German cruiser Lützow (1939)

Lützow was a heavy cruiser of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine, the fifth and final member of the Admiral Hipper class, but was never completed. The ship was laid down in August 1937 and launched in July 1939, after which the Soviet Union requested to purchase the ship. The Kriegsmarine agreed to the sale in February 1940, and the transfer was completed on 15 April. The vessel was still incomplete when sold to the Soviet Union, with only half of her main battery of eight 20.3 cm (8 in) guns installed and much of the superstructure missing.

Tallinn in Leningrad, c. 1949
History
Nazi Germany
NameLützow
BuilderDeutsche Schiff- und Maschinenbau, Bremen
Laid down2 August 1937
Launched1 July 1939
FateSold to the Soviet Navy, 11 February 1940
Soviet Union
NamePetropavlovsk (from September 1940)
AcquiredTowed to Leningrad, 15 April 1940
Renamed
  • Tallinn (from 1 September 1944)
  • Dniepr (1953)
  • PKZ-112 (1956)
FateBroken up, c. 1953–1961
General characteristics
Class and typeAdmiral Hipper-class cruiser
Displacement
  • Normal: 17,600 t (17,300 long tons)
  • Full load: 20,100 t (19,800 long tons)
Length210 m (689 ft 0 in) overall
Beam21.80 m (71 ft 6 in)
DraftFull load: 7.90 m (25.9 ft)
Installed power132,000 shp (98,000 kW)
Propulsion
Speed32 knots (59 km/h; 37 mph)
Complement
  • 42 officers
  • 1,340 enlisted
Armament
Armor
  • Belt: 70 to 80 mm (2.8 to 3.1 in)
  • Armor deck: 20 to 50 mm (0.79 to 1.97 in)
  • Turret faces: 105 mm (4.1 in)
Aircraft carried3 aircraft
Aviation facilities1 catapult

Renamed Petropavlovsk in September 1940, work on the ship was delayed by poor German-Soviet co-operation in crew training and provision of technical literature to enable completion of the ship, which was being carried out in the Leningrad shipyards. Still unfinished when Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, the ship briefly took part in the defense of Leningrad by providing artillery support to the Soviet defenders. She was heavily damaged by German artillery in September 1941, sunk in April 1942, and raised in September 1942. After repairs were effected, the ship was renamed Tallinn and used in the Soviet counter-offensive that relieved Leningrad in 1944. After the end of the war, the ship was used as a stationary training platform and as a floating barracks before being broken up for scrap sometime between 1953 and 1961.

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