The cruiser Admiral Hipper (1937-1945): the history of creation and service. Navy of Germany

The German ship "Admiral Hipper" was one of thethe best heavy cruisers of the Kriegsmarine during the Second World War. He took part in the capture of Norway, conducted several raids in the Atlantic, and his last battle took place in the cold Barents Sea. The last one and a half years of his service, the cruiser remained in the port in a canned state.

Design

On paper, the cruiser Admiral Hipper appeared in 1934year. It was then that the Naval Staff formulated the basic requirements for the new ship. First, the ship was waiting for an equal fight with future French and British opponents. Secondly, the German Navy wanted to get a ship capable of quickly escaping the pursuit of enemy battleships "Dunkirk" and "Strasbourg." This moment was very important - these models promised to become the most terrible hunters for insufficiently high-speed cruisers. Finally, in the third place, the novelty was intended for raider operations on ocean and sea open spaces.

The cruiser Admiral Hipper belonged to the same nametype of heavy cruisers. It was planned to build five such ships. As a result, in addition to the "Hipper", there were also "Prince Eugen" and "Blucher". Two other ships "Lutzov" and "Seydlitz" did not have time to finish building. The heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper was named after Franz von Hipper, commanding a detachment of German ships in the battle of Dogger Bank and Jutland.

Building

The "Admiral Hipper" tab began on July 6, 1935year at the shipyard in Hamburg. It became possible after the denunciation of the Treaty of Versailles, which at one time established restrictions for the German army and navy. Hitler was preparing for revenge and behaving defiantly, while the victorious countries of the First World War looked at it through their fingers. To somehow not lose face, the British government concluded a separate agreement, according to which the German Navy had the right to increase its naval forces to 35% of the British. Anyway, but the Germans did not take into account the opinion of future opponents and began to prepare for the forthcoming bloodshed in an accelerated pace.

During the first year and a half, the slipway was completedship building period. On February 6, 1937, a heavy cruiser was launched. At the festive ceremony, the traditional bottle of champagne was smashed by the wife of Admiral Raeder, commander of the fleet. During the First World War, he entered the headquarters of von Hipper, and when launching a new ship, he delivered a solemn speech.

Due to the accelerated militarization of Germanycompeting military industries demanded all new materials, means and labor. As a result, Admiral Hipper's acceptance was constantly postponed. The Prince Eugen was built even longer. At the launching ceremony of this ship, Hitler and Hungary's regent Miklos Horthy were present. The place of its construction was Kiel, where the "Hipper" was later transferred. The last in their type of heavy cruisers appeared cruiser "Blucher".

Getting Started

German cruiser "Admiral Hipper" was adopted onservice on April 29, 1939. It arrived just in time - the Second World War was approaching. The first few months of its operation, the ship was tested in Kiel. On March 20, 1940, the crew was ordered to send the vessel to Cuxhaven. "Admiral Hipper", like almost the entire existing Krigsmarine structure, was to take part in the invasion of Norway, which became part of the operation "Wesenburg" (or "Teachings on Weser").

The cruiser led the second group, whose goalbecame the capture of the important port of Trondheim. The destroyers Jacobi, Riedel, Ecopeltt and Heinemann joined him. On board the "Hipper" were the signalmen, the headquarters of the Luftwaffe group and parts of the 83rd engineer battalion and the 138th mountain regiment. They had to take care of coastal Norwegian batteries.

The squadron left Cuxhaven on April 6 in conditionsworse weather. Along the way, she entered into a minor skirmish with the British forces. Now the British knew about the movement of the Germans, although for a long time they could not understand the true aims and scale of the operation that had begun.

"Teachings on Vezere"

April 8, 1940 on the way to Norway, the cruiser"Admiral Hipper" departed from the previous course and went to the rescue of the destroyer "Bernd von Arnim." This ship collided with the British ship Glouvorm of the same class. The commander of the "Hipper" Helmut Heije attacked the enemy ship, even though the enemy used smoke screens and torpedoes. For the entire battle, "Glouvorm" only once hit the German cruiser, hitting his right side near the breakwater. This was a minor damage, but the British destroyer so easily did not get off and sank. Finally, "Glouvorm" dealt on the "Hipper" ramming blow, the consequences of which had to be repaired for three weeks.

On the night of April 9, the German cruiser dropped anchoron the raid of Trondheim. Attempt of Norwegians to resist was extremely modest: the battery on the coast produced several shots, after which the enemy stopped fighting with the German squadron. The task of the group was completed. The cruiser "Admiral Hipper" went back to Germany for repairs.

Juno

In May, the ship in order was inKiel, where a compound was being formed that was supposed to help other German ships stuck in Norway because of the British blockade. The upcoming operation was called "Juneau". In addition to the "Hipper", battleships "Gneisenau" and "Scharnhorst", as well as destroyers "Lodi", "Galster", "Shemann" and "Steinbrick.

On the way to Norway the cruiser met the British530-ton trawler "Juniper". A small ship came under fire from 105-mm German antiaircraft guns. Soon the trawler banked and sank. At the same time, Shemann, which was operating nearby, sank a Navy tanker Oil Oil Pioneer.

On the same evening on June 6, the "Admiral Hipper" of 1937built intercepted British military transport "Oram". The vessel returned home from Norway and for the fortune of the British was empty (not counting the actual team). Several volleys of high-explosive shells did their job: "Oram" slowly sank to the bottom of the sea. The British were brought aboard German ships.

On June 8, a cruiser and neighboring destroyers received an orderto go to Trondheim. For this reason, Admiral Hopper was unable to take part in the destruction of the aircraft carrier Glories. The next few days the ship was in the raid of Trondheim. Then on the evening of June 20, the "Hopper" went to the aid of a damaged torpedo "Scharnhorst". The cruiser marched with the "Gneisenau" and "Galster". The journey was short. At midnight the Gneisenau was torpedoed by the British submarine Clyde. Battleship took a lot of water, and the detachment had to return to Trondheim, and failed to fulfill its mission. Because of the damage to the two leading ships, Admiral Hipper became the most serious fighting unit of the Third Reich in the waters of Northern Norway.

Atlantic Raid

Some famous cruisers of World War IIFor a long time wars were used only in inland waters. So was Admiral Hepper. And only on November 30, 1940, he finally made his long-awaited ocean trip. The middle Atlantic at latitude Brest-Newfoundland was swarming with British convoys. In this zone, the transport routes crossed by which strategically important troops and cargo were transported. The only free ship capable of attacking the convoys at that time was precisely Admiral Hipper. Other famous cruisers of the Second World War were occupied. Against the backdrop of these circumstances, the ship, making noise in the northern seas, proceeded to Operation Nordseetour.

December 25, "Hipper" found an escort,covered with a cruiser "Barvik" and several other units of light cruisers. The German ship attacked the group, but found a serious threat of defeat, retreated. By a lucky coincidence, the crew managed to protect its ship from noticeable damage.

Having dealt with an unsuccessful meeting with a convoy,the new captain Meisel decided to return to Europe. Sailors are tired of combat duties in harsh climatic and weather conditions. But a day later, on the way back to the captured France "Hipper", finally, good luck smiled. The ship attacked the Jamna merchant ship. Squall fire of cannons hit the target, joined by two torpedoes. The ship quickly sank, but Meisel was afraid that the British had time to send a distress signal to a nearby convoy. If he had caught up with the Hipper, then the Germans would again have to fight an unequal battle. Therefore, having finished with “Dzhamnoy”, the captain gave the order to leave for France. Hurrying, Maisel did not lift the English submerged on board. As a result, all 111 people who were on the “Djamna” died. On December 27, the Admiral Hipper dropped anchor in the dock of Brest.

Azores Massacre

After the Atlantic voyage, the Hipper neededrepair. The repair took exactly one month, and as early as February 1, 1941, the cruiser re-entered the ocean waters. On the 11th, while being close to the Azores, the German ship was stopped by the Iceland steamer with a warning shot. Once this ship was German and bore the name "Dahlia". Now it belonged to the UK. The Hipper sank the victim who had lagged behind his convoy.

From the raised on board the sailors "Iceland" MaiselI learned about a completely defenseless group of ships that was swimming nearby. It was a convoy going from Freetown (Sierra Leone). It consisted of as many as 19 vessels belonging to England, Norway and Greece. The biggest success was that the convoy was completely deprived of a security escort. February 12, "Admiral Hipper" without any obstacles sank 7 ships. 3 more were seriously damaged.

Having achieved the most impressive success for hisservice, "Admiral Hipper" returned to Brest. In March 1941, he moved to the city of Kiel, where he spent exactly one year. During this time, the ship was modernized and covered with new camouflage. In March 1942, he arrived in Trondheim. The cruiser was waiting for the last northern campaign.

Regenborgen

Determining which heavy cruisers like "Admiral"Hipper "should have been engaged in the interception of the Arctic convoys, the command of the German fleet stopped on the choice of the lead ship of the group. With the entry into the war of the USSR, such operations became extremely important. Arctic convoys went to the Soviet Union from the USA and the UK. With the help of them was carried out a program of Lend-Lease. War materials needed to fight the army of the Third Reich were delivered along the northern sea route in the USSR.

The operation to intercept the next convoy receivedthe name "Regenborgen" ("Rainbow"). Commander Kriegsmarine Admiral Raeder took command of it. Together with the "Hipper" another heavy cruiser "Lutzov" was involved in the raid, as well as six destroyers. The detachment went to sea on December 30, 1942. It was a polar night. Because of the storm, the ships were covered with a crust of ice that prevented the use of communications equipment and tools.

"New Year's fight"

In the morning of December 31st, a convoy was noticed by strangers.destroyers. The Germans were lucky: the British decided that they stumbled upon a Soviet patrol. Because of this mistake, the fire opened by the ships of the Third Reich became a complete surprise for the convoy. However, the British quickly corrected their mistake. Their ships were rebuilt into battle order, and the place of battle was clouded by a smoke screen.

Half an hour after the collision, the captain of the convoyRobert Sherbrooke recognized the daunting silhouette of the Admiral Hipper. The cruiser chose the destroyer "Akites", on which aimed fire was opened. Because of the weather and winds, the German gunner had difficulty in tracking down the enemy vessel. However, at 13 o'clock the Ekateys drowned, and its 80 sailors were picked up by a trawler who came to the rescue.

Everything went according to Kriegsmarine’s plan, but at the mostInopportune moment unexpectedly for the Germans on the horizon appeared the British cruisers Sheffield and Jamaica. They covered the Admiral Hipper with deadly fire. The German destroyers took the ships that approached for their own, approached them too close and got fatal hits. In the meantime, another cruiser Lutzov withdrew in pursuit of an escort. The captain of the ship realized his mistake, but it was already too late: he gave the order to leave for the port. Having shot off from “Admiral Hipper”, the convoy continued its journey to Soviet Murmansk. The failure of the operation led to the resignation of Erich Reder from the post of commander-in-chief of the German fleet.

In reserve

Heavily damaged cruiser in the Barents SeaThe Admiral Hipper followed up on repairs, after which he was enlisted in the reserve and stopped in Gotenhafen. Almost one and a half thousand team has decreased several times. In March 1944, the order was followed to prepare the vessel for future operations. However, it was not possible to do this in due time. There were not enough spare parts and people, the activity of the allied and Soviet aviation constantly hampered. The boiler department number 3, burned down in the "New Year's battle," and did not put in order. Once a great fighting machine was no longer suitable even to patrol the shores.

1945 has come. On January 1, the fleet leadership ordered that the Admiral Hipper and his twin Prince Eugen be put in order in three months. Meanwhile, Soviet troops were approaching the port. Because of this, instead of repairing had to do evacuation. January 29, "Hipper" left Gotenhafen, despite the fact that he had only one turbine. In addition to his team, one and a half thousand evacuees were located on the “lame” ship. Soon the cruiser was in the area where the 30th of the Soviet submarine "S-13" was sunk passenger liner "Wilhelm Gustlov." Captain Hans Hoenigst, due to the congestion of the vessel, proceeded past the lifeboats and life rafts, on which the Germans who were sleeping in the crash froze.

On February 2, Admiral Hipper arrived in the city of Kiel. The very next day the port was attacked by British aircraft. During the raid, the ship received a few more hits. A fire broke out and the burned-out cruiser sat on the bottom of its dock. After this episode, the Navy ceased its vain attempts to repair the former pride of the fleet. After the capitulation of the Third Reich in May 1945, Admiral Hipper was dismantled for metal.