German cruiser Admiral Scheer

At the outbreak of World War II in September 1939, Admiral Scheer remained at anchor in the Schillig roadstead outside Wilhelmshaven, with the heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper. On 4 September, two groups of five Bristol Blenheim bombers attacked the ships. The first group surprised the anti-aircraft gunners aboard Admiral Scheer, who nevertheless managed to shoot down one of the five Blenheims. One bomb struck the ship's deck and failed to explode, and two detonated in the water near the ship. The remaining bombs also failed to explode.^[14] The second group of five Blenheims were confronted by the alerted German defenses, which shot down four of the five bombers. Admiral Scheer emerged from the attack undamaged.^[15] In November 1939, KzS Theodor Krancke became the ship's commanding officer.^[16]

Admiral Scheer underwent a refit while her sister ships set out on commerce raiding operations in the Atlantic.^[17] Admiral Scheer was modified during the early months of 1940, including the installation of a new, raked clipper bow.^[16] The heavy command tower was replaced with a lighter structure, and she was reclassified as a heavy cruiser.^[12] Additional anti-aircraft guns were also installed, along with updated radar equipment.^[16] On 19–20 July RAF bombers attacked Admiral Scheer and the battleship Tirpitz, though they failed to score any hits.^[18] On 27 July, the ship was pronounced ready for service.^[16]

Atlantic sortie

Admiral Scheer sailed in October 1940 on her first combat sortie. On the night of 31 October she slipped through the

On 18 December, Admiral Scheer encountered the refrigerator ship Duquesa, of some 8,651 long tons (8,790 t) displacement. The ship sent off a distress signal, which the German raider deliberately allowed, to draw British naval forces to the area.[23] Krancke wanted to lure British warships to the area to draw attention away from Admiral Hipper, which had just exited the Denmark Strait.^[24] The aircraft carriers HMS Formidable and Hermes, the cruisers Dorsetshire, Neptune, and Dragon, and the armed merchant cruiser Pretoria Castle converged to hunt down the German raider, but she eluded the British.^[23]

Between 26 December and 7 January, Admiral Scheer rendezvoused with the supply ships Nordmark and Eurofeld, the auxiliary cruiser Thor, and the prizes Duquesa and Storstad. The raiders transferred some 600 prisoners to Storstad while they refueled from Nordmark and Eurofeld.^[25] Between 18 and 20 January Admiral Scheer captured three Allied merchant ships totalling 18,738 gross register tons (GRT),^[26] including the Norwegian oil tanker Sandefjord. She spent Christmas 1940 at sea in the mid-Atlantic, several hundred miles from Tristan da Cunha, before making a foray into the Indian Ocean in February 1941.^[27]

On 14 February, Admiral Scheer rendezvoused with the auxiliary cruiser Atlantis and the supply ship Tannenfels about 1,000 nmi (1,900 km; 1,200 mi) east of Madagascar. The raiders resupplied from Tannenfels and exchanged information on Allied merchant traffic in the area, parting company on 17 February. Admiral Scheer then steamed to the Seychelles north of Madagascar, where she found two merchant vessels with her Arado floatplanes. She took the 6,994 GRT oil tanker British Advocate as a prize and sank the 2,456 GRT Greek-flagged Grigorios. A third ship, the 7,178 GRT Canadian Cruiser, managed to send a distress signal before Admiral Scheer sank her on 21 February. The raider encountered and sank a fourth ship the following day, the 2,542 GRT Dutch steamer Rantaupandjang, though she too was able to send a distress signal before she sank.^[28]

The British cruiser HMS Glasgow, which was patrolling in the area, received both messages from Admiral Scheer's victims. Glasgow launched reconnaissance aircraft that spotted Admiral Scheer on 22 February. Vice Admiral Ralph Leatham, the commander of the East Indies Station, deployed the carrier Hermes and cruisers Capetown, Emerald, Hawkins, Shropshire, and the Australian HMAS Canberra to join the hunt. Krancke turned to the south-east to evade his pursuers, reaching the South Atlantic by 3 March. The British, meanwhile, had abandoned the hunt on 25 February when it became clear that Admiral Scheer had withdrawn from the area.^[28]

Admiral Scheer then sailed northwards, breaking through the Denmark Strait on 26–27 March and evading the cruisers

On 21 February 1942, Admiral Scheer, the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen, and the destroyers Z4 Richard Beitzen, Z5 Paul Jakobi, Z25, Z7 Hermann Schoemann, and Z14 Friedrich Ihn steamed to Norway. After stopping briefly in Grimstadfjord, the ships proceeded on to Trondheim. On 23 February, the British submarine Trident torpedoed Prinz Eugen, causing serious damage.^[33] The first operation in Norway in which Admiral Scheer took part was Operation Rösselsprung, in July 1942. On 2 July, the ship sortied as part of the attempt to intercept Arctic convoy PQ-17.^[34] Admiral Scheer and Lützow formed one group while Tirpitz and Admiral Hipper composed another. While en route to the rendezvous point, Lützow and three destroyers ran aground, forcing the entire group to abandon the operation. Admiral Scheer was detached to join Tirpitz and Admiral Hipper in Altafjord.^[35] The British detected the German departure and ordered the convoy to scatter. Aware that surprise had been lost, the Germans broke off the surface attack and turned the destruction of PQ-17 over to the U-boats and Luftwaffe. Twenty-four of the convoy's thirty-five transports were sunk.^[36]

In August 1942, she conducted Operation Wunderland, a sortie into the Kara Sea to interdict Soviet shipping and attack targets of opportunity. The length of the mission and the distances involved precluded a destroyer escort for the operation; three destroyers would escort Admiral Scheer until they reached Novaya Zemlya, at which point they would return to Norway. Two U-boats — U-251 and U-456 — patrolled the Kara Gate and the Yugorsky Strait. The Germans originally intended to send Admiral Scheer with her sister ship Lützow, but since the latter had run aground the previous month, she was unavailable for the operation.^[37]

The operational plan called for strict radio silence to ensure surprise could be maintained. This required Meendsen-Bohlken to have total tactical and operational control of his ship; shore-based commands would be unable to direct the mission.^[37] On 16 August, Admiral Scheer and her destroyer escort left Narvik on a course to pass to the north of Novaya Zemlya. Upon entering the Kara Sea, she encountered heavy ice; in addition to searching for merchant shipping, the Arado floatplane was used to scout paths through the ice fields.^[38] On 25 August, she encountered the Soviet icebreaker Sibiryakov. Admiral Scheer sank the icebreaker, but not before she sent a distress signal.^[39] The German ship then turned south, and two days later, arrived off the port of Dikson. Admiral Scheer damaged two ships in the port and shelled harbor facilities. Meendsen-Bohlken considered sending a landing party ashore, but firing from Soviet shore batteries convinced him to abandon the plan. After breaking off the bombardment, Meendsen-Bohlken decided to return to Narvik. She reached port on 30 August without having achieved any significant successes.^[40]

On 23 October Admiral Scheer, Tirpitz and the destroyers Z4 Richard Beitzen, Z16 Friedrich Eckoldt, Z23, Z28, and Z29 left Bogen Bay and proceeded to Trondheim. There, Tirpitz stopped for repairs, while Admiral Scheer and Z28 continued on to Germany.^[41] Fregattenkapitän Ernst Gruber served as the ship's acting commander at the end of November.^[9] In December 1942, Admiral Scheer returned to Wilhelmshaven for major overhaul, where she was attacked and slightly damaged by RAF bombers. Consequently, Admiral Scheer moved to the less exposed port of Swinemünde.^[34] In February 1943, KzS Richard Rothe-Roth took command of the ship.^[9] Until the end of 1944, Admiral Scheer was part of the Fleet Training Group.^[42]

Return to the Baltic

KzS

In early February 1945, Admiral Scheer stood off

The ship then loaded refugees and left Swinemünde; she successfully navigated the minefields on the way to Kiel, arriving on 18 March. Her stern turret had its guns replaced at the Deutsche Werke shipyard by early April. During the repair process, most of the ship's crew went ashore. On the night of 9 April 1945, a general RAF bombing raid by over 300 aircraft struck the harbor in Kiel.^[42] Admiral Scheer was hit by bombs and capsized. She was partially broken up for scrap after the end of the war, though part of the hull was left in place and buried with rubble from the attack when the inner harbors were filled in post-war.^[46] The number of casualties from her loss is unknown.^[8][47]

See also

• Leon-Henri Roth

Footnotes

Notes

Citations

1. ^ Pope, p. 7.
2. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Gröner, p. 60.
3. ^ Pope, p. 3.
4. ^ ^{a b} Gröner, p. 61.
5. ^ Meier-Welcker et al., p. 435.
6. ^ Sieche, p. 227.
7. ^ ^{a b c d} Williamson, p. 24.
8. ^ ^{a b} Gröner, p. 62.
9. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Williamson, p. 22.
10. ^ ^{a b} Whitley, p. 69.
11. ^ Bürkner, Leopold: Bordgemeinschaft der Emdenfahrer.
12. ^ ^{a b c} Ciupa, p. 20.
13. ^ Grützner, pp. 91–100.
14. ^ Watson, p. 71.
15. ^ Watson, pp. 71–72.
16. ^ ^{a b c d} Watson, p. 72.
17. ^ ^{a b c} Williamson, p. 33.
18. ^ Rohwer, p. 33.
19. ^ ^{a b} Showell, p. 66.
20. ^ Edwards, p. 90.
21. ^ Rohwer, p. 48.
22. ^ "HX Convoys". Arnold Hague Convoy Database. Retrieved 15 June 2017.
23. ^ ^{a b} Rohwer, p. 52.
24. ^ Edwards, p. 99.
25. ^ Rohwer, p. 53.
26. ^ Rohwer, p. 56.
27. ^ Williamson, p. 34.
28. ^ ^{a b} Rohwer, p. 59.
29. ^ ^{a b} Rohwer, p. 65.
30. ^ Hümmelchen, p. 101.
31. ^ O'Hara et al., p. 71.
32. ^ Rohwer, p. 98.
33. ^ Rohwer, p. 146.
34. ^ ^{a b} Williamson, p. 35.
35. ^ Edwards, p. 194.
36. ^ Rohwer, pp. 175–176.
37. ^ ^{a b} Zetterling & Tamelander, p. 150.
38. ^ Zetterling & Tamelander, p. 151.
39. ^ Zetterling & Tamelander, pp. 151–152.
40. ^ Zetterling & Tamelander, p. 152.
41. ^ Rohwer, p. 206.
42. ^ ^{a b c d} Williamson, p. 36.
43. ^ Rohwer, pp. 373–374.
44. ^ ^{a b} Rohwer, p. 374.
45. ^ Rohwer, p. 387.
46. ISBN 9781526741981
    .
47. ^ Sieche, p. 228.

References

• "Bürkner, Leopold". Bordgemeinschaft der Emdenfahrer. Retrieved 18 October 2013.
• Ciupa, Heinz (1997). Die Deutschen Kriegsschiffe 1939–1945.
  ISBN 978-3-8118-1409-7
  .
• Edwards, Bernard (2003). Beware Raiders!: German Surface Raiders in the Second World War. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press.
  ISBN 978-1-55750-210-0
  .
• ISBN 978-0-87021-790-6
  .
• Grützner, Jens (2010). Kapitän zur See Ernst Lindemann: Der Bismarck-Kommandant – Eine Biographie (in German). VDM Heinz Nickel.
  ISBN 978-3-86619-047-4
  .
• Hümmelchen, Gerhard (1976). Die Deutschen Seeflieger 1935–1945 (in German). Munich: Lehmann.
  ISBN 978-3-469-00306-5
  .
• Meier-Welcker, Hans; Forstmeier, Friedrich; Papke, Gerhard & Petter, Wolfgang (1983). Deutsche Militärgeschichte 1648–1939.
  ISBN 978-3-88199-112-4
  .
• O'Hara, Vincent P; Dickson, W David & Worth, Richard (2010). On Seas Contested: The Seven Great Navies of the Second World War. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press.
  ISBN 978-1-59114-646-9
  .
• Pope, Dudley (2005). The Battle of the River Plate: The Hunt for the German Pocket Battleship Graf Spee. Ithaca: McBooks Press.
  ISBN 978-1-59013-096-4
  .
• ISBN 978-1-59114-119-8
  .
• Showell, Jak P Mallmann (2003). German Naval Code Breakers. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press.
  ISBN 978-1-59114-308-6
  .
• Sieche, Erwin (1992). "Germany". In Gardiner, Robert; Chesneau, Roger (eds.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946. London: Conway Maritime Press. pp. 218–254.
  ISBN 978-0-85177-146-5
  .
• Watson, Bruce (2006). Atlantic Convoys and Nazi Raiders. Westport: Praeger.
  ISBN 978-0-275-98827-2
  .
• Whitley, MJ (1998). Battleships of World War II. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press.
  ISBN 978-1-55750-184-4
  .
• ISBN 978-1-84176-501-3
  .
• Zetterling, Niklas & Tamelander, Michael (2009). Tirpitz: The Life and Death of Germany's Last Super Battleship. Havertown: Casemate.
  ISBN 978-1-935149-18-7
  .

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to
Admiral Scheer.

• The battle of Convoy HX84

54°19′14″N 10°09′50″E / 54.32055556°N 10.16388889°E / 54.32055556; 10.16388889