Panzerschiff Lutzow

[Mike]

Hey Ingemar,

Be sure I'll spread the word :D .

After the end of the cold war the soviet union/ russia opened their archives and as a result the fates of many ships seem to be totally different from what the historians wrote before. So it's no wonder that there are different theories about GZ.

Regarding the Lützow:

There are two ships with the name in the fleet-list of the Kriegsmarine (There was another one in WW I. She sank after the Battle of Jutland in the North Sea (34-42 m)

The first one was a heavy cruiser of the Hipper-class (Hipper, Prinz Eugen, Blücher, Lützow and Seydlitz). She was sold to the soviet union and towed to Leninggrad in April 1940. Her new name was "Petropavlowsk". During WW II she was hit by several bombs and after the war used as a housing ship for the Baltic Fleet. She was scrapped in 1956 (roughly - not quiet sure about the date)

The other one is the Panzerschiff "Deutschland" - the first one of three "pocket-battle-ships" ( Deutschland, Admiral Scheer, Admiral Graf Spee) built according to Versailles treaty with a max. displacement of 10.000 tons.

"Deutschland" returned to Kiel in November 1939 after her first raid and was renamed in "Lützow". Also the Type was changed from "Panzerschiff" to "Schwerer Kreuzer". All this was done for two reasons:
1.) to cover the deal with the soviet union (see above) and
2.) (more important) to prevent that the ship with the name of the country was sunk, which might not be very good for the morale of the German people.

1945 she and all other surviving heavy units of the Kriegsmarine were ordered to support the retrieving German troops and the refugees from East-Prussia. In March 1945 Lützow was lying near Swinemünde and was bombed by the British Tall Boys (the same bomb squad which sank the "Tirpitz".
Lützow sank but due to shallow waters the crew was able to save her and so the already sunken ship could still use one of her primary turrets. End of April she was blasted. After the war she was recovered and towed to Leningrad. After several trials the Lützow was sank by the soviets in 1946.
Rumors say that the water depth is approx. 100 m.

I hope I've answered your question and was not boring you.

The last moments of the Lützow. (edited by admin)
58

edited by Mike: correction of the wrong date when she was renamed

[Ingemar Lundgren]

Welcome Achim, nice to see you here.

Mike, you certainly did not bore me. Thank you for the information, much appreciated. Warships are clearly some of the most interesting wrecks to dive and explore. In what area is the Lutzow supposed to have sank? In the bay of Finland?

[Ingemar Lundgren]

Got some more informaion on the Lutzow. This information comes from René at www.warsailors.com (http://www.warsailors.com). Thank you René.

Hello Ingemar,

Until May 3, 1945, Lützow drew on the lines from the Red Army which encircled Swinemünde and its surroundings. With course of ammunition, Lange decided to scuttle the cruiser definitively. All the light armament was unloaded, as well as the principal rangefinder. Explosive loads were laid out at the strategic places but those started prematurely leaving only little time to the sailors to leave the places. A fire was declared in the front superstructures, the roof of turret A jumped of its housing and the ship burned during several days. When the Soviets took the city, they found in Kaiser channel the carcass of the battleship of pocket. After investigations, they decided to reinflate it and quickly divers put themselves at work. Work was painful because there was practically no visibility, but soon of the pumps of draining made their appearance on the bridge. We do not know exactly on which date Lûtzow found its watermarks, but it remained, thereafter, a long moment with quay without being of any utility. At the beginning of 1947, in front of the outdatedness of the vessel, and in comparison with repairs that there was to carry out to give it in state, it was decided to use it for tests of resistance to the bombs of large gauges. Several bombs of 500 kg and 250 kg were distributed on the beach before and behind the block footbridge. One fine day of August, the cruiser was towed in the Gulf of Poméranie and the firings were started not leaving any chance to Lützow which disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Lûtzow ran on August 22, 1947 Level front, in the neighbourhoods of Rostock (today Kolobrzeg). The wreck rests by funds of 113 meters.

A this article, is joined several photographs of the end of Lützow. I hold them at your disposal if you wish it.

[Mike]

Hej Ingemar,

Thank you for the information. The core confirms the information I have. But there are also some mistakes in René's info.
Believe me, if the Lützow lies in the vicinity of Rostock I would already have dived her. The German name of Kolobrzeg is Kolberg. It wouldn't make sense that the soviets towed the hulk westbound.
So she seems lying in the Baltic Sea somewhere in the Pommeranian Bay in the vicinity of Kolobrzeg.

Any rumors heard by our Polish friends?

Please share the photographs

[Ingemar Lundgren]

Thank you Mike and i appreciate the open discussion. I am trying to help out with further research.

[Mike]

Hej Ingemar,

I'll stay tuned.

Some words about the "Deutschland"-Class and what makes the ships so unique.
Due to the regulations of the Versailles Treaty the Reichsmarine was forced to rethink the design of warships. The result was the Panzerschiff. "A"

The main problem was the limitation of a 10.000 tons displacement. To save weight they were the first major warships where welding was used and they are the largest warships with Diesel-engines ever built (other heavy cruisers and battleships had steam turbines). The idea was outrun ships which could outgunn the Panzerschiff and to be able to outgunn any faster ship (exception: HMS Hood) combined with an endurance of 17.400 NM at 13 knots.
The 28cm-turrets design made it possible that the middle barrel could be reloaded at any position. This was one of the best kept secrets.
The design had also some bugs. Especially the Deutschland/Lützow had problems with the engines.

Deutschland/Lützow and Admiral Scheer weren't very successful but Admiral Graf Spee is together with Bismarck the most famous ship of the Kriegsmarine.

Data sheet:
Length: 187,9 m
Width: 20,6 m
Displacement: 11.700 tons (official: 10.000 tons)
Crew: 951
max. Speed: 28 knots
Weapons: 6 x 28 cm in two turrets, 8 x 15 cm (singles), Flak, 8 Torpedotubes