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Schwerer Kreuzer Blücher 1940
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History
The heavy cruisers of the Kriegsmarine were a result of the
Washington Fleet Treaty of 1921, so called "Washington
Cruisers". Their displacement was not to exceed 10.000 tons and
their main artillery was limited to 8" (20,3 cm) guns, but in
reality they were up to 60% bigger than allowed.
Between 1935 and 1937 the keels of five of this ships were laid
down which belonged to two slightly different classes of ships: The Admiral
Hipper and her sister Ship Blücher , the improved
second batch consisting of the Prinz Eugen , Seydlitz
and Lützow . The last two were originally planned to be
big CLs with an armament of twelve 15 cm guns, but due to the lack
of guns and turrets and the threat of a new class of Soviet
cruisers, the ships were built as additional ships of the Prinz
Eugen design. Those ships were designed with the idea of
commerce war in mind, they should attack allied merchant shipping
and evade allied warships, but it soon got obvious that they were
not ideal for this task. With their high-pressure steam engine their
fuel consumption was too high and their operational range was not
big enough to be used in the North Atlantic. In addition, the
complicated engine construction often broke down. Of the five ships,
only three got completed at all.
Blücher was sunk on April 9th 1940 in the Oslo fjord.
|
| Construction
Data |
Dimensions |
Commanders |
| Laid
down: |
Deutsche
Werke Kiel, 15.08.1935 |
| Launched: |
08.06.1937 |
| Commissioned: |
20.09.1939 |
| Fate: |
sunk
09.04.1940 (Oslo Fjord) |
| Costs: |
87,8
Mio Reichsmark |
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| Size
(Max): |
18200
t |
| Length
(Total): |
205,9
m |
| Length
(Waterline): |
|
| Beam: |
21,3
m |
| Draft: |
7,7
m |
| Crew: |
~1600 |
|
| KzS
Heinrich Woldag: |
20.09.1939
- 09.04.1940 |
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Weapons |
Armour and
Aircraft |
Engines
& Performance |
| 20,3cm
SK (8"): |
8 |
| 10,5
cm L/65 C/33: |
12 |
| 4
cm Flak: |
6 |
| 3,7
cm L/83: |
8 |
| 2
cm MG L/64: |
32 |
| 53,3
cm Torpedoes: |
12 |
|
| Deck: |
12-50
mm |
| Belt: |
70-80
mm |
| Command
Tower: |
50
- 150 mm |
| Turrets: |
70
- 105 mm |
|
| Shafts: |
3 |
| Turbines: |
3 |
| Type: |
Blohm
& Voß |
| Total
Performance: |
132000
shp |
| Speed: |
32,5
kn |
| Range: |
8000
miles at 20 kn |
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Operational
History
| 20.09.1939: |
Commissioned. |
| Sep
1939 - Apr 1940: |
Training
in the Baltic Sea. |
| April
1940: |
Operation
"Weserübung":
Loads army troops in Swinemünde. Together with Lützow
, Emden , the torpedo boats Albatros , Möwe
and Kondor and the 1st R-Flottilla, the Blücher
forms Squadron 5 heading for Oslo. |
| 09.04.1940: |
As the squadron reaches the Oslo Fjord, the
ships want to proceed to Oslo without any delay. At 5:20 am
the lead ship Blücher enters the narrowest part of
the Fjord, the Dröbak Narrows as the fortress of Oskarborg
opens fire with its 28cm (11") guns. The ship is
heavily damaged at its superstructure and fire spreads. After
two hits by Norwegian torpedo batteries the ship sinks at 7:23
am.
Even today, the wreck is still loosing oil and endangers the
environment of the Oslo Fjord.
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