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[[Image:H89566.jpg|right|300px|thumb|German heavy cruiser ''Deutchland'', an example of a pocket battleship]]

|align="center" colspan="2"|[[Image:H89566.jpg|300px]]

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!colspan="2" align="center" style="color: black; height: 30px; background: tan  no-repeat scroll top left;"|''Deutchland''-class heavy cruiser

| ''Deutchland'', ''Admiral Scheer'', ''Admiral Graf Spee''

The “'''pocket battleship'''”  was a German warship officially classified by weight as a heavy cruiser (''panzershiffe''; "armored ship"), but with the firepower of a [[battleship]].  The design was meant to comply with the terms of the Versailles Treaty (which allowed post-WWI Germany only a couple of battleships over 11,900 metric tons) while providing the German Navy with more capital ships.   

The “'''pocket battleship'''”  was a German warship officially classified by weight as a heavy cruiser (''panzershiffe''; "armored ship"), but with the firepower of a [[battleship]].  The design was meant to comply with the terms of the Versailles Treaty (which allowed post-WWI Germany only a couple of battleships over 11,900 metric tons) while providing the German Navy with more capital ships.   

==''Admiral Scheer''==

==''Admiral Scheer''==

The Admiral Scheer was the second ship of the class, launched in April of 1933 and commissioned into the German Navy in November 1934.  Her namesake was the commander of the German fleet at the Battle of Jutland.  Like the ''Deutschland'', she saw service in Spanish waters during the Spanish Civil War.  On May 31, 1937, the ''Admiral Scheer'' bombarded the port of Almeria in reprisal for the Republican attack on the ''Deutschland'', causing serious damage and many casualties.

''Admiral Scheer'' was the second ship of the class, launched in April of 1933 and commissioned into the German Navy in November 1934.  Her namesake was the commander of the German fleet at the Battle of Jutland.  Like the ''Deutschland'', she saw service in Spanish waters during the Spanish Civil War.  On May 31, 1937, the ''Admiral Scheer'' bombarded the port of Almeria in reprisal for the Republican attack on the ''Deutschland'', causing serious damage and many casualties.

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.