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DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
805 KIDDER BREESE SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060
Online Library of Selected Images:
-- SHIPS of the GERMAN NAVY --
Seydlitz (Heavy Cruiser, launched 1939 but not completed)
Seydlitz, a 14,240-ton modified Admiral Hipper
class heavy cruiser, was built at Bremen, Germany. Launched in
mid-January 1939, she was nearly complete by June 1942 when her
construction was stopped. Plans to rebuild her as an aircraft
carrier resulted in the removal of her guns and most of her superstructure
by the first months of 1943, but no further progress was made
on the conversion. The threat of allied bombing raids resulted
in the ship being towed from Bremen to Königsberg in March
and April 1944. In December 1944, while tied up at that East Prussian
port, Seydlitz was reclassified as a hulk. The relentless
advance of the Soviet Armies toward Königsberg caused German
authorities to scuttle the cruiser's hull in late January 1945.
Her remains were scrapped by the Soviets in the 1950s.
This page features all the views we have related to the
German heavy cruiser Seydlitz.
Click on the small photograph to prompt
a larger view of the same image.
Photo #: NH 95455
Seydlitz (German heavy cruiser)
Launching ceremony, at the Deschimag Shipyard, Bremen, Germany,
on 19 January 1939.
This ship was not finished, though she was 95% complete when
construction stopped in mid-1942.
Note her "clipper" bow and the many umbrellas carried
by onlookers.
The original print came from U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence
files.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.
Online Image: 135KB; 550 x 765 pixels |
 |
Photo #: NH 91659
Deschimag Shipyard, Bremen, Germany
Fine screen halftone reproduction of a British Royal Air Force
reconnaissance photograph of the Westhaven basin, taken 8 May
1942.
Ships present include the nearly complete heavy cruiser Seydlitz
(launched in 1939 but never finished) -- marked by arrow -- and
three destroyers.
The destroyer alongside Seydlitz is probably Z-34,
which had been launched on 5 May, three days before the photograph
was taken. Her machinery spaces are still open and no guns appear
to be on board.
The other two destroyer, moored side-by-side at the head of the
basin, are probably Z-32 (1942-1944), inboard with smokestacks
in place, and Z-33 (1943-1946, later Soviet Provornyy),
outboard with smokestacks not yet installed.
The original print came from U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence
files.
U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph.
Online Image: 141KB; 620 x 765 pixels |
 |
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Page made 26 January 2003