The German ship Admiral Hipper was one of the best Kriegsmarine heavy cruisers during World War II. He took part in the capture of Norway, carried out several raids in the Atlantic, and took his last battle in the cold Barents Sea. For the last year and a half of its service, the cruiser remained in the port in a mothballed condition.
Design
On paper, the cruiser Admiral Hipper appeared in 1934. It was then that at the Naval Headquarters the basic requirements for a new ship were formulated. Firstly, they expected an equal fight against future French and British opponents from the ship. Secondly, the German Navy wanted to get a ship capable of quickly moving away from the pursuit of the enemy battleships Dunkirk and Strasbourg. This moment was very important - these models promised to become the most terrible hunters for insufficiently fast cruisers. Finally, thirdly, the novelty was intended for raider operations in the ocean and sea.
Cruiser Admiral Hipper belonged to the same type 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. The other two vessels, Lutzov and Seydlitz, did not have time to complete. The heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper was named after Franz von Hipper, who commanded a detachment of German ships at the battle of Dogger Bank and at Jutland.
Construction
The Admiral Hipper bookmark began on July 6, 1935 at the shipyard in Hamburg. It became possible after the denunciation of the Treaty of Versailles, which at one time established restrictions on the German army and navy. Hitler prepared for revenge and acted defiantly, while the victorious countries of World War I looked at it through their fingers. In order not to lose face, the British government concluded a separate agreement, according to which the German Navy received the right to increase its naval forces to 35% of the British. One way or another, but the Germans no longer took into account the opinions of future opponents and began at an accelerated pace to prepare for the impending bloodshed.
In the first year and a half, the slipway of the ship was completed. On February 6, 1937, a heavy cruiser was launched. At the festive ceremony, the wife of Admiral Raeder, who commanded the fleet, broke the traditional bottle of champagne. 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 Germany, the competing military industries demanded ever new materials, means and labor. As a result, the acceptance of Admiral Hipper was constantly delayed. Prince Eugen was built even longer. Hitler and Hungarian regent Miklos Horthy attended the launching ceremony of this ship . The place of its construction was Kiel, where he was later transferred and "Hipper." The last in their type of heavy cruisers was the Blucher cruiser.
Service start
The German cruiser Admiral Hipper was taken into service on April 29, 1939. He arrived just in time - the Second World War was approaching. The ship spent the first few months of its operation in pilot trials in Kiel. March 20, 1940 the crew received an order to send the ship to Cuxhaven. Admiral Hipper, like almost the entire active Kriegsmarine squad, was to take part in the invasion of Norway, which became part of Operation Wesenbürg (or “Teachings on the Weser”).
The cruiser led the second group, whose goal was to capture the important port of Trondheim. The destroyers Jacobi, Riedel, Eckoldt and Heinemann joined him. On board the Hipper were signalmen, the headquarters of the Luftwaffe group and parts of the 83rd combat engineer battalion and 138th mountain regiment. They had to take care of the Norwegian coastal batteries.
The squadron left Cuxhaven on April 6 in conditions of worsening weather. Along the way, she entered into a minor skirmish with British forces. The British now knew about the German movement, although for a long time they could not understand the true goals and scope of the operation that had begun.
"Teachings on the Weser"
On April 8, 1940, on the way to Norway, the cruiser Admiral Hipper retreated from its previous course and went to the rescue of the destroyer Bernd von Arnim. This ship collided with the British ship Glouworm of the same class. Helper commander Helmut Heye attacked the enemy ship even though the enemy used smoke curtains and torpedoes. For the entire battle, the Gloworm hit the German cruiser only once, hitting its starboard side near the breakwater. This was minor damage, but the British destroyer did not get off so easily and sank. Finally, Gloveworm hit the Hipper with a ramming strike, the consequences of which had to be repaired for three weeks.
On the night of April 9, a German cruiser anchored in the Trondheim raid. The Norwegians' attempt to resist was extremely modest: a battery on the coast fired several shots, after which the enemy stopped fighting the German squadron. The task of the group was completed. The cruiser "Admiral Hipper" went back to Germany for repairs.
Juneau
In May, the tidied ship ended up in Kiel, where a formation was being formed that was supposed to help other German ships stuck in Norway due to the British blockade. The upcoming operation was called "Juneau." In addition to the Hipper, the battleships Gneisenau and Scharnhorst, as well as the destroyers Lodi, Halster, Shemann and Steinbrick, took part in it.
On the way to Norway, the cruiser met the British 530-ton trawler Juniper. A small ship came under the fire of 105 mm German anti-aircraft guns. Soon the trawler banked and sank. At the same time, the nearby Shemann sank the oil tanker Oil Pioneer.
On the same evening, June 6, the 1937 Admiral Hipper was built and intercepted by the British military transport Orama. The ship was returning home from Norway and, fortunately, the British were empty (not counting the crew itself). Several volleys with high-explosive shells did their job: Orama slowly sank to the bottom of the sea. The British were brought aboard German ships.
On June 8, the cruiser and neighboring destroyers were ordered to head to Trondheim. For this reason, the Admiral Hopper was unable to take part in the destruction of the Glories aircraft carrier. The next few days the ship spent on the Trondheim raid. Then, on the evening of June 20, the Hopper went to the rescue of the damaged Scharnhorst torpedo. The cruiser went camping with the Gneisenau and Halster. The trip was short. At midnight, the Gneisenau was torpedoed by the British submarine Clyde. The battleship received a lot of water, and the detachment had to return to Trondheim without fulfilling its mission. Due to damage to the two leading ships, the Admiral Hipper became the most serious combat unit of the Third Reich in the waters of Northern Norway.
Atlantic raid
Some famous World War II cruisers have long been used only in inland waters. That was Admiral Hepper. And only on November 30, 1940, he finally embarked on his long-awaited ocean voyage. The Middle Atlantic at the latitude of Brest-Newfoundland was teeming with British convoys. In this zone, transport routes crossed along which strategically important troops and cargo were transported. The only free ship capable of attacking convoys at that time was precisely Admiral Hipper. Other famous World War II cruisers were busy. Against the background of these circumstances, the ship that caused a noise in the northern seas began the operation "Nordzeetur".
On December 25, the Hipper discovered a convoy hiding behind the Berwick cruiser and several more units of light cruisers. The German ship attacked the group, but having found a serious threat of defeat, retreated. By a lucky coincidence, the crew managed to save their ship from noticeable damage.
Having finished with an inconclusive meeting with the convoy, the new captain Meisel decided to return to Europe. Sailors are tired of combat duty in harsh climatic and weather conditions. But a day later, on the way back to France, the Hippers finally smiled luck. The ship attacked the steamer Jamna. A heavy fire of guns fell upon the target, to which two torpedoes joined. The ship quickly sank, but Meisel was afraid that the British managed to transmit a distress signal to a nearby convoy. If he had caught up with Hipper, then the Germans would again have to wage an unequal battle. Therefore, having finished with the "Jamna", the captain gave the order to leave for France. In a hurry, Meisel did not take on board the British who were plunging into the ocean. As a result, all 111 people who were on the "Jamna" died. On December 27, the Admiral Hipper anchored in Brest's dock.
Azores massacre
After the Atlantic voyage, the Hipper was in need of repair. The repair took exactly a month, and already on February 1, 1941, the cruiser again went into the ocean waters. On the 11th, being close to the Azores, the German ship stopped the Iceland steamer with a warning shot. Once this ship was German and was called "Dahlia". Now it belonged to the UK. The Hipper sank a victim behind its convoy.
From the Island seamen taken aboard, Meisel found out about a completely defenseless group of ships sailing nearby. It was a convoy marching from Freetown (Sierra Leone). It included as many as 19 vessels belonging to England, Norway and Greece. The main luck was that the convoy was completely deprived of a security escort. On February 12, the Admiral Hipper sank 7 ships without any obstacles. 3 more were seriously injured.
Having achieved the most impressive success for his service, 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 of the Admiral Hipper type were supposed to intercept the Arctic convoys, the German fleet command settled on the choice of the head 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 Great Britain. With the help of them, a Lend-Lease program was implemented. Military materials necessary for fighting the Third Reich army were delivered to the USSR along the Northern Sea Route .
The operation to intercept another convoy was called "Regenborgen" ("Rainbow"). The commander of the 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. Due to the storm, the ships were covered with ice, which prevented the use of communication devices and guns.
"New Year's fight"
On the morning of December 31, the convoy noticed unfamiliar destroyers. The Germans were lucky: the British decided that they came across a Soviet patrol. Because of this mistake, the fire opened by the ships of the Third Reich was a complete surprise for the convoy. However, the British quickly corrected their mistake. Their ships were rebuilt into battle formation, and a smoke screen clouded the scene of the battle.
Half an hour after the collision, convoy captain Robert Sherbrooke recognized the awesome silhouette of Admiral Hipper. The cruiser chose the destroyer Ekeites as its first target, which aimed fire was opened on. Due to the weather and the smoke curtains, the German gunners had difficulty tracking the enemy ship. Nevertheless, at 13 o'clock Ekatez 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 most inopportune moment, unexpectedly for the Germans, the British cruisers Sheffield and Jamaica appeared on the horizon. They covered the Admiral Hipper with deadly fire. German destroyers took the approaching ships for their own, approached them too close. One of them, Friedrich Ekoldt, received fatal hits and sank. Meanwhile, the cruiser Lutzov retired in pursuit of the convoy. The ship's captain realized his mistake, but it was too late: he gave the order to depart for the port. Shooting from the "Admiral Hipper", the convoy continued his journey to Soviet Murmansk. The failure of the operation led to the resignation of Erich Raeder from the post of commander in chief of the German fleet.
In reserve
The cruiser “Admiral Hipper”, severely damaged in the Barents Sea, was followed for repairs, after which he was credited to the reserve and stayed in Gotenhafen. Almost one and a half thousand teams were reduced several times. In March 1944, an order was issued to prepare the vessel for future operations. However, it was not possible to do this on time. There were not enough spare parts and people, the activity of the allied and Soviet aviation constantly interfered. The boiler room No. 3, burned down in the "New Year's battle", was not put in order. Once a great fighting vehicle was now not even suitable for patrolling the coast.
The year 1945 has come. On January 1, the fleet's leadership ordered Admiral Hipper and his twin Prince Eugen to be tidied up in three months. Meanwhile, Soviet troops were approaching the port. Because of this, instead of repair, I had to do evacuation. On January 29, the Hipper left Gotenhafen, despite the fact that he had only one turbine running. On the "lame" ship, in addition to his crew, 1,500 evacuated were located. Soon, the cruiser was in the area where the passenger submarine Wilhelm Gustlov was sunk on the 30th of the Soviet submarine S-13. Captain Hans Henigst, due to the congestion of the ship, proceeded past boats and life rafts, on which the Germans who slept in the crash froze.
On February 2, Admiral Hipper arrived in Kiel. The very next day, the port was attacked by British aircraft. During the raid, the ship received several more hits. A fire broke out and the burned-out cruiser sat at the bottom of its dock. After this episode, the Navy stopped vain attempts to repair the former pride of the fleet. After the surrender of the Third Reich in May 1945, the Admiral Hipper was disassembled for metal.