Deutschland was the lead ship of her class of heavy cruisers (often termed pocket battleships) which served with the Kriegsmarine of Nazi Germany during World War II.

[3] After 1935, when Adolf Hitler renounced the Treaty of Versailles and concluded the Anglo-German Naval Agreement these restrictions were lifted and Deutschland received a full complement of 43 officers, 943 sailors and 14 civilians.

During the deployment, her gun turrets were painted with large black, white, and red bands to aid in identification from the air and indicate her neutral status.

[18] On 24 May 1937, the ship was docked in the port of Palma on the island of Majorca, along with several other neutral warships, including vessels from the British and Italian navies.

Hitler, furious over the attack, ordered Admiral Scheer to bombard the port of Almería in retaliation for the so-called "Deutschland incident".

It proved to be too difficult to direct U-boats operating independently from a ship at sea, and as a result, the rudeltaktik advocated by Karl Dönitz became more prominent.

After the conclusion of the exercises the German force paid an official visit to Malaga following the Nationalist victory in the Spanish Civil War 1939.

Together with the ships stationed in the Mediterranean during their now-concluded Spain patrols, and the new battleship Gneisenau coming from Germany, the German forces started a major fleet exercise.

At the core of the exercise were some twenty U-boats directed by Dönitz from the submarine tender Erwin Wassner, simulating rudeltaktik attacks on a convoy, whilst the surface ships focused on the diversion of the enemy forces.

[28] Deutschland was ordered to strictly observe prize rules, which required raiders to stop and search ships for contraband before sinking them, and to ensure that their crews are safely evacuated.

[29] Hitler hoped to secure a negotiated peace with Britain and France after he overran Poland, and he therefore did not authorize Deutschland to begin her raiding mission against British and French shipping until 26 September.

[27] On 5 October, she found and sank the 5,044 gross register tons (GRT) British transport ship Stonegate,[31] though not before the freighter was able to send a distress signal informing vessels in the area of Deutschland's presence.

[26] The French Force de Raid, centered on the battleship Dunkerque, was occupied with protecting convoys around Britain to prevent them from being attacked by Deutschland.

[35] The Germans planned to start the invasion of Norway with landings by six naval forces in Narvik, Trondheim, Bergen, Kristiansand, Oslo and Egersund.

[48] Shortly before midnight on the night of 8 April, Group 5, with Blücher in the lead, passed the outer ring of Norwegian coastal batteries.

[50] The damage Lützow sustained prompted the Kriegsmarine to order her to return to Germany for repairs,[52] the rest of Group 5 remained in Norway.

Despite the loss of the battleship Bismarck and Hitler's instruction not to take risks with the big ships, on 12 June Lützow departed for Operation Sommerreise, escorted by the destroyers Z10 Hans Lody, Z16 Friedrich Eckoldt, Z20 Karl Galster, Z23 and Z24.

[62][63] In Operation Waltzertraum Lützow left Swinemünde on 15 May 1942 for Norway to join forces intended to disrupt Allied shipping to the Soviet Union.

There was heavy British air and submarine activity against the two forces; whilst Prinz Eugen was able to break through to Germany, Lützow sought shelter in Kristiansand on 17 May.

[66] In order to avoid British reconnaissance, the German fleet did not steer into open waters but remained close to the coast and between islands.

[68][74] Five days later Lützow moved further North: in Operation Rudelsburg, escorted by the destroyers Z6 Theodor Riedel and Z31 she left for the Kåfjord joining there the cruisers Admiral Hipper, Nurnberg and Köln.

[75] On 30 December, Lützow, Admiral Hipper, and six destroyers left Narvik for Operation Regenbogen, an attack on convoy JW 51B, which was reported by German intelligence to be lightly escorted.

[68] Kummetz's plan was to divide his force in half; he would take Admiral Hipper and three destroyers north of the convoy to attack it and draw away the escorts.

Captain Robert Sherbrooke, the British escort commander, split his force: two destroyers were to stay with the convoy while he took the other two to pursue Admiral Hipper.

[76][77] Between 09:41 and 11:30 the cruiser attacked the escorts in several runs, sinking Achates and the minesweeper Bramble and heavily damaging the destroyer Onslow.

[81] Rear Admiral Robert Burnett's Force R, centered on the cruisers Sheffield and Jamaica, standing by in distant support of the Allied convoy,[82] raced to the scene.

On 22 September the British executed Operation Source, in which they planned to attack Tirpitz, Scharnhorst, and Lützow with ground mines laid by six X-class midget submarines.

[90][91] On 23 September, in Operation Hermelin Lützow left Altafjord for the Baltic escorted by the destroyers Z5 Paul Jacobi, Z14 Friedrich Ihn, Z15 Erich Steinbrinck and Z27.

On 11 October Lützow, the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen, the destroyers Z25, Z35 and Z36, and the torpedo boats T13, T16, T20 and T21[96] bombarded Memel in support of the German defense of the port.

[100][101] At the end of December the cruiser moved to Pillau, where in January two hundred survivors of the sinking of Tirpitz were embarked to replace the seekadetten.