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Schwerer Kreuzer Lützow (projected
appearance)
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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.
Lützow was uncompleted sold to Russia in
1940 and was never completed. She was scraped in the late 1950s.
|
| Construction
Data |
Dimensions |
Commanders |
| Laid
down: |
Deschimag
Bremen, 02.08.1937 |
| Launched: |
01.07.1939 |
| Commissioned: |
|
| Fate: |
scrapped
in the 1950s (Russia) |
| Costs: |
83,6
Mio Reichsmark |
|
| Size
(Max): |
19800
t |
| Length
(Total): |
210,0
m |
| Length
(Waterline): |
|
| Beam: |
21,8
m |
| Draft: |
7,9
m |
| Crew: |
~1600 |
|
| Kaptain
II ranga A.G. Vanifatiev: |
Oct 1940 - Sep 1941 |
| Kaptain
II ranga A.K. Pavlovskii: |
Dec 1942 - Aug 1943 |
| Kaptain
III ranga S.A. Glukhovtsev: |
Aug
1943 - |
|
|
Weapons |
Armour and
Aircraft |
Engines
& Performance |
| 20,3cm
SK (8"): |
8 |
| 10,5
cm L/65 C/33: |
12 |
| 4
cm Flak: |
20 |
| 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: |
Deschimag
geared turbines |
| Total
Performance: |
132000
shp |
| Speed: |
32,5
kn |
| Range: |
8000
miles at 20 kn |
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Operational
History
| 01.07.1939: |
Launched
at Deschimag shipyard, Bremen. |
| May
1940: |
Purchased
by Soviet Union from Germany. |
| 31.05.1940: |
The
incomplete hull is towed to Leningrad. |
| 25.09.1940: |
Renamed
to Petropavlovsk . |
| June
1941: |
The
Petropavlovsk is completed about 70%. Machinery and
subsidiary installations are incomplete, the funnel and only
basic elements of superstructures are erected plus improvised
main-mast mounted. Only "A" and "D" (1st
and 4th) 20,3 cm (8") turrets are mounted and equipped
plus bases and barbettes for the other two. AA guns consisted
of two 3,7 cm and eight 20 mm guns (most likely German models) |
| June
- August 1941: |
The
cruiser was re-equipped to floating battery with its four 20,3
cm guns (German ammunition) and towed to the Call Harbor
(Leningrad Trade Port's area). |
| 07.09.1941: |
Petropavlovsk
opens fire on Wehrmacht units. After 21st volley the barrel of
the left 20, cm gun of the "A" turret broke
down because of internal shell/defect which was thoroughly
sealed in Germany. |
| 17.09.1941: |
The
motionless ship has fired about 700 shells on German ground
units. German heavy artillery fired at
the cruiser. During this day Petropavlovsk received
53 hits of 210 mm shells. She sunk and set upon the
bottom on shallow waters. |
| 04.04.1942: |
During
operation "Eisstoss" the cruiser received one
serious hit from Luftwaffe bombers. |
| 17.09.1942: |
The
ship was raised and towed for refitting. |
| 30.12.1942: |
Reintegrated
into the naval defence of Leningrad, moved to the "Iron
Seawall" in Leningrad Cargo Port. |
| January-February
1943: |
The
ship is refitted with AA guns: six 3,7 cm L/67, 5x70-K
mountings, two 20 mm and several (6-8) 12,7 mm L/79. |
| January
1944: |
Petropavlovsk
fires on German units retreating. Over 1036 shells were fired
for 10 days. |
| 01.09.1944: |
The
cruiser is renamed to Tallin . |
| Summer
1945: |
The
ship is transferred to the Baltic plant in order to continue
construction. |
| 12.01.1949: |
The
ship is re-classified to Light Cruiser. |
| 23.12.1949: |
Technical
parameters for a completion of the i are set: 12 x 15,2 cm
guns L/53 "MK-5" (in triple turrets), 6 x 10 cm guns
L/70 "SM.5" , 12 45 mm L/78 "SM-20" flak
and 24 x 25 mm L/80 "4M-120" light Flak. The maximum
size of the ship was projected to be 19395 t. But caused by
the time and money to be spend on this project - equal to the
construction of an additional Severdlov cruiser - the
project is canceled. |
| 11.03.1953: |
Re-classified
to motionless training ship Dnepr . |
| December
1956: |
Re-classified
to floating barrack and renamed to PKZ-112 . |
| 04.04.1958: |
Removed
from the Soviet navy lists. |
| 09.04.1940: |
Broken down at the Vtorchermet base in
Leningrad Cargo Port.
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