Blücher
| Country | Germany |
| Ship Class | Admiral Hipper-class Heavy Cruiser |
| Builder | Deutsche Werke Kiel |
| Yard Number | 246 |
| Slip/Drydock Number | II |
| Ordered | 30 Oct 1934 |
| Laid Down | 15 Aug 1935 |
| Launched | 8 Jun 1937 |
| Commissioned | 20 Sep 1939 |
| Sunk | 9 Apr 1940 |
| Displacement | 18,208 tons standard |
| Length | 675 feet |
| Beam | 70 feet |
| Draft | 19 feet |
| Machinery | 3 Blohm & Voß engines |
| Power Output | 132,000 shaft horsepower |
| Speed | 32 knots |
| Range | 8,000nm at 20 knots |
| Crew | 1,600 |
| Armament | 8x8in, 12x105mm, 6x40mm, 8x37mm anti-aircraft, 32x20mm anti-aircraft |
| Armor | 12-50mm deck, 70-80mm belt, 50-150mm command tower, 70-105mm turrets |
| Aircraft | 3 |
Contributor: C. Peter Chen
ww2dbaseHeavy cruiser Blücher, also known as one of the pocket battleships to the British, was launched in the 1930s with a public event that hosted more than 10,000 spectators. She completed a training mission in the Baltic Sea between Sep 1939 and Apr 1940, then was designated the flagship of the naval forces for the invasion of Norway. Confidently, she sailed in front of the task force. The Norwegian defenders at the Oscarborg fortress at the Drøbak narrows fired their shore-based gun at a relatively close range, hitting Blücher's forward fire control station, rendering blind the ship's guns. The second shot struck the ship as well, hitting the aircraft hangar and igniting the aviation fuel. Then, smaller caliber guns opened fire on Blücher, hindering the firefighting efforts. Finally, the Norwegian defenders fired their nearly-40-year-old obsolete torpedoes, and two of them struck Blücher. Losing her engines by the torpedo blasts, Blücher laid anchors to prevent running aground. She also fired away her torpedoes to prevent accidental ignition. Nevertheless, the precautionary procedures did not save her from capsizing; she sank at 0623, an hour after initially being struck by the guns of Oscarborg.
ww2dbaseSource: Wikipedia.
Last Major Revision: Feb 2006
Photographs
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Blücher Operational Timeline
| 20 Sep 1939 | Blücher was commissioned into service. |
| 5 Apr 1940 | Blücher conducted searchlight training at Swinemünde, Germany. |
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Visitor Submitted Comments
30 Sep 2012 09:49:26 PM
The ships known to the allies as "Pocket Battleships" were an evolution from the "Panzerschif" concept of WWI with heavy cruiser hulls, armed with 2 x 3, 11 inch guns. They were the Deutschland Class Heavy Cruisers.
The Admiral Hipper Class, was the nearest thing to the so called "London Treaty" Heavy Cruisers, armed with 4 x 2, 8 inch guns, that the germans build to fill the gap between the Light Cruisers of the Königsberg and Nürnberg Clasess and the Battle Cruiser/Battleships, of the Scharnhorst Class.
All visitor submitted comments are opinions of those making the submissions and do not reflect views of WW2DB.
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14 May 2009 04:16:08 PM
Your site is realy nice, I have discovered it last week and I am enjoying it very much and I would like to make rematk on the articleabout the Heavy cruiser Blucher.
The DKM Blucher, was a Heavy Cruiser of the Admiral Hipper Class, which where german Washington Class Cruisers armed with 8" guns.
The so nicknamed "Pocket Battleships" where the "Panzerschiffe" of the Lutzow (Ex-Deutschland) class which were armed with 11" guns,tipical gun of the early dreadnoughts of the Hochsee Flotte of WWI, on a heavy cruiser sized hull. The "Pocket Battleships" were the WWII heirs of Lord Fisher´s "Battle cruiser" concept.
By the way you seem to have a blank space in the weapons segment, because there is no information about Armored Vehicles, which played a major part in WWII.
Best Regards
Aleksandar Krstich