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: 
Lützow is the fifth Admiral Hipper-class heavy cruiser planned for adoption by the German Kriegsmarine. Laid down in 1937, launched in 1939. In February 1940 sold to the Soviet Union,
received the name "Petropavlovsk", in August 1941, in a conditionally combat-ready state, it was included in the USSR Navy, participated in the defense of Leningrad from Nazi troops.
In September 1944, it was renamed Tallinn, in 1953 - Dnepr, in 1956 - PKZ-12. Its completion was not completed, in 1958 the ship was excluded from the lists of the Soviet fleet, and in 1959-1960 it was dismantled for scrap.
History of creation and design features
In June 1936, the construction of two additional large cruisers was approved, similar to the first three units of the Admiral Hipper class, but armed with 12 150-mm guns.
It was a political move designed to demonstrate Germany's desire to be within the legal framework of international maritime treaties. In July, an order followed for both the ships themselves and the turrets and guns for them.
The base structures of the main battery turrets were designed according to a special requirement with a diameter similar to that of the 203-mm gun mounts of the first three Hipper-class ships.
A special requirement was to design the bases of the turrets in such a way that they had the same diameter as the twin 203-mm mounts of heavy cruisers.
This was done in order to, if necessary, carry out a quick re-equipment with 203-mm guns. But already in 1937, it was decided to build the cruisers, which received the letter designations "K" and "L", as heavy ones, initially with 203-mm artillery.
Construction
The fifth and last cruiser of the Admiral Hipper class was laid down on August 2, 1937 at the DeSchiMAG shipyard in Bremen, where her fellow Seydlitz was already under construction. During construction, the ship had the letter designation "L", when launched on July 1, 1939, it received the name "Lützow".
Prior to that, the Derflinger-class battlecruiser, which died during the Battle of Jutland on May 31, 1916, had the same name in the German Navy. Both ships were named after Adolf von Lützow, a German national hero, a baron who led a partisan war in the rear of Napoleon's troops who occupied Germany.
After the launch of the ship, its completion slowed down, the reason for which was the lack of labor and some failures in German industry. In particular, the turbine blades arrived with great delays, which slowed down the installation of all the main mechanisms.
After the conclusion of the Non-Aggression Pact between Germany and the USSR on August 23, 1939, military-technical cooperation between the two countries intensified. The USSR supplied Germany with a lot of raw materials and food, in exchange it wanted to receive samples of the latest military equipment.
On February 11, 1940, the Lutzow cruiser, being in an unfinished state (the ship was completed along the upper deck, had part of the superstructures and a bridge, as well as two lower main-caliber turrets with guns installed only in the bow of them), was sold to the Soviet Union for 104 million Reichsmarks.
The cruiser, which received the designation "project 53", from April 15 to May 31 was towed to Leningrad, to the Baltic Shipyard. An engineering delegation from Germany arrived with the cruiser to continue work.
However, in connection with the planned war with the USSR, Germany did not want to strengthen its future enemy and therefore delayed the delivery of key components in every possible way. By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, the ship was in 70% readiness.
The Great Patriotic War
On August 15, 1941, the naval flag was hoisted at Petropavlovsk and it joined the Soviet fleet (in a conditionally combat-ready state, in fact, the ship continued to remain unfinished). Commander - Captain 2nd Rank A. G. Vanifatiev.
During the war, the cruiser used the 4 203-mm guns mounted on it against coastal targets. In September 1941, it was heavily damaged by numerous shells. September 1, 1944 "Petropavlovsk" was renamed "Tallinn".
After the war
After the end of the Great Patriotic War, the cruiser Tallinn 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, it was excluded from the lists of the fleet during 1959 - 1960 and was dismantled for scrap.
Main characteristics:
Standard displacement - 14,240 tons, full - 19,800 tons.
Length 199.5 m (along the waterline), 212.5 m (between perpendiculars).
Width 21.8 m.
Draft 5.9 - 7.2 m.
Booking board - 40…80…70 mm,
traverses - 80 mm,
deck - 30 + 30 mm (bevels 50),
towers - 160 ... 50 mm,
cabin - 150 ... 50 mm,
barbettes - 80 mm.
Engines 3 TZA, 9 steam boilers.
Power 132,000 liters. With.
Travel speed 32 knots.
Cruising range 6800 nautical miles at 16 knots.
Crew 1400 - 1600 people.
Armament:
Artillery 4 × 2 - 203 mm/60 SK C/34.
Anti-aircraft artillery 6 × 2 - 105 mm / 65, 6 × 2 - 37 mm / 83, 10 × 1 - 20 mm / 65.
Mine-torpedo armament 4 three-tube 533-mm torpedo tubes.
Aviation group 1 catapult, 3 - 4 seaplanes.
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
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.
On one weekday in April 1958, port tugboats turned the huge hull of the cruiser decommissioned for metal with its bow towards the Sea Canal and slowly led it to the last berth - to the Kronstadt ship cemetery. The bright spring sun gently warmed the sides, reflected in the numerous windows, the remnants of the dismantled superstructures cast bizarre shadows on the deck, where the armor of the Wotan brand shone dimly in places from under the torn ball paint. The combat service of one of the most unusual ships of the Soviet Navy has ended.
In the early 1930s, most of the leading maritime powers entered into the so-called "cruising race" - the construction of well-armored cruisers that did not fall under the restrictions of the "Washington agreements". On March 16, 1935, Adolf Hitler announced the denunciation of the peace treaty signed by the defeated Germany after the end of the First World War, and began hastily arming the Third Reich. The leadership of the Kriegsmarine was clearly aware that it would not be possible to catch up with the main potential enemy at sea - Great Britain in terms of the number and power of combat surface ships. Therefore, instead of building monstrously expensive and resource-intensive dreadnoughts, the Germans developed the concept of building heavy cruisers and "pocket battleships" capable of long campaigns and actions as single raiders. Officially, Germany was not bound by the framework of the "Washington Treaty" in the tonnage of ships and the caliber of artillery, however, in order not to irritate the leading Western states, the Fuhrer and head of the Kriegsmarine Grossadmiral Erich Roeder officially announced plans to build 5 cruisers of the "Admiral Hipper" type with a displacement of 10,000 tons with guns of the main caliber of 150 mm. The development of this type of ships was started in the fall of 1934, however, when the plan was implemented, it became clear that it was not possible to meet the stated framework. The installation of lighter "one hundred and fifty millimeters" did not give a large reduction in tonnage, but significantly reduced the parameters of armor penetration, questions also periodically arose about the choice of the type and methods of mounting the main power plant, a lot of other minor, but no less significant, technical problems remained unresolved. Having finally given a damn about various agreements and restrictions, the Reich leadership made a Solomonic decision to build ships with a displacement of 15-20 thousand tons, return to the classic caliber of 203 mm with a layout of two guns in 4 gun turrets, the minimum thickness of the armor of the main belt is 80 mm. The lead ship of this project (symbol “cruiser H”) was laid down in July 1935 at the Bloom and Voss shipyard in Hamburg, in August, Deutsche Werke in Kiel began building the second ship from the same series (cruiser G), the third order (cruiser J) was taken over by the Germania company, owned by the Krupp family. The fourth (K) and fifth (L) cruisers began to be assembled at Deschimag AG Wesser in Bremen in December 1936 and August 1937, respectively.
With Hitler's rise to power, the close economic and military cooperation that had existed between the young Soviet state and the Weimar Republic began to decline. In order to defuse the tension between the two powers, the USSR began to look for ways of rapprochement with Germany by concluding a number of trade and economic contracts. As a result of the efforts made, on April 9, 1935, the "Agreement between the government of the USSR and the government of Germany on additional orders of the USSR in Germany and the financing of these orders by Germany" was signed. In accordance with it, the Soviet side received the right to place orders for 200 million marks to German industrialists under the guarantee of the Reich government. These orders were to be factory equipment, machinery, apparatus, electrical products, equipment for the oil and chemical industries, vehicles, laboratory equipment, etc. This also included technical assistance. In reality, under this credit, the USSR received from Germany factory equipment and other goods worth 151.2 million marks. Deliveries of Soviet goods to cover the loan were to begin at the end of 1940 and end in 1943.
On August 19, 1939, a few days before the visit of Joachim von Ribbentrop to Moscow to sign the famous "Non-Aggression Pact", the Soviet government received an agreement in principle from the German side to allocate another loan in the amount of about 200 million marks, providing, among other things, , the possibility of purchasing the most modern weapons in Germany. At the end of September, a representative delegation of 48 people arrived in Berlin to get acquainted with the latest models of German military equipment, which included not only diplomats, but also many leading experts in the field of tank building, aircraft building and other industries. The delegation was headed by People's Commissar I.F. Tevosyan. Following Stalin's very sensible decision that "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 acquire large warships. Many options were considered, but the German side was reluctant to make concessions, and after lengthy negotiations, Germany gave up only one ship - the heavy cruiser Lützow, which was being built at the Bremen shipyard. As a result, the Soviet Union received, albeit at 50% readiness, but a completely modern combat unit. And on February 11, 1940, an agreement was signed on the purchase of Lutzow, which received the name Project 53 from the Soviet side, for 104 million marks. On April 15, the “purchase”, accompanied by two sea tugs, slowly rolled away from the outfitting wall of the Deshimag company and on May 31 moored in Leningrad at the berth of the Baltic Plant No. 189. Together with the cruiser, a team of German engineers and technicians arrived, numbering about 70 people, led by Rear Admiral Otto Feige.
According to the German-Soviet plans, the final commissioning of the cruiser was scheduled for 1942, however, the scheduled work schedules suddenly began to be violated due to the disruption in the supply of equipment and materials by the German side, as well as the facts of direct failure to fulfill their duties and deliberate red tape by German technical specialists. In Soviet and Russian historiography, it has been repeatedly stated that the Germans deliberately played a dishonest game. The war with Soviet Russia was practically resolved, and Germany was clearly not going to help arm the future enemy. Numerous witnesses and eyewitnesses point to deliberate sabotage by the Germans. The deputy head of the workshop of the Baltic Shipyard B.P. Favorov, in his book of memoirs “On the slipways under fire”, writes the following: “So, gradually, day after day, the work on the ship was delayed, the planned deadlines were disrupted. Such tactics of representatives of German firms, naturally, made us think that all this was being done with a certain intent in order to delay the completion and commissioning of the cruiser as much as possible. The calculation at the same time was as follows: without the Germans, we ourselves, they say, will not be able to cope with the completion of the Lutzow. He is echoed by the former foreman S. Ya Prikot, who served as a boiler engineer on the ship until July 1941: “The Germans did not supply a number of important details. For example, joints on pipelines are corrugated. And the steam pressure there was 52 kg. It was impossible to make such joints in a short time at our factories. Don't give steam! So the ship is out of business. One pump for feeding the boilers was not delivered, the pump was from an old cruiser, we found this, and the pump was sent back to Germany. The new one was never installed. So they did it on purpose." Documentary evidence from the German side suggests otherwise. For example, in charge of Soviet-German economic relations, German Foreign Ministry official Karl Julius Shnure, in a memorandum prepared for his superiors dated May 15, 1941, reported the following: “The construction of the cruiser “L” in Leningrad continues in accordance with the plan, German deliveries are coming according to the schedule” (State Security Organs of the USSR in the Great Patriotic War.) V.1. The day before. Book 2. "January 1 - June 21, 1941". The Germans justifiably explained the occasional interruptions in supply with objective reasons: the ongoing war with England, which caused difficulties with materials, the flow of which was urgently redirected to the needs of the front, and the shortage of skilled labor due to the massive conscription of industrial workers into the army.
However, work on commissioning the ship continued. 203 mm guns were installed in the bow and stern turrets, 20 and 37 mm anti-aircraft guns arrived from Germany, and the necessary power equipment was gradually put into operation. Despite the mass departure of German specialists and the lack of necessary parts, the plant workers and the team, led by Captain 2nd Rank A.G. Vonifatiev, made every effort to bring the cruiser into combat-ready condition. By June 22, 1941, the cruiser was in 70% readiness, by this time the first level of the superstructure, the bow and stern lower towers, the base of the navigation bridge, the funnel and the lower part of the main mast rose above the hull. Sea trials were scheduled for August. "Petropavlovsk" was staffed by 100% officers and 60-70% foremen and sailors, the total crew was about 1000 people.
On the night of June 21-22, the ship's crew was alerted: it was announced that it was necessary to receive and place 50 people on the cruiser from the sunken destroyer "Angry". Exhausted people began to descend from the arriving trucks, many half-dressed, some could not walk on their own, and their comrades led them under the arms. To the questions of the anxious sailors about what happened, one of the newcomers exhaled briefly: "War ..".
From the first days, the Baltic Fleet was actively involved in the fight against the invaders. In Leningrad, by order of the People's Commissar of the Navy N.G. Kuznetsov, on July 5, 1941, the headquarters of the Naval Defense of Leningrad and the Lake District was organized, Rear Admiral F.I. Chelpanov was appointed commander. Energetic measures were taken to equip additional positions of coastal batteries, accelerate the commissioning of warships under repair, and form detachments of marines. Two companies of "Petropavlovtsy" joined the ranks of the marines. Sergeant Major S.Ya. Prikot recalled this as follows: “So, we decided to mothball the cruiser. Prepare the main caliber for firing, specialists of the electromechanical part - to the front. And then they read out in the courtyard: "... The list of the battalion of the cruiser Petropavlovsk. The battalion commander is Lieutenant Commander Socheikin. Three steps out of order! First company: company commander Senior Lieutenant Engineer Schaefer. Three steps out of order! Lieutenant Ershov! ... "Literally, this is how the order was read to us, and this is how everyone left. "First squad, platoon commander - foreman Prikot!" Went out and got up. My sailors and subordinates were also read out. Twelve people under me. Everyone knew each other, so they stuck together. From the next day, we went to the factory, mothballed the cruiser, filled everything with oil, attached tags. And in the evening - with training rifles to the Kirov Palace, to where they went to dances - for land training. This lasted until July, twenty days. And after that they issued: 2 light machine guns for 12 people of the squad, the rest, except for the squad leader, received SVT rifles plus grenades. I, as a squad leader, have a PPD, like in Finnish.” Of course, sending highly qualified specialists, the training of which the fleet spent more than one year, as private soldiers in the infantry is the height of wastefulness, but the Soviet command had no choice: the enemy was rushing to Leningrad. Only gunners and a few sailors from various ship services remained on the cruiser, necessary to maintain the life support of the ship. The ship's power plant was hastily mounted, the finishing of the shell feeding mechanisms and other necessary work for conducting successful artillery fire continued. On August 15, 1941, the RKKF Naval Flag was hoisted on the cruiser, which received the name Petropavlovsk, and, in accordance with its condition, the ship was included in the detachment of the KBF ships under construction along with the destroyers Experienced, Strict and Slender.
Rice. The destroyer "Experienced" is firing at the enemy
The city defense headquarters decided to transfer the Petropavlovsk to a firing position in the Coal Harbor area. Since the cruiser did not have high superstructures, it was possible to disguise it relatively well: the ship's hull was "lost" among various coastal structures. The ship was brought to the pier and connected to the coastal power station, because by the beginning of the active phase of the battles for the city, the reduced crew of the ship to the limit managed to fully commission only one diesel generator station.
When the Germans approached Leningrad in early September, work was found for the cruiser's 203 mm guns. Artillery observers were sent ashore in advance, and on September 7 they received the first target designation on the cruiser: a large concentration of German troops and equipment was noted in front of the front of the 21st division of the NKVD. The guns of Petropavlovsk opened fire for the first time, sending 122 kilogram shells at the enemy. The Germans rushed about and began to retreat in a panic. New goal: in the area of the Uritsk station, a train with troops is being unloaded. The cruiser's Krupp guns barked again. Within minutes, the train was destroyed. Probably, the soldiers of the 36th motorized division of the Wehrmacht would be quite surprised to learn that the former German cruiser Lützow was destroying them from German guns with German shells. In just the first week of fighting, the cruiser fired 676 shells, inflicting significant damage on the troops of the 18th German Army, in particular, Petropavlovsk was very effective in counter-battery combat, several attempts by German troops to break through the defenses in the area of the railway to Leningrad and along the shortest way to enter the city. As Fleet Admiral N.G. Kuznetsov: "The unfinished cruiser "Petropavlovsk" annoyed the Nazis with its artillery fire." On September 11, an accident occurred on the ship: during live firing, on the 22nd shot, the explosion of a projectile in the bore blew the barrel of the left gun of turret No. Deliberate sabotage or factory defect? An exact answer is unlikely to ever be received. On September 10, the troops of Army Group North reached the coast of the Gulf of Finland, which gave them the opportunity to more carefully adjust the fire of their long-range artillery, and field guns to shoot through the main waterway between Kronstadt and Leningrad - the Sea Canal. Enraged by the successful actions of the sailors of Petropavlovsk, the Germans decided to destroy the cruiser at all costs. A series of air raids followed, which were successfully repulsed by the ship's anti-aircraft gunners. However, from the dropped bombs, which, although they did not cause any harm to the “ex-Luttsov”, the port buildings covering it from enemy eyes caught fire, and the coastal power substation was disabled. The position of the cruiser, deprived of its course and now in direct line of sight of the enemy, became threatening. The ship's commander, Captain 3rd Rank A.K. Pavlovsky, urgently called for tugboats, but for now the cruiser continued to fire all night.
On September 17, heavy 210 mm howitzers of the 768th motorized division of the Wehrmacht brought down the first shells on a stationary ship. The gunners of Petropavlovsk tried to answer, but the Germans saw the target perfectly and fired very accurately. Almost one of the first shells was put out of action in generator room No. 3 - the last remaining source of energy and the ship was completely de-energized. The cruiser turned into a defenseless target, which began to be mercilessly beaten by enemy artillery. During the day, "Petropavlovsk" received more than 50 hits of shells of various calibers, mostly 210 mm, which is quite enough to sink almost any ship. A fire broke out on the cruiser, which could not be extinguished due to numerous damages in the fire mains. Outboard water began to flow through the holes. The team hurriedly left the sinking ship, having previously evacuated all the wounded. September 19, having received a huge mass of water, the warship sat down on the ground, heavily leaning sideways on the quay wall. The crew lost 10 men killed and 30 wounded. However, the cruiser did not give up. At night, observing all precautions, the remaining members of the team boarded together with the arrived specialists from shipyard No. 189. They secretly dismantled anti-aircraft weapons, which were essential for equipping the ships of the Ladoga military flotilla.
The difficult situation at the front forced the Soviet command to further reduce the crew, another company of marines was formed from the sailors of the Petropavlovsk, hastily sent to the front line, to land on Peterhof ..
The city defense headquarters decided not to leave the shot cruiser to the mercy of fate, it was decided to carry out work to lift and tow it to a safe place. A small crew and EPRON specialists fought for the ship's salvation throughout the year. It was especially hard for people in the winter: cold, hunger, and even to the front line of the German troops there were only three kilometers. Noticing the slightest movement in the area of the forced parking of the ship, the Germans opened massive artillery and mortar fire. Keeping all the measures of light and noise masking, an unprecedented struggle was going on in the flooded premises of the cruiser. With weak portable pumps, the Baltic sailors pumped out water from the compartments, divers sealed holes outside the hull, mechanics restored pipelines and electrical wiring. Things went faster when the ship's specialists managed to "revive" part of the ship's pumps. And on September 10, 1942, an iron colossus 212 meters long and 22 meters wide finally surfaced. It became possible to repair the damage in that part of the hull that rested against the pier, by morning a plaster was wound up, cement boxes were installed on the holes. It was beginning to dawn, the Germans could notice that the warship came to life and bombarded it with shells again, so the order was given to open the kingstones and sink the cruiser again.
The next attempt was repeated a few days later. Powerful ship pumps quickly pumped out almost 1,600 tons of water, a tugboat that crept unnoticed picked up a steel hulk and quickly dragged it to the Neva. However, here, too, failure awaited the Red Navy: the fairway changed a lot over the year and the cruiser ran aground. Work on refloating continued until dawn, and in the morning before the eyes of the German observers there was again a familiar picture: the banked cruiser calmly stood in its original place. On a moonless night on September 17, 1942, another attempt to save the ship was a success. In the morning, the dumbfounded Germans saw an empty pier, and the securely moored Petropavlovsk was already standing at the pier of the Baltic Shipyard.
In December 1942, the repair on the ship was completed, and the day before the new year, 1943, the cruiser was towed to the iron wall of the Trade Port, from where it again opened fire on the enemy. "Petropavlovsk" was introduced into the 2nd artillery group of the fleet, which also included the battleship "October Revolution", the cruisers "Kirov", and "Maxim Gorky", as well as several destroyers. The artillery of the cruiser was commanded by Senior Lieutenant J.K. Grace. The guns of the warship continued to smash the enemy, assisting the ground formations. German technology did not fail, the fire was extremely accurate. “Enemy command post at height 112 (east of Krasnoye Selo). Two direct hits on a concrete pillbox. The corner of the pillbox was demolished, the upper floor was destroyed. There are 31 funnels within a radius of 100 meters. Shooting of the cruiser "Petropavlovsk" - testifies in the book "Soviet surface ships in the Great Patriotic War" by G.I. Khorkov. "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 with a factory guarantee of barrel "survivability" of 300 shots. 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, especially since the Germans, for some reason, put almost double ammunition before the war. “According to the reports of the coastal observation groups and our troops, the actions of the Petropavlovsk artillery turned out to be very effective. Only on January 19, 3 guns, 29 cars, 68 wagons and 300 enemy soldiers and officers killed were recorded at the expense of the cruiser-battery, ”V. Kofman quotes a summary of the KBF in the book Princes of the Kriegsmarine. But gradually the front moved away, and firing became more and more difficult. The ship fired its last salvos on January 24, 1944. On this combat service "Petropavlovsk" ended. On September 19, 1944, the cruiser was renamed Tallinn.
Rice. Heavy cruiser "Seydlitz" in Pillau
After the war, several options for completing the ship were considered, one of which was very original. In 1945, in Pillau Bay (now Baltiysk, Kaliningrad region of the Russian Federation), Soviet troops captured the cruiser Seidlitz, which was blown up by the Germans. There was an opportunity, using one ship as a "spare parts warehouse", to bring the work started 5 years ago to its logical end. However, having considered all the options, the command of the Navy considered the costs of restoring the foreign and already obsolete cruiser excessive. In addition, the hybrid power plant, which was installed on this type of ships, turned out to be difficult to operate and repair, and did not meet the requirements of post-war domestic shipbuilding.
After the war, Tallinn began to be used as a non-self-propelled training ship until March 11, 1953, when it was once again renamed Dnepr. The cruiser was turned into a floating barracks, in which the crews of warships being repaired at the Leningrad docks lived. The next wave of renaming was not long in coming, on December 27, 1956, the former combat ship received the name PKZ-112.
On April 3, 1958, the former Lützow was excluded from the lists of the fleet.
In some works of modern authors on this topic, there is often a censure of the USSR government for the purchase of an unfinished cruiser, they say, the price is too high, and for the spent currency it was possible to buy or build something more necessary. This judgment shows only one thing: their superficial knowledge of the realities of the beginning of the war. In the 1930s, out of malice or incompetence, now recorded as the "innocent victims of Stalin's repressions", Marshal Tukhachevsky, who was directly responsible for armaments, by a strong-willed decision concentrated the efforts of the design bureau and directed the funds and capacities of arms factories to implement various fantastic ideas such as "universal anti-tank anti-aircraft guns" or air guns with a caliber of 250 mm. The development of long-range artillery was stopped by him, and by the beginning of the war the USSR approached with a few units of field guns that fired at a distance of over 30 km. Artillery systems, which were then part of the Leningrad Front, had a maximum firing range of 20-25 km, standard German guns of infantry and motorized divisions confidently hit targets at 25-30 km. It turned out that the Germans could raze the city to the ground with complete impunity by the actions of one artillery. However, it turned out that the fleet blocked in September 1941 in the Marquis Puddle turned out to be the savior of Leningrad: for example, the cannons of pre-revolutionary battleships could send a heavy projectile at a distance of up to 44 km. Eight-inch "Luttsov" fired at 33.5 km, which made it possible to effectively conduct a counter-battery fight against any type of German guns. During the war, the cruiser fired more shells at the enemy than any other ship of the Baltic Fleet, thereby saving many thousands of lives of Soviet soldiers and civilians of the heroic city on the Neva that did not have a cash equivalent.
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