List of heavy cruisers of Germany

The German navies of the 1920s through 1945—the Reichsmarine and later Kriegsmarine—built or planned a series of heavy cruisers starting in the late 1920s, initially classified as Panzerschiffe (armored ships).

The terms of the Treaty of Versailles, which ended World War I, limited German warships to a displacement of 10,000 long tons (10,160 t).

Initially intended to comprise twelve ships, the P class was a central component of Grand Admiral Erich Raeder's Plan Z fleet, which was designed for a commerce war against Great Britain.

The five ships of the Admiral Hipper class were authorized under the terms of the Anglo-German Naval Agreement, signed in 1935, which permitted Germany 50,000 long tons (51,000 t) of heavy cruisers.

Blücher was sunk by Norwegian coastal batteries during Operation Weserübung, the German invasion of Denmark and Norway, just four days after the ship joined the fleet.

Deutschland—by now renamed Lützow—Admiral Scheer, and Admiral Hipper were all destroyed by British bombers at the end of the war; only Prinz Eugen survived the conflict.

Initially ordered as Panzerschiffe, the three Deutschland-class ships were designed to meet the limitations imposed on the German Navy by the Treaty of Versailles.

[2] The treaty limited large German warships to a displacement of 10,000 long tons (10,160 t), but did not restrict the caliber of main battery guns.

[3] Several innovations were incorporated into the design, including extensive use of welding and all-diesel propulsion, which saved weight and allowed for the heavier main armament and armor.

[5] Commonly referred to as "pocket battleships" due to their heavy armament,[6] all three ships saw service in the non-intervention patrols during the Spanish Civil War in 1936–1938.

[7] They served as commerce raiders early in World War II; Admiral Graf Spee was scuttled outside Montevideo in December 1939 following the Battle of the River Plate.

[15] 1: Renamed Lützow in late 1939 In 1933, German dictator Adolf Hitler authorized the Reichsmarine to order designs for an improved version of the preceding Deutschland-class cruisers.

[32] Prinz Eugen joined the battleship Bismarck for a major operation in the Atlantic; she participated in the Battle of the Denmark Strait, which saw the battlecruiser HMS Hood destroyed.