History of the Deutschland Class

The Treaty of Versailles imposed restrictions on the German Navy that were intended to restrict it to operations in the Baltic Sea. Germany was allowed to retain 6 obsolete, pre-dreadnought battleships, and 6 light cruisers. These ships could not be replaced until they were 20 years old, as counted from the vessel's launching, and the replacement battleships could not exceed 10,000 tons. The victorious Allies hoped that Germany would thus be restricted to small coast defense vessels, termed "Cuirasses" or "armored ships" by the Treaty of Versailles.
When the battleships became eligible for replacement starting in 1922, the financial state of Germany was such that replacement was impossible. Once finances became available in the mid 1920s, the replacement of the old battleships was postponed due to the lack of an acceptable solution to the tonnage limit. In 1927, it was decided to build a "battleship-cruiser", a sort of cross between the two types. Opponents to the program agreed to only two vessels, hoping that the treaty restrictions could be relaxed and a more durable type built thereafter.
A common myth is that the Treaty of Versailles limited the German ships to 11" armament, but this is not the case. However, 11.1" guns were the largest that could be manufactured at a rate of more than one a year, so they were the only realistic choice to arm these vessels.
The design for the Panzerschiff, meaning armored ship, was settled on in 1929. With superior speed to a battleship, an advantage they retained until the end of the building holiday in 1936, but more heavily armed than a cruiser, these vessels meet the basic requirement of the battlecruiser type, and are thus included here. In Feb 1940, the designation these vessels was changed to "Heavy Cruiser".
The first ship of the class, the Deutschland, was launched in 1931, and commissioned only two months after Hitler took control of Germany. Because she was a replacement for the old battleship Preussen, and carried an impressive amount of firepower on a diminutive hull, the British press dubbed her a "pocket battleship", both in admiration and ridicule. The name has stuck with them ever sense. The name probably came from a popular series of paperback books, called "Pocket Books" because they were a smaller, abridged version of a full-sized book.
Diesel propulsion was chosen both for increase range and because of the wealth of experience with the type in the World War submarines. Welding was used extensively, saving weight over traditional riveted construction. Displacement was over the treaty limits, but Germany officially listed the ship at only 10,000 tons. A second ship was funded in 1931, and a third added in 1932. Modifications to the second increased displacement by several hundred tons, and increased protection on the third ship increased tonnage again.
These ships caused considerable concern to the British and French, with the later designing and building the Dunkerque Class ships to counter them. The speed and firepower of the Panzerschiff required Britain to keep her battlecruisers in home waters, as only the Renown, Repulse, and Hood could both catch and out gun them.
All three ships saw service in the Spanish Civil War, and were used a commerce raiders early in World War Two. Graf Spee was defeated at the Battle of the River Plate and scuttled, but the other two served right up until the closing days of the war.

Deutschland:

29 May 1937 Damaged by two bombs from Spanish Republican aircraft off Ibiza, 22 killed

WWII Service:

Oct 1939 North Atlantic sortie, sank 2 vessels, captured a third.
15 Nov 1939 Renamed Lutzow on Hitler's orders
Feb 1940 Reclassified as heavy cruiser
8-9 Apr 1940 Damaged by two hits from shore batteries at Oslo
11 Apr 1940 Severe damage from torpedo fired from British sub Spearfish off Kattegat
Apr 1940- spring 1941 Refit and repairs
13 Jun 1941 Severe damage from British aircraft torpedo off Norway
3 Jul 1942 Damaged by grounding off Narvik
Sep 1942 Refit at Gdynia
Oct 1944- Feb 1945 Fire support for ground forces in Baltic Sea
16 Apr 1945 Sunk by British bombers in shallow water at Swinemunde
4 May 1945 Wreck blown up to prevent capture by Russians
Sep 1947 Wreck re-floated by Russians and towed to Leningrad
Broken up by end of 1948

Admiral Scheer:

31 May 1937 Shelled Almeria Spain in retaliation for bombing of Deutschland
1939-1940 Refit, new bow, additional AA guns, lighter mast, new conning tower

WWII Service:

Oct 1940 Started 5-month raiding cruise Atlantic and Indian Oceans
5 Nov 1940 Attacked convoy HX84, sinking auxiliary cruiser Jarvis Bay and 5 merchant ships
Dec 1940 Sank two merchant ships, captured a third
Jan 1941 Sank 3 merchant ships in South Atlantic
Feb 1941 Sank 4 merchant ships in Indian Ocean
Aug 1942 Sortie into Kara Sea, bombarded shore installations and sank three icebreakers
12 Nov 1942-Mar 1943 Refit at Swinemunde
Mar 1943-Nov 1944 Cadet training ship
Nov 1944-Feb 1945 Provided fire support to ground forces in Baltic Sea
9 Apr 1945 Sunk by British bombers at Kiel, capsized at dock, 32 killed
Broken up in situ after the war
Part of the hull was left in place, and the area filled in to make a parking lot

Admiral Graf Spee:

1936 Flagship of German Fleet
9 Oct 1936-11 Feb 1937 Refit at Deutsche Werke
May 1937 Represented German at Spithead Coronation Review
27 Jun-7 Aug 1937 Spanish Civil War
7-18 Feb 1938 Spanish Civil War
1938 Two training cruises in Atlantic, visited Tangier and Vigo
Apr-May 1939 Atlantic cruise, visited Ceuta and Lisbon

WWII Service:

Sep-Nov 1939 War cruise in South Atlantic, sank or captured 9 merchant vessels. No lives lost in entire cruise by either side.
13 Dec 1939 Damaged by 20 shell hits from 3 British cruisers at Battle of River Plate, seriously damaged HMS Exeter and HMS Ajax. Graf Spee runs to neutral Montevideo to effect repairs. 36 killed.
14 Dec 1939 Government of Uruguay allows Graf Spee to stay until 1800 hours Dec 17, repairs not possible in that time.
16 Dec 1939 Berlin instructs Captain Langsdorff to scuttle or attempt to reach Argentina
17 Dec 1939 Chances of reaching Argentina considered slim, and an overwhelming British force believed to be assembled. Graf Spee scuttled.
18 Dec Graf Spee crew interned for duration of war in Argentina.
19 Dec Captain Langsdorff draped WWI German Naval Ensign around shoulders and shoots himself.
Wreck sinks into the muddy bottom, and is completely out of site by war's end.
Wreck discovered in 1999, one 5.9" gun salvaged and restored as a memorial

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