stationed in it. From the third salvo, several 283-mm shells hit the Dezhnev auxiliary patrol boat (SKR-19), but by mistake the Germans used armor-piercing or semi-armor-piercing shells that pierced the ship's hull through without exploding. "Dezhnev" received at least four hits, two 45-mm anti-aircraft guns were disabled, 27 people were killed and wounded.
However, before landing on the ground, the steamer managed to cover the port with a smoke screen, and most importantly, the Kara transport loaded with explosives. The Sheer transferred fire to the Revolutionary transport, set it on fire, but also failed to sink. At this time, finally, coastal battery No. 569 opened fire. Despite the complete absence of instruments and the lack of control personnel, her fire was assessed by the Germans as "accurate enough". The personnel of the battery reported two hits, but in reality no hits were achieved, but the Sheer commander, not knowing the situation, preferred to leave the battle and hide the ship behind Cape Anvil.
152-mm guns of the coastal battery No. 569
Source - M. Morozov. Operation "Wunderland" // Flotomaster, 2002, No. 1
By half past three, the Admiral Scheer circled the peninsula and began shelling Dixon from the south, firing a significant part of the ammunition in 40 minutes - 77 main-caliber shells, 121 auxiliary-caliber shells and two and a half hundred 105-mm anti-aircraft shells. When the German ship appeared in the alignment of the Previn Strait, battery No. 569 opened fire again, firing 43 shells during the entire battle. The Germans mistook the smoke screen over the port for fires, and at 03:10 the raider commander gave the order to withdraw, ending Operation Wunderland. In fact, not a single person died in Dikson, and both damaged ships were put into operation within a week.
The next time, the Admiral Scheer artillery came into action more than two years later, already in the Baltic. On November 22, 1944, he replaced the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen, which had shot all the ammunition, opening fire on Soviet troops from a long distance, storming the last German positions on the Syrve peninsula (Saaremaa island). For two days, the ship shot almost the entire ammunition of the main caliber. It is difficult to determine the effectiveness of his fire, but it should be stated that these almost continuous shellings were able to ensure a relatively calm evacuation of German troops from the peninsula to Courland. At the same time, during a raid by Soviet aviation on the afternoon of November 23 (three "Bostons" and several groups of Il-2s), the Sheer received a hit on the decks of one light bomb (or rocket), as well as damage from explosions at the side. These attacks did not cause serious damage, but forced the German ship to move away from the coast and cease fire before dark.
Attack by Soviet aircraft "Admiral Scheer" near the Syrve Peninsula on October 23, 1944
Source - M. Morozov. Boar hunting // Flotomaster, 1998, No. 2
In February 1945, the Admiral Scheer was used to shell the coast in the area of the Samland Peninsula and Königsberg, this time firing without adjustment. In March, he fired along the coast in the Swinemünde area, and then went to Kiel to replace worn-out main-caliber barrels. Here, on the evening of April 9, the ship came under a massive raid by British aircraft. Within an hour, she received five direct hits, a large hole in the starboard side from close bursts of heavy bombs, and capsized keel up in shallow water.
"Admiral Scheer", sunk in Kiel
Source - V. Kofman, M. Knyazev. Hitler's Armored Pirates. Heavy cruisers of the Deutschland and Admiral Hipper classes. Moscow: Yauza, Eksmo, 2012
During the Second World War, "pocket battleships" proved to be universal ships, suitable both for raiding operations and for combat with enemy cruisers. Their armor, despite the insufficiently high quality of steel, reliably protected against 152 mm shells at all distances and heading angles and most often withstood hits from 203 mm shells. At the same time, even one hit from a 280-mm gun could cause serious damage to any "Washington" cruiser - this was clearly shown by the battle near La Plata on December 13, 1939, during which the "Admiral Graf Spee" (sistership " Deutschland" and "Admiral Scheer"). The main problem of the "pocket battleships" was not armament, not protection, but control in battle, that is, the notorious "human factor" ...
Bibliography:
- A. V. Platonov, Yu. V. Apalkov. Warships of Germany, 1939–1945. St. Petersburg, 1995
- V. Kofman, M. Knyazev. Hitler's Armored Pirates. Heavy cruisers of the Deutschland and Admiral Hipper classes. Moscow: Yauza, Eksmo, 2012
- Yu. Perechnev, Yu. Vinogradov. On guard of the sea horizons. M.: Military Publishing, 1967
- S. Abrosov. Air war in Spain. Chronicle of air battles 1936–1939 Moscow: Yauza, Eksmo, 2012
- denkmalprojekt.org
"Lützow"
The last of the German heavy cruisers laid down met the strangest fate. After the launch, which took place 2 years after the laying, on July 1, 1939, its completion slowed down significantly. The reason was the lack of labor and the first failures of the German industry that had been working like clockwork until now. The turbine blades arrived with great delays, which slowed down the installation of all the main mechanisms. But the fate of the ship was decided not by technology, but by politics. On August 23, 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union signed a non-aggression pact, which provided, in particular, for intensive economic exchange. The USSR supplied a large amount of food and raw materials, intending to receive modern military equipment in return. In accordance with Stalin's perfectly reasonable considerations: "A ship bought from a prospective enemy is equal to two: one more from us and one less from the enemy," special attention was paid to attempts to purchase large warships. Almost all units of the German fleet were debating, but in reality the Germans had to give up only one - the Lutzows. This choice once again shows that heavy cruisers were of the least interest to Hitler, already embroiled in a war with strong naval opponents and having lost hope of achieving sea parity with Britain in traditional balanced fleets. So the loss of a ship that was not very suitable for individual raider actions due to its power plant could not greatly affect the plans of the German fleet, which was clearly incapable of a direct clash in battle with the English. On the other hand, the USSR received one of the most modern and technically advanced cruisers, albeit in an unfinished state.
On February 11, 1940, an agreement on the purchase of Lutzow was signed. For 104 million Reichsmarks, the USSR received a ship completed along the upper deck, which had part of the superstructures and a bridge, as well as two lower towers of the main caliber (however, the guns were installed only in the bow). This, in fact, ends the history of the German heavy cruiser Lutzow and begins the history of the Soviet warship, which first received the designation "Project 53", and from September 25 the name "Petropavlovsk". This story deserves a separate book. We briefly mention only the most important points. On April 15, the "purchase" with the help of tugboats left the Deshimag shipyard and on May 31 was towed to Leningrad, to the Baltic Shipyard. To continue work, a whole delegation of 70 engineers and technicians arrived with the ship, led by Engineer Rear Admiral Feige. Then the game began with dishonest intentions. According to the German-Soviet plans, it was supposed to put Petropavlovsk into operation by 1942, but already in the fall, work slowed down noticeably - through the fault of the German side. The war with the Soviet Union had already been decided, and the Germans did not want to strengthen the enemy. Deliveries were delayed at first, and then completely stopped. The explanations of the German government consisted of numerous references to difficulties in connection with the war with England and France. In the spring of 1941, Rear Admiral Feige went to Germany on "sick leave", from which he never returned. Then the rest of the specialists began to leave; the last of them left the Soviet Union on June 21, just a few hours before the German attack. It is not surprising that by the beginning of World War II, the heavy cruiser was only 70% ready, and most of the equipment was missing. The guns were available only in the lowered bow and stern turrets supplied with the ship; in addition, several light anti-aircraft guns arrived from Germany (1 twin 37-mm installation and eight 20-mm machine guns were installed). Nevertheless, the workers of the plant and the team led by Captain 2nd Rank A.G. Vanifater made every effort to bring the cruiser to at least a conditionally combat-ready state. On August 15, the naval flag was raised on the Petropavlovsk and it entered the Soviet fleet. In accordance with its condition, the cruiser was included in the detachment of newly built warships of the KBF. By this time, the first level of the superstructure, the base of the bow and stern bridges, the pipe and the temporary lower part of the rear mast rose above the hull.
When the enemy came close to Leningrad, work was found for the 8-inch new unit. September 7 "Petropavlovsk" for the first time opened fire on German troops. Obviously, the Germans at one time considered that shells without guns were not too dangerous, and supplied the entire ammunition load, inflicting a double blow on themselves, reducing the reserve of ammunition for their heavy cruisers and making it possible to fire from the four guns of the Soviet ship with almost no restrictions. Only during the first week from the moment the "Petropavlovsk" was connected to operations against the troops, it fired 676 shells. However, on September 17, a shell from a German battery hit the hull and disabled the cruiser's only source of energy - generator room No. 3. The team not only had to stop shooting; she was helpless against fire from subsequent hits, as the water supply to the fire mains was cut off. During the unfortunate day of September 17, the helpless ship received about 50 hits from shells of various calibers. A lot of water entered the hull and on August 19 the cruiser sat on a pound. Only the wall of the embankment, on which the "Petropavlovsk" fell sideways, saved it from capsizing. The team lost 30 men, including 10 killed.
In a completely incompetent state, "Petropavlovsk" stood for a year. Only on September 10 of the following 1942 was it possible to completely restore the water resistance of the hull, and at night from September 16 to 17, put it into the dock of the Baltic Shipyard. Work continued throughout the next year, and already in 1944, the three remaining 203-mm guns spoke again (the left gun in the bow turret was completely disabled in 1941). The cruiser took part in the Krasnoselsko-Ropshinsky offensive operation, firing 1036 shells in 31 shellings. At the final commissioning, they put an end to it, so saving guns and ammunition no longer made any sense. September 1 "Petropavlovsk" was renamed "Tallinn". The war was drawing to a close, but there were no changes in the fate of the long-suffering ship. After the victory, there was a fundamental opportunity to complete the work begun five years ago, since Soviet shipbuilders received the damaged and unfinished Seidlitz in their hands. However, prudence prevailed and the alien, already outdated cruiser was never completed. For some time it was used as a non-self-propelled training vessel, and then as a floating barracks (on March 11, 1953 it was renamed Dnepr, and on December 27, 1956 it received the designation PKZ-112).
On April 3, 1958, the former Lützow was excluded from the lists of the fleet and towed to the ship's "cemetery" in Kronstadt, where it was dismantled for metal during 1959-1960.
The last of the German heavy cruisers laid down met the strangest fate. After the launch, which took place two years after the laying, on July 1, 1939, its completion slowed down significantly. The reason was the lack of labor and the first failures of the German industry that had been working like clockwork until now. The turbine blades arrived with great delays, which slowed down the installation of all the main mechanisms. But the fate of the ship was decided not by technology, but by politics. On August 23, 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union signed a non-aggression pact, which provided, in particular, for intensive economic exchange. The USSR supplied a large amount of food and raw materials, intending to receive modern military equipment in return. In accordance with Stalin's perfectly reasonable considerations: "A ship bought from a prospective enemy is equal to two: one more from us and one less from the enemy," special attention was paid to attempts to purchase large warships. The acquisition of almost all large units of the German fleet was discussed, but in reality the Germans had to give up only one - the Lutzow. This choice once again shows that heavy cruisers were of the least interest to Hitler, already embroiled in a war with strong naval opponents and having lost hope of achieving sea parity with Britain in traditional balanced fleets. So the loss of a ship that was not very suitable for individual raider actions due to its power plant could not greatly affect the plans of the German fleet, which was clearly incapable of a direct clash in battle with the English. On the other hand, the USSR received one of the most modern and technically advanced cruisers, albeit in an unfinished state.
On February 11, 1940, an agreement was signed on the purchase of Lutzow. For 104 million Reichsmarks, the USSR received a ship completed along the upper deck, which had part of the superstructures and a bridge, as well as two lower towers of the main caliber (however, the guns were installed only in the bow). This, in fact, ends the history of the German heavy cruiser Lutzow and begins the history of the Soviet warship, which first received the designation "Project 53", and from September 25 the name "Petropavlovsk". On April 15, the "purchase" with the help of tugs left the Deshimag shipyard and on May 31 was towed to Leningrad, to the Baltic Shipyard. To continue work, a whole delegation of 70 engineers and technicians arrived with the ship, led by Rear Admiral Feige. Then the game began with dishonest intentions. According to the German-Soviet plans, it was supposed to put Petropavlovsk into operation by 1942, but in the autumn the work slowed down noticeably - through the fault of the German side. The war with the Soviet Union had already been decided, and the Germans did not want to strengthen the enemy. Deliveries were delayed at first, and then completely stopped. The explanations of the German government consisted of numerous references to difficulties in connection with the war with England and France. But even after the fall of France, construction did not speed up at all, it even slowed down even more. Entire wagons with goods for "Petropavlovsk" "by mistake" got instead of Leningrad to the other end of Europe.
The game without rules continued. In the spring of 1941, Rear Admiral Feige went to Germany on "sick leave", from which he never returned. Then the rest of the specialists began to leave; the last of them left the Soviet Union on June 21, just a few hours before the German attack. It is not surprising that by the beginning of World War II, the heavy cruiser was only 75% ready, and most of the equipment was missing. The guns were available only in the lowered bow and stern turrets supplied with the ship; in addition, several light anti-aircraft guns arrived from Germany (1 twin 37-mm installation and eight 20-mm machine guns were installed). Nevertheless, the workers of the plant and the team led by Captain 2nd Rank A. G. Vanifatiev made every effort to bring the cruiser to at least a conditionally combat-ready state. By June 1941, the ship was fully staffed with officers and petty officers and approximately 60% with privates. After the start of the war and the threatening advance of the enemy to the northern capital, from July 17, by order of the commander of the Leningrad Naval Defense, the forces of the crew and workers hastily put into operation the existing artillery and the power equipment necessary for its functioning - diesel generators. At the same time, the ship, which was clearly not threatened with going to sea, lost a significant part of the crew. From its composition, 2 companies of marines were formed and sent to the front. Only the most necessary people remained on the cruiser - gunners, diesel mechanics, electricians. They had to work around the clock with their equipment, putting it into action. The team was assisted by the workers of the Baltic Plant, whose number almost equaled the number of the remaining military sailors.
On August 15, the naval flag was hoisted at the Petropavlovsk and it joined the Soviet fleet. In accordance with its condition, the cruiser was included in the detachment of newly built warships of the KBF. By this time, the first level of the superstructure, the base of the bow and stern bridges, the chimney and the temporary lower part of the main mast rose above the hull.
When the enemy came close to Leningrad, work was found for the 8-inch new unit. September 7 "Petropavlovsk" for the first time opened fire on German troops. Obviously, the Germans at one time considered that shells without guns were not too dangerous, and supplied the entire ammunition load, inflicting a double blow on themselves, reducing the reserve of ammunition for their heavy cruisers and making it possible to fire from the four guns of the Soviet ship with almost no restrictions. Only during the first week from the moment the "Petropavlovsk" was connected to actions against the troops, he fired 676 shells. September 16, the first shells exploded at the side of the cruiser. On the shore, wooden buildings caught fire, which had previously covered the Petropavlovsk. Enemy shells also destroyed the coastal substation that supplied the ship with electricity. The position of the cruiser, which had lost its energy and was now in direct line of sight of the enemy, became threatening. Its commander, Captain 3rd Rank A.K. Pavlovsky, called tugboats, but for now the cruiser continued to fire all night.
On September 17, from early morning, the Germans began shelling "their" ship. One of the first shells hit the hull and disabled the cruiser's only source of power - generator room No. 3. The team had to not only stop firing; she proved helpless against fire from subsequent hits, as the water supply to the fire mains was cut off. Meanwhile, as a result of a direct hit, a fire broke out in a cistern with a solarium. The fire began to spread throughout the cruiser. During the unfortunate day of September 17, the helpless ship received 53 hits by shells of various calibers, mostly 210 mm - the "norm", quite sufficient to sink even a fully combat-ready heavy cruiser. The crew had to abandon ship; First of all, the wounded were handed over to the shore. A lot of water entered the hull, and on August 19 the cruiser sat on the ground. Only the wall of the embankment, on which the Petropavlovsk fell sideways, saved it from capsizing. The damage was very significant; the area of individual holes reached 25 sq.m. The team lost 30 men, including 10 killed.
Light anti-aircraft artillery began to be removed from the ship; his machine guns were installed on the ships of the Ladoga flotilla. The difficult situation at the front prompted the command to "cut down" the crew even more, which was reorganized. A small group of specialist technicians remained on board, mainly from the electromechanical warhead and several officers. After the survey, it was decided that the cruiser could still be raised and her artillery, which was of significant value to the besieged city, brought into combat readiness.
The work had to be carried out mainly at night in conditions of maximum secrecy and camouflage, since the enemy was only 4 km away. The EPRON rescue ships imperceptibly approached the board, but since they had to limit themselves to the smallest units, the power of their drainage facilities was not enough to lift the Petropavlovsk. Then the bay was covered with ice, and the rescuers were forced to leave. Meanwhile, the small crew did not stop fighting. It was decided to pump out water sequentially from each compartment, pre-sealing it. Initially, only low-power portable pumps were used, but after draining the aft engine compartment, it was possible to put the power plant No. 1 into operation. Gradually, stationary regular pumps located in the compartments began to be used. German technology turned out to be worthy of these truly heroic efforts (work was still carried out only at night), and the ship began to surface. For camouflage, every morning water was again taken into part of the drained compartments in order to hide changes in the draft from the Germans. The ship's pumps could work in completely flooded rooms and drained them quickly enough to take another step towards saving the ship at night. All this work was carried out in the midst of the cold blockade winter of 1941/1942. The personnel suffered not only from cold and dampness, but also from a lack of food: although the rations in the fleet remained in sizes acceptable for maintaining life, people also needed to work hard physically. Nevertheless, during the winter and spring, 2 more diesel generators were put into operation.
Petropavlovsk was in a completely incompetent state for exactly a year. Only on September 10, 1942, it was possible to completely restore the water resistance of the hull, and the next day to make a test ascent. In the morning they put him back on the ground. The operation was carried out so covertly that most of the personnel of the infantry unit located nearby on the shore in the trenches did not notice anything. Finally, on the night of September 16-17, the cruiser finally surfaced and, with the help of tugboats, proceeded to the wall of the Baltic Shipyard.
According to all the rules, repairs should have been continued in the dock, but it was impossible to bring the cruiser to Kronstadt along the Sea Canal, which was completely shot through by the enemy. I had to carry out work in the old fashioned way, as almost 40 years ago in Port Arthur. A huge caisson measuring 12.5 x 15 x 8 m was made at the factory, which was brought in turn to holes, pumped out water and closed up wounds inflicted by enemy shells. At the same time, work continued on the premises and on the deck to restore artillery weapons, electrical equipment and mechanics. And after their completion, the equipment had to be mothballed: work on the hull was too slow.
The repair continued throughout the next year, and already in January 1944, the three remaining 203-mm guns spoke from the new parking lot at the Trade Harbor (the left gun in the bow turret was completely disabled in 1941). The cruiser became part of the 2nd artillery group of the fleet along with the battleship "October Revolution", the cruisers "Kirov" and "Maxim Gorky" and two destroyers. Its artillery was commanded by Senior Lieutenant J.K. Grace. "Petropavlovsk" took part in the Krasnoselsko-Ropshinsky offensive operation, firing on the very first day, January 15, 1944, 250 shells. From January 15 to January 20, this number increased to 800. And in just 31 shelling, 1036 shells were fired at the enemy. The guns of the crippled ship were not too spared: it accounted for about a third of the firing and shells fired by the 2nd artillery group of the fleet. At the final commissioning, they put an end to it, so saving guns and ammunition no longer made any sense.
According to the reports of coastal observation groups and our troops, artillery operations proved to be very effective. Only on January 19, 3 guns, 29 cars, 68 wagons and 300 killed enemy soldiers and officers were recorded at the expense of the battery cruiser. But gradually the front moved away, and it became more and more difficult to fire. The ship fired its last salvos on January 24, 1944.
So, in fact, the combat life of the "Russian German" ended. September 1 "Petropavlovsk" was renamed "Tallinn". The war was drawing to a close, but there were no changes in the fate of the long-suffering ship. After the victory, there was a fundamental opportunity to complete the work begun five years ago, since the Soviet shipbuilders got their hands on the damaged and unfinished Seydlitz. However, prudence prevailed, and the alien, already outdated cruiser was never completed. For some time it was used as a non-self-propelled training vessel, and then as a floating barracks (on March 11, 1953 it was renamed Dnepr, and on December 27, 1956 it received the designation PKZ-112).
On April 3, 1958, the former Lutzow was excluded from the lists of the fleet and towed to the ship cemetery in Kronstadt, where it was dismantled for metal during 1959-1960.
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Yesterday Dmitry Nagiev "loaded" us a little with his participation in a film about a state security officer crawling through the forest ... This is over, a very important moment in the history of the Great Patriotic War ... but still I propose to pay attention to another topic.
Here are two selections in Yandex for "Petropavlovsk Cruiser".
First source:
(before the purchase - "Luttsov", until 10/2/1940 the cruiser "L"), from 09/19/1944 "Tallinn", from 03/11/1953 "Dnepr"
Laid down on August 2, 1937 at the shipyard of Deschimag AG Wesser in Berlin. Launched on July 1, 1939. At the end of 1939, the unfinished cruiser was bought by the USSR for 106.5 million marks in gold. Initially, in Soviet documents, it appeared under the name cruiser "L".
On May 31, 1940, German tugboats brought the KR to the concrete wall of Plant No. 189 in Leningrad. The plant began to complete the construction of the cruiser, which on September 25, 1940, by order of the People's Commissar of the Navy, was given the name "Petropavlovsk".
Despite the fact that the Germans in every way delayed the supply of mechanisms and weapons for the cruiser, and then completely withdrew the engineering and technical personnel who installed the equipment, by the summer of 1941 the ship was already in 70 percent readiness. However, none of its premises was finally completed. Of the armament of the ship, only the 1st and 4th 203-mm turrets and 1x2 - 37-mm and 8 - 20-mm anti-aircraft guns were installed. The cruiser did not have a course, but even in this state the cruiser could already fire. On August 15, 1941, the Soviet naval flag was raised on the Petropavlovsk. By this time the crew was 408 people. On September 7, 1941, when the Nazi troops approached Leningrad, the Petropavlovsk, like all ships of the Red Banner Baltic, began to provide artillery assistance to the ground forces. He opened artillery fire for the first time and did not stop it for eleven days.
On September 11, 1941, during live firing on the 22nd shot, a shell explosion in the channel tore the barrel of the left gun of turret No. 1.
With each passing day, the intensity of the fighting increased. On the night of September 17, "Petropavlovsk" fired continuously at the enemy troops. But, despite the heavy losses, the enemy units came close to Leningrad. On the morning of September 17, Hitler's artillery began to shoot at a stationary cruiser from a distance of three kilometers with direct fire. Unable to maneuver, the ship received 53 direct hits from 210mm shells that day. Through holes with an area of up to 30 square meters, water began to penetrate into the hull. Slowly flooding, "Petropavlovsk" was attached to the port side and after 6 hours with a trim on the bow lay down on the ground.
A year later, on September 17, 1942, the cruiser was raised and towed to the wall of plant No. 189. With the help of caissons, the workers of the Baltic plant welded holes, restored the main, auxiliary mechanisms, fire, drainage and drainage systems of the cruiser. At the same time, the ship's artillery was put into operation. In December 1942, Petropavlovsk again entered service as a floating battery and was towed to the iron wall of the Trade Port, from where, on December 30, 1942, it opened fire on German troops.
In 1944, the cruiser participated in lifting the blockade of Leningrad. On January 15, 1944, both towers of the cruiser in the first hours of the offensive fired 250 shots at the positions and fortifications of the Nazis on Voronya Gora, in Duderhof, communication centers near Krasnoe Selo and Novye Vilozi, enemy observation and command posts in Kirgof. For ten days in a row, the heavy cruiser crushed the enemy's defenses. They carried out 31 artillery firing and fired 1036 203-mm shells.
After the war, several options for completing the construction of the cruiser were considered, but none of them was implemented. The cruiser was returned to the Baltic Shipyard, in January 1949 it was reclassified into a light cruiser, and on March 11, 1953 - into a non-self-propelled training ship and renamed Dnepr ". In December 1956, it was reorganized into the floating barracks PKZ-112. By order of April 4, 1958, he was excluded from the lists of the Navy and during 1959-1961 was cut into metal at the Vtorchermet plant.
The second source: "The name Petropavlovsk was borne by another warship. It was the German cruiser Lutzow, laid down in 1936 at the Deutschland shipyard in Bremen. In February 1940, the USSR signed an agreement on its acquisition. In the spring of 1940, Lutzow "without weapons was delivered from Germany to Leningrad. Here at the Baltic Shipyard he was being completed. On September 25, 1940, the ship was renamed Petropavlovsk. By the beginning of World War II, the work had not been completed, and it was decided to use it as a floating battery On September 7, 1941, the cruiser opened fire on German troops approaching Leningrad. On September 17, after heavy damage inflicted by German artillery, Petropavlovsk lay down on the ground. During the year, rescue work was carried out on the damaged cruiser, and in September 1942 the ship was delivered to the dock of the Baltic Shipyard In January 1944, the cruiser took part in breaking the blockade of Leningrad.
Since in 1943 the battleship "Marat" was returned to its previous name "Petropavlovsk", the cruiser received the name "Tallinn". The ship was not completed, its hull was used as a training ship, then as a floating barracks, and in 1958 was excluded from the fleet.
I would like to draw your attention to the following points:
a) the dates and place of laying (construction) are different, but in both cases - 1936 or 1937!!! Maybe the Lützev cruiser was an old project - there is no better cruiser in the world!
b) February-March 1940, just at the time when the decision was made to execute the Polish military, in March 1940 the Finnish company ended (Germany and Finland were allies), the goal of the Finnish company was to "knock out" Sweden - the factory of the German military-industrial complex, from the game, with At the same time, the official ally of the Soviet Union, Great Britain, is in a critical situation - it is completely blocked from the sea by the German fleet and prays to Stalin for help and is ready to take off its "last shirt" only to persuade "Koba" to enter the war against Germany. Moreover, the first convoys from Britain to Arkhangelsk began to arrive even before the start of the war in 1941 - this was when they began to engage in vandalism there - they sent park fences for melting down ...
c) the traditional leapfrog with the renaming "Petropavlovsk" (until 1921 *) - "Marat" (until 1943) - "Petropavlovsk", respectively, this "Petropavlovsk", which is "Luttsov", became "Tallinn" because that former name was already taken , ... swept through all the ships (of the first rank) * in the Baltic and Black Sea fleets - why rename dozens of ships in the middle of the war?
*) In connection with the uprising of sailors dissatisfied with the policy of the Bolsheviks.
I draw your attention to the fact that in many sources home-grown military historians substitute a photo of another type of LIGHT cruiser of the Mikhail Kutuzov type (see below), as a photo of Petropavlovsk (aka Lyuttsov - a HEAVY cruiser).
And now I frankly "turn on the fool" and in the next post I publish excerpts from foreign economic agreements between the USSR and Germany. That's where the "berries" will be.
*) Corrected due to a clarification question from a reader.
Why exactly him? Probably because of his "bad luck" - "Lützow", as a ship, is very nice to me, but even in model reincarnations he was not lucky - the only available model released by Heller is incredible in its wretchedness. In addition, I always wanted to have a pickpocket in my collection, but the Spee seemed painfully hackneyed, and besides, purely visually, I don’t like its tower-like superstructure. I wanted to try my hand at deep conversion - I'll be honest: I'm tired. The project lasted almost 2.5 years.
A bit of history
The ship is the lead in a series of German "pocket battleships" that appeared as a result of the restrictions of the Treaty of Versailles, according to which post-war Germany could not have more than 6 ships in the class of battleships, and newly built units could not exceed 10,000 "long" tons in displacement, and the caliber of guns limited to 280 mm (11 inches). A total of three units were built: "Deutschland", "Admiral Scheer" and "Admiral Graf Spee" ("Deutschland", "Admiral Scheer" and "Admiral Graf Spee").
Deutschland (future Lutzow) was laid down on 02/09/1928, launched on 05/19/1931 at the Deutsche Werke shipyard in Kiel. 
In the interwar period, he performed representative functions, "demonstrated the flag." Since 1933 - the flank ship of the German Navy. In 1934-1936. made visits to Scotland and Scandinavia, transatlantic passage to South America, together with "Admiral Scheer" cruised in the North and Central Atlantic.
The Spanish Civil War that began in 1936 called for "pocket battleships" to serve in the Iberian Peninsula. On July 19, the German squadron, which included, in particular, "Deutschland" and "Admiral Scheer" set off for the coast of Spain, where it took part in the evacuation of 9,300 foreigners. Then the ship began to pursue failures. On the evening of May 29, on the roadstead of the island of Ibiza, it was subjected to an air strike by the Republican aviation and received 2 bomb hits. One bomb hit near the bridge and exploded between the decks, and the second fell near the third aft 150-mm gun. A strong fire broke out in the interdeck space. 23 sailors were killed, 73 were injured, many were burned. The ship itself had to urgently return to Germany for repairs.
In March 1939, with Adolf Hitler on board, he took part in the occupation of Memel (Klaipeda).
I met the beginning of the war at sea - on August 24, 1939, he went out to raid the Atlantic, to positions south of Greenland. But his successes in this field were more than modest: he sank only two ships against eleven at the Spee (the English Stonegate and the Norwegian Lorenz W. Hansen) with a total capacity of about 7000 tons, and in November 1939 returned to Germany.
In 1939, the battleship Deutschland was renamed the heavy cruiser Lutzow, but this did not add to her luck. In November 1939, he went to the Skagerrak to intercept merchant ships, but to no avail.
The opportunity to show himself came during the invasion of Norway on April 9, 1940. There he acted as part of a group intended for the occupation of Oslo, along with the heavy cruiser Blucher, the light cruiser Emden, 3 destroyers and several small ships.
But as we all know, everything did not go according to plan - the Norwegians flatly did not want to give up without a fight and during the operation "Blucher" was sunk; Lutzow, in turn, received three hits from 280-mm shells. The central gun of the bow turret of the main caliber was disabled, a fire broke out on the ship. After the capture of Oslo, the damaged "pocket battleship" was ordered to urgently return to Kiel. But the way home turned out to be thorny: on the night of April 10-11, at about 2 a.m., he was attacked by the English submarine Spearfish and was hit by a torpedo. The hull behind the stern turret broke (in fact, the stern turned out to be half-torn off), 4 compartments were flooded; the ship took about 1300 tons of water. The ship was towed to Kiel, where it stood for repairs for more than six months. Already on July 9, 1940, during the bombing of Kiel, a bomb hit the ship. After repair, it was actually ready for action only by the beginning of 1941. It was assumed that in July 1941 the Lutzow would go on a new Atlantic raid, but this did not happen. During this repair, the appearance of the ship changed significantly: a beveled "Atlantic" stem appeared, one of the forward anchor ports was welded on the port side, and a degaussing system was installed along the sides. 
On June 13, the Beaufort was again attacked by British torpedo bombers, hit in the middle of the hull. Two engine compartments and one of the compartments with couplings were flooded. "Lützow" lost its course, took 1000 tons of water and received a threatening roll - about 20 °. Again to Kiel for repairs - until January 1942.
During Operation "Knight's Walk" ("Rosselsprung") in July 1942, he was supposed to act against the famous PQ-17 convoy, but ran into a rock not marked on the map even before leaving Bogen Bay, and was forced to return to Narvik. The raid to the Atlantic planned for the summer was canceled again. 
At the end of December 1942, he took part in Operation Rainbow (Regenbogen) against the JW-51B convoy, together with the heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper and 6 destroyers under the command of Admiral Kümmetz. The fight was a series of short bouts. "Admiral Hipper" was damaged by the British cruisers "Sheffield" and "Jamaica", the German destroyers "Frederick Eckoldt" and "Beitzen" were sunk, the destroyer ("Esheites") and the minesweeper were sunk by the British; the convoy was practically undamaged. The result of this operation was Hitler's order forbidding the further active use of large warships.
In the future, "Lützow" formally remained in service, while in Narvik - with a reduced crew, and at the end of September 1943, the "pocket battleship" moved to Germany and was put in for another repair and modernization, which took place until March 1944 in Liepaja ( Libau). It was assumed that after modernization it would become a purely training vessel.
Since the autumn of 1944, the "pocket battleship" "Lützow" was used mainly to support the retreating German ground forces on the eastern front.
In April 1945, "Lützow" was in Swinemünde. In the middle of the month, he was attacked by British aircraft. The close explosions of the 5.5-ton Tollboys (there were no direct hits) caused such damage to the ship that its hull gradually filled with water, and the Lutzow sat on the ground at a shallow depth. His guns still continued to take part in defensive battles against the Soviet troops.
On May 4, 1945, when the Germans left Swinemünde, the Lützow was blown up by a team; body is completely burnt out. 
But in the end, he didn’t even manage to die with dignity: in the spring of 1946, Soviet rescuers raised the ship, and on September 26, the Lutzow was finally flooded in the central part of the Baltic Sea on July 22, 1947 after several high-explosive bombs were blown up on it. His last photo: 
This is such an unenviable and somewhat useless fate for this ship, although - how to look: he did less evil on the other hand.
Why exactly him?
Probably because of his "bad luck" - "Lützow", as a ship, is very nice to me, but even in model reincarnations he was not lucky - the only available model released by Heller is incredible in its wretchedness. In addition, I always wanted to have a pickpocket in my collection, but the Spee seemed painfully hackneyed, and besides, purely visually, I don’t like its tower-like superstructure. I wanted to try my hand at deep conversion - I'll be honest: I'm tired. The project lasted almost 2.5 years.
Assembly
The model represents the ship in 1942, at the time of the Rosselsprung operation, which she never made it to. This period was chosen because of the interesting camouflage.
Literature used (what I remember):
1) Pocket battleships of the Deutschland class by Gerhard Koop and Klaus-Peter Schmulke
2) Marine-Arsenal, Die Panzerschiffe der Kriegsmarine special band 2, by Siedfried Breyer
3) Marine-Arsenal, Panzerschiff "Deutschland" by Siedfried Breyer
4) Kagero, The heavy cruiser “Lutzow”
5) Momografie morskie 7, 9
6) Gunpower 17 German naval artillery 1
The aftermarket purchased an incredible amount of all sorts of different things. I don't remember exactly:
1) Set on Spee from Eduard
2) Set on Spee from Ka-models
3) German radars from Flyhok (FH350061)
4) Automatic machines from Flyhawk 3.7 cm and 2 cm (FH353001 and FH353002)
5) 20 mm four-barrel anti-aircraft guns (VTW35056) and a set of German searchlights (VTW35058) from Veteran
6) All kinds of trunks from Master Model
7) Resin life rafts (I don’t remember from whom)
The construction process is more or less laid out in a forum thread, I won’t especially paint here. I can only say that only the hull and the aircraft are native to the model, and even then - both have undergone modifications. The rest is all homemade from Evergreen plastic of different thicknesses. Towers GK, 150 mm and torpedo tubes poured out of resin, of course not very successful, but for the first time - the norms. The paints were used by Vallejo, the wash was done with Vallejo's ready-to-use wash, and the varnish was Satin Vallejo. I am extremely pleased with everything - after Humbrol it is just some kind of holiday. I can’t say anything good about the Academia model itself, I didn’t check it for compliance with the prototype (Spee). In terms of quality - incredible firewood - I have not seen worse. I also used boats from the set - I had to cover it with a tarpaulin, since it was not possible to bring the interior to mind. The boats have undergone a major overhaul. I'll post some pictures of the process:
Beginning: extrusion of the Lützow hull from the solid array of the Spee: 
Superstructure weekdays: 
Passion through the pipe: 
Artillery crane works: 
