Admiral Hipper
| Country | Germany |
| Ship Class | Admiral Hipper-class Heavy Cruiser |
| Builder | Blohm und Voss |
| Yard Number | 501 |
| Slip/Drydock Number | VIII |
| Ordered | 30 Oct 1934 |
| Laid Down | 6 Jul 1935 |
| Launched | 6 Feb 1937 |
| Commissioned | 29 Apr 1939 |
| Decommissioned | 28 Feb 1943 |
| Sunk | 3 May 1945 |
| Displacement | 18,200 tons full |
| Length | 676 feet |
| Beam | 70 feet |
| Draft | 25 feet |
| Machinery | Blohm & Voss with 3 screws |
| Power Output | 132,000 shaft horsepower |
| Speed | 32 knots |
| Range | 8,000nm at 20 knots |
| Crew | 1,600 |
| Armament | 8x8in, 12x10.5cm, 6x4cm anti-aircraft, 8x3.7cm, 32x2cm machine guns, 12x53cm torpedoes |
| Armor | 12-50mm deck, 70-80mm belt, 50-150mm command tower, 70-105mm turrets |
| Aircraft | 3 |
Contributor: C. Peter Chen
ww2dbaseNamed after Admiral Ritter von Hipper, the heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper was also the lead ship of her class. She participated in the invasion of Norway and battled British destroyer Glowworm off Trondheim on 8 Apr 1940, in which battle the British destroyer suicidally rammed Admiral Hipper before going down below the waves, causing severe damage. In the early hours of the next day Admiral Hipper entered Trondheim harbor and unloaded the invasion troops aboard, taking control of the city. She received repairs at Trondheim, and joined Scharnhorst and Gneisenau in patrolling the waters off Norway. She spent two months in late 1940 in the shipyards at Kiel and Hamburg for repair and overhaul.
ww2dbaseAfter being activated for service again, Admiral Hipper became a merchant raider operating out of Brest, France. In the two months she acted in this role, she damaged three (two merchant ships and one cruiser, HMS Berwick) and sank seven ships.
ww2dbaseOn 28 Feb 1941 Admiral Hipper returned to Kiel via the Denmark Strait, then headed back for Norway for patrols there against Arctic convoys. On 31 Dec 1942, she participated in the failed attack on the convoy JW-51B, which was later named the Battle of the Barents Sea. She received damage during the battle and was returned to Wilhelmshaven and decommissioned. She was used little for the remainder of the war, the only significant action involved evacuation of German soldiers from the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea.
ww2dbaseAdmiral Hipper was scuttled at Kiel on 2 May 1945 immediately before Germany's surrender.
ww2dbaseSource: Wikipedia.
Last Major Revision: Jan 2008
Heavy Cruiser Admiral Hipper Interactive Map
Photographs
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Admiral Hipper Operational Timeline
| 29 Apr 1939 | Admiral Hipper was commissioned into German Navy service. |
| 18 Feb 1940 | German heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper embarked on Operation Nordmark, aiming to intercept British convoy traffic in the North Sea. |
| 4 Jun 1940 | Jaguar began escorting battleships Gneisenau and Scharnhorst and the heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper between Kiel, Germany and the Skaggerak. |
| 5 Jun 1940 | Jaguar completed escorting battleships Gneisenau and Scharnhorst and the heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper between Kiel, Germany and the Skaggerak. |
| 20 Jun 1940 | German battlecruiser Gneisenau and heavy cruiser Admiral Hipper departed Trondheim, Norway for operations near Iceland as a diversion for battleship Scharnhorst's cruise to Kiel, Germany for repairs. |
| 7 Dec 1940 | Admiral Hipper departed Kiel, Germany for an anti-shipping sortie in the Atlantic. |
| 24 Dec 1940 | German cruiser Admiral Hipper detected Allied convoy WS.5 700 miles west of Cape Finisterre, Spain late in the afternoon. The convoy was consisted of 19 troopships and freighters; not noticing that it was escorted by two carriers, three cruisers, and four corvettes, the German commander Admiral Wilhelm Meisel prepared the crew for an attack in the morning. |
| 25 Dec 1940 | German Admiral Wilhelm Meisel aboard cruiser Admiral Hipper ordered an attack on Allied convoy WS.5 in the morning, taking advantage of mist and rain; the convoy had been detected on the previous day and the ship's crew had been shadowing it through the night, but failing to realize it was heavily escorted. At 0808 hours, Admiral Hipper fired on troopship Empire Trooper (16 soldiers killed) and freighter Arabistan, but she was soon chased off by a corvette and three cruisers. In retreat, Admiral Hipper fired at her pursuers, striking cruiser HMS Berwick at the rear gun turret, killing 4. Carriers HMS Argus and HMS Furious launched aircraft to hunt for Admiral Hipper as she retreated toward Brest, France for repairs, but the German cruiser would not be found. Later on the same day, 150 miles to the east, Admiral Hipper detected and sank British ship Jumna; 111 survivors in the water were left to drown. |
| 27 Dec 1940 | German cruiser Admiral Hipper arrived at Brest, France, ending an one-month patrol in the Atlantic Ocean. |
| 11 Feb 1941 | German cruiser Admiral Hipper sank British ship Iceland of Allied convoy HX53 800 miles west of Gibraltar; the entire crew of 23 survived and were picked up by Admiral Hipper. Admiral Hipper would soon detect the rest of the convoy on radar at the distance of 15 kilometers. |
| 12 Feb 1941 | German cruiser Admiral Hipper attacked Allied convoy HX53 800 miles west of Gibraltar at 0618 hours, sinking 7 ships (British ships arlaby, Westbury, Oswestry Grange, Shrewsbury, and Derrynane; Norwegian ship Borgestad; and Greek ship Perseus). At 0740 hours, Admiral Hipper broke off the attack as rain helped the remaining Allied transports escape. Admiral Hipper had nearly expended all of her 203-mm shells in this attack. |
| 15 Feb 1941 | German cruiser Admiral Hipper arrived at Brest, France, after a short but successful cruise that sank 8 Allied ships totalling 34,000 tons. |
| 28 Feb 1943 | Admiral Hipper was decommissioned from service. |
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Visitor Submitted Comments
8 Feb 2013 12:56:31 AM
I am a little bit confused. On one side nearly every German and Alliied source says that "Hipper" attacked convoy SL.64S on the 12th of February in 1941 - here it is HX.53 (in A. Hagues´ Database that convoy is dated at June 1940).
On the other hand J. Brennecke stated in his book about "Hipper", that the cruiser sank the British freighter "Iceland" on the 11th of February and that their crewmembers told them that their freighter was a straggler of convoy SL.64S - due to some defects of their rudder. So "Hipper" knew about the convoy them and subsequently attacked it. But there is no "Iceland" in convoy SL.64S or SL.64 in A. Hagues´ database.
It is a very confusing story. Maybe you got an answer to that.
Best,
Klaus
5 Feb 2021 06:17:46 AM
Admiral Hipper Operation Nordseetour 30th November 1940 to 23rd March 1941
Operation from Brest 01/02/1941-15/02/1941
01/02/1941 Admiral Hipper leves Brest for second Atlantic operation Destroyer Richard Beitzen and torpedo boats Jaguar and Iltis escort the ship into the Biscaya
04/02/1941-09/02/1941 Admiral Hipper refuling from Sichern
11/02/1941 Admiral Hipper sinks the english ship Iceland (1236 BRT) which belonged to the scattered convoy HG 53
12/02/1941 During the night Admiral Hipper gets contact with convoy SLS 64 consisting of 19 ships without escorts south off the Azores
12/02/1941 Morning Admiral Hipper sinks 7 merchant ships (32176 BRT) and damages 2 ships (9899 BRT) from the convoy
15/02/1941 Admiral Hipper arrives back in Brest after second Atlantic operation. Destroyer Richard Beitzen and two torpedo boats escort the ship back into Brest
15/03/1941 Admirall Hipper leaves Brest for Kiel with torpedoboats Jaguar and Iltis escorting the ship into the Biscaya
23/03/1941 Admiral Hipper refuling from Thorn
23/03/1941 Admiral Hipper transited the Denmark Strait undetected reaching the Arctic
26/03/1941 Admiral Hipper arrives in Bergen It leaves Bergen the same evening with Z 23 and Z 24 for Kiel The destroyers escort Admiral Hipper til Skagen
28/03/1941 Admiral Hipper arrives in Kiel
Ships sunk during Brest operation
HG 53 Iceland (1236 BRT)
SLS 64 Norwegian Borgestad (3294 BRT)
English Derrynane (4896 BRT)
English Oswestry Grange (4684 BRT)
English Shrewsbury (4542 BRT)
English Warlaby (4876 BRT)
English Westbury (4712 BRT)
Greek Perseus (5172 BRT)
All visitor submitted comments are opinions of those making the submissions and do not reflect views of WW2DB.
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Thomas Dodd, late 1945
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21 Aug 2012 08:09:10 PM
I like the full presentation of your Site...NICE ONE ! Wonder if you can help me ? This is for Family Tree Research. I am wanting to get a Photo of ss"Shrewsbury" , sunk by " Admiral Hipper " on 12th February 1941....any ideas ? Cheers , Bruce