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After a refit in the port of Danzig, the ''Lutzow'' was sent north as part of Operation ''Weserubung'', the German invasion of [[Norway]]. The ship was loaded with 400 Wehrmacht troops and sent to [[Oslo]] with the heavy cruiser ''Blucher'', the light cruiser ''Emden'', and three torpedo boats. The group succeeded in capturing the Norwegian forts in Oslofiord, but shore-based batteries sunk the ''Blucher'' and damaged the ''Lutzow''. On the way home, she was intercepted by the British submarine ''Swordfish'' and hit by a torpedo which destroyed her rudder. She was taken under tow and entered the port of Kiel in April 1940. Between the artillery and submarine attacks, the mission had cost the ''Lutzow'' 35 dead and damage that would take almost a year to repair.
After a refit in the port of Danzig, the ''Lutzow'' was sent north as part of Operation ''Weserubung'', the German invasion of [[Norway]]. The ship was loaded with 400 Wehrmacht troops and sent to [[Oslo]] with the heavy cruiser ''Blucher'', the light cruiser ''Emden'', and three torpedo boats. The group succeeded in capturing the Norwegian forts in Oslofiord, but shore-based batteries sunk the ''Blucher'' and damaged the ''Lutzow''. On the way home, she was intercepted by the British submarine ''Swordfish'' and hit by a torpedo which destroyed her rudder. She was taken under tow and entered the port of Kiel in April 1940. Between the artillery and submarine attacks, the mission had cost the ''Lutzow'' 35 dead and damage that would take almost a year to repair.
On June 12, 1941, the ''Lutzow'', accompanied by an escort of destroyers, set out for Norway, but was hit by a torpedo from a British bomber, forcing her return to Kiel for another six months of repairs. Bombing raids and bad weather caused delays, but the ''Lutzow'' sailed for Norway on May 15, 1942, to join the ''Admiral Scheer'' in [[Narvik]]. Both ships were sent to intercept Convoy PQ 17, destined for Russia. While leaving port, however, the ''Lutzow'' ran aground in the fog, necessitating a return to Germany for further repairs. The ship returned to Norway in November, and was sent, with the cruiser ''Admiral Hipper'' and several destroyers, to intercept Convoy JW 51 headed for the Soviet Union. The mission was a failure; no merchant ships were sunk, and the ''Lutzow'' failed to score a single hit. Part of the reason was bad weather, and part of it was inadequate coordination between the German ships.
==''Admiral Scheer''==
==''Admiral Scheer''==
When World War II began, the ''Admiral Scheer'' was in harbor at Wilhelmshaven. On September 4, she was attacked by RAF bombers, but suffered no damage. She spent the rest of 1939 in the Baltic Sea on training exercises, then underwent a major overhaul in port. Finally, in October of 1940, she was sent out on her first major combat mission of the war, to intercept enemy shipping in the Atlantic. Over the next six months, the ''Admiral Scheer'' sank or captured 17 merchant vessels and 1 armed merchant cruiser, totaling over 113,000 tons, on a voyage that spanned the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. After returning to Germany in April, she underwent an overhaul at Kiel. Another commerce-raiding mission was planned, but after the sinking of the battleship Bismarck, this was cancelled for fear of further losses.
When World War II began, the ''Admiral Scheer'' was in harbor at Wilhelmshaven. On September 4, she was attacked by RAF bombers, but suffered no damage. She spent the rest of 1939 in the Baltic Sea on training exercises, then underwent a major overhaul in port. Finally, in October of 1940, she was sent out on her first major combat mission of the war, to intercept enemy shipping in the Atlantic. Over the next six months, the ''Admiral Scheer'' sank or captured 17 merchant vessels and 1 armed merchant cruiser, totaling over 113,000 tons, on a voyage that spanned the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. After returning to Germany in April, she underwent an overhaul at Kiel. Another commerce-raiding mission was planned, but after the sinking of the battleship Bismarck, this was cancelled for fear of further losses.
In February 1942, the ''Admiral Scheer'' was sent north to Narvik, in Norway, and was later joined by her sister ship, the ''Lutzow''. Both ships were assigned to attack the Arctic convoy PQ 17, but the ''Lutzow'' ran aground, and the ''Admiral Scheer'' never made contact with the enemy. On a later mission in those waters, she had more success, sinking an icebreaker and shelling Soviet shore facilities.
==''Admiral Graf Spee''==
==''Admiral Graf Spee''==
See main article: [[Admiral Graf Spee (heavy cruiser)]]
See main article: [[Admiral Graf Spee (heavy cruiser)]]
This ship was the third ship of its class, and the most famous. It was named after a German admiral who had been killed in the First World War. The ''Graf Spee'' was launched in June 1934 and officially commissioned into the Kriegsmarine in January 1936.
When the war began, the cruiser was sent out on a commerce-raiding mission in the Atlantic. She sank her first victim off the coast of Brazil, and destroyed or captured nine more vessels before being intercepted by a British cruiser force. In the Battle of the River Platte on December 13, 1939, the Graf Spee damaged 3 cruisers, but suffered several hits and a number of casualties. The German ship made it to the port of [[Montevideo]], but the port’s neutrality meant that it could only stay for three days, not enough time to make proper repairs. Faced with what he believed to be a superior British force, the captain chose to scuttle the ship.
==References==
==References==